by Erica Lee
“Roomies, huh?” Faith asked with a smile. “Now I’m jealous. I’m all the way up on the 9th floor with Mom and Dad.”
“Oh yeah. It’s going to be one big slumber party...So much fun,” I said sarcastically.
Susan shook her head at both of us. “We have to head upstairs to get ready to go out for a team dinner tonight, but give Mom and Dad a hug for me.”
I gave Faith another hug before heading to the room to get ready for the awkward dinner I would be spending with the other five athletes and two coaches that I barely talk to.
Dinner didn’t end up being entirely insufferable and I was happy when Susan suggested that we invite Faith down to our room to watch a movie once we were back to the hotel.
She came in wearing a T-shirt and shorts pajama set that had Mickey Mouse heads printed all over it and I tried my best to be discreet about running my eyes up and down her body. I must have failed though because Faith immediately began to blush and Susan made a noise that was somewhat between a laugh and a cough.
I pulled the covers up over my face to try to hide my embarrassment. To my surprise, Faith pulled them away so she could slide in next to me.
“Don’t tell me you’re a cover hog,” she joked. “That’s a deal breaker for me. I don’t think we’ll make it to date number two if that’s the case.”
I laughed at her joke, but felt my heart beating faster as she snuggled in close to me. By the end of the movie, she had her arm draped over my stomach and her head on my shoulder.
“I’m going to go down to the lobby to call Jason,” Susan announced. Right before the door shut behind her, she yelled back, “You two behave yourselves.”
Once she was gone, Faith leaned in and delicately touched her lips to mine. She sighed at the contact. “I wanted to do that since I first saw you in the lobby, but I’m not a big fan of PDA.”
“I’ve wanted to do that since you dropped me back off at my apartment on Sunday night,” I admitted.
Faith smiled at me mischievously. “Well then it looks like we need to make up for lost time.”
She leaned in again and we spent the next few minutes kissing. I was careful to keep my hands to myself so I didn’t get carried away.
After a few minutes, we both pulled back. I ran my hand through Faith’s hair as I watched her staring back at me.
“So what have you done so far?” I asked.
“We went to Magic Kingdom yesterday and then today we went Epcot for the morning and Downtown Disney after I talked to you guys in the lobby. Tomorrow we are going to Hollywood Studios.”
I sighed, unable to hide my jealousy. “I’ve always wanted to go to Disney.”
“You’ve never been? My family tries to go every few years.”
“Yeah. My parents weren’t too big on magic and happiness.” I tried to say this as a joke, but it ended up sounded much more bitter than I planned.
Faith placed her hand on my cheek and kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry. It sucks coach won’t let you guys go tomorrow. Susan told me that one of the guys asked.”
“Yeah, coach doesn’t like us doing anything that could tire us out the day before we compete. I wouldn’t have been able to afford to go anyway though, unless I didn’t eat all week.”
Before Faith could respond, the door to the hotel room opened. “Do you guys have clothes on?” Susan yelled in.
“Yes Susan,” Faith answered, sounding annoyed but not surprised by her sister’s question.
Once Susan was back in the room, Faith got up and told us she should head back so we could get some rest. I missed her as soon as she left the room and scolded myself for feeling this way. My scolding was interrupted by the sound of my phone.
I looked down to see that Faith had texted me. “So would it be completely pathetic of me to admit that I miss you already?” it read.
I smiled as I typed out my response. “No. I’m relieved to hear that. I was starting to think I was a total crazy person for feeling that way.”
“Such a romantic,” Faith wrote back, adding the emoji sticking its tongue out at the end.
I smiled to myself as I drifted off to sleep. Faith Hopkins, what have you done to me?
Chapter 15
I groaned to myself as I looked up at the results of the hurdle preliminaries. I didn’t know whether to feel happy or disappointed. I had run another personal best, but had finished ninth which meant I was one place away from making finals and being an All American.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see coach standing beside me. “Nothing to be disappointed with there kid. You ran your heart out. You’ll get there this outdoor season. That’s where you shine.”
I responded with a half-hearted thank you, then set out to find somewhere that I could be alone. I found a side hallway that seemed to be empty and sat against the wall, placing my head in my hands. Every time I fell short of a goal, even if it was one that I knew was probably unrealistic, I pictured my parents glaring at me with disappointment in their eyes. I had seen this look so many times that it was permanently ingrained in my memory. The tears were on the brink of falling when I felt a hand running through my hair. I looked up to see that Faith was sitting beside me.
“I’m sorry if you wanted to be alone,” she apologized. “But I just couldn’t stand the thought of not being here for you.”
I tried to formulate a sentence in my head but couldn’t put into words how I was feeling. I wanted to explain to Faith why falling short was extra hard on me, but I just couldn’t.
She must have taken my silence as anger because she started to stand up while stating, “I’ll let you have time to yourself. Just come find me when you need me.”
Before she could turn around I grabbed her hand. “Please stay with me.”
