by Erica Lee
Falling for Faith
By: Erica Lee
Copyright © 2018 By Erica Lee
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission by the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Dedication
Dedicated to my beautiful wife, Michelle. I feel so blessed to share this crazy life with you. Thank you for always supporting my wild dreams and making me feel like I can achieve anything I put my mind to. You are truly a gift from God.
Chapter 1
I put my head down, staring at the ground as I walked into the church. When my track coach suggested that it was a good idea for our whole team to get involved with volunteering in our local community, I had reluctantly agreed. Ok.. that was a lie. Coach Rain hadn’t suggested anything. She had pretty much threatened to kick anyone off the team who didn’t volunteer somewhere in some capacity. After the biggest party bust of the year (possibly the biggest in school history) took place at the “track house,” coach was sufficiently pissed off. She immediately called an “emergency” team meeting and reamed us out more than she ever had in the past, which was saying a lot since she was a known hard-ass and I had experienced her wrath countless times over my first three college track seasons. But there we were just a week before our first indoor track meet and she was screaming bloody murder about how we had tarnished the team and, in turn, her reputation.
Of course, not everyone on the team was at the party, but it seemed like at least 35 of the 50 girls were. The ones who weren’t there though were of course the first to agree to volunteer because they were so far up coach’s butt and very eager to please. I was actually pretty sure that it was Susan Hopkins who gave coach the idea. She was a long jumper and the team’s resident saint. She was a senior just like me and even though I hadn’t said even two words to her since we first walked onto the track our freshman year, I couldn’t stand her. She was coach’s little pet, the team captain, and as heteronormative as they come. You know the kind - the girl that goes to the same college as her high school sweetheart (who obviously plays for the football team) and they share an innocent kiss every time they cross paths at practice. After each kiss she would stare at him with these ridiculous love eyes which confirmed my suspicion that they weren’t having sex. No one who was actually having sex got that excited over a stupid kiss on the lips.
Of course she would suggest we should all volunteer to “piece back together our broken reputation” and of course her thirteen other minions would go along with it. But the fifteenth person who wasn’t at the party, aka yours truly, wasn’t going to go down that easily. After the meeting, I stayed back to complain to Coach R that I shouldn’t be punished for a party that I didn’t attend. But when she looked me in the eye and asked if I was just off drinking somewhere else that night, I couldn’t deny it. I may have hated coach about 95% of the time, but she still felt like a parental figure to me and, for that reason, I couldn’t lie to her. Of course I had been off drinking somewhere else. It was the last free weekend I had without a track meet for a long time. I just happened to be with three guys from my business program who I had spent most of my free weekends with since freshman year drinking, playing video games, and smoking some pot. By smoking some pot, I meant that they were constantly high and I joined in every once in awhile. Smoking and running didn’t go so well together. My flashback to the night before, which did involve some pot of the edible variety, was interrupted by coach clearing her throat and giving me a stern look. I took the opportunity to remind her that it wasn’t technically season yet since meets hadn’t started and I was over 21 and she took that opportunity to remind me that the season officially started with our first practice back in October and the team had a zero tolerance policy no matter how old you were. But what kind of bullshit was that? We were only able to get away with having fun for two months out of the whole school year? Ok… saying “get away with” was probably the wrong way to put it. Clearly we could get away with anything seeing as how the administration didn’t even give those caught a slap on the wrist and the local police that broke up the party didn’t hand out any underages. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the best team on campus at your small division two school in small town Pennsylvania.
But, either way, I knew I wasn’t getting out of this volunteering gig and I stupidly made the mistake of telling coach to just choose something for me. Hence the reason I was spending the day after my first meet trudging into a church while most of my teammates would be spending the winter selling tickets or merchandise at the boys’ basketball games. Go figure.
I kept my eyes locked on my worn out sneakers until I felt myself bump into something, or I guess I should say someone. When I looked up, my mouth went dry and I could barely breathe. I was standing eye to eye with one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. Her straight brown hair fell perfectly at her shoulders and her eyes were ocean blue, but the best part was her smile. It was an innocent smile, one that hadn’t been ruined by the ways of the world, and it was quickly spreading across her face as she stared back at me.
I forced these thoughts from my head, quickly looked away, then made a beeline for the other side of the room. I stared at the walls, taking in all of the pictures kids had painted proclaiming how much “Jesus loved them.” I scoffed at that and shook my head. They would learn the truth some day. I continued to look around while the woman who I had to assume was in charge of this “Holy cause” began to speak. I was only half listening, but caught something about partnering up to deliver meals to shut ins. Before I could process that, she was yelling out names. Great. Just like in middle school, our fearless leader was going to assign us our partner in hopes that we would bond.
