HE LIKES ME

Elena stared at Kyle in surprise, "What? Me, your girlfriend? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious," Kyle replied.

"But why?" She asked.

"Well, I like you. I like you a lot so I want you to be my girlfriend, and your eyes tell me you like me too. Am I wrong?" Kyle asked.

Elena looked down shyly and shook her head, "No, you're not wrong. I like you too."

Kyle cupped her cheeks and said, "Look at me. You like me, and I like you. That's settled. So, do you agree to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, I agree," Elena replied.

Kyle smiled, "Thank you so much, Elena. You don't know what you've done for me. I'm so happy."

Kyle happily hugged her while Sam who was watching the both of them, rolled her eyes. She could not understand why Kyle was hugging such a girl.

Jordan came from behind and tapped her. When she turned, he asked, "What are you doing in here?"

She smiled and said, "It's just funny. I mean, I can't believe after Kyle fought with you, he moved on so easily, and that too with such a dirty girl."

Jordan looked through the gates as well, seeing Kyle and Elena still hugging. He shook his head, "She's really such a dirty girl. Well, I'm not surprised. Kyle is so cheap, just like his late mom."

Samantha frowned, saying, "That's not a nice thing to say about his late mom."

"Are you now taking his side?" Jordan asked, pinching her cheeks. "Do not lecture me on what is right, Sam. You do not have the right. When you seduced me, didn't you think it was wrong? Or are you still trying to fool me as you did Kyle, that you didn't know he was my brother?"

Samantha insisted, "I really didn't know he was your brother. I promise you that I didn't."

Jordan laughed, "Okay, let's assume you didn't. Why didn't you break up with him then before coming to me?"

Samantha explained, "But I already told you, Kyle would have refused to let me go. He would have kept clinging on to me. I just wanted to ghost him until he finally gave up on me. How was I supposed to know that I would come here with you and find out that he's your brother?

I didn't know. I thought I was done with him. I thought we would never have to see each other again. I'm telling you the truth."

"I saw you kiss him," Jordan said.

Samantha denied it, saying, "No, I did not.

Are you calling me a liar?" He asked.

"Come on, Jordan. I don't want us to fight because of Kyle. I promise you that I didn't kiss him. He forcefully kissed me. I tried to push him away, but I couldn't."

Jordan sighed and stroked her hair, "Well, I think I can see why Kyle is so smitten by you. You're beautiful." Grabbing her neck, he pulled her closer and crashed his lips onto hers.

After Kyle hugged her, Elena felt over the moon, while Kyle said, "We need to change your wardrobe."

"What do you mean by changing my wardrobe?" She asked.

He replied, "Well, I mean your clothes aren't exactly clean. So, I'll need to get you a new set of clothes. I noticed a beautiful boutique when we were driving in earlier. So, I'll just take you there and get you some very beautiful clothes. You'll change your shoes as well.

You're now my girlfriend, so you can't go around looking like this. I'll get you much better shoes, and I'll see what we can do about your hair. I will take you to a salon. Is there a salon nearby?"

Elena nodded, "Yes, there is."

He said, "Okay, I'll take you to a salon and change your looks. I will make you look more beautiful, just as my girlfriend ought to look."

She looked at him with her eyes wide open and pinched her cheeks, asking, "Is this really happening, or am I dreaming?"

Kyle laughed, "Yes, this is really happening."

"Natalie would be in shock if she finds out about this," Elena said excitedly. "Oh my God, I now have a boyfriend, and it's you!"

"Are you really that excited?" He asked.

"Yes," she replied. "I mean, how many girls get to be as lucky as me?"

"Yeah, I guess you're lucky," Kyle said, feeling guilty.

He shook the feeling off and said, "Okay, so I guess we should..."

"Oh, I forgot," Elena interrupted. "I came to ask you about serving the guests at your Grandpa's funeral."

"Forget about it," Kyle said.

"Why? She asked.

"Now, you can't do that anymore," he said. "Yes, you will be at the burial, but not as a server, but as my girlfriend."

