02 | King of the Dancing Monkeys

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I hung my head over the toilet, feeling my stomach clench as I heaved again, making a sound like a dying animal. Liquor burned against my tongue as all the beer and tequila from the day before went pouring into the toilet. A warm, tangy scent filled the air, and it only made my stomach churn more. Sweat dripped down the back of my neck as I rolled my head back and shakily rose to my feet.

Nothing out of the ordinary on an August summer morning.

The tile of the bathroom floor was cool against my bare feet as I walked over to the sink and splashed my face with water. We hadn't left the bar until almost 2 am, and the lack of sleep was more than apparent as I studied my face in the mirror. My dark hair stuck up in every direction like I'd stuck my finger in an electrical socket, and my nose was still red from being out in the sun all day. Lines from where I'd passed out on my pillow were etched into my cheek.

I rubbed the tiredness out of my eyes and ran my fingers along my jawline, willing any semblance of facial hair to grow so the age on my fake ID would be more believable. I raked my hair back and spit in the sink before retreating back into my bedroom.

The alarm clock on my bedside table blinked 6:02 AM, in bright, angry red. I fumbled around underneath my bed for my running shoes, and a rush of blood tore through me when I stood up too fast. I plucked out the first shirt that didn't smell like sweat in a pile of clothes splayed across my floor and didn't bother changing the Nike shorts I had slept in.

I grabbed my headphones off the bedside table and fumbled down the stairs, and crisp air smacked me in the face when I threw myself against our heavy, oakwood front door. Summer heat hadn't set in yet, and the sun was just beginning to rise, sending golden rays of light dancing across the rain-soaked, perfectly manicured grass of my front lawn. In the haze my life had been lately, the quiet of the early morning was the only time or place I felt the smallest sense of clarity.

I took a deep breath and started running down the empty street as adrenaline and the heavy bass of whatever metal playlist I had started overtook the dizzying nausea. I ran the same route every morning, down to the right of my house, out of our gated neighborhood, and to the Oaks Country Club a mile further down the road.

I looped my way back to my house, running along the side of the street by the other houses in my neighborhood. They all had the same tall white columns, big oak doors and perfectly manicured front lawns, so much so that sometimes I ran past my own house since I could barely distinguish them. I made sure to slow my pace when I passed Jordyn Wagner's house. If I got lucky and she was awake, I could catch her changing in her bedroom window, giving me the perfect view of her naked, golden skin in the morning sun.

It was still too early, and the lights in her room were off.

I slowed to a stop when I reached my own front porch, leaning on one of the columns as I tried to catch my breath. Another wave of nausea washed over me, and I stumbled down the front steps and dropped onto the grass. My stomach shuddered and another disgusting gagging noise came from my throat, but nothing came out. I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes, letting the soothing noise of the wind dancing through the trees slow my frantic heartbeat.

Two-A-Days for football started in three hours. As team captain, it was my responsibility to prepare and lead the team to absolute dominance. By doing that, I held together the very fabric of space time continuum that existed in our tiny, affluent upstate town bubble. Because without football, there was nothing, just a black hole that floated dangerously close to my world. I was already starting to feel the pull.

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New Livingston Day School had spent nearly two million dollars on renovations for the athletic complex in the past two years. While our athletic director Sutter Kane, with his flashy suits and his brand new Rolex and his leased Tesla, claimed that the massive brick building with its floor-to-ceiling windows and state of the art weight training center was to benefit all New Livingston Day School sports, everybody knew it was only to benefit the football team. Sure our school had a principal, but Kane ran the damn show, and Principal Maddox was just a puppet.

Kane even convinced them to spend an extra $500,000 just to move the football field back 10 yards so the building would fit on the space of land next to the far right end zone. Everything was new, from the scoreboard to the layer of astroturf that covered the field. Even the locker rooms were new and pristine and hardly smelled of socks and sweat. Every accent was adorned in either black, silver, or powder blue - our school's colors.

The incoming freshmen on the football team filed out of the locker room with bags of equipment, since it was the hierarchy of the team for any newbie vying for a spot on the team to handle the manual labor. I didn't make the rules, but whatever was carried out on me my freshman year I made sure to enforce now that I was the reigning senior.

I took my time lacing up my fresh Nike cleats, watching the rest of my team file out and await my orders. The "C" they put on my jersey was like unspoken law of the land, and it meant nobody was above me. The team didn't wear shoulder pads the first few days of practice, which meant the offense wasn't running plays against the scout defense. In football for dummies language, it meant that gave me and Chris time to assess the team as a whole before the coaches joined us next week.