I finally looked up when I heard my name being called. “Faith and Joey,” the woman said in an overly cheerful voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me. I looked around the room, trying to figure out which middle aged woman was about to spend her day mothering me. To my surprise, the pretty girl from earlier walked toward me. She was wearing a black sweater dress that put my ripped jeans and “Belman Track and Field” sweatshirt to shame.
When she was beside me, she flashed me a smile and held out her hand. “I’m Faith. It’s nice to officially meet you. Sorry about the whole bumping into you thing. I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
I lifted both eyebrows at her and gave her a half smile, but kept my hands firmly inside my sweatshirt pocket. “I’m Joey…”
Before I could finish, she cut in. “Joey McGolden. I know. You’re actually on the track team with my twin sister.” Please don’t say it. “Susan Hopkins.”
I let out a sardonic laugh. “Perfect,” I said sarcastically under my breath.
To my surprise, Faith started to laugh. “I take it you’re not a fan?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “We don’t really talk. I just find it funny since I’m pretty sure she is the one who got the whole team into this stupid volunteering mess.”
Faith lifted an eyebrow at me, but continued to smile. “Is that so? It had nothing to do with that big party on Friday night?”
I blatantly rolled my eyes at her. I didn’t even care that she would notice. I knew the kind of girl Faith Hopkins was and she was definitely not someone I was trying to become besties with.
“The party was the catalyst, but I’m pretty sure volunteering was your twin’s idea. Can you confirm that?”
Faith shook her head at me playfully. “I can already tell that we are going to get along. You’
re funny. But yes, I can confirm that it was my sister’s idea. But I can also let you in on a little secret.” She leaned closer to whisper in my ear, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms. “If it wasn’t for my sister, you guys wouldn’t be attending any meets this month.”
I looked at her in disbelief. “No way. Coach R would never do that. That would put us behind and could ruin our chances at winning conference championships this year.” We had won both indoor and outdoor the past three years and I knew coach wouldn’t want to risk our title now.
“You don’t have to believe me, but it’s true,” Faith said with a smirk. “You might not have noticed this, but your coach was super pissed.”
“Of course I noticed,” I huffed, becoming increasingly annoyed at the girl in front of me. “But how do you know so much about the team? It’s not like you’re on it.”
I could have sworn I saw a pained look cross Faith’s face for a split second, but she quickly returned to her cheerful demeanor. “Susan is super close with Coach R. I’m sure you would agree that my twin is quite the brown noser. I know much more about your team than I want to, trust me.”
I was going to question what she meant by that exactly, but before I could, she handed me a list. “These are the names and addresses of the people we are delivering to. Do you want to drive or should I?”
“Well seeing as how I don’t have a car, I’d say it would be best if you drove,” I snarled through gritted teeth.
“Perfect! Let’s go,” she beamed, before skipping out the front doors of the church.
She smiled over at me while she started her car and put the first address into her GPS.
“Let me guess,” I grumbled. “You’re one of those people who is always happy, right?”
She shrugged, but the smile never left her face. “No one is always happy. Just like no one is always grumpy. Which is why I’m going to make it my personal mission to make you smile.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled under my breath, refusing to give this girl any satisfaction. I looked at the list of names I was still holding. “At least this shouldn’t take long since we only have five deliveries to make.”
Faith laughed loudly like I had just made the funniest joke in the world. “You’ve clearly never done this before. We’re delivering these meals to older people who aren’t able to make it out of their house on their own. The fact that we are the ones taking them food means that they probably don’t have much, if any, family in the area. For some of these people, we are the only visitors that they get each week. They aren’t going to grab the food and slam the door in our faces.”
Unfortunately, Faith was right. Every single person invited us in and offered us a drink, which Faith accepted every single time. She talked cheerfully, while I grunted short answers. Each person thought they were funny and creative, making a joke about how quiet I was. I just didn’t see the point in putting in an effort with people I didn’t know.
Five hours later, we were finally done. I stared out the window while Faith drove, trying to avoid any extra conversation.
Faith seemed to respect my silent wishes, only talking to me once to ask where I lived so she could drop me off. Once we arrived, I said a quick goodbye and jumped out of the car.
Before I could shut the door, Faith stopped me. “Joey wait! It was really nice to meet you,” she said and it sounded sincere, although I didn’t know what would have been good about it since I had been nothing but a bitch toward her. “I’ll see you next week, but if you ever want to hang out or if you need anything let me know.”
She then reached into her purse, pulled out a piece of paper, and quickly wrote something down before handing it to me. I looked at the paper in my hand and saw that it had a number written on it.
“Just incase,” Faith smiled and a slight blush spread across her face. I shut the door and turned away before that blush could cause redness to come onto my cheeks as well.
