Please Don't Tell Me That I'm Dreaming

Bri: hey Kellin. You goin to the game tonight? ;)

The young, raven-haired teen looked over the text for what seemed to be the million–and-ten-thousandth time that night. Kellin really wanted to go to his high-school’s soccer game. Not just for the sport though; Kellin was never very athletic or involved in extracurricular activities. He was more interested in a certain someone who would, without a doubt, be there.

Kellin didn’t want to NOT go. He would go without a second thought. He just wanted to seem reasonable and answer a little later than he could have so his best friend Brianna didn’t think he was so eager. But Bri never fell for his little act. She knew he didn’t even think twice about going.
Hell, she didn’t think he thought about it at all.

Kellin: Yeah sure :)

As soon as he pressed ‘send’, panic arose in him. What was he going to wear? He looked down at what he was wearing; when he got home he had changed into sweats and a wrinkled white shirt- that definitely would not do.

He pretty much ran to his closet…

Thump

…And tripped over his cat. Kellin could be so clumsy and unaware of his surroundings. His 3 year old calico, Jamie, looked up at him, once Kellin pulled himself back up from the floor. He could’ve sworn he saw a glint of hurt in his beloved feline’s eyes.

“Awww Jamie! I’m so sorry girl!” Another thing, Kellin was a bit of an animal lover. Ever since he was five years old he had wanted pets. He would beg his parents constantly for a cat, or even a dog. Memories from his early years drained into his mind.

The little 7 year old poked the back his mom’s neck as she was driving the car, him sitting behind her as she focused on the road.

“Yes Kellin?” his mom asked, turning her eyes over and giving a disapproving look to her son, who wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. She thought he would have learned enough by now at his school about car and bus safety. The brown haired child noticed her look, quickly scooting back towards his original spot, and put on his seat belt.

“Can I have a cat? Pleeeaaassssee!” He pleaded. His mother chuckled.

“Maybe one day, sweetie, when you’re more responsible.” Kellin wasn’t exactly sure of what his mother meant by “responsible”, but from what he knew, he had a feeling it was something important.
“But- but why do I have to wait mommy?” he pouted, sinking further into the back seat.

“You’re going to have to be old enough to take care of the cat, you see? Taking care of a pet is close to taking care of a baby.” Mrs. Quinn sighed. After a few minutes of silence, she thought about how having a pet around could be a good thing. Maybe it could bring the family closer together; her husband has been more distant than usual after all. Plus, with her help, she could help her son learn responsibility.

“Kellin?”

She could hear her boy sit back up against the seat.

“Yeah mommy?”

“Do you want to go look at some kittens tomorrow?”

And with that, Kellin gave his mom a big, excited smile.

He remembers his first cat. It was a fluffy white kitten that they had gotten for free from a family that lived a few blocks down from their suburban San Diego home, the place he’s called home for so many years.

Kellin was jolted out of his thoughts with a vibration sounding against his desk. He turned his phone on, there was a new text message.

Bri: Great ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kellin was currently brushing his teeth in the bathroom closest to the front door, when he heard a honk from the driveway. Bri must be here. But suddenly someone opened the front door. Couldn’t she have waited outside? Not that he had a problem with it or anything. It just wasn’t usual for Bri to come into the house on her own.

She must have heard the sink running, because when Kellin turned around she was standing in the bathroom doorway.

“Oooooo is Kellin trying to look good someone?” His best friend teased.

“Maybe.”

“Awww sweetheart, you shouldn’t have! All for me?” I spit out my toothpaste into the sink and laughed with her.

“C’mon, let’s go see your high-school heartthrob kick some ass.” Bri grabbed him by his blue V-neck, pulling him outside as he already had his black toms on.

Brianna sighed, flipping back her golden hair. Should be wearing Vans.

She didn’t let go of Kellin’s shirt until they got to her car, well her parent’s car. Bri didn’t even trust herself with her own car, it would cost her dad way too much money. If she had her own car, her dad would have to pay for it; he’s much more well off with money than her mom.

Plus, Kellin and Brianna weren’t the best combination in the “don’t fuck things up” category.

When they pulled out of the driveway, Kellin rolled down the window. It was a beautiful night; perfect weather for a soccer game.