She looked into my eyes and I didn’t need to say anything else. It was like she could read everything I was thinking and that’s all I really needed. She nodded and sat down beside me, keeping our hands wrapped together as I laid my head on her shoulder. We sat there silently and it honestly felt like the best conversation of my life.
My phone went off a few minutes later and I looked at it to find a text from coach telling me that the final flight of women’s long jump was about to begin. Faith and I both stood, but before we could walk back to the track, she pulled me into a tight hug.
As I took a deep breath and let myself sink into her, she whispered in my ear. “I’m so proud of you,” she said while giving me an extra squeeze.
I put on a brave face and accepted everyone’s congratulatory remarks while we watched Susan jump to a seventh place finish. It wasn’t easy to watch, but I did sincerely mean it when I told her how happy I was for her after she accepted her trophy.
After all of us athletes were showered, we went to a big dinner with all of the family members who had come to watch. I was surprised to see that it was just me and one other guy who didn’t have any family there for us. For once I didn’t feel alone or left out though. Faith’s family did such a good job of including me. I think they might have talked about my performance more than Susan’s. I figured they were probably overcompensating for my lack of parental support, but it was still appreciated.
When we arrived back from dinner, Faith asked if I could stay down in the lobby with her for a few minutes. We found a couch and sat down close to each other. Before I could say anything, Faith reached into her big purse and pulled out an envelope that looked like it held a card.
As I stared at it dumbfounded, Faith rolled her eyes at me. “You’re supposed to open it silly,” she teased.
I opened it to find a card that said congratulations on the outside. When I opened it, there was a short note from Faith.
I’m so proud of how you did today. I know you’re disappointed, but you shouldn’t be. You are amazing in every way imaginable.
Before her name, she had put a heart. I was so distracted by that heart, that I almost didn’t notice what had fallen out of the card onto my la
p. When I looked down, I saw some sort of ticket laying there. “Wait… Faith… this isn’t…”
Before I could finish, Faith was nodding her head at me, with a big smile on her face. “It’s from my parents and I. I know we won’t have a ton of time since we need to take a break in the middle of the day to watch Susan compete, but we want you to experience Disney World.”
All I could do was shake my head. “Faith.. I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
“Well, you don’t have much of a choice,” Faith joked. “My parents and I are really excited to go with you and I don’t think you want to see any of us sad.”
Faith pushed her lips into a pout and I knew there was no way I could refuse.
“Fine. I’m in. Just stop making that face please.”
Faith smiled at her success, then leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek. We silently made our way to the elevator, hand in hand. When it arrived at my floor, I started to get out, then turned around.
“Faith, I really can’t thank you enough. I…” Before I could finish, I felt myself getting choked up so I forced myself to stop before I started to cry.
Faith reached out and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Joey, I know.” And she did know. Somehow she always knew.
Chapter 16
I felt my feet skidding across the ground as Faith literally dragged me into the park. We left the hotel at 6:30 and drove to a huge parking lot, where we then had to get on not just a tram, but also a monorail. After all of that, we arrived at the entrance of the park and Faith informed me that we had to wait outside for another hour for it to open. I must have given her a look that said how crazy I thought her family was for waking me up so early to get to a place that wasn’t even open yet, because she quickly explained it was necessary to arrive early so we could make it on as many rides as possible.
Now we were just inside the gates and I was already tired. But when I looked up from my feet to the sight in front of me, I came to a sudden stop and even Faith’s pulling couldn’t get me to move. I was in awe. There it was - the Cinderella castle. I had seen pictures of it so many times, but honestly never believed that I would see it in person.
Faith must have noticed that I was caught up in the moment because she stopped trying to pull me and placed her arm around my shoulder. “Pretty awesome, isn’t it?” She whispered in my ear.
All I could do was nod my head in response. When I looked over toward Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins, they both had proud grins on their faces almost like they were taking in the sight of a small child seeing the park for the first time.
My thoughts were interrupted when a staff member with a large camera around her neck walked up to our group. “Would you like me to take a picture of your family with the castle in the background?” She asked.
Mr. Hopkins smiled widely. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
I stepped out of the way to let Faith pose with her parents so they could get a nice family photo. As they started huddling up close together, all three of them and the photographer looked over at me.
Mrs. Hopkins made a gesture with her hand, directing me over. “Come on Joey. There’s a spot right between Faith and I for you.”
Before I could refuse, Faith was reaching out to grab my hand. Both Faith and her mom wrapped their arms around me as we posed for the picture.
After taking a few, the photographer turned the camera so we could see the best one.
“That came out really good,” Mr. Hopkins remarked cheerfully.
The photographer nodded her head as she handed him a slip of paper, undoubtedly describing how to go about spending an ungodly amount of money to purchase said photo.
As the photographer took the camera back, she looked at the picture one more time. “You have a very beautiful family,” she complimented.
I went to open my mouth, but before I had a chance to correct her, Mrs. Hopkins spoke up. “Thank you,” she said simply, not explaining the fact that I wasn’t actually her daughter. She then squeezed my arm and winked at me. I wasn’t sure what her angle was, but it made me strangely happy that she didn’t correct the photographer.
