by Marci Fawn
“Um,” I reply intelligently. “What time?”
River visibly perks up at my words. “You want to come? I could pick you up at eight p.m. at your place, if that works for you.”
Oh my god. Pick me up.
“Okay,” I nod before I can stop myself. “I’ll be waiting. Or you know, doing stuff. Anyway, I’ll be there. As I live there. It’s my house.”
I can’t stop the word vomit coming from my mouth and River is grinning widely at me as I stumble away from him.
“See you, Faith!” he shouts after me, and I wave a distracted hand in the air, almost dropping a book. I can’t believe I just agreed to going out with him. This is going to be disastrous…
“This is going to be freaking amazing!” Sabrina gushes quietly and I try to shush her before Jason spots us mouthing off. He’s the leader of the debate team, and I’ve been crushing on him for months now. At least he’s more attainable than a certain boxer beast.
My eyes follow Jason around the room while Sabrina furiously scribbles on her notepad. Jason’s not bad looking at all. Tall, blond hair and blue eyes. Sure, he wears glasses even thicker than mine, but he’s totally cute. I know quite a few girls – including my best friend who is now passing me her notepad – have raging crushes on him. He’s a couple of years older than we are and already in college. Totally dreamy, if you ask me. He knows the capital of every country in the world plus their currency, he told me once.
I look at the notepad discreetly and my eyes widen in horror. Sabrina’s drawn two crude stick figures and they’re totally doing it. Above it, she’s written ‘Faith luvs River’ in huge, ornamented letters.
“Sabrina!” I hiss at her, tearing the paper out. “Are you five years old?”
“Am I interrupting something?”
Jason has walked over to our desk and is staring at me over his glasses. I gulp the lump in my throat and offer an innocent smile. “Nothing, nothing at all Jason.”
“And what have you got there? More interesting than my introduction to the rise of the dollar?”
To my absolute horror, he grabs the piece of paper on my desk and raises it to his eyes. I feel all the blood drain from my face as he takes in the crude drawing.
“Oh,” he says. “Oh, okay.”
A small smile curves up the corner of his mouth and I can only stare in shock as he folds the paper and puts it in his pocket. “I hope your drawing skills are up to par with your debate ones, Faith,” Jason tells and winks. He actually winks!
What’s with all these hot guys winking at me today? I’m on fire!
Sabrina is still snickering as Jason goes back to the front of the classroom, and I nudge her to be quiet. But I can’t deny the grin on my lips. It seems like tonight might be a game changer of a day…
The rest of the meeting passes excruciatingly slowly, and after we’re done, I barely manage to get Sabrina off my back. She’s desperate to help me get ready for my date with River, which she’s now named ‘Faith’s last chance to get it on.’ After telling her I absolutely will shave my legs, I send her home with promises of reporting back as soon as I can.
I head home feeling light-headed. Sabrina has already disappeared behind the corner when someone grabs my arm.
“Hey!” I protest, turning around to face the intruder.
“Sorry, Faith, didn’t mean to scare you.” Jason smiles at me with that sexy grin of his. He may be bookish, but he’s the hottest nerd I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure. “Mind if I walk you home?”
“Oh.” I’m surprised. Jason hasn’t really showed an interest in me, apart from complimenting one of my debates with Sabrina. I’d figured it was only because she forgot the topic and spent twenty minutes comparing George W. Bush to Kim Kardashian.
“Are you sure?” I give him a doubtful look.
“Well, Faith, are you giving me a reason not to do it?” Jason is grinning, and I can feel myself blushing again. “Just come on, walk with me… I’ve been meaning to talk to you. Want me to carry some of your books?”
He points to the large stack of tomes I’ve been carting around all day. I put half of them in his hands gratefully after a moment’s consideration. “Thanks so much. My arms are really starting to hurt,” I mumble, feeling a little embarrassed.
I’m still a little suspicious of this whole thing. I figure he just wants to talk to me about Sabrina. Being a tall, willowy blonde with a C-cup is doing wonders for her popularity. I sigh.
“What’s up?” Jason asks me, looking at me as we start walking towards my place.
“Just tell me what you want to know,” I say tiredly. “This is about Sabrina, right?”
“Huh?” Jason gives me a confused look. “What do you mean?”
I stop in my tracks and look at him like he’s lost his marbles. “Sabrina. You. You liking Sabrina.” I shake my head, realizing I’m saying nonsense. “Anyway, she doesn’t have a boyfriend. I’m sure she’d love to go out on a date with you.”
In fact, I’m more than sure. I’ve listened to Sabrina whine about Jason for weeks now. He’s the only reason she joined the debate team, anyway. She’ll be so thrilled to hear about him wanting to go out with her.
