Life's Revised Expectations - 7. Chapter 7 - A Summer Dream

Zacharius Creston – Age 15

“Eh, at least you got me to hang out with!” Kale tried to cheer me up a bit. It was my birthday a couple of days ago, and I was feeling a little homesick. If we had waited a bit, I could have celebrated one last birthday with my friends.

I laid on my bed, surrounded by most of my still full packing boxes. “Yea, it’s not that you are bad company Kale, it’s that I miss my friends.” I let out a sigh and took a good look at all my stuff. “We should go out and do something, being around my stuff sucks right now.”

Kale got up right away. “Sure, we can go kick around the ball or something.” He’s always so obsessed with sports, oh well. I’m not against sports, just a little more into playing some games.

Sure, the weather outside was on the colder side for summer, didn’t stop Kale though. I put on a sweater to keep myself warm; Kale was fine in his shorts. “You’re crazy for wearing shorts; you know that?”

“I could not be wearing them,” Kale smirked and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Going without pants outside of your house would be inappropriate. Keep your pants on out here.”

Kale chuckled. “Nah, I could go without pants in your room.” He winks again.

I sigh. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“So, you admit it!” Kale spoke excitedly. “You think I’m cute!”

Again, I roll my eyes. “We’ve already told each other we are interested in guys Kale. You’re the first guy who’s told me they are, therefore, automatically cute.”

Kale shook his head. “You’re thinking with the wrong head, Zacharius.” He wiggled his finger at me as if he was teaching me a lesson. “You have to think with this one.” And he taps me between the eyes.

I just glare at him. “Thank you for teaching me such a valuable lesson, oh great one.” Kale was beaming with pride. “At least you didn’t touch both heads.”

“Why? You got a hard-on down there?” He was right, but I couldn’t let him know that could I? He shrugged anyways. “Either way, I know you think I’m cute.”

“Can we get on with doing the ‘outdoor fun’ over with? I’d like to go back inside.”

Kale just stared at me. “You’re the one who wanted to come outside…”

I could feel my face start to blush. “Oh, yea… Guess I forgot and then changed my mind?”

“You’re one strange kid, Zach.”

We ended up spending about an hour outside walking around instead of kicking around a soccer ball. Kale did stop to watch a kid playing with one by himself though. He wasn’t bad, according to Kale, but needed to improve on his form.

Honestly, he was kind of cute, pushing his red hair back out of his face every so often. When I say red, I mean like scarlet red, not ginger colored. The length sure didn’t help him; the hair was basically at his chin.

Once we decided we had watched enough, we went straight back to my place. That walk really improved my mood, and we started sorting out some boxes. Kale was kind of helpful in grabbing things, but I made him stop after a bit. He was putting stuff away wrong if that makes sense.

My Aunt eventually interrupted me and brought us food. “Your room is looking… more unpacked.” My room was a mess; she was just being nice about it. “How about a break to have something to eat?”

“Sure!” Kale instantly got up and grabbed a plate. “I’m starving! Thanks!”

“Your welcome Kale. It sounds like you might be sleeping here tonight, your father said he got a flat tire coming back and will have to stay in a hotel tonight.” Mr. James went out of town for something, which is the reason Kale was hanging out with me. Sucks he has car trouble.

I couldn’t help but smile though. “Won’t be all bad, you got me to chill with!”

“Someone help me!” Kale faked being scared. I just rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at him. “That’s just rude.”

The night went by quickly with just the two of us. We played the one game system I could find, my GameCube. Super Smash Bros Melee is pretty much all we played. We even went from scratch and unlocked all the characters fresh.

When bedtime came around Kale and I got changed and got ready for bed. Auntie made up the air mattress for Kale as we finished up. Once we were left alone, we once again started talking.

“So, did you have any crushes before you moved?” Kale asked out of the blue.

I had to think about it for a moment. “I’m not sure… I don’t think so?”

“No one you’d pop a boner over?” I could feel my face heat up but didn’t reply. “Something says that’s a yes.”

“Sure, there was there was this one guy, but nothing ever happened. Nor will it ever, he’s the straightest guy I ever met.” I chuckled. “Oh well, maybe there will be a guy here.”

“Who knows, maybe there is one in this very room.” His voice implied a little more.

I smiled at the thought. “It’s a nice offer, but I think my hand will do for tonight.” For the next couple minutes, we both played with ourselves before the release of pressure. It wasn’t long after that I fell asleep.

Isaac Adams – Age 13

This afternoon was weird. There were a couple of older kids watching me play around with a soccer ball in one of the local fields. I decided to show off as best I could for a bit. They were only there for a couple of minutes before leaving. It left me panting a little harder than usual.

