roller derby queen ~ j.g.

seven

"order!"

dakota turned around from the window to reach into the cooler and throw another steak on the grill. it was a friday night and the steakhouse was busy, as per usual, and she was, of course, the only cook. typical.

"so you've got a stupidly pretty roommate and no clue how you're going to get through the school year dealing with it. what's new?" autumn, her manager, was leaning against one of the counters. she handed dakota a plate as dakota rolled her eyes.
"i didn't deal with a stupidly pretty roommate last year. my roommate last year was ugly. she just hated gay people and decided that i was some sort of predator and treated me like shit for it." the timer for her baked potatoes started going off and she grabbed an oven mitt to get them out. "big difference."

autumn tilted her head and drew her mouth into a line. "dakota, if you've gotten through that, then you can get through this. and besides, you're hopefully getting a new placement soon right? so maybe you won't even have to deal with her over the weekends, just after school. and you have derby practice most of that time anyway." dakota threw the potatoes in the warmer before taking the oven mitts off and putting them on the counter.
"you've got a point. she plays hockey too, so she's out of the dorm more than i am. maybe i'll be okay. i just won't talk to her unless strictly necessary." autumn listened through the whole sentence before doing a double take.
"wait, what do you mean she plays hockey? like, field hockey?" dakota shook her head.
"no, like actual ice hockey, with the skates? that's the reason i didn't really think i'd like her at first. hockey players at that school just seem to be assholes."

dakota turned back to the grill to flip her steaks. autumn didn't answer, so dakota looked at her after a few seconds, only to see autumn giving her a look that could only be described with the words 'are you shitting me right now'. dakota scoffed. "what? why are you looking at me like that?" autumn threw her hands in the air and shook her head.
"HELLO! hockey playing girl? totally some sort of gay. there's no way she's not." dakota just rolled her eyes.
"you don't know that. just because it was like that when you were in high school doesn't mean it's like that now. two of the three girl players on that team have a boyfriend, and i don't even know if julie does or not. there's no real way to tell if she's gay or not." autumn just shrugged.
"so find out." and with that, she left to do her managerial duties, leaving dakota alone with her thoughts about stereotypes, hockey, and blue eyed blondes.

friday nights were always brutal for dakota, so there was nothing else in the world she wanted to do more than go back to the dorm and sleep for hours. her piece of shit car actually started and autumn let her take some leftover cheesecake back to the dorms with her, so honestly? she wasn't feeling too bad about how the night went. at least, not until she got back to the dorms and saw none other than matthew cole standing in the doorway of jaylah's room, talking to her in what dakota was sure was a lecture about something or another. maybe if i just stay really quiet, he won't-
"blakely. great to see you again." he said sarcastically.

fuck. dakota just pulled her mouth into a line, not looking for a fight tonight. damn it, she just wanted some sleep. why do you hate me, god?

"it's fancy seeing you here. what are you doing down here, blakely?" again with the fucking last name? i know my own name, thank you. she swallowed, trying to keep her temper under control.
"going to my dorm room, cole. what are you doing here, in the girls' dorms, where boys aren't supposed to be?" cole just smirked. he always had thought he was above the rules.

"just trying to keep jaylah in line. i would hate for her to end up like some of her... special teammates. right, jay?" dakota glanced in the room. jaylah seemed terrified, and dakota felt so bad for her it hurt. she was stuck between a rock and a hard place: insult dakota, which dakota wouldn't mind but would make jaylah feel guilty to the point of sickness, or stand up to her brother. no one had ever seen what happened when she did that.

jaylah swallowed. "right, matt." cole just smirked.
"would hate to see her turn into a dyke just because she's surrounded by them." it took all dakota had not to flinch. jaylah did. dakota just made eye contact with her and tried her hardest to tell her that it was okay through her eyes. she wasn't sure if jaylah got the message or not. she just shook her head and turned around to go down the hallway to her dorm, already too tired to deal with him anymore that night. he called down the hallway for her. she didn't stop.

"hey! i'm talking to you!" he tried again. dakota kept walking. this time he followed it up. "you stay away from my sister, blakely. i'm warning you right now. you get those filthy hands around her and it's not going to be pretty." she heard him slam jaylah's dorm door and jumped, then sighed. only the first week of school over and she already had to deal with this bullshit. she shook her head. nothing she hadn't gone through before. she just needed to get to the dorm and crash so she could have good dreams of punching his stupid crooked teeth out of his head.