Uncommon (BWWM)

Chapter 4

"Explain that last bit again?" Elina asks as she scribbles  out the writing on her notepad, "Because that made no sense at all."

Grace huffs out a frustrated breath; she could barely understand the work herself, let alone well enough to explain it to someone else. She grabs the textbook they'd been working from and flipped through the pages, hoping to magically absorb some useful information.

"Well, if it isn't the Beyoncé of our course."

The two girls look up to see Arthur, looking as expensive and delicious as ever, this time with Will in tow.

"Did you say that because I'm black?" Grace questions with narrowed eyes, the corners of her mouth turned up in poorly disguised amusment.

Arthur pauses, looking at her startled, reminding Grace of a deer in headlights. It's a very cute look on him.

"Uh.." He starts, but trails off, clearly trying to navigate through the minefield of this topic.

"He said it because he proper fancies Beyoncé." Will says while taking a huge bite out of a burrito that Grace only just realised he has.

She blinks at him for a second, completely floored by ease at which fits his mouth around that mammoth piece of food. Then his words register, and her eyes widen.

"Will!" Arthur hisses, nudging him on the arm, then composes himself enough to say, "I said it because she's really good at what she does, just like you are."

"Yeah and because she's bang tidy like." Will pipes up again, earning yet another push from Arthur.

The girls laugh at them, watching as the boys scramble to sit down in the seats across from them.

"I thought you'd be happy with that comparison," Arthur says once he's settled, "Don't black girls like Beyoncé?"

Both Grace and Elina stare him eyes wide and disbelieving, then they look at each other with an expression that clearly says, 'Can you believe this white boy?'

"Erm... Did I say something wrong?" Arthur asks slowly, earning a quiet snicker from Will.

Grace giggles. She isn't mad at him; he's only human, and by what she knows of Arthur, he probably hardly ever has conversations like this with people outside of his... circle.

"It's just a very broad assumption to make. I mean, who's to say that every black person likes Beyoncé's style of music?" She explains kindly, giving him a smile.

"Oh." He says, his eyebrows drawn together, "I suppose you're right. I didn't think about it like that."

"I don't know if you think at all on most days, mate." Will quips playfully, making Arthur roll his eyes.

"If she's Beyoncé, then who am I?" Elina asks curiously, raising a perfect eyebrow.

"Easy, Nicki Minaj." Arthur says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Elina screws up her face in confusion, "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Because, like you, she's good at what she does, works well with Beyoncé, and takes no shit." Arthur shrugs.

"And because she's also fit but Arthur's afraid of her."

"Will!"

The group erupts into a fit of giggles.

"Hey babe." A new voice says from behind Grace and Elina.

The girls turn in their seats, only to be met with Elina's tall, slim boyfriend. Ben is an interesting looking man. Pale skin, dark hair, and a permanent scowl on his face. It gives him an uncomfortably dark aura that Grace realises is the exact opposite to Arthur's. It makes her smile.

"Oh hi," Elina says with a half-smile, "What are you doing here?"

Ben frowns, "I came to see you. Thought I'd distract you from revision..." he moves his eyes around the table, focusing on Arthur and Will in particular, "But it seems you've already been distracted."

Elina's lips press together, and she gets up, looking at her friends, "Excuse me for a sec."

Grace watches as she walks out of the room with Ben following closely behind her. She turns back, rolling her eyes.

"Fucking prick." She says under her breath.

"Woah. This is the first time I've ever seen you show dislike for another human being?" Will comments, surprised.

"He's right," Arthur joins in, though he looks much more concerned, "This is the longest I've seen you go without smiling."

Grace purses her lips, casting her eyes down guiltily, "I guess some people don't give me any reason to smile."

"Bad guy?" Arthur questions.

"No." She replies, pausing, trying to figure out how to put it, "He's never done anything to her. But she isn't happy with him."

"Do you know that personally?" Will counters, and Arthur gives him a disbelieving look.

"I think the whole world knows it with the way her mood changed when he showed up."

"Exactly!" Grace exclaims, "I don't like to make judgments on other people's situations, but every day she tells me about another thing that she doesn't like about him and the relationship. It's exhausting to see her unhappy but not do anything about it."

"Has she spoken to him about it?" Arthur asks, "Maybe they need to talk through their issues."

Grace sighs, "Trust me, I've given her every bit of advice under the sun, but it's always the same thing. 'Oh, I feel bad', 'He told me he loves me so much'. Like... How much longer can this go on before it breaks her down?"

Arthur just looks at her sadly. He can see how stressed she is about it, there are frown lines in the place of her usual sunny smile, and her normally bright eyes are full of emotion.

"You really care about her, don't you?" he says softly, slightly awestruck.

Grace looks him in the eyes, Arthur may has well have asked if the sky is blue, "Of course I do, she's my best friend."

A/N:

So now we know a bit more about Elina's elusive boyfriend. Thoughts on him? And what do you guys think about Arthur so far?

Serena x