The Revenge You Seek by Tracy Lorraine
Kane
"Whoa, look who decided to show their face. Classes started this morning, you know," Devin barks as I join him and the twins in their kitchen.
"Fuck off," I grunt. "I was busy."
"Our old man taking liberties again?"
"Something like that," I mutter. "One for me?" I ask, nodding at the beer in Devin's hand.
"Sure thing, man."
He pulls one from the refrigerator and throws it over. I catch it easily and knock the top off.
"Behind before you've even started. Not the best start to your college career, Legend."
"Whatever, nerd." I rub my hand on Ellis's head and jump up on the counter. "So, what have I missed?"
"They wouldn't know. Both were so fucking hungover they missed classes."
"And you're giving me shit?" I balk at Devin and Ezra.
"Was worth it though, right?" Ezra says, looking at Devin with a smirk.
"Hell yeah, she was a filthy bitch."
"Christ, I'm gonna unpack."
I leave them behind to relive their previous night's antics and I'm not surprised to hear another set of footsteps behind me as I jog up the stairs to the bedroom I know is mine.
"You ready for this?" Ellis asks me and when I look over my shoulder, I find him leaning back against the doorframe with his arms folded over his chest.
"Of course, man." His brow rises suspiciously. "I earned this just as much as you did."
"I know, I know," he says, holding his hands up in defeat. "I'm not saying you're an idiot or anything."
"Right, so what are you saying?"
"That you're about to piss a lot of people off."
I can't help but laugh. "Yeah, that's half the fun. The Panthers have no clue what's about to hit them."
"Coach is gonna be pissed you missed today."
"Probably. He'll get over it."
Turning away from him, I open my bag and start pulling my clothes out, ready to find homes for them.
"How was your first day seeing as you were the only one who made it?"
"It was good. Different."
"Most places are, compared to Harrow Creek High," I mutter, thinking of the jungle we've all thankfully left behind.
Ellis and Ezra have only just graduated, whereas I've been out of that shithole for over a year now after retaking my senior year.
I should have been here a year ago, but life got in the way in the form of my brother getting a one-way ticket to juvie for a year and I had other things aside than my own future to think about.
But a year later, and I'm ready to take Maddison Kings by storm, or more importantly, their championship winning football team.
A smile curls at my lips as I think about the reactions I'm going to get tomorrow when I walk into the locker rooms to join the team.
As far as I know, Coach Butler hasn't announced my impending arrival.
I can almost picture the look on the Dunns faces in my mind and it sends a thrill shooting down my spine.
Those fuckers walked all over the Harriers every single game we played in high school. Not to mention they took a certain golden-skinned beauty under their wing after she left Harrow Creek.
Anger burns through me as I think about her and how we left things at that party last year. It was never my intention to let her go like I did. But the second the sirens started and the sound of everyone fleeing from the house filtered down to us, I had no choice but to run with them.
If I knew what was going to unfold, I might have done things a little differently.
I sigh, dropping to the end of my bed as I think about leaving Kyle behind in our home in Rosewood to follow my dream of college football.
He's eighteen now, more than capable of looking after himself but without any other family, it's my job to worry about him.
Thanks to his stint in juvie, he's retaking his senior year as well. He's already secured his place playing for the Rosewood Bears and has even scored vice-captain.
I can only hope I can get my new ball career off to such a flying start. I think it might be wishful thinking.
"You okay?" Ellis asks, startling me. I'd totally forgotten he was watching me.
"Yeah, just worried about Kyle."
"He'll be fine. Plus, he's got his girl with him, right?"
"Yeah," I say with a laugh, thinking of Baby Hunter.
Trust my fucking brother to fall in love with the sister of the girl who's ruined my life. I know I've done plenty of bad things in my twenty years, but fuck karma, she really is a bitch.
"He's a good kid, he'll be fine," Ellis says as if they're not the same age.
"He is," I agree. Juvie wasn't his fault.
Okay, so yeah, his pockets were full of blow and he was found with a drugged girl in his arms. But neither were his fault.
