Chapter Eleven: He Made a Dream With Him

When Keith was in Elementary, aside from Nick, no one approached him to be their friend, but he has always felt that there were many people around watching him. It was too uncomfortable. When he was a fifth-grader, a girl in her class took all the courage she had with her two best friends by her side to ask Keith to be her boyfriend.

At that time, Keith already knew he could never see the opposite sex as attractive. So he turned her down with one cold sentence. "I don't like you."

The girl cried loudly after that. Everyone in the class sympathized with her. The alienation he experienced before got worse. The pairs of eyes that stared at him were filled with malice and envy. At least, that's how Keith perceived it. They're just kids… the boundary between innocence and ignorance was nonexistent at that stage. They're innocent and ignorant at the same time. On the other hand, Keith was also a kid by then, but he understood pretty well how people reacted when he didn't like the girl… Keith wasn't the innocent one, nor was he ignorant in others' eyes.

In middle school, he has seen few people like him. They're coming out of the closet and started living their truths. At first, some people would mock them, especially those vocal about their gender expression, but more people embraced who they were and respected their gender and sexuality. It was a sight he felt envious secretly.

In eighth grade, he accidentally saw two of his classmates, both girls, kissing in their classroom when they excused themselves from PE because of their synced periods. It was the first time he saw people like him loving and being loved simultaneously. It drew him to read a genre different from the fantasy and adventure he typically read… the romance between same-sex couples.

Keith got hooked on reading about novels with written fluffs he doesn't get to enjoy in reality. He read Omegaverse… a universe where some men can get pregnant. A fantasy for same-sex couples to give birth to a child in a society that normalizes family building between non-heterosexuals. It was a universe filled with stereotypes, discrimination, and cruelty, and sex was treated as a matter of flesh and animalistic instinct and not of human rationality. Then somewhere in between, two people of different caste find each other, fall in love, have lots of sex, have babies, and have a happily ever after. It was a weird genre, but he enjoyed it.

He also read slice-of-life BL and GL novels. These stories show how two people of the same sex navigate their day-to-day lives as they go through circumstances that readers find relatable and real. However, most of the time, Keith can't relate to them… maybe because he's just a kid and doesn't have many experiences yet. Or maybe because all his life, hiding who he is has limited him from taking a bite of that slice.

Among his lists on his virtual library, his favorite would be Fantasy, Adventure, plus Romance. He liked reading about a world where these gays can have so much power aside from the rainbow. Cultivation and martial arts novels are practically his bias. A field dominated by masculinity and patriarchy, but the novels painted protagonists who can compete and stand at the same stage as the tyrants and self-proclaimed righteous sects. These novels feature protagonists who are not damsels in distress but warriors, protagonists who value brotherhood, family, and soul mates. And it has a gay protagonist who can fight for a righteous cause.

His eyes became blurry as time passed by. He needed thicker lenses to see the words written, and he found a world different from his on every page, in every chapter, and in every book he read. Then, he decided to paint a world, write a dream, and share a story he could narrate to people like him.

However, he realized that writing fiction is hard because he's always pulled back from his daydream to his reality. He has a big warm family with big expectations from him. He's expected to get a science degree and become a researcher with a Ph.D., or he can be a doctor with a high salary and prestige... These demands from his parents were too far from his dream to be a writer.

Aside from a premeditated career, he also has to find a wife who has a good upbringing and excellent background and build a family with her. As a male who can carry their family surname, giving them healthy grandsons or granddaughters is his responsibility. It was an unspoken demand that was very impossible because Keith is gay.

And lastly, Kieth must be a good son… a vague expectation where questions of morals and values equate to whether he can save or lose his face not just in front of his family but other people.

So, Keith chose to indulge himself in the online novels, which people thought to be full of nonsense, to flee from all the suffocation he felt from time to time.

Falling in love and dating this early was not in Keith's plan. But it happened.

They're seatmates and close friends at school, but their hands are clasped together tightly under the desk. Keith spent the following days of afterschool at Drake's place. They did their homework, watched Drama on TV, chatted about random things, cooked delicious meals, ate at the table, and made out.

Keith brought the dress and dog food home from Drake. Despite being male and not a fancy breed, Kookie wore the blue plaid jump-suit-like dress. It looked unbearably cute in Keith's eyes, and it would be a pity not to post his pictures on social media. He posted his selfie with Kookie for Drake to see how much he loved the gift.

…

After two weeks, they decided to go to the city and have their first date. Keith styled his hair, put on some cologne over his black sweater and denim jeans, and wore the shoes his sister Kyrie gave him a year ago for his birthday, a limited edition model Keith can't remember. He left his room finally like someone of his age, a handsome and chic teenage boy.

