,,A THIRD TIME.

Chapter Five

Beulah and I are getting along. We hang out often. Ok, so we're in this very interesting class and I'm having a good day. After the class, Beulah and I are talking and I tell her that Bruno kissed me. She immediately drops her books on the table and moves a step backward as if she just got some news that someone died. I'm confused. Why is she acting like this?
"No... You shouldn't have" she says, shaking her head.
God. What's wrong? Could Bruno be playing me and she's aware but not telling me?
" why"?I ask her.
"Because it's too soon" she answers, widening her small eyes.
I heave a sigh but I don't know if it's of relief. "But I pushed him away, I left" I lie. I'm not telling her about the second time. But why am I trying to be good for this girl? What's going on?
"Are you sure"?she asks looking sceptical.
"yes" I reply awkwardly, not liking the conversation anymore.
"But you shouldn't have, you just shouldn't have" she adds.
"I don't understand, what do you mean by you shouldn't have? I said he kissed me." I reply angrily. I think I'm raising my voice too.
We're having another class and the lecturer is here so I walk past Beulah to sit far away. Alone.
I just transitioned from a good mood to a very sad one. All of a sudden, my stomach is hurting. Why the hell is she judging me?, I keep asking myself with a frown.
But on a second thought, she's right. He kissed me too soon and I let him.
Inside this lecture hall which I'm not even paying attention, Bruno is texting me. How are you?
I put my phone under the desk and reply , I'm okay.
What are you doing?
I'm in class.
When are you done for the day?
2:00pm.
He just replies with "OK" and we stop chatting.
This lecturer is talking about some Greek myth, some stubborn proud King. I think OEDIPUS, if I heard him right, because I'm not really concentrating and all of a sudden,the class is over just like that,but we all remain in the classroom because it's raining. By phone is beeping. It's no other person than Bruno.
"can I come and see you?"  he asks.
"it is raining " I tell him although I know he knows already.
"I can see that, but it will stop"  he replies,sounding sure.
"OK "
"so? "
"I'll let you know if you should come"  I swear, my conversation with Beulah is still disturbing me, I don't want to talk to Bruno right now. I really don't want to.
"Are you serious right now? " he asks me in disbelief.
" yeah"
" I may not come again" he tells me.
"OK, no problem then "
I'm amazed by the kind of lies I tell when I'm not happy. There's a problem. A big one. In fact, I'm hurting for treating him like this just because I had a bad day.
"seriously? " he replies after a while.
"Yeah"
"well, Ok. If that's what you want. But, now your body is making you feel market-market (that's supposed to mean BUSY BODY or so) , when I leave, you'll be coming after me". He says, trying to be funny. It's working because I'm smiling but I Ignore him and after some minutes of no reply, he calls me.
"what's you problem? He asks as soon as I pick up.
"Nothing" I tell him. The class is really noisy because students are still waiting for the rain to stop ,so they're engaging themselves in some conversations while others fiddle their phones and some are just covering their heads on the desks.
Bruno is trying to tease me, he's talking about me being proud and playing games,i think I'm pissed so I cut in immediately and tell him" I'm really not in a good mood right now, so, just don't start, call me back maybe" I hang up immediately. Wow, that was quick. Music,that's what
I need right away. I plug in my earphones and cover my face on the desk as I listen to Taylor Swift's I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE.
It's now drizzling so some people start leaving while others with fancy hair wait for a cloudless sky. I'm part of the former.
  I'm still heading to the hostel as Beulah walks up to me smiling as she says "hey, about what I said earlier, don't mind me, I was just kidding. But I got you anyways, you should've seen your face"
Yeah, right. Whatever. I don't say anything as we walk. She sees a friend and goes over. I'm still moving along  with the crowd.
   ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
It's evening and the hostel is quiet because some of the girls are out on a date leaning on the trees in front of the hostel and waiting for a minute to the actual time the hostel will be locked so they can rush in like they didn't have a choice to walk in ten minutes ago. I, on the other hand, am uneasy, my roommates seem to be noticing, so I pack my books and leave  for night class. It doesn't feel any better, so after a long yes and no debate between my own self, I finally decide to call Bruno. He picks up on the third ring. "how are you"
"I'm okay"  he yawns as he answers.
"Um,alright,so I hope you're not mad about earlier on"
"someone got you angry?"
"kinda, yeah"
"who?, what was it about? "
"my friend and she was sort of telling me things"
"about me?" jeez, how does he know?