My fists curl as I think of the one responsible for everything that night.
"You want my notes from our business class earlier?"
"You mind?" I ask, glad to have something else to think about than everything we've left behind.
"Get yourself sorted then come find me. I can't help with the others though, you'll need some other sucker for that."
I think about the other class that I missed today. When it became apparent that I wasn't going to make it this morning, I sent an apology email to my professors spouting some bullshit about food poisoning and my sincere apologies. I have no idea if they bought it, and I don't really give a shit, to be honest. One has replied with his presentation and information on the first assignment but I have yet to hear from the others. Probably not a good sign.
I make quick work of putting my clothes away before dropping my books to my desk and plugging my charger in by the side of the queen-sized bed.
The room isn't much. It's the smallest of all the ones in this house but I can't complain seeing as I don't actually have to pay for it, well not with actual money anyway.
I glance around the small room. The walls are dark gray, the dresser, bedframe, nightstand, and small desk are all black and there's a cracked mirror in the corner, I'm hoping that the bad luck that came with that left with the room's previous resident because hell knows I've had enough bad luck to last a lifetime.
With a notebook and a pen in hand, I leave my room behind and go in search of Ellis. He's probably the only Harris brother that deserves his place here at MKU but thanks to who their father is, both Devin and Ezra have found themselves here, along with me, although their intentions for this experience vary hugely from mine.
I want a future. A chance.
They're having their puppet strings pulled by their father.
"Hit me with it," I say, dropping down onto Ellis's bed, ready to embark on this whole college thing.
* * *
I sit bolt upright in bed the next morning the second my alarm starts blaring from my cell on the nightstand.
It's still dark and my brain fights to come to life and remember why the hell I need to be awake so early.
Hell, right now I don’t even know where I am.
It’s not an unusual feeling after the past couple of years, and one I’m hoping to see the back of soon.
Glancing around in the darkness, realization sets in and a smile begins to twitch at my lips.
Today’s the first day of the rest of my life. The first day of putting Victor Harris and his demanding, controlling ways behind me and embarking on the life I’ve always dreamed of.
With my body suddenly on board with the situation, I throw the covers off, drag on a pair of shorts followed by the MKU Panthers jersey I ordered when all of this was set into place. I needed a reminder that everything could turn out as it should after all the shit.
Shoving my feet into my sneakers, I throw my duffel over my shoulder and make my way down to the kitchen.
I make myself a quick protein shake and throw a couple of bottles of water into my bag before heading out.
The house is still in silence behind me as I pull the front door closed.
Turning the key in my old Nissan Skyline, I turn the volume up and back out of the driveway, my thumb tapping the wheel along with the beat.
There’s a lightness to my body that I haven’t felt in… forever.
I know what’s to come isn’t going to be straightforward. I’m aware that the chances of being welcomed to the team with open arms and wide smiles is unlikely but knowing there’s fuck-all Luca Dunn or any of the others can do about it makes it that much sweeter.
The drive to the training facility is short and by the time I’m pulling to a stop beside the other cars already in the lot, excitement is buzzing through my veins.
I jog to the door and wrench it open, stepping through and breathing in the scent of the slightly overpowering air freshener they use, I assume to cover up the smell of the sweaty guys who are constantly filling the space.
The entrance is empty but as I get closer to the locker room door, the sound of muffled voices filters down to me.
I clench my fists as my excitement almost becomes too much to bear.
I slow to almost a complete stop outside the door, suck in a few deep breaths and run my fingers through my hair, pushing it back from my brow for a few seconds.
I want to remember this moment. The moment I show those assholes on the other side of the door that I’m not the nobody they think I am. That I’m not the loser captain of the Harriers who bombed out of the division every single year. That I’m not forever going to be held back by the shithole place I was unlucky enough to be born into.
I’m Kane fucking Legend and the Panthers have no clue what’s about to hit them.
I nod to myself and widen my shoulders and slam my palm down on the purple door.
The chatter gets louder for a few seconds as I step into the room. The scent of the air freshener dies out and is replaced by the familiar scent of sweat, mud and deodorant as slowly, almost every set of eyes in the room turn on me and the silence and tension becomes almost overbearing.
