“I guess I can relate to that,” Eli said. “My family hasn't always been supportive of my choices either. It's always really tough when your family doesn't understand you.”
“Right,” Rayna said. “Hey, how about this? We don't want you to feel weird or anything, Eli. We both really like you and we want to stay good friends. How about we all go to the movies tonight? All three of us?”
Eli looked at both of their smiling faces. Rayna was looking relieved and cheerful. Donna looked sheepish, but cheerful. They really were both incredible girls, and Eli knew that he was lucky to have them as friends. How wasn't going to let the fact that they were dating each other influence his opinion of them. He liked them and cared about each of them a lot.
“Sure,” Eli said with a grin. “Let's all go as friends.”
***************************************************************
That night Donna sat in the middle of Rayna and Eli, as the movie played on the screen. She couldn't help but be amused by all of Eli's quirks and commentary. After she and Rayna had explained their relationship to Eli, he'd come forth with a confession of his own and told them that he'd been raised in an Amish community. He had even admitted that this had been a part of the reason for his overwhelming nerves. He'd never been to a movie theater before.
Now that they were actually watching the movie, Donna found that she was watching Eli's face more than she was watching the movie. It was obvious that he was amazed by the moving pictures in front of him. Donna felt as though she were hanging out with a time traveler from the late eighteen-hundreds.
At one point, Eli leaned over and whispered to her in awe, “I can't believe how realistic this looks! It's amazing! It's like I'm watching it really happen!”
“I'm pretty sure you couldn't ever see Transformers happen in real life,” Donna laughed.
Eli had quirked an eyebrow in the darkness.
“What is a transformer anyway?” he asked. “Are they like Power Rangers? I've heard of Power Rangers.”
Donna just smiled and shook her head.
“I'll explain it to you later,” she whispered.
Donna couldn't stop herself from glancing at Eli's profile and thinking of how adorable his naivete was. Donna hadn't met someone so innocent in a really long time and it was a quality that she was finding incredibly attractive.
She glanced over her opposite shoulder to Rayna. How could she be having these feelings for Eli? She had been in love with Rayna for years and when Rayna had come out as gay, Donna had known right away that she wanted to be Rayna's first serious girlfriend. She loved Rayna more than anything. How could she be having feelings for Eli now? How could she betray Rayna that way?
Chapter Four
Over the next few weeks, the three of them continued to grow closer. Rayna found that she was beginning to question her feelings, as well. She and Eli were on a similar schedule. They were each slammed with classes all day Monday and Wednesday. Those were also the days that Eli worked and the days that Rayna liked to stay late after basketball practice. Then they each had lighter schedules on Tuesday and Friday, and so they found themselves spending a lot of time together in the dorm.
Rayna found it easy to talk to Eli. His demeanor was so easy and quiet. He seemed to prefer to let Rayna do the talking, but he was a wonderful listener. Rayna was incredibly attracted to his dark European looks and the angular slope of his nose. She felt a stymie in her gut when he smiled, little dimples forming in his cheeks. His voice was quiet, but deep and masculine.
Rayna was feeling more caught up and confused than ever. She had already been feeling apprehensive about the secrecy of her relationship with Donna and wondering if Donna could ever really be serious about a woman. Now, here she was feeling attraction to the very same man that she'd been worried Donna might fall for. What was wrong with her? She identified as gay, but here she was feeling a very real and strong attraction to a male. Her thoughts swam and spun in tumultuous waves.
Still, there was another factor in the mix, and it was one that Rayna couldn't ignore. Donna was looking at Eli in exactly the same way. Rayna watched as Donna touched her hair and tilted forward whenever she and Eli spoke. Donna begged Eli to come to every game and Rayna watched her wave and shyly flirt during every halftime.
