Upside Down (COMPLETE) Inside Out, Book 2 [BoyxBoy]

Keith

Ivan, as predicted, had apologized. It was done through repeated long text messages and late-night phone calls. After his breakdown the other day, he kept on calling Keith to ask for an apology. Keith didn't have much choice; he had to say whatever Ivan did wasn't a big deal. But Keith still wondered about Ivan's situation, but he knew better than to ask again this time. Honestly, he didn't have the energy for one more collapse from this boy.

A week had gone by, and Keith was thankful to adapt quickly in Bloomingdale High. He might be lucky having to hang around with Jordan and Adam. He'd been noticing that Jordan hadn't been in a good mood lately; sometimes, Keith spotted his new friend staring ahead with an empty look in his face. Adam was being his usual, talkative self—Keith liked the guy, though. Adam impressed Keith as a really genuine straight ally, and Keith was surprised to feel so comfortable having him around.

Of course, trying to spot the boy from the other day was inevitable for Keith. He remembered well the stunning eyes and the flirtatious smiles that the boy had put on when they encountered each other in the restroom, so Keith couldn't be missing him. However, the only place Keith would hang around outside class period was in the cafeteria so chances were this boy wasn't one who fond of the place. Keith thought about looking around the school compound during his free time to seek the boy, but then he didn't want to be a stalker.

Keith still couldn't grasp why he was thinking about the boy too much now. Hell, they'd only met once, and that alone had driven Keith so mad.

Another week passed by, and Keith still spotted no trace of the boy anywhere. He wanted to ask Jordan if he noticed, but Keith knew he was not good at describing a person. Maybe he should give up on finding him; they met on a very random encounter, anyway. The boy might have forgotten about him or something. But it occurred to Keith suddenly about what exactly had happened to the boy in the bathroom the other day. The boy had been mad, as if he was possessed, screaming and shouting alone for help.

During his free time in gym class, Keith put on loud music via his phone while working out on a jumping rope. He hated gym and physical activities, but remembering Wren's words to always preserve his human body to have a strong wolf form and shape-shifting strength, he kept up on it. Plus, working out like this helped to keep his mind off a few things. First, there was Ivan who only seemed to have his attitude worsening with time. Then, Keith couldn't help feeling guilty swooning over some stranger while a boy was pining on him back in his old home in LA. He also had to think about the finals coming around the corner. Dwelling around these things was only fucking with his brain, so exercises could somehow drain them out for a while.

He jumped harder and faster, Bangarang played loud in his headphone, sweats dribbling down his body inside his tank-top. He pushed himself to the limit until he couldn't take it anymore.

Keith collapsed to the ground, panting, suddenly having the urge to sprawl out over the wooden-tiled floor of the school gymnasium. He knew a lot of people here were eyeing him, being the new kid and everything. Sometimes, he caught a few guys, probably the sophomores or the juniors, throwing him a teasing glance. Most of the time Keith only smiled back, and he couldn't help wondering how the boys could tell his sexuality. Probably they just assumed Keith gay just because he'd been close to Jordan. The whole school possibly knew Jordan already since he was the boyfriend of Jace Andrews, who was apparently the most popular kid here.

Keith sometimes spotted Jace at the gym and they would smile at each other. However, Keith had never really seen him hanging out with Jordan together; their romance was mostly word-of-mouth and conversations among the kids here. The two of them were mostly separate now, with Jace mingling with his crowd of jocks and Jordan sticking with mostly Adam, Keith, and a girl their age Keith had yet to know.