I look from each face to the next. Most are oblivious as to who I am and the importance of this moment but then I find a familiar set of eyes. They’re narrowed and filled with an anger I’m all too used to.
We’ve hated each other on and off the field for years. Despite the fact we’ve never actually spent any time together outside of a stadium, we both know that the mutual hatred and rivalry that festers inside of us will always stop us from being friends.
“What the fuck?” Luca barks, his lips curling in disgust as his fists curl at his sides.
“Don’t tell me Coach didn’t tell his beloved starting quarterback that he’s expecting a new wide receiver any day now.” The smugness in my tone rings out loud and clear through the locker room.
There are a couple of gasps from the few guys who know who I am, one in particular over Luca’s shoulders looks about ready to murder me right here on the spot—rightly so after the shit I’ve put his sister through, I guess.
“You’re lying,” Luca grits out as his sidekick and twin brother steps up beside him.
I smile at Leon although it’s totally insincere. I have no intention of making friends with any of these assholes.
I’m here for one reason and one reason only.
To play fucking football.
I was scouted during my first attempt at senior year. Our team might have been beyond abysmal, but I never was. I was the best thing the Harrow Creek Harriers had seen in a very long time, but even as good as I might be, my skill can hardly carry an entire team.
I did my best, and it was helped when Kyle, my little brother, stepped up to play with me but still, we were never going to turn the rest of the pilled-up, hungover, trailer trash that surrounded us every practice into a real team of winners, it just was never going to happen.
But without enough credits to graduate, I couldn’t accept my place as a Panther. So I retook the year, fucking bossed it, and was ready to make the move to Maddison until my little fucking brother got himself locked up.
But I guess, like they say, everything happens for a reason, because here I am about to claim my rightful place right alongside the Dunn twins as first string wide receiver. A position I’m sure many guys who are staring at me right now would give their left testicle for.
“Am I?” I ask, throwing my duffel down on the bench before me and unzipping my hoodie to reveal my Panthers jersey beneath.
“Y-you have to be. You can’t just turn up like this. That’s not how shit works.”
“Not in your world, maybe. But in mine, I’m right where I should be.”
Turning back to him, I find Luca’s lips pressed into a thin line, the muscles down his neck and across his shoulders straining to the point I wonder if they could snap, and his fist clenched, ready to throw a punch that I know he’s been desperate to land for a few years now.
My smile widens as my eyes hold his.
I take a step closer and I swear everyone around us sucks in a deep breath, preparing for us to go up against each other.
“Do you happen to know which locker is mine?” I ask innocently.
“This is not fucking happen—” His words are cut off as the door at the other end of the long room swings open and crashes back against the wall.
While some of the others around us go back to what they were doing before I entered and interrupted things, Luca and Leon don’t move, and neither do I. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I cower down to the fucking Dunn twins. So what, their daddy is ex-NFL. So what, they’ve got more money than I’d know what to do with.
“Ah good, I see you’re getting to know our new receiver.”
Luca’s eyes narrow to slits before he turns to Coach.
“Yeah, about that—” Luca starts marching toward the man in charge. “Do you know who he is?”
Silence once again descends on the locker room, most of them probably wanting to know the answer to that question.
“Yeah, the best damn receiver in the state. No offense, Dunn,” he says, his eyes briefly flicking to Leon.
“I don’t give a shit how good he is, he shouldn’t be here,” Luca barks, trailing after Coach when he turns toward his office.
“Get in there, Dunn,” he chastises. “Get your asses in the gym, ladies. Your muscles ain’t gonna strengthen themselves.” At his word, everyone jumps into action. “Legend,” he says, tilting his chin up in greeting. “Good to see you’re feeling better. Welcome to the team, son.”
I smile at him, it’s the most genuine one I’ve given anyone in a pretty long time.
I might not be wanted here by many, but fuck, I feel more at home here already than I have in years, even with the hate stares still being thrown my way from a few, mainly Zayn Hunter.