"Really?"

"Of course, why would my girlfriend be working? Well, as my girlfriend, you should sit down and order the servers. That's how it should be."

"I was hoping to make some money while working," Elena replied.

"I'll give you as much money as you want," Kyle promised.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that," Elena quickly refused. "It's just that Natalia and I..."

"Natalia can still work if she wants," Kyle said.

"Really?"

"Of course, she can work. She's not my girlfriend, you are, so she is allowed to work, but you aren't."

Elena smiled. "Okay, thank you."

Can I take you shopping now? I'm not doing anything right now so we can go and get new clothes for you,"

Elena smiled, "Can we push it to later? The thing is, my stepmom sent me on an errand, and I'm not done running it. I just stopped by your house to ask you a question since your house is closer to mine."

"Okay, you go ahead and run your stepmother's errand and later we can meet. Also, you'll need to tell me more about yourself."

"Of course, I will do that," Elena said. "Just ask me anything you want to know, and I'll tell you the whole truth."

"You look like a very honest girl so I'm sure you would," Kyle remarked.

"I should be done with everything in less than two hours."

"That's good. What will happen is that I'll go in and wait for you. Go home, run your errands, and then you come back here. Once you get to the gate, ask after me and I'll come out and take you out so we can get all that you need.

This is just a few minutes to four, so we still have a lot of time to do what we want. I want to spend so much time with you, Elena. This means that you'll mostly be inside my house. I hope you're fine with that?"

Elena nodded excitedly. "Sure, see you later."

Kyle walked back into the house while Elena turned and ran away. While she was running, she bumped into her friend Natalie, who was hiding in a corner and waiting for her.

Elena stared at her in surprise, "I thought you went back home."

Natalie ignored her words and said, "I saw you hugging Kyle. Wasn't he disgusted with you?"

Elena rolled her eyes, "Disgusted? How will he be disgusted when he likes me? He might be disgusted with you, though, but definitely not me."

"What do you mean?" Natalie asked. "I look better than you, cleaner than you, and my clothes are not torn. He should be disgusted with you, not me."

Elena smiled, "That doesn't matter anyway, I have good news."

"What good news could you possibly have?" Natalie asked. "I'm not in the mood for games, Elena. Is it about serving? Did Kyle tell you what exactly we're going to do?"

"About that, I don't have to serve again," Elena replied happily.

"Why?" Nathalie asked. "Don't tell me he has fired you already."

Elena laughed, "Calm down, girl, and I'll give you the good news. Okay, so Kyle asked me to be his girlfriend. He said he likes me."

"What? Kyle asked you to be his girlfriend? No, I can't believe it. He just met you this afternoon for crying out loud. It's too soon for him to ask you to be his girlfriend.

Besides, there are much better girls here, and even in the city. Kyle has definitely seen all sorts of girls. Why would he want you to be his girlfriend? You didn't even finish high school, and you look..."

"Oh yeah, go on and insult me," Elena said. "But I'm in such a good mood that your words can't get to me. Yes, I am everything you're saying, but Kyle doesn't care. I guess he's just different.

Do you know what he said? He would take me shopping. He wants to change my wardrobe; get me expensive clothes and shoes. He mentioned the boutique at the entrance of this street. That boutique is so expensive. I never thought I would ever wear anything that is sold there, but Kyle is taking me there.

He also said he'll do something about my hair and he said he wants to spend more time with me. Oh my God, I'm so excited!! I feel like all my dreams are coming true."

"I thought your dream was to go to school and get a good job," Natalie replied.

"Yeah, that's my dream, but my biggest dream has always been to meet someone like Kyle."

"But Kyle is just too good for you. I mean, what if he's joking? He might just be playing with you."

Elena smiled, "Forget about that, girlfriend. Kyle wasn't joking. He looked serious and happy too. He told me that he wants me to be his girlfriend, and I'm not allowed to serve because my status is different. He has invited me to his grandfather's burial as his girlfriend, but he said you can still go ahead and serve."

