Dip you in honey //dnf//

Chapter 1 And Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Dream is a jealous person — he always has been.

It's his need to be recognized, be the best, and never the second option that's made him this way. When he's not, green fire flares underneath his skin in a way that's excruciatingly painful for anyone around him to endure. He can be ruthless, willing to do anything to be the best at whatever it is he wants — even if that means hurting someone in the long run. And for as long as Dream can remember, it's always been this way.

Like this one time in high school when Dream was almost valedictorian — almost.

He had sworn up and down and placed bets with his friends that he would be it. But when the day came, and it was announced that Dream was deemed salutatorian, all hell broke loose — only quietly, though, and only for Dream.

His skin had burned with a vicious bite every time he looked in the direction of the girl who won that high-status title over him. He had wanted that title written in cursive on his gravestone, so he tried everything to manipulate her grade point average. Nothing ever worked; it was too close to the end of the semester to do anything about it, so all he could do was sulk in silence.

There had also been a situation when Dream played football.

His friend—Seth—got football captain over him. And though Dream did congratulate Seth for gaining that title, it didn't stop him from tackling him during one of their practices, leaving Seth with a broken foot. Seth couldn't play for the rest of the season, so his coach deemed Dream captain of the team.

Dream did apologize to Seth eventually, even if he didn't mean any of his words.

Jealousy isn't the best look on him—Dream knows this from experience—but he can't control it. He can't control how the green flames rake over his body and burn him alive. It's something he can't help, something he has to live with for the rest of his measly life. But when Dream applied to be a theatre teacher, he genuinely thought that having a position of power over so many students would lessen the green fire. But it didn't. Instead, the flames turned into a full-fledged forest fire. And it's all because of one person.

George Davidson—the pretty photography teacher from room thirty-four who Dream absolutely loathes—ignites every nerve in Dream's body with quiet rage that rumbles steadily. It's like this for the pure fact that George has what Dream so desperately wants.

George has recognition and power—he has so much power—over everyone. He's someone nobody can say no to; with the way he bats his eyelashes and pulls those stupid puppy dog eyes, how can they? It makes Dream seize up with pure hatred. George is stupidly annoying, never knows when to shut up. He's pushy, tyrannic, unprofessional, and worst of all, he's so goddamn persistent.

"Hi, Clay!"

The use of his real name dripping from George's honey-combed voice has Dream wallowing in despair, gripping the handle of the teacher's lounge as he closes the door with a short click. His eyes find the small figure of the teacher standing in front of the coffee pot.

"Would you like some coffee?" George's voice sounds like the shrill of summer, dipped in golden honey; it's the only way to describe it. "I made too much."

Dream walks over to the refrigerator, burning jealous holes into the back of George's head the entire journey. George's fingers are daintily curled around the length of a silver spoon, lazily stirring the coffee in his cup with gentle strokes. Why does he have to be in here right now? He's only making things substantially worse for Dream.

"No," he says, possibly laced with more irritation than before, "I don't." Dream grips the handle of the fridge, the clicking of metal on metal from his rings scraping up against the cast-iron makes a shiver run down his spine.