by Erica Lee
I took a deep breath. She was right. I could do this. As I drove to Faith’s house, I continued to pump myself up in the same way I would for a big race. I was starting to feel better about everything until I was walking to the front door and realized I would have to talk to her parents. I had gotten much more comfortable around them since that first dinner, but things felt different now that I was taking their daughter on a date. Did they realize this was a date? Had Faith told them we kissed? She wouldn’t do that, right? All of these thoughts were swirling through my head as I knocked on the front door.
“Well, don’t you clean up well?” Mrs. Hopkins commented as she opened the door and took in the green sundress and white sweater I was wearing.
“Thank you,” I answered shyly, thankful that she approved of my outfit choice. I had changed about five times and was unsure if the dress was too much. I almost never wore dresses, but this felt like a time that I should.
Mrs. Hopkins excused herself to run upstairs to tell Faith I was here just as Mr. Hopkins walked around the corner. He smiled widely when he saw me and stuck his hand out for me to shake it. “Joey - it’s great to see you. Are you excited to leave for nationals in a few days?”
I nodded my head, but the truth was, I had almost forgotten I would be flying to Florida on Wednesday for the division 2 national track and field meet the following weekend. My mind was so preoccupied with this date that I didn’t have much time to think about anything else.
“We are all very excited to watch you and Susan compete.”
“You’re coming?” I asked, completely surprised. When my parents still spoke to me they wouldn’t even travel to the next town over to watch me compete. Most of the time they couldn’t even be bothered to come to my own school. The concept of having a family that would fly a few hours just to watch you compete seemed so foreign to me.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Mr. Hopkins remarked nonchalantly. “We love watching you girls compete, plus it’s a good excuse to take a trip as a family.”
“So Faith is coming too?” I tried to hide my excitement when I asked the question, but I’m not sure if I did a very good job.
“Of course I am,” a voice remarked from upstairs.
I looked up to see Faith coming down the stairs. I could feel the grin on my face growing exponentially as she got closer to me. She was wearing a knee length black and white dress with a black leather jacket and had her hair styled into loose curls. She looked absolutely stunning.
When she was beside me, my mouth went dry and I could barely form a coherent thought. “Wow. Faith.. you look...wow.”
Her face turned red from my words, which only served to make her look even more cute. But as I realized we were still standing right in front of her parents, I felt my face turn an even deeper red.
I looked to her dad who gave me a serious look. “Have her home by 9,” he said sternly, before breaking into a fit of laughter.
Mrs. Hopkins slapped her husband playfully on the shoulder. “You stop that,” she lectured. “The poor girl already looks nervous enough.”
Faith rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm. “Just ignore them. They think they’re funny.” She then turned to her parents and added, “I’ll be home whenever we finish whatever it is that Joey planned for tonight. Don’t wait up!” With that, she turned around and pulled me out the front door.
“You girls have fun,” her mom shouted after us.
When we got to Julie’s car, I started to get into the driver’s side, then quickly ran around to open up Faith’s door, silently scolding myself along the way. Since she was about to open the door by the time I made my way over there, I had to push past her in order to open it for her. I cringed as I did it, thinking about how it wasn’t nearly as chivalrous as I imagined in my head.
I muttered an awkward “sorry” under my breath, then walked back over to my side of the car to get in. We drove for almost 10 minutes in complete silence before Faith finally broke the building tension.
“Did I do something wrong?” She asked. “Are you upset about my parents? Because my dad was totally just joking. They don’t actually care what time I get home. They realize that if I didn’t live with them I would be staying out as late as I want. I am an adult.”
I shook my head, trying to force a smile. “No. Your parents are fine. They’re great actually and so are you.”
“So what’s wrong?” She pushed.
“Sorry. I’m just freaking out right now. I’ve never done this before. I’ve never actually dated someone. I don’t know how to act and I feel like I’m already messing it up.”
Faith let out a tiny giggle. “Hey Joey, you have nothing to be nervous about. It’s just me. This is no different than any other time we’ve hung out, aside from the fact that we are much more dressed up and that I just might let you kiss me again by the end of the night.”
Her words made a genuine smile come to my face and the thought of kissing her again had my stomach doing somersaults. Instead of responding, I reached my hand out and wrapped my fingers around hers. I took a calming breath. Just the feel of her touch was enough to make me feel better.
Faith smiled contently at me.“So are you going to tell me where you’re taking me?”
I smirked at her question. “Nope. You just have to be patient. We will be there in about 20 more minutes.”
As promised, twenty minutes later, we were pulling up to “Dominic’s Family Fun Land.” I had never been there, but it was advertised online as having an arcade, miniature golf, and laser tag.
Faith’s eyes lit up as she saw it. “This is where we are going?” She asked excitedly. “My family actually used to come here all the time when I was growing up, but I haven’t been back in like ten years. Apparently, my parents thought I got too old for it.”