"I don't know"
  He sighs and he sounds like he's not gonna push with the question. "will I see you tomorrow?" I guess I was right. Thank God. "I guess so"
"OK then, goodnight" .
I always hang up first.
I'm back to reading, that's why I came out here. Ok, Part of why I came out. Tonight will be short, it's a hunch.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
I'm at the mirror, applying make up to my face. It's more than the usual makeup everyone sees me wear. As a matter of fact, I'm watching some online tutorial as I apply it to my face. Bruno called in the morning to tell me he's coming around 2:00pm. The rain is a funny evil thing, with no sign, it just goes off like a bomb and I'm worried if Bruno will still come.
He calls me immediately. " I'm in your school, at the gate"
I twist my brows in confusion as I take two steps further "why are you at the gate? Are you expecting me to walk down to the gate? Can't you see it's raining? "
"I know, that's why I'm calling to confirm if I should still come"
What? heck yeah, you should come.I  say in my mind with my face looking shocked at how he thinks I spent almost thirty minutes on make up just so he could turn back at the gate  "I mean, I don't know for you but, if you want to, then come... How can you call me from the gate? "......  I'm about to keep talking as he cuts in "God, your mouth, you talk too much, you just talk too much, I'm driving in now". I hang up and fall on my butt on one of my roommates' bed,smiling or laughing, I can't tell. But, for real, I really do talk too much. He calls again to inform me that he's in front of my hostel. So I put on my coat and leave to see him after looking at the mirror for one last time. His car is parked say about five feets from the hostel but I carry an umbrella anyway, my face needs protection from this unwanted rain. He looks at me as I close the door and keep the umbrella on the floor in the back.
"I didn't know you could be pretty"  he says and as I begin to smile "just slightly pretty" he adds and I roll my eyes. You're crazy, I say to him in my mind. 
As we leave the school, he looks at me and says" why do you talk too much?"  I smile not prepared to answer him and he comes at my face as if to kiss me but I look away quickly. He laughs  and continues, "i just thought since you can talk so well, you know,that you'd just say something, anything, and I'll send you out of my car, in this rain, let's see where you'll go with your pride and very sharp mouth"  I can't help it,so I laugh out so loud.
"I'm waiting for you" he adds.
"I have an umbrella, but please don't drive me away"  I smile as I tell him and he smiles back.  God, those curves at the edges of his mouth.
On our way, he tells me he has a friend he'd like to pick up somewhere in the other campus. We're there already and the guy rushes to the car because it's still raining. It's the guy from my school, the one whose place we went to the other night. He says hello to me but I don't answer so he goes ahead and tells Bruno that there are a few friends he'd like Bruno to drop off on the way and after a little hesitation, Bruno agrees and his friend scurries off to call the others.
"he was trying to be nice"  Bruno reminds me. " who? " I ask,acting like I don't know who he's referring to.
He chuckles as he adds, "my friend, he said hello and you ignored him "
"oh, he did? too bad I didn't hear him"
"liar" He accuses me.
"OK, I heard him. I just don't like him. I  see him around sometimes."
He picks up his phone because he has a message and still looking at it he says to me,  "why, because his a fine boy?".
My mouth is ajar for maybe five seconds. "Gosh, Bruno " I exclaim and hit his shoulder,he smiles and doesn't say anything. He just holds my hand and kisses the back of my palm.
Well, of course he's not totally wrong. His friend is handsome. Just Like a player is.  But what different is he from this one I'm sitting with, I debate with myself.
Bruno's friend returns with three girls and they rush into the car because of the rain. They haven't been in for three minutes but they're already talking like the market women. It's not my car but I'm uncomfortable. Bruno notices as he starts the car and I look away. Immediately, he drops his right hand from the stirring to hold my left hand. I turn to look at him and I smile.
That's what he makes me do. Smile.
"are you okay? " he asks with his eyes and I nod in the affirmative. One of the girls alight on the way and the rest of us head to Bruno's friend's house. It's the house from the night I slapped him. They all go in and I remain in the car. Bruno turns and he's confused that I'm still in the car so he comes back and asks me "what's wrong "
I raise my brows "open the door for me" 
He has the 'I don't believe this' face and asks "are you serious? "
But I don't say anything, I just raise my brows again nod in a slant way,just once. He grunts and smiles at my foolishness but opens the door anyway. I'm still inside and now he has the 'I really don't understand again' face. "what, should I carry you out too? "
"maybe " I smile.
"oh God,please come out, young woman,please?"