Finally, Rayna came to a decision. She knew what she had to do. She had a solution to all of this. She had a way to keep Donna from pulling away from her in an effort to get close to Eli. Rayna would keep herself from being slowly edged out of her relationship. Rayna would also help Donna from being found out. She had come up with something that would serve as a diversion, and no one would find out about Donna's relationship with her.
When she brought the idea to Donna, she was hesitant at first. She argued that the situation would be too confusing and messy. It may even be difficult and hurtful for Rayna. But Rayna had insisted that this was the best solution for everyone, and that she was okay with it. She was completely comfortable with it. Donna had eventually admitted that she was intrigued by the idea. That she wouldn't mind giving it a try.
They approached Eli one Friday after one of their basketball games.
************************************************************
Eli took a bite of his cheeseburger and smiled as he watched Rayna relating the events of the game they'd just won.
“Oh man!” she cried. “What a shot that was that Smith got! She was all the way on the opposite side of the court! Her arm is really starting to improve. Me and her worked free throws all last week. She's getting awesome.”
Eli looked at the two beautiful women in front of him. He really was a lucky guy. There was Rayna with her slim, toned physique, her deep brown eyes, and braids swinging at her waist. She was so energetic. Her enthusiasm was contagious. Eli found that Rayna was easier to be around than anyone he had ever met. She always made him comfortable and no matter what new situation they were in, she put his nerves at ease.
Then there was Donna. She was quieter and more reserved than Rayna. She was slower to open up, but once she did there was a genuine sweetness to her. Her hair made her stand out. Eli watched as other men turned when she passed, desperate to catch another glimpse of her. She was tall and broad-shouldered with hip points that were sharp and jutted away from the concave slope of her belly.
They were both truly beauties, in every possible way. They were beautiful in the external and the internal. Eli couldn't get enough of them. He had an especially strong connection with Donna. He found her reserved nature adorable and desperately wanted to bring her further out of her shell. He wanted to learn more about her and get to a place where he felt that he truly knew her.
“So, listen Eli,” Rayna said. “We have something that we want to talk to you about.”
“Okay,” Eli said.
He watched as Donna's face became tense and her eyes darted down to the table. It was Rayna who continued to talk. Her eyebrows knit together, as she plowed on.
“Eli, I can tell that you really like Donna.”
Eli opened his mouth to protest, but Rayna raised a hand.
“It's okay,” Rayna continued. “Donna really likes you too, and I actually think that it might be a good idea if you two start dating. See, that way no one will suspect me and Donna of dating, and then I don't have to worry that Donna is gonna miss dating guys. Everybody wins. You two will be a couple in public, and me and Donna will still date in private. We'll just all have to learn how to share.”
“Donna?” Eli asked. “Is this really what you want?”
Donna bit her lip and raised her head. Her sea-green eyes met Eli's.
“It is,” she said huskily. “I really like you, Eli. I'm very attracted to you.”
That was all the convincing that Eli needed. The situation was odd, and it was certainly outside of his comfort zone. There was nothing in his Amish upbringing to prepare him for this.
But in that moment, nothing mattered except those luminous eyes and th
e vibrant waves of her soft hair. And the breathy way that she spoke, as she earnestly told him that she wanted him.
Chapter Five
The next few weeks passed in a cloud of experimentation and confusion. Donna and Eli took their first tentative steps towards romance. They began spending more time together and opening up.
It was three weeks into their new arrangement that Eli's world changed dramatically. He had asked Donna if he could take her to a play. It was a student production that an acquaintance from his History class had told him about. It was supposed to be a classic; A Streetcar Named Desire. Eli hadn't ever heard of it, but he was beginning to realize that he hadn't heard of most things. He was just going to have to get used to being the guy perpetually out of the loop. He had asked Donna to go with him because he was having trouble connecting with her with Rayna around all the time. It had been Rayna's idea for he and Donna to date, and still he was sensing something from her. It seemed like a fuming sort of resentment.