It wasn’t a very long drive, as their school is in the center of the suburb. As they swung out the car, they could see the field lights shine from behind the school building. The two friends seemed to have arrived with the rest of the crowd, more and more cars pulling up each second.

Bri and Kellin agreed to go get some food before the game started. Bri hated missing anything. There was a little food stand in front of the entrance to the field. When they say food, they mean popcorn, hotdogs, pizza, pretty much any food you’d see at a sports event.

Soon the lights from the field got even brighter, catching everyone’s attention. The game was about to start. A flood of people made their way to the stands.

You could say that the entire school was here. The games at this school were something no one wanted to miss out on, especially the parties that would go on after.

A few minutes later, everyone was sat in the stands. And not long after, the crowd was cursing at the audience on the other set of stands across the field, which were supporting the Hybrids’ opponents, the Tigers. But they were all silenced when the teams ran out into the field, and the beginning of “Last Resort” was blasting through the speakers. On cue of the chorus, the high school soccer league super-star Vic Fuentes, captain of the Hybrids ran out onto the field, making the crowd roar even louder, if that was even possible.

Kellin and Bri thought Vic had an amazing taste in music. Since he was the captain, he could choose the music they played at their home games.

Kellin stared in awe as Vic ran across the field, sinking in every detail of him as possible- which wasn’t really hard, considering he was in the front row.

Kellin had been crushing hard on the Mexican boy ever since he set eyes on him in freshman year. That probably wasn’t very healthy.

Bri noticed Kellin was staring, so she nudged me in the side and wiggled her eyebrows, making his cheeks flush a shade of pink. Bri was the only one who knew, or that Kellin told, about his major crush for the team captain. She was surprised how well her friend been keeping it in. It’s been almost four years! But they were sure that at least a few people caught on, or at least caught on to the fact that Kellin was gay. He would get shoved into lockers every other day, and every time between classes someone would mutter the words “faggot” as he walked past. You could say that half of this town is at least a little homophobic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vic was pacing around the change room as his team mates sat down on the many benches. The short, brown haired teenager wasn’t really worried or nervous, he was mostly excited.

“Vic, stop and relax.” Groaned Jaime, one of the team’s defense men, running a hand through his blown-up hair style. Jaime could be easily annoyed at times, especially when he’s nervous.

“Ok guys, I’m sorry, I’m just really excited.” And a little nervous, He wanted to say, but left that part out. He didn’t want his team to know that, especially since he’s leading the team.

“OK BOYS! GET OUT THERE AND KICK SOME BEHIND!” a voice boomed from the change room doors, which was recognized to belong to their coach. The boys checked their cleats and shin guards, making sure everything was secure so they could be assured that they were ready to play.

The music that Vic had specifically chosen started flooding the ears of everyone in the field.

Cut my life into pieces
This is my last resort

He didn’t just choose that song because it was a good tune, there was a true meaning behind it for him, but he’d never let my team mates know that. Not even Tony, his closest friend and one of the forward players. He wanted to leave the past behind with his old friends, the friends he had before he rose to popularity.

He watched as the team ran out the door and into the field, smoothing out his long, straightened hair. But what was the point of that anyways? His hair would be messed up by the end of the game.
He was going in last, for dramatic effect. The toned boy tugged the sweat band on his wrist band down a bit, to cover a little more of his now faded scars.

The chorus of the song was coming on soon, so he started making my way out the door. When the chorus kicked in, the Hispanic ran out of the entrance and into the field, the crowd roaring, and a few girls shouting his name.

“Omg he’s so hot!”

“Vic I love you!”

“Go Vic!”

He chuckled a little. Too bad I don’t swing that way.

He joined the rest of the team at their side of the field, and huddled together to make their game plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was it, the last five minutes of the game, and all 10 of the boys - one of their midfielders, Matt, was sick - were pumped. They were winning the game, which wasn’t much as a surprise to the kids at the school. Their team is the best in the high-school league through all of San Diego.

Kellin never took his eyes off the field, except to listen to one of his friend’s jokingly teasing comments.

“Look at those arms…”

“OOOOOO you like that Kellin? Uh? You like that sexy burrito?”

Those were a few of Brianna’s various comments throughout the game. Kellin couldn’t help but laugh at the last one.

“Bri shut up for one second there’s five minutes left of the game!” Brianna just giggled and nodded, turning back to face the field.

