(UNDERGOING REWRITE) Crime & Chaos [ ᴊᴏᴋᴇʀ ]

Chapter 2: Stranger Danger

Crime & Chaos

" STRANGER DANGER "

by alwaysgeia

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The next day, Julie's classes in college were a biological bore. The day afore, however, was a plethora of exhilaration and activity and... terror, she supposed.

Right now, though, she had a class to try and participate in. Biology was her least favourite subject in the course she was studying: Animal Management.

Even though Gotham City's cull of inculcation and regalement was limited, at least it had a college with a zoo. The animals there weren't kept in the best conditions, but it was enough that they were fed and watered conventionally. Their less-than-the-minimum-size enclosures cleaned every couple or so days. Albeit it should be every day, she cerebrated frequently.

Julie had repined multiple times about the animals' rudimental needs not being met, but alas, she was always ignored or chastised for saying anything about it. For challenging the 'authority'. As much as the staff of the zoo pressed about revering ascendancy, she had been swayed the other way around by the very same people. Call it what you will: anti-authoritarian, incompliance, yadda yadda yadda. It came as a surprise to her, but not to her mother, she had kenned that Julie was always a fiery soul, despite being a Pisces. In high school, she had often back-chatted those superior in those four or so years, an infamous line she had always said was 'respect goes both ways'. Of course, now that she was virtually an adult, she had toned down. Slightly.

"Juliett, are you paying attention?"

Julie digressed away from the window she was so intrigued by; her thoughts had been clouded by recollections of her late dad, which overlapped with her latest capture of the bank heist and the larceny of her video. Her sage orbs switched to her Biology professor (Mr Lloyd), followed by a nod. She hated it when people used her full name.

The professor wasn't satisfied with that, ostensibly, "what did I just say?" Julie sneaked a glance at the board, memorising a few words.

"Something about the musculoskeletal system of a horse." She answered perfunctorily, she could research this by herself at home anyway. With a sigh, Mr Lloyd crossed his arms.

"I said, how is a horse's skeleton better adapted to running than a dog's skeleton?"

Contemplating it for a few seconds, she optically canvassed the professor, "well, they have longer legs to cover more ground when running, they have more astronomically immense shoulder blades for better kineticism... should I add some more?"

"No. Thank you, Juliette," he interrupted, a minute raise in his left eyebrow, "take notes."

On a Tuesday, all of her classes were work after work after work. On other days, like Wednesday and Thursday, there were at least two classes of working with the zoo animals. Maybe three, if the teachers were feeling altruistic themselves. In the early days of February, temperatures dropped, the sky became dull and cloudy and the latest the sunset was around 6 pm. The clock turned its hands to 16:00 pm. The terminus of that dreadful—and thankfully her last—biology class. As Julie accumulated her folder and bag, the professor ambulated over, his face a canvas; painted with callous and firm expressions. "Do you think you're smart?" (Think you're smart, huh?) She didn't answer; she just wanted to be out of the stale classroom. As she slung her chalky bag over her shoulder, she looked up at him.

"If you think that I think I'm smart, I most likely am." Without another word from either of them, Julie sauntered out of the classroom in a haste, fixated on catching the earliest bus from the college.