Cameron

By:  Matthieu

As with any other stories, I’m gonna start mine by introducing myself. I am Matthieu, 5’8’’ in height, pale-skinned, and muscular. I think there’s no need to tell you that I am of French decent. To be exact, I’m ½ French and ½ Filipino. More so, I don’t think it would make sense to tell you my sexual preference since being in this website itself gives you the idea already. The story I’m about to share happened when I was still in high school.

That day started like any other: I woke up, went to the bathroom to take a bath and brush my teeth, changed clothes, ate breakfast, and hopped into the jeepney en route to school. Basically, nothing unusual happened… or maybe, not just yet. I think it would be relevant to tell you that although I am muscular, I am definitely not that type who plays sports; in fact, I am more of the nerdy, studious type. I prefer reading, writing, and drawing over playing sports. I consider myself an introvert, and my friends think the same thing.

Going back to my story, I ended up being at school early. There, I did different stuff to entertain my bored self, when suddenly a friend of mine reminded me of an overnight that would happen that night. The thought of sleeping with different people for the sake of completing a school task irked me. I never liked the idea of being with other people, especially sharing bed with them, but if being with them would translate to good grades, then why not. So I convinced myself that it would be okay to get out of comfort temporarily.

Then came the overnight. There were six of us: Cameron, PJ, Dylan, Caleb, Mark, and me. I forgot to mention the purpose of that overnight! We were there to write an analysis on “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I actually could have done it myself because I’ve read the book several times, but I did not want to insult my teammates, and more than that, I wanted to know Cameron better

(because I sort of have a crush on him during that time). Cameron’s tall, pale and chinito. So yeah. I listened to them, collated their opinions, and started writing the paper. Since I had everything I needed, I allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do. All of them except Cameron decided to play games on the computer. Cameron, about a meter and half away from me, asked me if he could help. I answered no. But he insisted, so I gave in. I allowed him to help so he moved closer. I felt how warm his body was in that cold November evening… With his help, we were able to finish the paper at around midnight.

Since we were all tired for different reasons—Cameron and I for writing the paper, and our teammates for playing computer games—we decided to go to bed. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I really hated the idea of sharing a bed, but there were only 3 beds in the room, so we divided ourselves into 3 pairs: PJ and Dylan, Caleb and Mark, and Cameron and I. Fair enough, I told myself. We were at that time settled. I positioned myself in such a way I faced the opposite the direction of Cameron’s body to avoid awkwardness. We were then about to sleep when Cameron came up with the idea of sharing personal stories before bed. The others agreed, but I was at that time not interested as I was really tired. So I just listened.

Caleb shared to us who his crush was, and the other guys did the same thinking that the conversation’s just limited to such a topic. When it was Cameron’s turn, he shared his secrets ranging from his childhood experiences, family history, to his ambitions in life. What struck me the most was when he shared how he lost his father at a young age. His father, according to him died in front of him and his family. Since his father was the city mayor at that time, he was envied by many. Unfortunately, someone envied his father too much that made that person decide to shoot him in the head. When he shared that story, I heard him sob, and felt his body shaking. It was also then that I noticed that everyone except the both of us were already asleep. I did not know what to do to comfort him... Out of nowhere, an idea crossed my mind, and before I knew it, I was already hugging him and running my fingers on his hair. Slowly, I wiped away the tears on his cheeks. When I was brought to my consciousness, I immediately withdrew my hands, and positioned myself in the same manner I mentioned above-- I faced opposite his direction. I forced myself to sleep, and I successfully did it.

At around 3am, two hours after our conversation, I woke up to a familiar sound. It was a sound so common to me, yet so unusual. To my surprise, I was listening to someone’s heartbeat… and that was Cameron’s. It took me a while to realize that my head is positioned on top of his chest, and my right arms are crossed around his waist. His right arm (on the other) supported my back, and the left was on top of my head. Since I was still groggy that time, I thought it was just a dream, and ignored it. Another hour after, I sort of woke up to a different position. My face was facing his. Our faces were so close to each other that we felt each other’s warm breath. He slowly moved closer until our lips touched. Still quite surprised, I ignored it again and convinced myself that it was just a dream. However, he slowly rubbed his lips onto mine as if teasing me to reply; it was I guess somewhat a test of whether or not I was aware of what he was doing. But I still did not move my lips… so he decided to take the move, and locked his lips into mine. It was really amazing. I never imagined things could be that romantic in real life. It was my first kiss, and he made it really memorable and meaningful.

A day after, he talked to me via skype and asked if I remembered something during that night. I replied with a “no” because I was genuinely not sure if those things really happened. I mean, my head on his chest, him kissing me… Everything was unbelievable to me. He was being makulit to me that time that I told him things which I thought were just part of my dream… But I was wrong since he confirmed that he really did it, and he was serious when he did it to me. Several talks and dates after, he became my boyfriend. We actually lasted long… around three years, but because of our differences and his betrayal, we decided to separate. Still, I will never forget what happened to both of us. It was simple, but definitely something to remember.