"Woah! Are you going to a birthday party?" His mom asked, putting the magazine away on the coffee table when she saw her son looking good and dressed up. "Remember to bring home dinner and take my Tupperware with you."

Keith laughed. "I'm not. I'm just going out with my friends." He explained.

"You're wearing Kyrie's gift. They look so good on you, but they're so expensive. Change it."

"Ma… It's my first time wearing her gift. Please, just this once." He hugged her and clung to her for a favor.

Tsk! His mother clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes but agreed. "Okay. Do you have enough money?" She asked.

"I have enough, ma. Kyrie gave me so much allowance. I'm probably the second richest student at school." He joked.

"And Drake is the richest!" She grinned. "For your birthday, invite your friends, especially Drake, for dinner here. Okay?"

"Thanks, ma!" Keith was so happy, and he kissed her cheek before he left.

Drake waved his hand a few blocks away from their house, and his head was poking outside a black Audi.

"You brought your student permit, right? I don't have one yet, so you have to drive for me." Drake handed him the key as soon as Keith sat on the driver's seat.

"She's looking pretty. Is this yours?" Keith asked as he pressed the brake with his foot and inserted the key. "I'm used to driving a manual car, though. You're really trusting this baby in my hands?"

Drake leaned in to help him buckle his seatbelt. "You're looking prettier to me, babe." He also leaned for a light kiss.

While Keith's right foot was still on the clutch pedal, he moved the shifter to 'D,' and they moved forward. "You're flattering me again. But getting called 'babe' sounds good!"

On the highway, while Drake was vibing with a k-pop song from a girl group, he was moving his hands and upper body to the upbeat rhythm while humming. Keith was always taught by his father to put his eyes on the road when driving, but his line of sight always catches how sexy and cute Drake looks when he's enjoying himself with the music he likes.

"Babe, when you get your license, let's go on a road trip! How about that?" Drake cutely started a plan with him for the future.

"You'll turn eighteen earlier than me. Why should we wait until I get my license? We'd wait until next year if we wait for it." Keith was a bit adamant, but he liked the idea of a road trip with Drake in the future to the point that his smile showed his deep dimples. From Drake's point of view, a smiling side profile of Keith while driving was very sexy, but he kept it to himself. "Babe, when you're eighteen, maybe you can get your parent's permission, and we can go a little farther. That's what I was thinking, not because I want you to be my driver. Okay?"

Keith found it reasonable but a little impossible regarding his parents' permission. "We'll see about that when I'm eighteen." His smile slightly faded, and then it came back again. "My mom wants you to go to our house for dinner on my birthday, well, of course, with Jude and Rocky, but she specifically asked for you to be there!"

"But you have so many dogs, babe! They'll kill me once they find out I stole you from them!" Drake joked, but he was terrified deep within.

Keith laughed. He has no idea what to do about that. "Babe, they'd stay in the cabin whenever we have guests. So, I'm sure it'll be okay."

Drake blushed. "Getting called 'babe' really sounds so good!"

When they parked in the underground parking area of the mall, Drake and Keith shared a few kisses first.

"Babe, we've hanged out together and watched movies before with the others… but I feel like this is our first time going to a movie date together," Drake said.

"Correction, I only hung out with you guys in the mall once. And you were so occupied with goofing off and picking up girls. So, it's our first time here alone together on a movie date." Keith struggle not to insert a curse word since he noticed Drake didn't like hearing so much of it.

"Sorry about that, babe." Drake licked his lips. When a gap between Keith's lips opened, the tongue swiftly made its way inside. He sucked Keith's spit and ravished his lips.

DrakeDrake said he'd wait until Keith was ready, but God knows how hypocritical the sentence was and the utterer. He's unrestrained when it comes to carnal fantasies. Before accepting his feelings for Keith, he had already wanted to taste Keith's cheeks. His desire kept piling up day by day through their daily interactions. He wanted to make love to him and make him his… such torrid kisses may satisfy him now, but it was hard to imagine how much patience could last him to endure it. Contrary to his reputation as a player, he had never had sex before and had little intimate interaction with his past "girlfriends."

However, despite his carnal desire and feelings for Keith, he wanted to love him the right way. And he knows that they have to think things through and through because sex may sound enticing for high school boys, but there are consequences, responsibilities, and weight that comes with sex, mainly because they're a same-sex couple. People may think he's rich enough to carry that weight… but no. He doesn't have that luxury.

The sentences "We're still minors" and "I'll wait until you're ready" are for himself too. Drake has to hold back.

Keith felt that his crotch was suffocated in his denim pants, but Drake pulled out and hugged him tightly. A sign that the make-out session was adjourned, and he's left with a blue ball. They hugged tightly, comforting each other. Drake wanted to resist temptation, while Keith was reluctantly trying to forgive a boyfriend who seemed to want to be as holy as monks and proper as eunuchs.