We both laugh as I come out of the car and we go in together. I can't see the others,maybe they're in a room somewhere but Bruno's friend is in the kitchen. Bruno leads me to a room which is a little bit scattered. Looks like he comes here often. I drop my phone on the mattress which is on the left side of the room as we enter, right next to the wall. We both sit on it "you weren't smiling on our way here, why?" Bruno asks me trying to touch my face and I dodge.
"nothing"
"you looked uncomfortable, were you?"
"no" I answer immediately, licking my lips. He touches my face "dont lie, I know you were, I was too"
I look at him and flash a smile. He lies on the bed ."I'm over here thinking you're miss etiquette, aren't you going to ask me to take your coat? " I can't help laughing in my head, I remember the first time I saw him smoke,on our way back, I LECTURED him on how  wrong it was to smoke around people who don't. But he's Bruno so, he gave me some defensive answer. That's why he's calling me miss etiquette. So I answer, "well,for one, I shouldn't be asking you to take my coat,you should know that already, and secondly, you should've done that since when we first got here"

He smiles, "yeah, whatever" he says, unbuttoning my coat. I take his iphone to look at the pictures and I come across some pictures from a porn scene. I twist my brows and bite my lips so I won't laugh. He's looking too and he's smiling, I can't help it so I laugh.  "What's your favourite sex position?" he looks up as if he said nothing. Jesus  Christ, that was so blunt.
I look at him and I'm sure my face looks like I'm disgusted by this question.
"I don't know"  I answer and continue swiping through the pictures. He covers the phone with his palm and turns my body around so that my back is on the mattress. He leans on me and touches my face, still waiting for the answer but I move my eyeballs from looking at his face." Oh my God, wait, have you even had sex before?Are you a virgin? "  He looks so confused or surprised but I'm still not answering.  He sighs and comes closer to kiss my forehead
"you see Ella" he begins, "this is why relationships lack loyalty. You ladies act or pretend to be shy, and keep things  which do not need to be kept from each other. This, most of the time, is the reason guys enjoy the idea of having a side chick, because they can say anything with them. They can talk about random things and no one feels disgusted by it. You know, things like their opinion on giving heads. For example, they can easily say I like giving heads because it's pleasurable, or I don't like giving heads because it's disgusting. They can say whatever the hell they want. But they can't do this with their main girlfriend because they're gonna start judging, and  pretending and acting disgusted just like you did, just now. Ladies will end up feeling sad because we don't tell them things but that's not our fault, it's because they don't want to hear or they pretend like they don't want to hear it. Ella, I'm real, I like being real. As a matter of fact, you have a nice ass."  My brows immediately twists. "what?"  he asks not waiting for an answer as he continues. "but you do have a nice ass, don't you think so? "

he puts he's hand beneath my back which is lying flat on the mattress and grabs my ass  and I gasp. "Ella, this is what we just talked about, this is what I just told you,that aside, you don't expect me to tell people I see on the road that they have a nice ass, but you're here and you have a nice ass and I'm telling you that you do"
he grabs me again and I bite my lips immediately so I won't make a sound.
I am dumbfounded right now. Wow, Bruno. You should win an award for knowing how to talk so well, with the right facts to add.
Ladies may not agree with this but it is the truth. He just said the truth. This is what happens everyday in relationships. I'm looking at him and thinking of how he can just say these things so easily. Damn. Bruno, you're something else. I release my lips and the words just come out without my permission "I'm not"
Bruno looks confused "what, you're not what?
I sigh "I'm not a virgin  but um, no, I don't have a favourite sex position" I tell him and roll my eyes.
"that's a start, a good one, there's nothing wrong with that and You can tell me anything. When last did you have sex? " he asks me touching my lips.
"last year" wow, this is good. I just answered freely without fear of judgement. He kisses me immediately.
I turn around so that I can just lie with my stomach on the mattress and he touches my butt again, he caresses it. I turn to look at him so he can see my visage. It's not smiling. But Bruno is smiling. He moves back to sit and lean on the wall "come here" he commands me and I obey him. I go to him and climb on his laps and sit there with my legs apart and his in between. He is touching my face. He kisses me again. "do you want to sleep with me? " I ask ,looking at him in the eye.
"right now? "  he answers with a question.
"No, I mean, ever."
"Uh, yeah, I mean, not right now, but at some point, yeah. "
I look at him in awe. Awed by how honest his soul is.
If you ask me, The greatest finesser is one who can get what he wants without having to lie his way to it.