Before I could get caught up in the moment, Faith grabbed my hand and started dragging me through the park again. The morning flew by with us actually making it onto a decent amount of rides with not a ton of waiting. The Hopkins were somehow experts at navigating Disney World and it was actually really impressive.
When mid-afternoon came, Mr. Hopkins announced that we had to leave so we could get back to watch Susan do the triple jump. He promised that we would return later in the day so we could at least watch the fireworks show.
I felt like I was on a high as I sat in the bleachers holding Faith’s hand and watching Susan compete. I didn’t even feel bitter as Susan earned her second All-American trophy of the weekend after taking 5th place.
Once Susan had recovered and taken a shower, we all headed back to Disney World together. We got there just in time to eat and go on two more rides before we had to claim a good spot to watch the fireworks show. Faith had to explain to me again why it was necessary to be at the spot an hour early, telling me that I would want to have a good view for my first experience.
As soon as the show started over the castle, I knew she was right. It was filled with lights, music, fireworks, and even a tinker bell that flew overhead. I was shocked by how much I felt like a giddy little kid watching the show. I didn’t know it was possible for me to feel that way. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Faith held my hand through the whole show and moved closer to me halfway through to rest her head on my shoulder.
As the fireworks started getting more intense, I had a feeling that the finale was coming. Much to my chagrin, Faith chose this point in the show to say my name and force me to look away. I tried to hide my annoyance at the interruption, because she looked so cute with the light from the fireworks hitting her face.
She smiled sweetly at me and squeezed my hand, before leaning in close so I could hear her over the music. “I was waiting for the perfect moment to ask you this and I honestly didn’t think I would do it so soon, but it doesn’t get any more perfect than this. Will you be my girlfriend?”
Somehow, everything around me faded away and all I could see was Faith. Without thinking, I leaned in and crashed my mouth against hers, running my hand along her cheek while reveling in the feeling of our lips brushing against each other. I had to force myself to pull away by reminding my brain where we currently were. I continued to stare into her eyes, completely forgetting about the fireworks in front of us.
“Can I take that as a yes?” Faith asked as the smile grew on her face.
I simply nodded my head as I continued to grin at her like an idiot. Faith took my chin and directed my eyes back to the castle where the fireworks finale was lighting up the whole sky.
That’s when it hit me. This was the magic that people always spoke about. This was the moment that made all of the bad times I had experienced seem ok, because if they led me here how bad could they really be? This moment - this life I was currently living - I didn’t want to believe it all happened due to some sort of coincidence. For the first time, I was starting to believe that just maybe there was a higher power that had led me here.
Chapter 17
“I’m thinking about going to church with your family tomorrow.”
As soon as I spoke these words, Faith stopped running her hand through my hair and sat up on my bed so she could get a closer look at me. I think she wanted to see if I was serious. It had been three weeks since Faith had asked me to be her girlfriend and in that time, she never once pushed me to go with her.
“Really?” She asked, trying not to show her excitement, but failing miserable.
I shrugged my shoulders. ”I just figured since I was coming to your house afterward for Easter dinner, I might as well. Plus, aren’t Easter and Christmas the times that all of God’s fair weather fans show up? This way I won’t be the only heathen in the cr
owd.”
Faith shook her head at me. I knew she could see right past my jokes, but I still wasn’t ready to be completely honest with her. She didn’t know that I had tried praying a few times since our trip and was starting to question my beliefs, or I guess I should say my non-beliefs. I didn’t want to get Faith’s hopes up since I still really didn’t know where I stood with all this God stuff. It was going to take more than a pretty girl asking me to be her girlfriend to completely convince me that He was real.
“As long as it’s what you want, then I would be happy to have you there,” Faith admitted, while running her fingers up and down my arm.
“It is what I want,” I said with a sigh. “But I also really want you to kiss me right now.”
With that, Faith bent down and placed a kiss on my lips. I put my hands around her neck and pulled her so she was partly on top of me. As Faith deepened the kiss, I became very aware of just how close our bodies were. I felt like every spot on my body that was in contact with hers was on fire. It only got worse when she removed her lips from mine to kiss my neck. I backed up to look into her eyes, hoping it would cool me down a bit. That plan backfired as the desire I saw in her eyes burned right through me.
“You’re so beautiful,” I confessed as I ran a hand across her cheek and leaned in to kiss her forehead.
Faith sighed loudly. “Joey… you’re amazing. I like you so much. I’ve never… felt this way… about anyone.”
With those words, I continued to kiss her. I moved my hands onto her hips, unable to keep them off of her. As the kissing picked up, Faith moved her hands up my back, gently running her nails across my skin. This was driving me insane and, without thinking, I moved my hands over her stomach, surprised to find a firm six pack. I let my hands creep up a little higher, forcing myself to stop just below her bra. I knew if I went any further it was going to be hard to stop myself. To my surprise, Faith moved her hands down my back to the elastic band of my pants and began to play with it as though she was considering going further. I quickly reached back and removed her hands, then backed away a few inches.
