Salutatorians

[Baby Jemma]

(Yes, I know I should continue my Dragon Quest AR story, but three ideas for this site have really struck me lately - one of which, thus far, is eighty-four Google Doc pages thus far, and likely will push into the 500-page range. No, this is not that story; I want to absolutely finish it before posting here - and this is the one I've found the most time working on lately, so this is the story I'm gonna post here. I don't know at what intervals I can post it; I thought I had it with the Dragon Quest story, but I have three chapters done so far, and I'm closing in on a fourth and more. Let's just say a monthly updating schedule?)

 

(Anyway, this is Salutatorians! It's a much darker spin on a Daddy Dom-Little Girl story, not because of any punishments or sexual stuff in particular - the former because I'm not into punishments by a parental figure because I've had those punishments done as a kid for no reason in the past and I'm averse to it, and the latter because I'm a virgin and won't write sex scenes when I have no idea how to write them - but because of just how dark this story gets for the characters. As trigger warnings, suicide, mental illness, violence, abuse of children (including sexual (not shown), physical, and emotional), domestic violence, cursing (including sexist rhetoric), and explicit description of injury (including blood, broken bones, and torn ligaments).)

 

(If you haven't been scared off yet, I promise to write this story to the best of my ability, and I promise that, while I will not shy away from any of those trigger warnings, I will write it as tactfully and as respectfully to those who still wish to read it as I possibly can. These things are not in the story for anything other than plot reasons; this, I swear with all of my heart and soul. But I've said my piece. It's up to you if you want to read or not. I hope you'll read, but I won't be upset if you don't; I'm writing this story as much for me as for you.)

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Chapter One: Yet Another Date.

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Eiluned Mostyn was silent as she prepared her large black tote bag, black gloves, an ankle-length black hooded down coat, and a hot-pink scarf for the cold February Minnesota weather, ready for another dinner date.

 

The college sophomore - formerly from Torfaen, Wales (Cwmbran, if one wanted to get personal) - had tried for a fair few dates with men on Tinder. Those fair few had claimed they were Welsh, claimed they knew her from school or whatever, claimed a lot of things that, after she dug deeper, weren’t true. She always ended up swiping left for most of the cases, and the few dates she had gone for had gone nowhere.

 

This new guy seemed interesting…because she remembered him from a long while back.

 

Ifor Sealy. Just a month older than she was, both of them being twenty years of age. Moved to Tennessee from Wales like she had (except he had been from Bridgend). She remembered him from middle school in eighth grade before she moved away to Minnesota the following year, and lost contact with him.

 

And now he showed up? Out of the blue? Like nothing ever happened?

 

Sure, Eiluned had done her research; the profile proved that he was exactly who he said he was, and for some reason, according to his Facebook and Twitter pages, he had transferred to Minnesota - THE University of Minnesota, where she was studying mechanical engineering - for reasons all his own (i.e., football).

 

But why? Why had he moved here, of all the places he could’ve moved? Surely it didn’t have to do with…her, right?

 

No, couldn’t be. Absolutely couldn’t be!

 

She shook her head and shivered as she stepped into the chilly evening air, got into her car - a beat up Honda - turned the key into the ignition, and drove off to the meeting site: Hell’s Kitchen Minneapolis, a popular hotspot for the college crowd.

 

It wasn’t that far, but she didn’t feel comfortable walking to dates. Too many horror stories, and she was smarter than that. She was one of the best students, a salutatorian in her Minnesota high school. She worked hard for everything she had. And yet…

 

Eiluned froze, trying to drive…it out of her mind. It was her own horror story that made her this way. She didn’t want to think about it. It was something she had worked hard to get rid of, and yet, it was always at the back of her mind, and it stayed there on the short drive to the place, all the way until she pulled into the parking lot, where Ifor was already there, apparently waiting for her.

 

The first thing about Ifor that she noted was that he was a lot bigger than her (although she shouldn’t have been surprised; he was an offensive line transfer from Vanderbilt). She was small at 5’1”, 105 pounds, and he absolutely dwarfed her, like a full-grown redwood tree would dwarf a sapling; he had to be 6’7”, 295 pounds. His hair was down past his shoulder blades, a curly ginger mop that he had tucked away from his gleaming ocean-blue eyes; he wouldn’t have looked out of place in a movie about Celtic warriors, except for his gap-toothed grin showing a playful side of him. He wore a coat that was a surprising fit over a black dress shirt, khaki pants, and a pair of worn brown boots that looked like they had at least been cleaned for the date.

