MIDSUMMER CRUSH

Chapter 5

Giselle saw her schedule for the day and realised that there was going to be test at Math class. "Oh no, I completely forgot! I'm going to get screwed if I fail," she panicked and rushed with her morning chores. 

"Giselle, have your breakfast, dear!" her mother called out from the doorway, but Giselle had already left.

Burying her head in the book, she took the first bus she saw and got in. In an attempt to grasp whatever the professor had taught earlier, she kept reading till she reached school and sat down to attend lectures.

As the hours passed she completely forgot about Bruce who had been waiting for her at the ground behind.  While she sat through all the lectures, Bruce kept calling on her cell phone which was on silent. When the class broke for recess, Giselle came out on the ground to catch some fresh  air, that's when she sighted Bruce standing under a tree.

Excited that she had managed to clear the test fairly well, she rushed towards him and gave him a broad smile. "Hey, guess what? I got an A in today's class test, tough I hadn't studied anything. I'm used to getting an A plus but oh well, I guess I can be happy with that," she expressed her happiness while he angrily looked at her.

Giselle waited for his reaction but after a moment of silence followed by the face he made, she guessed that all was not okay. "Uhm...Bruce, is something wrong? You look kind of cross..." she paused and studied his expression.

"But you seem quite happy, I noticed you smiling when you stepped out. Looks like you had a good time while making me wait here like an ass," he said it sarcastically and crossed his arms.

"I didn't get you! Are you saying that...oh, oh my gosh! I totally forgot, we were supposed to go out today," she gasped and covered her mouth while he frowned.

"Great, so that means you carelessly forgot all about it, huh? Or you thought you could take me for granted," he narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist.

"No, Bruce! It's not like that. I'm sorry. I had a test to attend and then I got so engrossed in other lectures that..." she had hardly finished when he interrupted.

"You kept me waiting for two bloody hours and didn't even have the courtesy to answer my calls?" he hit his fist against the tree and raised his voice as few students passing by looked at them.

"You called?" she gave him an absent minded look and checked her cell phone. "Thirty missed call!" she was taken aback seeing his desperation and found it weird.

"Yes , but you were too busy to answer any of them. Jeez, I never knew you would turn out to be so pricey? You're all the bloody same, show-offs B******. No sooner you realised the coolest boy has the hearts for you, you began showing your true colours. Don't be under the impression that you can control or snub me just because I promised to do anything for you," he humiliated and made her cry.

"That's not true, I'm not showing off or controlling you....I was in class and couldn't answer your calls. I'm sorry I forgot about our outing, Bruce...I didn't mean to upset you, why are you making an issue of such a small thing?" she wiped her tears and lowered her gaze.

"You call that a small issue? Making Bruce Forester wait for two hours is a small issue while you have fun inside?" he taunted and made her feel more guilty.

"I'm sorry, I made you wait..." her voice trailed off as she choked with tears streaming down her face. Hiding her tears from him she tried walking away, but he held her back.

"Hey, are you crying? I'm sorry, hun, I had no clue you would start crying," he embraced and tried to pacify her as she wept. "I'm sorry I pounced on you like that, damn ! I'm such a jerk, I shouldn't have raised my voice on you," he whispered and patted her head lovingly.

"Forgive this jerk, I'm sorry I made you cry, babe! Please don't cry, I hate tears," he reached for her lips and kissed her till she calmed down. Pulling from his kiss, she rubbed her eyes and avoided his gaze. "Sorry, I'm just a bit sensitive. Nobody has ever spoken to me like that before," she whispered and felt horribly bad.

"I'll remember that, I promise I'll never make you cry again," he brushed his lips against her ear and held her tight till she gently pushed him away. "Look at you, your face has turned all red and wet with tear, come lets go from here to some place better," he smiled and rested his hand on her shoulders.

"Uhm...I'm not sure, I'm not feeling too well today," she replied softly and glanced at his arm over her shoulder.

"Are you alright, hun? Or are you still mad at me for yelling at you like that?" he enquired and touched her forehead. "Please, I want to make up for spoiling your mood.  I've been waiting for ages to take you out, I even skipped my game for you," he pleaded till she finally agreed.

"But I'll miss my lectures..." she interrupted, but he was firm.

"Your grades won't fall if you skip class for a day," he winked and pulled her to his side before they drove away in his car.

He pulled over near a park and took her around for a stroll. As they walked holding hands, Bruce noticed how quiet she was and tried cheering her up. He bought her an ice cream and spoke about his friends and their funny antics until she forgot everything and smiled once again.

