Starburst

by Jettie Woodruff

  “Why are you being so unassertive about your grades? You should be proud of your hard work.”

  “Trevas stop…” she demanded, getting annoyed, and he let it go but didn’t understand her at all or why she refused to talk about her accomplishments. He wanted to ask her about her plans now, but didn’t for the simple fact that he never knew what would set her off and what wouldn’t, and her annoyed tone told him that it was best to let it go.

  Trevas parked in his assigned parking spot with the painted on number, one thirty two, and they walked down the sidewalk to his apartment. He typed in the code, and the door buzzed letting them enter.

  “Fourth floor,” he told her and held the door for the stairs.

  “What, you don’t even have an elevator?” she asked, entering the stairwell.

  “Yes, there is an elevator but this is better for you and I wanted to watch you walk in front of me,” he teased, and she turned to look at him with that dangerous look again. He chastised himself for saying that, wondeing why he kept doing it and knew that he was leading her on. He thought about what she thought was going to come out of whatever it was they were doing.

  “You don’t have much stuff,” she stated, walking around his apartment.

  It was a loft apartment and looked very industrial with the brick walls, metal beams and hardwood floor. He had a nice sized sitting area with a couch, a recliner, two end tables, a coffee table and a smaller TV. The bathroom was the only room with four walls, and the queen size bed was on the far wall. The kitchen was small and only had a bistro table in front of a small window, overlooking the alley full of dumpsters.

  “I hate stuff. It just complicates your life. I like to keep things simple,” he explained. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “No, I’m fine,” she replied and sat on the couch.

  He flipped through his mail and then sat beside her, moving her army green bag to the recliner.

  Alley leaned into his shoulder with hers and smiled up at him, and he smiled a warm smile back. He wanted to talk to her and make sure that she understood that as soon as her dad was home that they would not continue this. He wanted her to know that he had no plans with her in a few more weeks. Little did he know he was about to get the surprise of a lifetime and had to stop it now.

  “Trevas,” she spoke quietly, and for some odd reason, he knew what she was about to say. He wasn’t sure if it was the way she had just said his name or the way that she was looking at him, but he knew and he had to stop it. He didn’t ask her what and moved his lips to hers, which was not what he had planned either, or the smartest move on his part.

  She kissed him back and pushed him back on the couch with her body. She brought her legs around him and straddled him on the sofa, his hands mechanically went to her thin body and right up her shirt.

  “Make love to me Trevas,” she whispered to his lips and his eyes popped open, only to be emotionally closed again when she didn’t give him time to respond kissing him deeper, pressing her body to his and holding his face with her hands. She pulled herself up on her knees and was now kissing above him, causing him to have to look up to her, tilting head. His hands ran up the back of her legs, caressing her tight bottom. He wanted more than anything to make love to her, but ten minutes before, he was trying to figure out how to talk to her about when this would end.

  Alley never took her eyes from his when she pulled away from him and removed her shirt, slowly and seductively she unfastened her bra.

  “Alley stop,” Trevas whispered, unable to keep from looking at her body.

  She didn’t reply and brought her naked body back to his and before she got all the way to his lips she whispered again. “Make love to me Trevas.” And he knew that he was treading on thin ice, and if he didn’t put a stop to what was going on right then and there it was going to be too late.

  “Alley I can’t,” he whispered back and she stood up and walked over to his bed as he watched hypnotized and stunned. She stopped at the foot and unbuttoned her jean shorts and folded each flap back, revealing the black lace. His heart felt like it was going to beat right from his chest and he had to remind himself to breathe.

  “Come here,” she said quietly and ran her fingers through her hair, causing it to fall to the side.

  “I don’t have a condom,” Trevas spoke in a nervous tone, not knowing why he had said that. It was not what his brain was telling him to say at all.

  Alley laughed at his comment. “You don’t need one. I have been on the pill for a long time.”

  “Alley, please, please, please, I am begging you to stop,” he pleaded and knew that it was the only way that he was going to be able to stop what was about to happen. Beg for mercy, he thought, knowing that his body and feelings weren’t going to save him.

  “No, come here,” she demanded, and put both of her thumbs in her shorts and slid them to the floor. He stared at her standing by his bed in nothing but a dainty pair of black silk panties, and he didn’t think that he had seen anything more beautiful in his life, but still couldn’t move.

  She slowly walked back to him when he still hadn’t moved, stopping in front of him, and just like she had cast a spell on him, he moved toward her and kissed her bare stomach, trailing to her breast as his hands explored her backside. She took his hand from behind her and pulled him up from the couch, forcing him to walk with her to the bed. He did manage to stop before she was on the bed, but she knew exactly what she was doing, and pressed her naked breast to him and he wrapped her in his arms. She continued to kiss him, and he hardly noticed when she was on the button of his jeans. He grabbed her hands to stop her.