Eli saw how Donna made an effort to always include Rayna in their conversations. He even watched Donna creep across the room at night and climb into bed with Rayna. He wasn't quite sure what they were doing. He would have thought they were sleeping, but for the noises that drifted across the room to him and the way Rayna's white comforter bobbed and swam, hinting at frenzied movement beneath it.
Whatever was happening between Rayna and Donna, Eli wanted a break from it. He yearned for a closer connection with Donna and he just didn't think he could do it unless he was alone with her. He wanted to learn more about her. What was she thinking when she glanced coyly down at him through those vibrant orange lashes? What thoughts directed her movements and words? What secrets were inside of her, waiting to be discovered?
Eli met Donna in the quad after her final class of the day let out. He smiled as she strolled up to him, her head tilted slightly and her hair falling in waves across her wide shoulders. She was wearing a floral patterned red dress. Well...not a dress exactly. Eli wasn't quite sure what it would be called. It was all one piece. It was like a pair of shorts attached to a tank top that tied in a long string at the nape of Donna's neck. The material was flowy and light and fluttered in the breeze, as if it were a dress. It accentuated her long, shapely legs and curved snugly around her pointed hip bones.
“Hey, Eli!” she called.
Eli felt a zip of energy reverberate through his chest, as Donna gave a little wave and flashed one of her gorgeous smiles. Her lips were deep red in hue, even without lipstick and they remained plump and plush, even as they were stretched wide into a smile.
“Hello, Donna,” Eli said. “Are you ready to see this play?”
Donna nodded.
“Yeah,” she said. “I've never seen it before.”
“Really? I haven't either!”
“That's cool,” Donna said. “Then we can see it together. I have read the play. We read it aloud in my Senior drama class in high school, but I've never seen it performed before.”
“Oh, so you do the story already?” Eli asked.
“Yeah, but that's okay. I liked the plot a lot, so it's gonna be cool to see the play live, instead of just a bunch of bored people in my class reading it out of a textbook.”
“Great,” Eli said. “Well, it's off campus. My new friend Bill was telling me that they usually perform in the atrium, but for this play the school theater department managed to snag the playhouse downtown.”
“Oh, that's awesome,” Donna said. “It's always so cold in the atrium. I was thinking about that on the way over here. Like why would I wear this light outfit, knowing I was gonna be in the freezing cold atrium.”
The two of them started to make their way across campus, heading towards the town center which split the campus in two.
“What is that outfit called anyway?” Eli asked. “It's not a dress, right?”
Donna giggled.
“Oh, you're such a man,” she teased. “It's called a romper.”
“That's a funny name.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Eli's face brightened as he realized how he must sound.
“But it looks gorgeous on you,” he added quickly. “I only meant that the name sounded funny, but you look beautiful and I can't even believe that I'm on a date with someone so lovely. You're like a bright, magnificent flower. Like a sunflower!”
“A sunflower!” Donna cried, a smile flooding across her features. “Are you saying that because I'm so tall?”
Eli's face flushed a deeper red.
“Oh, don't be embarrassed,” Donna said. “I think that's really nice. Most guys don't want anything to do with me because I'm so tall.”
“I like your height,” Eli said. “You're like this great, tall beauty and there's just so much of you to look at. I'm sorry....I really don't know how to talk to girls. You must be sick of me already...”
Donna gave him a quick, little pat on the arm.
“It's really okay, Eli. I like you and I'm not going to get offended or upset. Let's just have fun, okay?”
“Okay,” Eli said, with an exuberant nod.
During the play, Eli couldn't relax. He was tense and stiff in his seat. It was impossible to ease up, knowing that Donna was sitting right beside him. He could feel the warmth from her body and smell the springy, floral perfume that she had misted herself with. Each time her arm brushed against his, he felt electricity in his bones.
“What did you think of the play?” Donna asked, as they left the theater.
“It was cool,” Eli said. “It was like, we got to watch this whole story play out, and so in that way it was sort of like when we went to the movies. But it wasn't so weird and surreal, because we could actually watch the people in front of us.”