I scoffed. “You’re never too old for mini golf and laser tag.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Faith said with a wink. She then jumped out of the car before I even had a chance to think about opening the door for her.
By the time I was out of the car, I had to run to catch up to her since she was quickly skipping toward the entrance. When I did catch up, I grabbed her hand to try to slow down her pace.
Instead of slowing down, she dragged me along. “Skip with me,” she begged while throwing me the most adorable puppy dog eyes.
“I don’t skip,” I answered sternly, but my scowl quickly turned back into a grin.
“Fine,” Faith pouted. “But if we’re not going to skip, can we at least run in?”
Before I could protest, Faith was running and pulling me behind her. I shook my head as I laughed at her, then ran as quickly as I could toward the door, letting go of her hand along the way.
When Faith made it to the door after me, she rolled her eyes. “Oh I see how it is. You have to turn everything into a race, don’t you?”
“Maybe,” I said with a smirk. “Or maybe I just wanted to make sure I could open the door for you.”
“That’s awfully sweet, but I still think my first guess was correct.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re totally right. I just wanted to prove that I could beat the great Faith Hopkins at something.”
Faith playfully punched my arm. “Well, don’t get used to it.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get used to it. Faith easily beat me in mini golf then went on to completely dominate at all three games of laser tag we played. She had no mercy as she shot down little ten year olds and I loved every minute of it. One thing I was better at was the claw machines and, by the end of the night, I had successfully won Faith three crappy stuffed animals.
“I’m going to name them Hurdle, Dominic, and Fanny, so they can all remind me of you,” Faith announced when we were back in the car.
I had to laugh at her. “Fanny? Really?”
“Yes. Fanny is a very crucial part of our relationship. This is really embarrassing to admit, but that time you sat down on her couch and gave her that speech ab
out how much families suck was the moment I realized I had a crush on you.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised that Faith had started to like me so quickly.
“Of course. I knew you were super attractive from the moment I saw you, but that’s when I realized that you also have a heart.”
“Hey now,” I retorted. “Let’s not go jumping to any conclusions. You have no proof that I do indeed have a heart.”
To my surprise, Faith reached over and placed her hand on my chest, right over my beating heart. “You totally do,” she said smugly. “And it’s beating really fast right now.”
I used my hand to remove hers from my chest and bring it to my lips, where I slowly kissed every knuckle. “That’s because of you,” I admitted softly.
Faith’s lips parted like she was about to say something, but instead she leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. The kiss quickly deepened and before I knew it, we were having a pretty steamy make out session in the middle of the parking lot. After a few minutes, I forced myself to sit back. To my pleasure, Faith looked just as disappointed about the kiss ending as I felt.
“I should probably get you home,” I stated reluctantly.
Faith looked at the time displayed on the radio. “It’s only 10:00. You do seriously realize that my parents were kidding about a curfew, right?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I know that, but I still want to be respectful. I don’t want to give them the wrong idea.”
Faith smiled lovingly at me. “You’re one of a kind Joey McGolden.”
I pointed one finger at her like a mother lecturing her child. “Don’t you dare go spreading that around.”
Chapter 13
“McGolden and Hopkins, since you’re the only two girls on this trip you two will be sharing a hotel room,” coach shouted to us as we were riding the much-larger-than-needed coach bus to the airport.
I swallowed hard and coach must have noticed because she started making her way to the back of the bus where I was sitting, glaring the whole way. Once she reached me, she sat in the empty seat beside me.
“I don’t need any attitude from you, ok McGolden? I’m getting too old to deal with that. I don’t see myself sticking around for too many more years and I’d like to deal with as little angst as I can in that time.” I went to respond, but coach put her hand up and kept talking. “I know you’re used to getting your own room on these trips, but that’s just because we’ve always had an uneven number of girls. So just suck it up. Plus you’ve become friends with the Hopkins family, right?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Something like that.” There was no way I was going to divulge any information to coach about dating Faith. I couldn’t even figure how she knew that I was “friends with the family.” Probably freaking Susan.
Coach laid a hand on my shoulder. “So you’re not going to give me any trouble?”
“No coach. I totally understand,” I answered sincerely.
Coach moved her hand from my shoulder to my forehead. “Are you feeling ok? I thought you’d at least fight me a little.”
“Well, you thought wrong,” I mumbled, then looked away to stare out the window.
Coach took the hint and stood up to head back to the front of the bus. Once she was far enough away, I sighed to myself. I wasn’t lying to coach. I completely understood why they would have Susan and I share a room. While I had come to realize that Susan wasn’t nearly as annoying as I had originally believed, I was still dreading being in such close quarters. I was worried about having to answer questions about my relationship with her sister.
I realized my worries were warranted when Susan and I were given seats next to each other on the plane and she immediately started talking about Faith. “So you and my sister, huh?” She joked while elbowing me in the side.