 

Well, you certainly dressed to impress, Ifor. Now what do you want?

 

Eiluned sighed, brushing her dark-brown bangs away from her sage-green eyes.

 

"Helo, Ifor,” she began calmly. “Shwmae?”

 

"Da iawn, diolch, Eiluned,” he replied with an accent that was decidedly not Welsh, yet somehow seeming natural to those words; he was a man who had obviously grown up in a Welsh family.

 

She gestured to the sign. “Why here?”

 

Ifor shrugged. “I hear they make a nice Lucy burger, and I’ve never had one before,” he said in a surprising Southern drawl; she had expected him to speak more…Welsh-ly.

 

"Why do you have a Southern accent, Ifor?” she asked, a little more sharply than intended.

 

To his credit, the harshness of the question seemed to roll off him. “I’ve lived in Tennessee since I was almost seven. Sorry, I bet you expected a Welsh accent?”

 

"Then how do I know you’re actually Ifor Sealy and not some creepy imposter?”

 

He sighed before reaching into his pants pocket for his wallet and giving his ID to her. “If there’s a creepy imposter my size using my name, I’d definitely be scared.”

 

She looked at the ID, noted that it was undeniable proof Ifor was who he said he was. “Fine. I apologize for misunderstanding; you can never be too careful.”

 

"If the situations were reversed, I’d do the same thing. So, are we going to stand in the cold for the night or do we go in?”

 

Eiluned nodded. “Let’s go in.”

 

---

(So, this is the first chapter. As a note, those supposedly unpronounceable words are Welsh (which is admittedly not a language I know, so please forgive me if I don't get them right, I tried my best and looked up as much as I could, and I promise to correct them if they're wrong.). I'll give you a quick translation and pronunciation (from what I could find on Google Translate and various sites):

(Helo = Hello. Pronounced "hello", obviously.)

(Shwmae = How are you? (informal). Pronounced "shoo - mai.)

(Da iawn, diolch = Very good, thanks (Pronoucned "da - yaown - dee - och (ch is the same as in "loch".)

(Cwmbran = Kuum = brawn)

 

(As for how the story goes...well, we'll certainly see what happens, won't we?)

[Baby Jemma]

Well, it's late to arrive...but here's the next chapter for Salutatorians:

 

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Chapter Two: Heaven's Kitchen.

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It was a fun atmosphere at Hell’s Kitchen Minneapolis.

 

They had gotten a couple of seats at a table next to the bar area, the red floor bright and admittedly devilish-looking.

 

Then Eiluned saw the server who came to them and her heart dropped.

 

Farzana Chatterjee. One of the smartest people Eiluned knew…and her intellectual rival. She knew that Farzana hated her because of getting the salutatorian honors over her in high school, knew that she hated her for whatever physical reason (Eiluned knew she was only pretty. Farzana was drop-dead gorgeous, and more beautiful in damn near every way, with her coffee complexion, a much larger bust, and rich caramel-brown curls, falling down to her waist), knew that she hated her for many reasons.

 

And now Farzana was their server.

 

“Hello, there,” she said with a soft smile, her doe-brown eyes warm and friendly. “Can I get you two anything?”

 

Eiluned looked at the menu quickly, knew what she wanted, looked around, saw that every other server was busy with customers. It was Farzana or nobody else.

 

“I’ll have a Darwin martini,” she said.

 

“I’ll have a Virgin Mary,” Ifor said, seemingly unaware of the history.

 

“Darwin and a Virgin, you got it,” Farzana said, sashaying away to one of the bartenders.

 

“So, this is where you were all this time.” She turned to look at Ifor, his own gap-toothed grin. She remembered that same goofy grin in middle school, the same gap-tooth that seemingly never got fixed, and that same ugly scar on his neck; red, from the front of his neck to the left side.

 

Yeah, that’s Ifor, all right. Where the hell did he get that scar…?

 

“Eiluned?” She turned to face him. “Sorry, if I seem like I’m prying,” he said apologetically.

 

“So you came here for me, is that it?” Eiluned asked calmly.

 

“Well, I never really fit in at Vandy,” Ifor said. “My sister wanted me to go there, but I never really fit in with the culture. I’m hoping Minnesota can help with that. But I admittedly did want to reconnect with you, Eiluned. You were a really nice person, and a fellow Wales native.”