When she got tired of walking, he guided her to his favourite spot and sat by the lake. "Wow, this is gorgeous. I never knew there was a lake in here," she stared at the water ripples as Bruce flung a flat stone and let it bounce thrice over the lake before sinking.

"This is my favourite place, I love coming here when I'm upset. The serenity  and beauty of this place cheers me up," he explained and flung another stone.

"I want to try that too, will you teach me?" she approached him as he flung another stone.

"Your wish is my command, babe," he smiled and instructed her how to throw the stone.

"Not like that," He interrupted and held her from behind. Gliding one hand around her waist, he felt her arm and rested his chin over her shoulder. Giselle could feel his warm breath teasing her neck as he instructed her. Distracted by his touch, she missed a step while flinging the stone and fell dow along with him.

 "Whoa, careful, it's a bit slipper out here," he laughed as he landed on his back with Giselle over him. "Sorry, i'll be carefull next time," she laughed softly when all of a sudden he turned tensed.

"Hey, what's that on your face?" he crunched his brows and asked.

"What? Is something wrong?" she got paranoid and touched her face.

"I see a smile there, a bright and lovely one," he flirted and made her blush.

Giselle giggled and couldn't stop smiling, while Bruce admired her. "I never told you this before, but you look beautiful when you smile," he said and looked into her eyes. "My heart skips a beat, every time you smile..." he brushed her hair aside and before she knew it, leaned over to kiss her lips.

Raising her chin, he gently kissed her lips and felt her warm breath. Giselle closed her eyes and felt his lashes brushing hers as she reciprocated passionately. When kisses got too steamy, she tried pulling away, but Bruce held her back and continued kissing tenderly. Giselle found his tender wet kiss, better than letting his tongue explore her mouth, but when it took longer than before, she began feeling uncomfortable.

Bruce sensed her uneasiness, and instead wrapped his arms around her and this time trailed his lips down her neck. Giselle gasped as he kissed her collar bone seductively and trailed his lips up her neck again before savouring her lips.

Pressing her shoulder, he laid her down and felt her stomach. Giselle quivered with his touch as he smoothly ran his fingers across her belly. She tried stopping him, but his hot wet kisses distracted her. It was when he gradually reached for her breasts and squeezed it, that she complained and pushed him away.

"What are you doing?" she crossed her arms and stared at him.

"Making out with you, why? What's wrong in that?" he seemed confused and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't like you touching me like that..." she lowered her gaze and protested.

"But we're dating each other, right? Couples do it all the time when in love," he stated and found her excuse lame.

"But you know I'm not in love as yet....I need time to know you better...I feel we're rushing things," she explained things haphazardly and confused him.

"It's been three days since we started dating, how much more do you want to know me better? I've shared everything you need to know," he complained, but controlled his temper.

"I know you did, but...I feel you're going too fast," she said and ran her finger through her hair while he stared at her in bewilderment. "Uhm..I should get going now, mom will get worried if she realises i'm not home as yet," she changed the topic.

"I see, so you think you can build the rules here, huh?" He remarked and frowned.

"It's not like that, Burce....please don't start all overagain," Giselle feared they would start argueing again.

"Start what? are you blaming me again? Jeez, Giselle i don't know what's going on inyour mind, but you're making it too hard for me. We're ina relationship, you can't be selfish here....it's all about compromising. If you really want our realtionship to work then you must listen to me as well, i can't keep agreeing to all your whims and fancies alone, unless you want to break my heart," he blackmailed her again.

"I don't want to break your heart," she replied and lowered her gaze in guilt.

"Then learn to comprise and listen to me, nobody will love you if you keep pushing them away," he pushed a stray lock behind her ear and traced a finger down her arm. "You should be grateful that you got a guy like me. I could get any hot chick i wanted, but i chose you though you aren'that pretty," he explained and stunned her with the last words.

"I'm not pretty?" she enquired and felt low.

 "Let's face it, you know you are nowhere near the sorority girls. You may not be beautiful to the world, but your'e to me," he said and kissed her but that din't convince her. His words hurt her self confidence and dampened her spirits.

Upset after realising what he thought about her, she merely sat still while he ran his hands over her. Spreading her legs, he felt her inner tigh and kssed her passionately. She din't protest when he pushed her down and reached for her breats. Squeezing and feeling her up and down, he made out with her while she lay there wondering if what he said about her was true.

"What happend? aren't you happy with me?" he asked when he finsihed. Giselle merely crossed her arms over her chest and faked a smile. His touch lingered over her body and made her feel disgusted. The only thing running in her mind was to reach home and take a shower.