I’m pretty good at soccer, but I’ve never been in a league. When we play it at school, I am the first one picked every time, and It’s quite cool honestly.

The two boys were on my mind all day. I haven’t seen either of them before. Maybe they were just visiting the town for a bit. Oh well, it would have been cool to see if they were any good at ball.

Entering the building in front of me, it knocked me out of my trance. “Welcome to the Youth Centre. My name is Cheryl.” She extended her hand to me. “What’s yours?”

“Isaac Adams.” It was my first time at the youth centre. Mom and dad were out, and Jennifer was being mean, so I went on a walk and found this place. Seemed like a pretty good place to hide from her.

“Nice to meet you, Isaac. Can I get you to fill out this form? After that, you can explore the centre.” I did as she asked and handed the form back. Cheryl looked it over and then smiled at me. “You’re free to enjoy the centre, Isaac. Come to me if you have any questions.”

I looked around, and there were a couple of kids playing games on a tv. Another group goofing off at a pool table and one kid in the kitchen space cooking with what looked like another staff member.

There wasn’t much to do, but I was away from Jennifer. “Cheryl, is there a pencil and paper I could use?”

“Of course! Just give me one second.” She went into an office and came out with what I asked for. “Here you go, Hun.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” I sat down at the kitchen counter and started to draw whatever. It ended up being just a field with a mountain behind it, but it was something to do at the very least.

A few of the kids here took peaks over my shoulder, none of them said much to me though until one kid entered my personal bubble and didn’t move.

I turned to him to talk to him, but he spoke first. “You’re really good at drawing dude.”

“Thanks…” I didn’t know what else to say. “It’s not my best work, but it’s something.”

“I’d love to see what you consider your best work.” The kid had a mess of blond hair on his head, and nice brown eyes. The clothes he wore were a little worn out but still in decent shape. While I was focusing on him, his attention was fully on my drawing in front of me. “Do you have any other stuff you’ve done with you?”

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t think I’d be coming today. If I was being honest, I didn’t even know this place existed until about half an hour ago.”

He just smiled. “That’s fine. Welcome to the centre! My Name is Leo.”

“Thanks, I’m Isaac.”

Leo and I talked about my drawings for a little bit before he had to run off. He had an early curfew or something. That was fine by me, as much as talking with him was cool, I prefer to be along right now.

My peace was interrupted by Cheryl though. “So, what’s with the bandanas on your arms? Scars or something?” All I could do was blush. “We can go somewhere more private if you want to talk about it. Or we could just leave it.”

I lowered my voice. “I got bit, and the marks didn’t heal well…”

She nods. “I guess I should tell you tomorrow we’re bringing a couple of pups for a bit.”

My eyes went wide. “Yes, thank you!” And at that moment, I realized my parents didn’t know where I was and were probably home. My face went from slightly terrified to worried sick. “Is there a phone here I could use?”

“Of course, what’s the number?” I told her the number as she grabbed the phone and dialed it in. “Here you go, Hun.”

I clung onto the phone until I heard dad’s voice on the other side. “Hello?”

“Hey dad, it’s Isaac.” I could hear a slight sigh of relief from him. “I’m at the youth centre. It’s like a five-minute walk from the house.”

“Okay, if you could please head home. You’re not in trouble; just it’s getting dark out.”

“I’ll be home in a couple of minutes. Sorry for worrying you.”

“See you then Isaac.” And he hung up the phone.

Cheryl looked at me with a caring smile. “See you another day?”

"If you let me borrow a pencil and paper again, of course!”

“Deal. Have a good night Isaac.” I gathered myself and waved as I left out the door. It seemed like a cool place to hang out; I will certainly be back to hang out there. I can draw in, more or less, peace and quiet.

Nick Bells – Age 13

“Home alone at last!” Mom and dad finally went out and left me be. Gage and Clair had spent the night at one of their friends, so that left me in the house alone. I decided to see what gay sex was all about.

This meant porn was going to be watched! Gage had shown me how to open a private browser to make my history is harder to search up. He even told me some safe sites to look at.

I started with just what they had on screen. Laughing at the site asking for my birthday. It doesn’t need to know I’m 13, for all it knows I’m 40 something according to the birth year I put in.

From beginning to end I watch a couple of videos. Once I got onto two ‘twinks’ playing it really got my attention. I was even playing with myself a little bit. Well, I was until I heard Clair call out.