I took the number and shoved it into my wristlet. Faith may be ridiculously good looking but there was no way I was going to call her. I didn’t need a friend, especially not one who would eventually judge me for my “lifestyle.”
Chapter 2
“Joey! Over here!” Faith yelled as I walked back into the church for the second week in a row.
I was late so Faith already had the list of names in her hand and most of the group had dispersed.
“So we’re together again?” I asked, refusing to return the big smile plastered on Faith’s face.
“Sure are,” she beamed. “I actually requested to always be together, so you’re kind of stuck with me for the next two months. I hope that’s ok.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “It could be worse.” And I knew it could be. Faith might not exactly be my cup of tea, but she was certainly nice to look at. Plus, a college aged bible thumper had to be better than a conservative old dinosaur.
“That’s the spirit,” Faith teased while playfully punching me on the shoulder.
I rolled my eyes at her. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it couldn’t be worse than this.
As we quietly rode to the first stop, Faith broke the silence. “You did awesome in the meet yesterday. Those were some pretty impressive times for this early in the season. You’ll definitely make it to nationals again with times like that. I bet you can even get All American this year.”
“That’s the goal,” I mumbled under my breath.
She was right though. I had made it to the national track and field competition in the hurdles every indoor and outdoor season of my college career, but had yet to finish in the top eight, which is considered “All American.” Everything I had done since my freshman year was aimed toward achieving that and this year was my last chance.
“You sure do know a lot about track,” I remarked, while lifting an eyebrow.
“I come from a track and field family. Or as we like to call it - field and track. My parents actually met at Belman when they were both jumpers on the team.”
“Of course they did,” I said under my breath. I spoke a little more loudly as I added, “Let me guess. They were both All Americans just like your sister.”
Susan had also gone to nationals all three years, but unlike me, she had already gotten All American three times in the long jump.
Faith nodded in response to my question. “My Mom was a four time All American in the long jump and my dad was got All American twice for triple jump and once for long jump.”
I wanted to ask why she wasn’t following in the family tradition, but didn’t want to give the false impression that I actually cared about learning more about her. For whatever reason though, I felt the need to keep conversation flowing between us.
“You and your sister don’t look that much alike,” I remarked.
I had taken time during practice to study Susan now that I knew that her and Faith were sisters. They did have the same brown hair and blue eyes, although Susan’s hair was a bit longer. I had to admit that Susan was better looking than I had originally taken notice to, but in my opinion, her looks didn’t compare to Faith. While Susan was pretty, Faith had something about her that made her downright beautiful to me.
“Yeah, I know,” Faith answered, interrupting my thoughts. “Everyone says that they can tell we’re related but not twins. I always looked more like my older brother than Susan. People used to say that if it wasn’t for the whole seven year age gap they would have thought that we were the twins. Unfortunately for me though, Susan seems to be the one who got the more favorable looks.”
Without meaning to, I scoffed at Faith’s words. I stared straight ahead, hoping she didn’t notice.
“What was that all about?” she asked, trying to make eye contact with me.
I shrugged my shoulders and continued to stare out at the road ahead. “I just don’t agree,” I admitted.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Faith’s face turning red. This girl really needed more attention if a compliment from me caused her to blush. I had to ad
mit that it was very cute though.
“It’s the freckles,” Faith muttered unexpectedly, causing me to jump. “Susan doesn’t have these stupid freckles.”
This time I did look over at her, noting the freckles sprinkled across her face. The freckles did nothing to take away from her looks. In fact, they only made her better looking. I had already said enough though so I stayed quiet. We rode in silence until we reached the first house. The day went a lot like the week before, with Faith cheerfully talking with every person, while I tried my best to go unnoticed.
On the way to our final stop, Faith smiled over at me. “I think you’ll be a fan of this last lady,” she said while lifting her eyebrows. “Apparently no one has been able to get her to talk. You know I’ll obviously try, but it doesn’t seem like we’ll be there too long.”
I grunted in response. Of course she would try. If I had to guess, she would try way too hard and we would probably end up staying there just as long, only this time sitting in awkward silence.
When we rang the doorbell, I heard someone on the other side grumbling under their breath as they made their way to the door. I was surprised to see a short lady who couldn’t have been much taller than 5’2” with bushy white hair. She would have had the typical loving granny look if it wasn’t for the giant scowl on her face.
“What do you want?” she barked at us, barely opening the door more than a few inches.
“We’re here to deliver your dinner,” Faith shouted cheerfully. I cringed as she did. The lady was old, but not dead.
The older woman’s scowl grew as she looked between the two of us. “You can just hand it to me and then be on your way. I don’t need any company.”
“At least let us carry it in for you,” Faith offered, clearly trying to bargain her way in.
The old woman sighed and reluctantly opened the door. As she slowly made her way back to her couch, she pointed to a table in the corner.