  “Trevas stop,” she demanded, and continued to unzip his jeans, and he let out a soft moan when he felt her take him in her hand. She continued to stroke him and then stopped and took a step back. She pulled herself back on the bed and stared at him, telling him what to do with her eyes. He came to her uncontrollably and took her mouth again while his hands explored her breast. He moved his left hand behind her naked back and ran the other one down her chest, her stomach and down to between her legs. Although she still had on the black silky panties the touch of his hand caused her to gasp, and him to moan.

  Trevas slid her out of her panties and looked down at her beautiful young body and then he smirked a little.

  “What are you laughing at? You’re making me self-conscious,” she asked.

  “You shave,” he replied with a warm smile.

  “Are you not okay with that?”

  “Oh, I’m more than okay with it,” he stated, and moved his fingers between her legs, which caused her to gasp again.

  “Promise me, you are on the pill, Alley?”

  “I swear,” she whispered trying to tell her own self to breath now.

  Trevas removed his jeans and came between her legs. “Alley we really shouldn’t do this,” he said before he got to close.

  “Damn it Trevas,” she scolded and then she felt him enter her.

  Trevas moved into her, felt the barrier and applied a little more pressure and felt something let go and at the exact moment that he felt it, she grabbed the sheets in her hands and let out a moan, but it wasn’t a moan of pleasure, it was a moan of pain, and he could tell the difference. He pulled out of her and looked at her confused. He looked down, seeing the blood and knew exactly what had just happened.

  “Jesus Christ Alley, you’re a virgin?”

  “Trevas don’t stop,” she begged, but he was too freaked out to continue, and he moved off of her.

  “I’m so pissed at you right now Alley,” he yelled, pulling on his jeans.

  “Why?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me, you were a virgin?”

  “Why does it matter? And besides I don’t think I am anymore,” she stated, trying to lighten the mood but it wasn’t working and she knew it. She got up and went into the bathroom to clean herself up.

  Trevas couldn’t believe that she was a virgin and walked around in circle
s, running his hands through his hair. What the hell was he doing? What the hell was he thinking? What the hell did he just do?”

  “Are you looking for something?” she asked, infuriated when she came out, and he was going through her bag.

  He didn’t answer, and she grabbed it away from him. She unzipped a zipper on the inside and pulled out the little round white plastic container. “Do you want to count them too,” she snapped, showing him the pills. “What the fuck are you worried about that for anyway? You may have stolen my virtue but you never left a trail from stopping by, so in case you’re too fucking stupid to figure it out, it doesn’t work that way.”

  “Take me home,” she demanded, opened the apartment door and walked out.

  They drove home in silence. Alley didn’t understand why he was so mad, and Trevas didn’t understand why she didn’t tell him.

  The cleaning lady was still there and was coming down the stairs with a load of sheets. Alley of course went straight to her room and slammed her door. Trevas heard the music playing loudly from her room and hoped that she stayed there until her dad got home. She never came down the rest of the day and Trevas didn’t cook. He could hear her pour a bowl of cereal late at night, and he refused to come out of his room. He wasn’t going to be anywhere near her for the rest of his stay, and if that meant that she lived in her room and only came out at night like a bat, then that was fine by him.

  Alley felt the exact same way. If he wanted it this way, then that was what he was going to get. She would have rather been mad at him then feeling all the stupid, love sick things that she was feeling just hours before anyway. She didn’t need that, and anger and bitterness was more of what she was accustomed to, it felt more normal than the unwanted feelings she was having about Trevas.

  Trevas entered the gym the next morning and was taken aback when she was up, and already in there running on the treadmill. She turned and glared at him, and he returned the angry look and left her. He grabbed a granola bar and went to the pool to wait for her to go back to her room, which was only about twenty minutes later and she disappeared back upstairs. When Trevas came back inside her phone was ringing on the island, and he picked it up, seeing dad on the screen, and he answered it.

  “Hey Fletcher, Alley left her phone downstairs. If you want to hang on I will run it up to her,” he offered.

  “I’m kind of busy here Evans, do you know what she wanted? She has called four times already.”

  “No sir, she doesn’t really talk to me,” he replied, not really lying because she wasn’t talking to him. “Do you want me to give her a message or have her call you back?”

  “Just tell her that I will be home Saturday morning for a couple of days and if it's something that she needs before then, then yes tell her to call me back, but to wait until about four o’clock your time.”

  “Thank God,” Trevas thought and couldn’t wait to get out of there for a couple of days. He wondered why she was calling her dad, and hoped that she wasn’t going to say anything about their brief relationship. He waited until he knew that she had her phone and text her.

  “Your dad called, he will be home Saturday for a couple of days. He said to tell you that if you need him before then to call around four.”

  He never got a response, which didn’t really surprise him, and he never saw her again that night. He kept telling himself to get through Friday, and he could get the hell out of there for a couple of days. That is what he needed. He needed to get away from her and back to his comfort zone.

  He made a nice dinner from a cooking show and left her a plate in the refrigerator, which she consumed around midnight.

  They never spoke again on Friday and only glared at each other the two times that she did come down. He again left her a plate in the refrigerator, and was excited when he went to bed for her dad to be home the next day.