 

“I didn’t think you had a sister?” she asked; from what little she remembered of him, there was an older woman who picked him up from school, but that couldn’t be his sister, right?

 

“Yeah, that was my sister, not my mum,” he said. “Moved in with her to America when I was six.”

 

“Any reason why?”

 

She noted a haunted look in his eyes, but it was gone so quickly that she wasn’t sure it was even there. “Mum and Dad died when I was young. Fire. Had nobody left in Wales, so I moved with my sister to Tennessee. She was already eighteen years older than me, so that’s where the confusion must be.”

 

“Any other siblings?” she asked without thinking.

 

He sighed. “An older brother. He’s gone from my life.”

 

His tone made it clear that it wasn’t okay to pry further, and the drinks had arrived. She took a deep sip of the Darwin, tasted the cold coffee in the cocktail. It was delicious.

 

“Anything else you’d like to order?” Farzana asked with a wink at Eiluned.

 

“Let’s try the beer-battered walleye bites as an appetizer,” Eiluned said with a smile of her own. “Walleye’s one of our famous fish from Minnesota, so I figure Ifor here could use a crash course on our cuisine.”

 

“Well, sure, I won’t say ‘no’ to more food,” he admitted. “Yeah, that would be good for now.”

 

“You’ve got it.” Another wink at Eiluned again (why was she winking at her?) before Farzana walked away.

 

“Do you have any family?” he asked with a drink of his own.

 

“Mum, a stepdad, and four older sisters,” she said dismissively, before taking another drink of the Darwin.

 

“I never knew you had older siblings,” Ifor said.

 

“They were in college when I was in middle school,” she said. “Mum never really expected me.”

 

“And your dad?”

 

“Not here.” A half-truth.

 

“Okay, off that, what do you do for fun? What are your hobbies?”

 

She sighed. “I study. I go on dates occasionally. That’s it.” A lie.

 

Ifor’s eyebrows raised. “That’s it? I was a salutatorian myself, SEC Honor Roll, and even I have time for hobbies.”

 

Eiluned gave him a double-take in shock.

 

He was a salutatorian as well? How? He doesn’t seem like the type.

 

“That’s it. I’m not a very interesting person.” A laugh.

 

“Didn’t you like to read a lot in middle school? That’s a hobby, right?”

 

“Stopped reading in high school.” Another lie, but a necessary one; her idea of hobby reading was far different than anyone else’s.

 

“What did you like to read?”

 

Dangerous territory, lie, lie, LIE!

 

“Just nonfiction stuff. For study.”

 

“Sounds interesting. What kind of nonfiction?”

 

He does sound interested…but LIE.

 

“Just stuff for school. Various mechanical stuff, how to make things work; I’m in mechanical engineering, aerospace, mostly.”

 

“Aerospace, huh? Pretty cool! I hear they pay a lot, that there’s a lot of exciting jobs.” He really did sound interested. “I’m in nursing myself.”

 

Her eyebrows raised. “Nursing? For a salutatorian? You could do anything, really. Why nursing?”

 

His eyes had a faraway look. “I’d rather help people more than anything else. I know that football is short, that I’m not going to have an NFL career; I wasn’t even a starter at Vanderbilt, let alone here. But to prove my worth in the world is one thing I want to do. I want to help people. What better way to pay things back than to be a nurse?”

 

Eiluned noted the true sincerity in his tone. Ifor really was a kind-hearted person, even back in middle school, so she shouldn’t have been surprised, but still…

 

You don’t want kind. You don’t DESERVE kind.

 

She took a deep sip of her cocktail, finishing it off. “I just want to get into aerospace and get money. That’s it.”

 

The words came out of her mouth, not meaning anything. She wanted to do more than just make money, even though aerospace would do just that. She wanted to prove herself to…

 

To WHOM, Eiluned? Your mother? Your sisters? Your stepdad? Or…someone else?

 

The walleye bites had arrived without her knowing.

 

“Do you need another cocktail?” Farzana asked them.

 

“Sure, Mexican Mule,” Eiluned replied absentmindedly.

 

“You know, I’ll have a Devilish Daiquiri this time,” Ifor said.

 

“Mexican Mule and Devilish Daiquiri, you’ve got it. And what will be the main course?” Farzana asked, winking at Ifor this time.