“The movies kind of freaked you out, huh?” Donna laughed.
Eli shrugged.
“A little. I mean, it was cool, but yeah it did freak me out a little. I have heard of movies before, but it was something else to actually look at moving pictures in front of me. The play sort of reminded me of our Christmas pageants at church. All the kids would dress up and play out the first Christmas and the birth of Jesus. It was always really fun. The only other time that we had stories told to us was when we read the Bible. Reading a story and watching a story are really different.”
“Yeah,” Donna said. “It's like the difference between reading a book and watching television. Reading can be really fun, because you get to imagine all of the details yourself, but then tv is good if you're just feeling lazy and tired. I think watching a story is a lot more passive than reading it.”
“You're really smart,” Eli murmured.
He tilted his neck and looked up at her in admiration.
Donna's pale complexion became pink. Her face was flooded with the soft yellow lights of the street lamps overhead.
“Thank you, Eli,” she whispered. “And you're really sweet.”
As Eli watched her grow coy and shy under his gaze, he felt suddenly emboldened. He reached out and took her hand in his. Her eyes widened and her lips parted. She fluttered her eyelashes and her breathing quickened.
They continued walking, Eli now clutching Donna's hand in his own. He marveled at how soft her skin was. In his village, even the hands of the women were hardened and calloused from hard work. But Donna's skin was smooth and supple. They were also warm and Eli's heart raced, as Donna fingers dug softly into the side of his palm. She brushed her fingers back and forth over his skin, as if she was caressing him. It was doing something odd to Eli. He was feeling a sort of delicious tension that he hadn't ever experienced before. It was as if every nerve and muscle in his body were tightening themselves and drawing themselves together. The tension itself was something lovely, and still Eli craved for a release. He just wasn't sure what that release might be...
They arrived back at the dorm and faltered for moment on the steps of the building. Donna's freckles danced against her luminous skin. The light of the moon was bathing
her features in an ethereal sort of glow. She looked like something unreal; a goddess or a wood nymph.
“I guess this is where the date would usually end,” Donna said. “But in this case, you can't exactly leave me at my door.”
Eli laughed.
“I guess not. This is a bit of a weird situation.”
Donna nodded.
“But there is something that we could do to keep this feeling like a regular date.”
“What's that?” Eli asked.
Donna bit her lip and averted her eyes.
Eli felt that same strange tension, as he watched her large front teeth digging into her plump, red bottom lip.
Donna hesitated. She parted her lips as if there was something that she wanted to say, but then shut her mouth, as if she'd thought better of it.
“What?” Eli asked. “What is it?”
“Never mind,” Donna said. “I'm too shy to ask.”
“Please don't be,” Eli murmured.
He placed a hand on Donna's arm and looked up into her sparkling eyes.
“Okay,” Donna whispered. “Would you...kiss me? If you want to, I mean. You don't have to if you don't feel like it, or if you aren't-”
Eli felt that same sense of emboldened impulsiveness. He felt brave and masculine. He silenced Donna with a hard and lengthy kiss. He had to shoot up onto his tiptoes to accomplish it. He grabbed Donna roughly by the back of the neck and forced her lips down to meet his own. He felt Donna gasp beneath his lips. Eli had never kissed anyone before, and still he was finding the process incredibly intuitive. His body seemed to know what to do, even without any experience on his part. He varied in force and movement. Speeding up and then slowing down. Crushing into Donna's soft, plump mouth and then releasing his hold a bit. Eli had never done this before and still he felt that he must be doing it right. Donna returned his movements, acting in rhythm with him. She pressed her tall, beautiful body into his. He felt the soft, warmth of her flesh against his own. All of his senses were filled with her. He could taste her warm, lovely mouth. He could smell her perfume; her skin and her hair. He placed his hands around her waist and felt her jaunty hip bones protruding from beneath the thin fabric that she wore.
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