The next three minutes consisted of fighting for the ball, and passing. Vic’s plan was to tire out the other team as much as possible before they scored for the last time. Once the Tigers were a good distance away from Jaime, he passed the ball to Vic, and the tanned boy ran with the ball at his feet to the opponents net, kicking for one last time and scoring. The crowd erupted into pride, lots of boys hollering and girls screaming.

As soon as the game was over and the team was given their prizes, everyone stampeded out of the field and walked down the street. There was going to be a huge party tonight at Jaime’s house.

“Kellin, you ready to ppaarrttayyy?” One of Kellin’s friends, Justin Hills, ran up to the two friends, who both laughed at his excitement.

“You bet Justin!” Bri said, slinging an arm around Justin, and then Kellin. They held that position until the three of them made it to Jaime’s house.

It wasn’t hard to tell there was a party going down, as the music from inside the house could be heard from 2 blocks down.

Bri walked into the house first, looking for Vic, so she could congratulate her friend on winning another game. Bri has been friends with Vic since last year, and from what she knew he would be perfect for Kellin. Well, if he was gay. But Bri had a gut feeling that he was. She thought that there was no way someone so attractive and talented could be straight.

She saw Vic’s little brother, by age not height, and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Wha- oh hey Bri! What’s up?” Mike leaned down and gave her a little hug. He was a really nice boy, no matter how badass he appeared to be.

“Haha nothing much Mike. Y’know, just celebrating. Do you know where Vic is?” She asked a little louder, so she could be heard over the booming music. Someone must’ve turned up the bass, the floor was vibrating even more than before.

“Um I’m not really sure. I think he might be in the kitchen!” With that she nodded in thanks and shoved her way through the crowded hallway, which she could successfully do without getting groped a few times by drunken guys and maybe one or two girls. She felt relieved when she made it into the kitchen; there were less people in there. She saw Vic sitting at the breakfast bar with one of his teammates, Jack Fowler, who was also one of Kellin’s good friends.

“Hey Vic, congrats on the game!” Vic looked up and smiled at the sight of his friend.

“Thanks Bri. Want a drink?” He said, sitting up from the stool and into the min fridge which was filled with drinks, ranging from whiskey to sprite. He took out a Pepsi, and prepared to through it towards her.

“No Vic! Don’t pass it to me!” she yelled. Bri was never well coordinated when it came to catching things. Vic giggled a little.

That sounded real straight Bri thought, smiling when Vic just walked over and put the can in her hands.

Then, Certain by Set Your Goals came on.

“I love this song!” yelled Bri, grabbing Vic’s hand and bringing him into the living room. Everyone noticed Vic and shouted congratulations, and patting him on the shoulder, a few girls getting too close for Vic’s comfort. Bri noticed and brought him away from them. She let go of his hand and they started to dance, looking like idiots, and singing along.

Bri always loved hearing Vic sing; his voice was so beautiful, she was surprised he wasn’t in a band.
Kellin seemed to have lost his friend in the crowd of people. She’s probably dancing he thought, and made his way into the living room, trying to avoid making body contact with the surrounding people.
Kellin wasn’t very tall, so it was kind of hard to find Bri. He kept moving through the swarm of people, until he bumped shoulders with someone who wasn’t hard to notice.

Vic Fuentes.

And beside him was their mutual friend, Brianna.

“Hey Kellin!” she said, jumping up and hugging him. Kellin awkwardly laughed, still thrown back at the fact that he made some sort of body contact with the boy he’s had the hots for going on 4 years. “Oh yeah, Vic, this is my best friend Kellin!” She smiled widely as she imagined them starting a perfect life together. She looked over at her friends, who were just gazing at each other for a while, not knowing what to say. Or were they staring in awe?

“Hey, Kellin. B-Bri talks about you a lot.” Kellin blushed red, and tried to hide it by looking down at his shoes, his black hair falling over his eyes. But he gave Bri a little glare from the corner of his eye. “Hey, whatcha hiding from?” Vic said, putting his hand under Kellin’s chin, making him look up, making Kellin’s face resemble the color of a tomato. Vic smiled, this boy obviously liked him. Vic thought he was very attractive.

“N-nothing…” Kellin stuttered, trying to find words. But then he quickly said “bye” and quickly walked out of the room.