I didn’t even bother hiding my groan. “You couldn’t even wait until we were in the air to start grilling me?”
“Who said I was about to grill you?” Susan asked. Then she started to laugh and added, “Ok, you’re right. I’m totally about to grill you. But can you blame me? This is my baby sister we’re talking about.”
I gave her a questioning look to which she responded, “I’m five minutes older so yes that does make her my baby sister.”
I shook my head at her. What was it with twins always having a complex about who made it through the birth canal first?
“Alright Susan. Hit me with your best shot,” I quipped.
She gave me a look that told me that she didn’t appreciate my sarcasm, but chose not to comment on it. “So what are your expectations for my sister?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her question. “Expectations?”
“Yes. Like what do you want out of this relationship? What do you expect from it in the future?”
“Susan, we’ve been on one freaking date. How the Hell am I supposed to answer that?”
I could tell Susan wasn’t too happy with my answer. Her face twisted into a scowl as she continued to question me. “Do you even like my sister?”
Now that question pissed me off and there was no way I could hide it. “Of course I like her. What kind of question is that?”
Susan seemed a bit more satisfied with this response. “Ok. Then I have an easier question for you. Why do you like her?”
I scoffed. “You honestly think that’s easier?”
When I could tell Susan wasn’t going to back down, I decided it was time to put myself out there and be honest. “That’s not easy to answer because there is so much that I like about Faith. She’s the most positive person I’ve ever met, and I usually hate that, but it’s different with her. She’s positive in a way that makes me believe that this world really is as beautiful as she sees it. But then again, I've come to realize that the world is that beautiful because she is in it. She’s absolutely gorgeous in every way imaginable. She has the wisdom of someone well beyond her years, yet the heart of a child. She’s serious at times and really silly at other times, but no matter what she’s so sincere. She’s been through so much already and yet she doesn’t let it get to her. But I think the best part is that even with all of that going for her, she still somehow sees something in me. She’s only ever expected me to be myself, but for that reason she makes me want to be better.”
Once I had started, the words spilled from my mouth. The truth was, I could go on about Faith for hours, but once I realized just how much I had confessed to her sister the embarrassment set in.
Susan was silent for a moment before speaking again. “Can I be honest with you Joey?”
I lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “Do you know how not to be honest?”
Susan laughed at this. “Good point. So the thing is, when my sister told me she liked you I honestly wondered what was wrong with her. I mean can you blame me? We’ve been on the team together for four years and you never once have spoken to me, or really anyone else for that matter. But I have to say, you really have grown on me the past few weeks. Also, any doubts I had left went away after that last answer. I want my sister to be with someone who sees her the way you do.”
I gave Susan a satisfied smile. “Well, she deserves to be with someone who sees how amazing she is. Heck, she deserves to be with someone who thinks the sun shines out of her ass, because I’m pretty convinced that it does.”
Susan laughed at this. “Now I wouldn’t go that far. I love my sister, but she definitely isn’t perfect.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I jeered.
Susan and I both went quiet for a few minutes until I was the first to speak again. “Susan… do you think Faith deserves better than me?”
It was the question that had been burning in my mind since that first kiss and honestly, if Susan said that she thought Faith deserved better, I would walk away. I knew it would hurt like hell, but I wanted her to have everything she deserved.
Susan was quiet for a moment, then looked at me with a serious face. “No Joey. I think you’re goo
d for her. I’ve honestly never seen her this happy before.”
I closed my eyes as a smile spread across my face. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard a whisper in my ear. “But I swear - if you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”
My grin only widened with these words. Susan and I were going to get along just fine.
Chapter 14
By the time we got to the hotel, I had figured out that Faith and her parents were staying at the same one. I was itching to see her since it had been a few days. She and her parents had left on Monday so the last I saw her was when I ate dinner with her family on Sunday night. I laughed at myself when I realized how pathetic I had become.
“What are you smiling at?” The whisper in my ear sent chills through my whole body and I turned to see Faith beaming at me.
I felt myself melting just at the sight of her and didn’t even care that a goofy grin had spread across my face. “I was actually thinking about you,” I admitted.
At that moment, Susan walked up and put her arm around her sister. “I don’t know if you realize it, but this girl is kind of obsessed with you.” She nodded her head toward me as she said it.
As I glared at Susan, Faith poked me playfully in the side. “Oh yeah? Well, that’s good because I kind of like her a little bit too.”
Susan made a fake gag noise and rolled her eyes. “Ugh you two are sickening.”
Before I could retaliate, Faith leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Ignore her. She’s just jealous that Jason isn’t here.”
I heard my name called out by coach and worried she had seen that little display of affection, except what did it really matter? It was just a kiss and not even on the lips.
I didn’t have to question it further because she quickly continued, “And Hopkins - you two are in room 539.”
