Out of the Closet
by Victor Thomas
Chapter 18
Javier
I groaned at the voices coming from the living room. It was mom arguing with Jorge about something. If I was right, she had forgotten to buy enough beer for her lazy son. Soon, the front door was opened, and there came a sound of a car engine being started. Probably hers. I wasn't sure which irritated me more; Jorge bossing our mother or their argument waking me up.
Could you fucking let me sleep on Sunday, I thought, raising my head from the pillow.
I stretched across the bed to get my phone. The numbers on the screen told me it was nearly noon. No wonder Jorge had already awakened and needed a cure for his hangover. I pushed my hand under the blanket and found someone else who was waking up and stretching in my boxers.
After glancing at the door to make sure it was locked, I moved the blanket and took off my boxers. It was time to satisfy my body's hunger. Considering how hot and hard it felt in my hand; the big boy must be starving.
I closed my eyes and began undressing Kenny in my mind. His shirt, his belt, and his jeans were gone in no time at all. The bulge in his underwear kept growing as my breathing became heavier and my hand worked faster. Regrettably, I hadn't pulled those sexy briefs down before they were soaked, along with my hand.
What was inside Kenny's underwear remained a mystery. The whole boy is a mystery, I thought, standing up from the bed. I was naked, my dick pointing straight up. It probably hadn't realized yet what had just happened. Not the first time.
Ready for a shower, I took a towel hanging on a chair and wrapped it around my waist. I opened the lock on the door and was about to leave, when my phone buzzed on the bedside table. It was a message from the boy I had met the previous night.
'Hey cutie! I would love to go out with you again.'
I snorted and looked out the window. The college sophomore probably would have been standing in the front yard by his new car right now if I had been stupid enough to give the guy my address. Nickname Loverboy promised a lot, but delivered much less. Whatever his real name was, I couldn't remember.
We had met on a dating app, which I had installed on my phone around the same time I came out to my family. I had been curious to see how many gay guys there were in the surrounding area. The result was none, a big surprise. At least nobody had created a profile. Instead, students at some of the nearby colleges were messaging me all the time.
Loverboy had been persistent, there was no doubt about that. After dozens of messages, I had finally agreed to meet him at the mall. Unlike Kenny, I didn't need to ask if Loverboy was gay. Everything about him screamed his queerness; his clothes, his hair, the earrings, and even the rainbow wrist band. He was kind of cute, until he opened his mouth.
After a long lecture of political history, I had excused myself to go to the bathroom and walked out of the mall, making a mental note never to date anybody who studied politics, or anything that sounded somewhat intellectual.
I deleted the message and opened the bedroom door. My boner had died rather quickly.
"Nice dress," Jorge said, smirking at me as I stood in my bedroom door with the towel wrapped around my waist.
"Wait! I'll take a shower first," I said, taking long steps toward the bathroom.
He was faster.
"I think I'll take a long bath," he shouted through the door, already in the bathroom.
There was the sound of the door being locked, just a few seconds before I hit it with my fist.
"Idiot. Besides, we don't even have a bathtub."
I walked back to my room and sat on the edge of the bed. My math book was on the floor where I had tossed it yesterday evening after a five-minute serious attempt to understand it. I reached out my foot and kicked the book. It slid under the bed. Out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately, it didn't work like that. The stress of having to take the class again was getting to me.
I should go running.
The sun was finally out after a whole night of rain. After looking in a couple of places, I found my running shorts under the bed, and a white tank top bundled in the corner. The shirt smelled sweaty.
In a few minutes, I had dressed and was outside stretching. Without a clear plan, I wanted to see where my legs would take me. Aimlessly, I started down the street and kept on going. The sun pressed down on my skin and locusts hummed cheerfully in the humid air.
I looked up at the street signs and realized where my legs were leading me. After looking in both directions, I crossed the street and continued in the direction where I assumed Kenny lived.
What am I going to do if I find him? I hadn't thought about it, but I could probably figure out something in case I found his house. The likelihood wasn't on my side, as I didn't even know what it looked like. What were the odds that he was waiting for me in the front yard?
I kept running and scanned the neighborhood. A few cars passed me, and then the sound of a lawnmower a few blocks on my right broke the silence. I passed Carm n Dales , one of Chouteau's two convenience stores, and I would have bought a bottle of water but I had no money. I wasn't sure whether it was the sun or anticipation of seeing Kenny that had made my mouth dry. Probably both.
The closer I got to the street where he might live, the more the memories of our date filled my mind. Or were we just two friends drinking our smoothies until I had spoiled the moment with the dreaded question?
But he has to be gay, I thought, giving room for an older lady riding a bike.
It was like he had been avoiding me ever since that night at the mall. And then there was the kiss in the hallway, which I wanted to forget. Kenny had kissed a girl! I didn't want to think of her as his girlfriend. It sounded too final, like there hadn't been that carefully concealed promise in his eyes when I passed him on the way to the principal's office.
My throat was so dry it ached. It didn't help that there wasn't a single cloud in the sky and the black road had absorbed the heat of the sun the whole morning. I was running in a giant frying pan, so big that I couldn't see the edges. After a few blocks, I took off my tank top and hoped for some wind.
I should head home, I thought, but my legs moved me forward. I crossed one more street and decided to turn left, hoping the trees lining the street would provide me with some shade. While I kept jogging, my hopes of finding Kenny were fading away fast. Maybe it was a stupid idea in the first place.
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