"Oh, I forgot...i got something for you," he suddenly pulled out a present for her. "Open it?" he insited while she reluctantly unwrapped the present only to find that he had got her the first copy of the book she had been dying to read.

Her mood changed immediately on seeing the book. "This is awesome, thank you, Bruce, how did you know i was waiting for this?" she enquired as sheflipped through the pages.

"It was easy! You're my girl, it's obvious for me to know your likes and dislikes by now," he replied as they prepared to leave the park.

It wasn't long before he dropped her back home. He pulled over few blocks before her house so her neighbours wouldn't know she was involved with a guy. "Hey you forgot to kiss me?" he reminded her to which Giselle blew a flying kiss in his direction and sprint away while he frowned in disappointment.

Crusher, her pet dog growled as she entered and walked in through the backyard door. "Who was that?" her mother suddenly startled her from the far corner of the kitchen.

"Who was who?" Giselle turned tensed and froze thinking her little secret was out.

"I meant who was Crusher barking at?" her mother explained as Giselle heaved a sigh of relief.

"I don't know, must be the mail man," she replied and reached for an apple on the kitchen island before rushing to her room.

As she pulled out the books to do her assignments, a pink note slipped off her bag. Assuming it was one of Bruce's love quotes, she jumped on bed and coyly opened it.

"I need to tell you something important...meet me in the library after science class, your well wisher," Giselle read the mystery note and realised it wasn't written by Bruce.

"Who is this and what does he/she want to tell me?" she asked herself and seemed paranoid about the mystery note.

When Bruce called that night, Giselle felt tempted to tell him about the note, but chucked the idea. She spoke for hours until her battery died out. Her father called her end number of times to join them for dinner, but Bruce wouldn't let go off his cell phone.

"Giselle, what's wrong with you? I and your mom have been calling you for dinner since twenty minutes, what's taking you so long?" her father barged in her room and startled her. Seeing her fiddle  with her phone in nervousness he frowned and crossed his arms. "You've been gossiping a lot these days like your mother, throw that cell phone for awhile and come down for dinner, alright?" he instructed and head back down stairs while Giselle sighed.

"Was that your father again?" Bruce asked seeming irritated.

"Yes, he's a bit strict, after all he's an officer," she giggled and flipped her hair to her side, but Bruce didn't like the joke.

"No offensive, but I don't like anyone bossing you around, even if it's your dad," he said and clenched his fist while she gasped. "But he's my father...and he doesn't boss me around," she replied and felt hurt that he said something like that about her father.

"I'm sorry, it's just that...I got a bit jealous when I heard you talking to him," he blurted to which Giselle felt it made no sense.

"He's my father, Bruce...why should you be getting jealous ?" She crunched her brows and enquired when her mom called out to her.

"Oh, I better get going now or mom will kill me!" she hurriedly said and cut the line before he could say anything.

Bruce was miffed that she had hung up on him, desperate to ask why she did that, he kept texting her while she had dinner at the dining table. Her father noticed how she kept texting and ignored her food. Irritated he scolded her, and threatened to confiscate her phone if she wouldn't stop.

Petrified that her dad would find out whom she was talking and texting to, she hurriedly shoved the cell phone in her pocket and ate her dinner in a rush. "So what happened at school today?" her mother enquired as usually, but Giselle was too busy to reply.

"Nothing! The same old stuff," she replied and hurriedly darted up to her room without waiting for dessert.

"Don't you find something odd in her? Giselle was never like this before," her mother asker Giselle's father as she served him some pudding.

"It's all because of that darn cell phone," he frowned and switched on the T.V while his wife got back to washing dishes.

That night, Bruce kept Giselle awake with his talks. No matter how much she tried conveying how sleepy and tired she was, but Bruce wasn't feeling sleepy and needed someone to stay awake with him. "What are you wearing?" he enquired and confused her.

"My night suit of course," she rolled her eyes and glanced at the time piece. It was four in the morning, but neither of them had slept as yet.

"Duh, don't be such a bore...tell me in detail" he insisted to which she sighed.

"Fine, I'm wearing a pair of pyjamas and a shirt, happy?" she taunted and wondered when he would fall asleep.

"You're so out dated, Jeez, wear something sexy the next time I call you at night," he said and startled her.

When it was five, he finally fell asleep and cut the line. Much to her relief there was still an hour left before heading for school, but when she tried sleeping all she could think about was the mystery note.

 "I wonder who it is...?" she thought and closed her eyes.