Somebody Else (Christian Romance)

NINE

Stephanie had her eyes glued to the television but her mind was far away, occupied with thoughts of last night. Wasn't she supposed to be happy? Come on. She was the girlfriend of one of the hottest guys she knew. Why then did she feel bad? She felt bad both emotionally and physically. Emotionally, because it seemed she had disappointed Charles last night by not giving him what he wanted. After his shower last night, he'd given her one of his T-shirts to wear and brought her to his room so they could share his bed for the night. Stephanie had taken the space by the wall while he'd taken the other half of the bed. Stephanie hadn't closed her eyes for up to thirty minutes before he'd quietly stood up, dressed up, and left the room. Moments later, she'd heard him drive out of the gate. He must have thought she was asleep, but how could she sleep after all that had happened last night. Perhaps, he was used to this, but all of this was new to Stephanie. She hadn't been touched like that before. She had never been kissed before. Not until last night, and right now, she couldn't have felt dirtier. What was wrong with her? What was she doing? If she felt this dirty just by being touched, how would she have felt if she lost her virginity? Her many thoughts, coupled with the fact that she found it hard to sleep in new environments kept Stephanie awake all through the night.

Now, it was 7:21 am, the day had already broken, yet Charles wasn't back. Didn't he care that she'd be awake by now? Not like she intended on going for lectures today, but what if she did? How would she have been able to meet up with her 8:00 am class? Did Charles care at all? Where in the world had he gone in the middle of the night? And why did he wait to make sure she was asleep before leaving? Now, the day had broken, did he expect Stephanie to walk around in bum shorts in broad daylight? Everyone would be dressed in decent clothes; she couldn't walk around freely in her bum shorts and netty top in broad daylight. She'd expected Charles to have dropped her off by 5:00 am. Then, it would still have been dark. None of her roommates would have woken up except Vanessa who would have been outside praying. She could have snuck in without any of her roommates having to see her dressed like this. Now, everywhere was bright. What would she do? Not like she took a kimono or something along.

Stephanie groaned and buried her head in the pillow. She could call this the worst morning of her life. She hadn't slept for two consecutive nights and now, every part of her body hurt, most especially her lips. She wouldn't be surprised if Charles had given her blisters on her lips. She was weak and tired, but no matter how she tried, sleep hadn't come. How would it come when her heart had been far from peaceful?

A familiar car sound made Stephanie jump off the bed. She hurried to the window hoping it was Charles. Relief flooded her mind when she saw Charles. He packed the car and walked towards the house. He was dressed in a black hoodie and a pair of black skinny jeans. Stephanie had to admit; he looked beautiful even in the morning. She heard him unlock the main door to the house and seconds later, he opened the door to his room. Seeing Stephanie, he stood by the door looking at her, not saying anything. Stephanie could tell by the look on his face that he was waiting for her to ask where he was coming from. But she wouldn't. She didn't want to seem like the nagging girlfriend. Biting his lips, Charles looked her up from head to toe, a smirk forming on his lips as he began walking towards her. Stephanie knew this look. This was the look he had on his face when he was staring at her yesterday. She knew what was next. She wished she could run away, but before she could do anything, he was all over her, kissing her and pushing her in the direction of the bed. He pushed her on the bed. His kiss was more aggressive than that of last night. His hands were all over her body. This kiss was worse than it was last night because Charles' mouth stunk. It seemed he hadn't brushed his teeth this morning. Stephanie found it hard to breathe. She hadn't brushed either. What if her mouth was also smelly? Without thinking twice, she pushed him away and sat up.

"I have a class by eight." She lied. It was 7:50 am.

Charles chuckled. "Come on baby, you're just a fresher. You haven't experienced school life. All those classes are nonsense. When I was in my first year, I never went for lectures, but I aced all my courses." He laughed. "Forget lectures. First-year is as easy as ABC. Whether you attend lectures or not, you'll still pass."