"Why should I serve if you're not serving?" Natalie asked feeling annoyed.

"Well, if you do not serve, you're not going to make any money," Elena pointed out. "Why am I wasting time talking to you? My bag of maize is still at your house. I'll run over there, pick it up, and take it to Patricia. I need to hurry and come back for my shopping with Kyle."

Natalie smiled and watched as Elena ran away. After Elena left, Natalie shook her head, "No, Kyle can't be her boyfriend. I also want him. Why her and not me? Could it be that Kyle thinks I'm not into him? Perhaps I should confess my feelings to him. I look so much better than she does, and I am more beautiful. No, I cannot let her have Kyle.

I'm ready to even dump my boyfriend for him."

She began to walk home, feeling very sad. Meanwhile, Elena excitedly picked up her bag of maize and rushed back home. The moment she entered the house, a slap landed on her face as her stepmother dragged the bag of maize from her.

"Such a worthless girl! I sent you to the farm in the morning, and you're coming back in the evening? So, if we were depending on this, you would have starved us to death? Where have you been?" Patricia roared.

Elena said, "Actually, after harvesting the maize, on my way back home, a car almost ran me over. I got injured, so I went to my friend's place to..."

"Will you shut up? You always have excuses for everything. Get out of my sight," Patricia said.

Elena stared at her half-siblings, who were eating at the dining table. They laughed at her but she ignored them and rushed into the bathroom. As she came out, Patricia said, "No dinner for you. That is your punishment."

Elena, however, couldn't be bothered with that. She was too excited to even think about eating. She went back into the bathroom, took a bath, brushed her teeth, and looked at her hair.

She suddenly realized that her hair was dirty. Perhaps this was why Kyle wanted her to go to a salon. She decided to wash it. She hadn't done so in almost a month because she couldn't afford to buy shampoo.

She quickly washed her hair, stealing some of Claire's shampoo while the latter had no idea that she had done so. After washing her hair, she came out, picked her best gown, and wore it. She told herself that even if Kyle was taking her shopping, she still needed to look good enough, and that was her best gown. At least it wasn't torn, and it was very clean.

When Elena came out of the room, Claire began to laugh and Andrew joined in when he saw her.

"Wow, this is interesting. I think she has gotten a boyfriend," Claire said.

Andrew laughed, "I feel so sorry for him. I mean, who would like a pig like her?"

Hearing their conversation, Patricia came out and stood in front of her, "What is this I am hearing? You have a boyfriend?"

Elena said, "Well, actually..."

Another slap landed on her face before she could complete her sentence.

"You know what? Your punishment is that you will sleep outside. I will not tolerate any promiscuity in this house. Spend the night outside so you'll learn how to be a decent girl."

After pushing her outside, Patricia locked the door. However, Elena felt so happy about it. She had been scared that her stepmother would restrict her from going out. She began to hurry back to Kyle's house.

When she had left Kyle, he walked back home but stumbled upon Jordan and Samantha kissing at the gate. He balled his fist in anger, but then when he remembered his plan. Ignoring them, he walked into the house.

The moment he entered his room, Brookes came out and said, "Come out, Kyle, let's have dinner."

Kyle stared at him in surprise, "You cooked?"

"Yeah, I did," Brookes replied. "I know you're depressed, and I couldn't find any cook in this house. Also, I was hungry, so I decided to make dinner for us. You look happy, though."

"Yeah, something good happened," Kyle replied.

"What happened? Did Samantha have a change of heart?" Brookes asked.

"I wish," Kyle replied, "but, I got myself a new girlfriend."

"What? How is that possible?" Brookes asked. "We both know you're head over heels for Samantha. So how can you get a girlfriend so suddenly, and who is the unlucky girl?"

Kyle smiled, "She isn't unlucky. She's my new girlfriend, and I'm sure you've seen her before. Her name is Elena"

"Elena? The girl you almost ran over earlier?" Brookes stared at him in surprise. "What?"