Yes, I Am

Chapter Twenty Nine.

June 11, 2016.

"Get your ass up, queen. I'm only going to wait thirty more seconds before I take matters into my own hands," said Caleb, standing over me like an impatient grim reaper.

I was good at concentrating on important stuff. I had a way of shutting out the world and focusing solely on the task in front of me. When the said task was reading a book, concentrating became way easier. I once sat through a whole Green Day concert without paying attention to them and completed two books. But when the world I was supposed to be shutting out was Caleb, it wasn't all that easy. Especially when he looked the epitome of cute and sexy all rolled into one; kind of like an adorable furry kitten but also like Ian Somerhalder. It certainly didn't help that he was wearing a leather jacket that made his little frown look artistically bad boyish. As if its okay to be looking like an inspiration for a Michelangelo sculpture while your boyfriend's trying to get his grades right.

"Really? That's how you wanna go? Fine." He made a big show of rolling his sleeves up before he hooked his arms under my neck and knees and lifted me up.

I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep myself from falling. Or shrieking. "At least let me keep down the book, goddamnit!" My voice sounded girlishly high pitched.

"I gave you ample time. You misused it," he said as he pushed the button on the lift and walked inside. "This is punishment."

"I haven't even taken my phone. Caleb! Put me down," I said with as much force as I could muster while I worried that he doesn't drop me out of spite and cracks my skull on the pavement.

"You're supposed to be having fun with me. The hell do you need your phone for?" he growled in my ear and nipped it a little.

Yep, that got me compliant quickly. "I promised I'll go with you and I stand by my promises. Just let me get my phone," I said weakly, clutching the back of his warm neck under the collar of his jacket.

"You're not going anywhere," he growled like Deathstroke from Teen Titans before dumping me in the backseat of a taxi. Even the guy who was driving was so taken aback at this that he asked me twice if I was okay.

"I'm being kidnapped," I said very seriously. His eyes went wide as saucers. The poor man thought I was serious. Wasn't that a little sad? It was more plausible to think that two men together would be a hostage situation rather than a date.

"No, he isn't. Shut up," Caleb said promptly. I did.

Cars and people and buildings and sidewalks flashed past us until it was difficult to tell whether they were moving or we were. It was the perfect metaphor for where I was in life. Sometimes I was running to catch up and moments were rushing by until I didn't know if I was running faster or my life was. I should have stopped and taken a moment to appreciate all that I had, to breathe in the memories I was creating as I created them. But that is the problem with memories, you know- you're always a little too late.

Too late. Probably the saddest phrase ever made.

Caleb got us inside the club easily because he knew a guy. I didn't understand why it was called Pulse when that was the last thing you'd be able to hear even if someone was put an amplifier to the heart. It was exactly as I expected; too much noise and too many people- two of my least favorite things. Moreover, it was supposedly 'Latin Night' which meant, as per my luck, it was more crowded than usual. 

Caleb pulled me through the throngs of humans, weaving through them like an expert, until we reached the bar. I looked around to gauge the situation as Caleb attempted to get us beer. Despite the filth, the energy of the place was heady and infectious. There was an optimism in the air that you don't see normally. People of the same gender openly dancing with each other, grinding, kissing, waltzing, gyrating. There were all sorts of guys- fishnet and stockings kind to just came from the garage kind; ones that completely fit stereotypes, ones that absolutely did not and ones that fell somewhere in between. No wonder the LGBT population liked coming here. It was a good break from homophobia.