  Trevas was woken before daylight and he looked at the neon clock reading six a.m. He poked his head out and saw Simon and Fletcher and immediately got dressed and went out.

  “Didn’t mean to wake you,” Fletcher apologized, looking tired.

  “It’s okay I have some things that I need to take care of, and was hoping Simon could give me a ride.”

  Simon dropped him off at his apartment, and he lay across his bed, closed his eyes and felt something in his hand. He opened one eye, picked up the black hair tie and stretched it between his thumb and finger, thinking about Alley being in his bed, almost feeling guilty for being so mean to her. He flipped the springy hair tie across the room and shook his thoughts. It had to be this way and was for the best.

  Trevas called Chase later in the day and told him to meet him at the Breeze around nine because he was free from the Fletcher nightmare for two days, and didn’t have to be back until Monday morning.

  Trevas spent the day in his apartment trying not to be bored. He tried to call Selena, but she answered briefly, telling him that she was in the middle of a shoot, and she would talk to him later and hung up. He definitely needed relief after the last couple of weeks, and who knows maybe getting that with Selena would calm the fires burning within himself about Alley. He tried his best to keep Alley off his mind, but she kept coming back and he had to will himself not to call or text her.

  He made himself a steak and then showered and got ready to go out, get drunk and have a good time. He wore jeans, a white knit shirt and a black jacket.

  Chase and his wife Sara were already there, and they waved him to their table. He smiled when he saw them and then lost it when he saw Selena with them. Yes, he had tried to call her earlier, but when he saw her he wasn’t interested anymore. He knew that she would want to go home with him and for some reason, and he knew what that reason was, he didn’t want her to.

  Selena stood, and he tried to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned and he was forced to kiss her on the lips. He shook Chase’s hand and kissed Sara on the cheek. Chase ordered them all drinks and Trevas looked around. He saw a couple actors that he recognized and the rap singer J-ling.

  The club was pretty full, and the music was a little loud, but after a couple of drinks, he did relax and was having a good time, except for the fact that Selena was all over him and he was trying to figure out a way to get rid of her. He didn’t want her to go home with him, and he didn’t want to have sex with her, which made no sense at all. She was a beautiful blonde that loved sex, and he was crazy for thinking the way that he was, and he knew it.

  “Oh, I love this song,” Sara told Chase, pulling him to the dance floor.

  Selena tried to get Trevas to dance as well, and he lied, telling her that he had twisted his ankle and got out of it.

  “That was fast,” Trevas told Chase when they were only gone for a couple of minutes.

  “Yeah and so was your fun night,” Chase replied.

  “What?” Trevas asked, not understanding.

  “You just got put back on the clock my friend.”

  “What the hell are you talking about Chase,” he asked, wondering if he was already drunk.

  “Look to the middle of the dance floor.”

  “I’m looking. I don’t see anything.”

  “Look harder, right toward the middle.”

  “I still….” Trevas started to say, when he saw Alley dancing, wearing extremely short black silky shorts, and a transparent longed sleeved black shirt covering a black bra. She was dancing with a muscular man covered in tattoos, a lot older than even Trevas was.

  “Son of a bitch,” he yelled and got up.

  “Trevas what are you doing?” Selena wanted to know. “You are not even on the clock, you are not going anywhere,” she demanded.

  Trevas looked down at her. “Chase explain to Selena how this all works,” he said only talking to him and not looking at him.

  “He has to go Selena if her dad found out Trevas knew she was in here and didn’t do anything about it, we would never work for him again,” Chase explained.

  Selena got close to his
ear. “If you leave Trevas, I will not be going home alone,” she threatened.

  “I’m sure it wouldn’t be the first time,” he countered and walked away from her. Chase followed not sure if there was going to be a fight with the guy she was with. He was shocked when Trevas walked to the dance floor and punched the guy in the face. He didn’t even try to talk the girl out of there or explain to the man that she was only seventeen.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Chase asked, grabbing him as the guy came back swinging. Alley stood back shocked herself, and Trevas went after the guy again and the bouncers were there in a split second, breaking it up.

  Trevas took his jacket off and slung it at Alley. “Put it on,” he demanded, and she did. He grabbed her by the arm pulling her out of the club.

  “Get off of me,” she yelled, jerking away from him, once they were on the sidewalk.

  He grabbed the jacket again and pulled her to where his car was parked, unable to speak to her at that moment, he was so mad at her.

  “I am not your problem Trevas,” she yelled. “You are not even on the clock.”

  “You fucking put me back on it when you showed up here dressed like that. What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, fuming.

  “The same thing you are,” she screamed.

  “And what is that?” he asked.

  “Go ask you little girlfriend in there?” she screamed.

  “Get in the car Alley,” he talked through gritted teeth.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “Fine, then let’s call daddy,” he threatened and took his phone from his pocket.

  “Hang the fucking phone up Trevas.”

  Trevas put it back in his pocket and opened the door for her. He got in the driver’s seat and ran his hands through his hair.

  “How did you get in there?” he wanted to know, trying not to yell.