“Oh, Nicholas!” My eyes went wide, in a panicked mess I tried to close the tabs or even the browser before she came into the room. “What is my littlest brother… up to… What are you doing?” I was caught; the browser closed as she came into the room and my face was crimson.

“Nothing!” I yelled as loud as I could. It wasn’t on purpose, but it happened. “Please don’t tell mom and dad!”

Clair raised her eyebrow. “That you were watching porn? All teenagers do that Nick.”

“I wasn’t watching regular porn!” I was talking faster then I was thinking. I should not have said that. I should have just said nothing at all. My mouth was covered as soon as that sentence came out.

“What kind of porn were you watching?” Clair asked more inquisitively then anything else. I said nothing. “Nick, I will tell mom if you don’t…”

I interrupted her. “Gay porn! I was watching gay porn!”

“Wow, you’re an easy guy to intimidate. If only Gage would take a page from your book…” She went off into thought. “Well okay, do continue. Don’t be too loud.”

“You don’t care?” I asked her, shocked.

She kind of shook her head and shrugged. “Nah, Gage is bi, it’s not crazy to see you looking into what it would be like with another guy. Welcome to being a teenage boy!”

Guess that could have gone worse?

That night when I was laying in bed, I turned to look at Gage. “You awake?”

“Yea…” He groaned. “Can’t sleep right now.”

“Neither can I. The early to bed the week before school sucks.”

“You can say that again.”

“Neither can I. The early…”

“Not actually.” I could tell he was glaring at me. “What’s up?”

“Clair walked in on me… on the web today.”

He snorted. “How did that go?”

“She knows now.” I pulled the blanket and curled up on my side. “She’s okay with it.”

“You doubted her?”

I nod, knowing full well I couldn’t be seen. “Kind of, I don’t know I was just worried.”

“Well, now you can relax a bit more. Your secret is safe with her.” I was about to ask Gage a question when he continued to speak. “Trust me. She kept mine until I told mom and dad.” That’s good… Clair is so cool.

Kale James – Age 15

“When is mom getting here?” Dad asked as I brought down some of my stuff from my room.

“Around 2, in like half an hour.” I set down my two suitcases. “I just got my duffle bag left to bring down.”

Dad nodded. “Take a break for a minute, have a drink.” He offered me a can of pop. I did as he requested. “If mom continues just let me know, okay?”

“I will.”

I live with my mom most of the time, spend vacations with my dad. Even then only some of them. My dad knows I’m gay, and mom doesn’t. She’s made it pretty clear she doesn’t like the gay lifestyle, but here I am going back to her.

Lately, I’ve been hanging out with a friend who’s a little more feminine than me. He’s gay too, and I’m kind of into him. Mom has picked up on this and has made it crystal clear she doesn’t like me hanging out with him.

Part of her sending me to dads was to get me away from him. Little did she know I’d find myself, Zach. Sure, we didn’t do anything, but he was one nice piece of eye candy. Guess I’ll see him next time I come up.

The wait for mom to get here wasn’t too bad. I got myself into the car while mom chatted with dad a bit. When we left, she seemed pretty steamed from the conversation. Dad and I exchanged a hug before I left.

I fell asleep early into the drive. It was just over two hours away, so I woke up in the end stretch and was super grateful.

“Finally awake now, are we?” Mom chimed in as I stretched. “Did you not get enough sleep at your dad's?”

“I got plenty of sleep, just can’t get to sleep as early as he wanted me to.” Dad tried preparing me for getting up early for school. Luckily once I get into the groove of it I’m fine with it.

Mom nodded. “That’s good. You need to start getting up early again.”

There weren’t any more words exchanged before we got home. I was told to clean up and get ready to help with dinner. Cooking with my mother sucks. She wants you to do something but unless you do it exactly how she likes it done you’re doing it wrong.

Dinner prep was going fine until I got a text message. It was from that friend I mentioned earlier, Emile is his name. “Who’s that?”

“No one,” I said as nonchalantly as possible.

Mom wasn’t having any of it. “Who messaged you, Kale?”

I held myself back from rolling my eyes. There would be hell to pay if I did that. “It was Emile.” I sighed in defeat.

“Have I not told you to stop talking to him?” The sternness was crystal clear in her voice. “Why are you still talking with him?” She hated him, that much was clear by her voice alone.

I bit my tongue on what I wanted to say. Something along the lines of ‘because I’m gay mom, and I like him!’ was what I would like to say. I didn’t end up saying that. “He’s my friend.”

“I’m telling you that friendship is done as of today.” I didn’t argue, just nodded and ignored her. He’s my friend; I’m not going to drop him because my mom is a homophobe.

Chapter End.