 

“I’ll have a prime rib French dip, add in sauteed onions, mushrooms, and cheese with tater tots as the side.”

 

Farzana jotted down the order on a notebook. “Got it. And you, sir?”

 

“I’ll have what she’s having and a Juicy Lucifer. French fries on the side.”

 

“Okay, your meals should come shortly.” Another wink at Eiluned before Farzana walked away.

 

“So, your hobbies?” she asked, looking into Ifor’s calm blue eyes, so kind, so warm, so…sad.

 

He must still carry his parents’ deaths with him…

 

“Um, well…thus far, football’s my hobby.” He took a bite of the walleye. “Wow, that’s good stuff right there.”

 

“Glad you like our state fish.”

 

“I do. Anyway, gotta work hard if I’m gonna make the team next year. But I’m also pretty good at cooking and baking, if I do say so myself. Love to cook, love to bake.”

 

Her eyebrows raised, this time with more mirth than anything. “You like to cook and bake?” she asked. “I never expected that.”

 

“I learned from my sister, mostly for long hours of babysitting.”

 

Eiluned giggled. “I didn’t see you as a babysitter,” she said with a grin.

 

Ifor was grinning as well with that funny gap-toothed grin of his. “But I did, and the kids seemed to love me. I just…well, being the youngest of my family, I always wanted to be…well, it’s hard to explain, but I always wanted to take care of people.”

 

“That’s…actually pretty cool,” she admitted.

 

“Thanks. Can’t say that in front of my football buddies, or I’ll get teased, but they know I’m a pretty good cook myself.”

 

“I won’t say a word.”

 

I might actually go on a second date for once…

 

“Thanks. But yeah, the walleye is fantastic.”

 

“You’ll love the Luci even more - you’ll want to cut into it first; the cheese can be hot - and they have a good peanut butter dessert we can share.”

 

“Oh, you know I’m in for that.”

 

The dinner and drinks had come quickly, and both of them tucked in (Eiluned immediately starting with her cocktail and Ifor waiting a minute for the Lucy to cool after he cut into it), and she knew from his wide eyes that he had found a new favorite thing.

 

“Wow! That’s…incredible! And you say this is a Minneapolis thing?”

 

“Yep.” She had finished her cocktail quickly before eating the French dip with patience; might as well wait a bit before driving home. It was still just as good slow as fast.

 

“Wow. I’m gonna have to make this a regular place.”

 

“Maybe we could both come here again?” she ventured.

 

“Really?” His eyes were wide; she could tell that he was nervous. “You mean it? I just…I don’t want to move too fast for you, you know?”

 

“Of course. I’ve been dating. You’ve been by far the best one. Don’t put yourself down, Ifor.”

 

“I…thank you, Eiluned.”

 

Soon enough, the dinner was finished (she was shocked at how much food Ifor could put away; she was pretty sure that she was almost at her limit by how tired she felt.) and Farzana was back.

 

“Any chance for dessert?” she asked.

 

“You know, I’ll have the Peanut Butter Mallow Cup,” the football player said.

 

“I’m done for the night,” Eiluned said with a giggle.

 

“Of course.” Farzana’s smile grew, and Eiluned was wondering why. “I’ll get your check.”

 

“Is it all right if I pay?” Ifor asked.

 

Eiluned shook her head, feeling a bit dizzy. “Nah, we’ll split it.”

 

“Fine by me.”

 

“All right, I’ll get you your dessert and your checks.” Farzana walked off, a bounce in her step.

 

They made small talk about where the next date was going to be (they had decided on a less expensive place like Starbucks, but she had barely paid any attention to the conversation; probably the liquor kicking in), and soon enough, the dessert and the checks were there. Ifor dug into his dessert, both of them paying the bill (and a very expensive tip for Farzana), before they left, the dizziness in her head increasing with each second.

 

Ifor caught her as she stumbled out of the door, her eyes tinged with darkness.

 

“Eiluned, are you all right?” he asked, his eyes wide with genuine concern.

 

She barely had time to shake her head before everything went black.

 

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(I realize it's late, but I wanted to do things right this chapter. Yes, Hell's Kitchen Minneapolis is a real restaurant in Minny (I don't live there, so I had to look up something where college kids could go to.), and yes, I looked up their menu (which really made me hungry).

Anyway, what's going to happen with the two? You'll find ooouuut...next time!