Prologue
The world had gone to shit. Nothing was ever simple anymore, no human being’s life had been simple since that fucking disease took away our other halves. The W-X1 virus destroyed all the female humans in the world over a thousand years ago and nothing had been simple since.
Or at least, that was what the teachers always said when they would not shut up about how important Consorts fucking were. It was extremely annoying to hear about Consorts every day in a classroom when you were simply trying to get through an economics class. I couldn’t complain though, since Consorts were the bane of my existence.
Without them, the human race wouldn’t exist anymore. In school, we were thought that when the last female died, scientists worked hard and managed to find a way to preserve us. They found a way to make it so that men could have wombs and give birth to keep humans afloat. And yeah, I guess we had to be grateful for that because otherwise, none of us would be alive. Not that I wanted to be anyway. I hated living like this.
I hated waking up every morning wondering whether I was going to be a Consort or not. Once a child was born, it couldn’t be determined if it was a Handler or a Consort until they were 18 years old. When the child became eighteen years old, he was deemed an adult and had to take a test that determined whether he was a Consort or a Handler.
Once the test was done, they were assigned to a Handler who would, as the name implied, provide them with all their needs and in turn, the Consort will take care of their house and give birth for the Handler making them a housewife. Since Consorts were basically another form of the female species, they were assigned the roles of women once they were of age which was pretty much bullshit in my opinion. Justin Campbell didn’t bust his ass in high school just to become some guy’s housewife. No fucking way!
I rolled my eyes as the economics teacher ended the class and allowed us to go home for the day. I kept my eyes down as I got up and headed out of the class as quickly as I could. I always felt a bit self-conscious, as if all eyes were on me. It didn’t help that I was one of the few Consort-like looking men in my class. I didn’t know if I was a Consort, but I was a bit on the small side and had long brown hair that won’t quit growing no matter how much I cut it, reaching my shoulders. Many Consorts, if not all, were feminine looking and smaller than the average Handler so even if you hadn’t taken the test, it was always a given that you’d be a Consort if you didn’t grow to be above 5 feet 8 inches. My features were basically feminine and that was what many Handlers looked for in a Consort.
I hadn’t taken the test yet and I was dreading it every single day. Since I wasn’t yet 18, I couldn’t just waltz into a hospital and demand to be tested but that was about to change soon. Two more weeks and I would be done with that hell called high school. My birthday also happened to be the day of my graduation which meant I was supposed to have my test as soon as the graduation ceremony was over. I knew my parents had already made the appointment but I would have preferred if they asked me first. It was my life after all, and I think I deserved some time alone before I was handed over to a Handler who just wanted to have some babies.
I wanted to even try my hands at university but that wasn’t so easy in our world. To be able to apply to go university, you had to be a Handler and without the test, there wasn’t any possible way to be sure. I just wanted to achieve some of the dreams I had growing up before my life was taken away from me.
My parents were annoyed when I told them I wanted to continue my education. Well, I guess they were more amused than annoyed since I did not look like anyone who attended university. My body was the body of someone meant to stay home and take care of the family. Their opinion was that given my build, as a smallish feminine man, I would be a Consort and that it was better for me to remain home until after my test where my Handler will come for me and take me away.
Walking down the hallways, I couldn’t help but feel a bit saddened as I saw my mates talking with their friends. Four years in high school and I didn’t manage to make any friends because of my own selfishness. I tended to push people away when they got too close and didn’t form any bond with anyone at all. Tears threatened to well up in my eyes as I realized that I was going to leave this place soon with no one to confide in when I get pushed into the real world. Not having friends really sucked.
I hurried out of the school to my dad’s car as he waited for me at the school’s parking lot and he drove us home. I smelled my favorite food the minute I entered the car and I knew he had brought me some from his restaurant but I couldn’t find it in myself to be excited at the thought of eating greasy cheeseburgers. He knew there was something wrong when I didn’t even greet him or say goodbye as I rushed to my room when we got home. I wasn’t in the mood to talk. My life was going to shit right before my eyes and I was not ready for it.
In two weeks, I was going to find out if I was a consort or not. In two weeks, the very moment of my life that I dreaded would become reality, and I was not ready. I had not even experienced what the world had to offer yet. I had not even had sex yet. I knew many Consorts had boyfriends before they got assigned to their Handlers, but I had never gotten close to anyone to even reach that point.
I wanted to at least have my first kiss before some good-for-nothing Handler locked me up in his house forever.
One thing was for sure though, I was not going to give my Handler the privilege of taking my virginity. No, when I turned eighteen, I would go out and find a stranger to give it to, on my terms.