I walked out onto the field, inhaling the scent of fresh cut grass and burning rubber from the track that wrapped around the field. If my soul had a smell, that would be it.

The rest of the team was huddled around Chris and Anthony in the center of the field, but I didn't bother joining them. Instead, I climbed up the bleachers and surveyed the football field like a monarch overlooking my kingdom, and every player on the team doing warmups in perfect unison like soldiers. 10 up-downs, followed by 10 jumping jacks, followed by 10 high-knees, and so on. I ruled, and everyone fucking knew it.

Chris joined me and nudged me with his elbow, jerking his head towards the other side of the field. "We've got company," he muttered.

Kaia Greene marched down the far sideline of the football field from where the women's locker room was. A cohort of teammates trailed behind her, all in pleated black skirts and baby blue tops, like an army of their own on their way to ransack my football team with their field hockey sticks.

Kaia's long dark hair swung behind her, and anyone with two eyes knew she was attractive, but all that was overshadowed by the murderous tendencies she harbored towards me since our freshman year.

Ever since I beat her in a team debate in American History, she'd had it out for me. We were at each other's throats in academics and athletics. My football team had more trophies and accolades than her field hockey team, but her lacrosse team had more trophies and accolades than my baseball team. If I became the youngest team captain in our school's football program history, she had to be the youngest team captain for the field hockey team. If I got a 99 on our trigonometry final, she got 100. It came full circle now as her and I were each other's competition for Valedictorian, I just didn't expect to get into it with her before school had even started.

And as fitting as it could possibly be, she gripped her field hockey stick like an axe on her way to chop my head off.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" I sneered.

"I think we're about to find out." Chris pointed towards her, and her glare was fixed on the two of us. She continued across the football field, snaking her way through players running drills, determined and unflinching.

"Get off my field Dallas Gunther." Kaia stood in front of the bleachers and craned her neck up to shoot daggers at Chris and I.

I hopped off the bleachers and stared her down, thankful I had at least a foot over her. I turned back to Chris and grinned. "Look what we have here - the Princess of Ugly Skirts has graced us with her presence."

Chris snickered, which turned Kaia's face bright red.

"That's rich, coming from the King of the Dancing Monkeys," Kaia shot back.

"Dancing monkeys or not, I'm pretty sure the King still supersedes the Princess for succession to the throne." I shrugged.

Kaia groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Listen Dallas. It's too early, and I don't have the capacity to argue with you today. I booked a 9 am practice for the field hockey team. You and your goon squad were not on the list." She poked me in the chest. "So get lost."

I stuck out my bottom lip out and pouted dramatically. "Oh, that's too bad. You see, I have 10 different scouts from Division 1 schools coming tomorrow, so I need the field to get my guys ready." I shooed her away like she was a fly and glared down at her. "So you get lost."

Kaia clenched her jaw. "Are you kidding me?" she groaned through grit teeth.

"I'm dead fucking serious. You want to know why?" I put my hands down on Kaia's shoulders and spun her around to face the press box at the top of the bleachers.

"That's why." I pointed to a large white banner that hung from the press box. In bold letters it read CONNECTICUT GROUP IV HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL STATE CHAMPIONS - 2018, 2019.

I spun Kaia back around to face me, and for a moment her hazel eyes flashed with dejection, but it was gone as quickly as it came, and she was back to daggers.

"Until you start winning your own state titles, which will most likely be never, you're on my turf, and what I say goes." I took a step back and fell into line next to Chris, along with Anthony and Cal who had joined our circle. The guys exchanged high fives behind me and continued laughing.

"You're insufferable," Kaia snapped.

I continued to grin and took a bow. "Thank you, m'lady."

Kaia groaned and turned to walk away, but spun back around as the guys continued to laugh and before I could process what she was going to do, she whacked my shin with her field hockey stick. Hard.

I stumbled back and winced in pain. "What the fuck, Kaia!" I had pads on under my football pants, but as much as I hated to admit it, Kaia was one of the best field hockey forwards in the state, and even though her swing wasn't at full force, I'd still have a black and blue welt there tomorrow.

"You're welcome asshole," Kaia spat before turning on her heel and walking back across the football field. I watched her gather her team and retreat into the locker room.

I felt a pang of guilt in my chest, but then my shin started to throb and I shook off any remorse I had over Kaia, even though when she looked back at me, her eyes glistened with hurt.

bad attitude, tellin' who to calm down?
tryna cool it all down
who's callin' my name? who's involved now?

can't have everything / drake

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So, your first introduction to Kaia, and her uh...relationship with Dallas. What kind of role do you think Kaia will play in Dallas's life? It may not be what you think ;)

Let me know your thoughts on chapter 2!

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