“Faith…” Jason grins, and then starts laughing. I stare at him, feeling more than a little confused. “I’m not interested in Sabrina, Faith,” he finally gets out. “I’m interested in you.”
“What do you mean?” It takes a moment for his words to sink in, and next thing I know, I’m blushing again. It feels like every damn freckle on my face is on fire. And there are quite a few. “Oh. Wait, what?”
Jason steps closer to me and awkwardly reaches for my face, which sends my head spinning. Fortunately, there’s a wall of books separating us and he can’t really get close enough to touch me. We smile nervously at each other.
“Guess that’ll have to wait,” he says shyly. “I just… You seem like a really cool girl, Faith. I really loved hearing your opinion on social media commentary. And you know, you’re pretty… well, you’re beautiful, Faith.”
One more comment like that and I’ll spontaneously combust, I’m absolutely sure of it. And he needs to stop saying my name… It makes me all hot and bothered.
“Thanks,” I reply awkwardly, flashing a weak smile.
“So, d’you want to go out for a movie or something?” Jason is looking at me expectantly.
“Oh, sure.” I nod, finally allowing my smile to grow wider. This is actually happening! Jason Thorne is asking me out. Oh god, Sabrina will probably kill me for this… “When do you want to go?”
“Would tonight work for you?” Jason asks, and I’m about to tell him about my plans, but he’s not done talking. “It’s just, I have to get back home in a few days, and I’ll be really busy for a while. I’ll be back in a month or so. Awkward timing, I know. I guess I just… Couldn’t wait.”
He’s smiling again, and it’s doing things to my insides.
“Well,” I say worriedly, thinking about my plans with River. “I mean, I was going to go to this party tonight.”
“A party?” Jason looks amused. “A high school party. Haven’t been to one of those in a while.”
“Oh,” I reply stupidly. Is he thinking I just invited him? How the hell do I get in these awkward, uncomfortable situations? I’m supposed to go with River, whether it was a date or not. I’ll have to let Jason down, unfortunately.
“I’ll come pick you up if you want,” he offers. “And don’t worry, Faith… I’ll take care of you. Your dad doesn’t have to worry.”
I give him a long look. He must’ve been listening to me more than I thought, since I don’t recall telling him about my home situation.
“I don’t know, Jason,” I say, but I’m interrupted by Jason stepping closer and pressing a soft, barely there kiss on my cheek. It’s so fleeting I’m sure I imagined it, when I feel his mouth moving closer to mine. I do the Faith thing to do, panic, and move away.
“Oh! I’m sorry, you’re just�
� You really like me?”
He looks amused. “Yes, Faith. I thought I was being pretty obvious.”
Oh, god. Well… I’m sure River was only doing me a favor anyway. He’s always trying to make me feel accepted, even though we both know his friends will never think of me as an equal. I’m too much of a goody-two-shoes, too geeky and nerdy. Maybe I can hang out with River some other time.
“Okay,” I finally tell Jason with a sigh. “Let’s go to the party together. You know where Abbott Avenue is?”
Jason nods, barely able to hide his smile. “I’ll pick you up at seven thirty, okay?”
I’m nodding back just as we reach my house. Jason hands me the rest of my books along with a doubtful look. “You sure you can take care of those by yourself?” he wants to know.
“Yeah.” I smile, feeling another flush coming on. Except this time, it isn’t unpleasant. In fact, it feels quite nice, creeping down my cheeks to my neck… right along with Jason’s gaze. “I’ll see you in the evening?”
“Yes.” Jason snaps out of it and looks back up. “Say hi to your dad for me, Faith.”
He waves and walks off with his hands in his pockets. I’m left standing on the curb in front of our house, feeling as nervous as I am ecstatic. My first real date! And with Jason, of all people… Sabrina will be so happy for me, right after she bites my head off.
I just hope River won’t mind…
36
River
Finally, I got her to say yes.
I’ve been trying to reconnect with Faith for months now, and all she’s done is push me away. I get it, somehow. Things have changed, but that doesn’t mean our relationship has to.
She’s been my best friend since we were toddlers, and I don’t want to lose that. Actually, it’s been about a year since I realized I want something more. Suddenly, Faith wasn’t just the geeky girl next door. It’s not that she had some kind of crazy makeover or anything like that. I guess I just grew up.
And then her glasses weren’t dorky anymore.
And her hair wasn’t something I pulled on jokingly.
Her boobs weren’t the butt of jokes anymore.
And her face… Her face was a permanent fixture in my dreams every single time I closed my eyes.
Except that she wouldn’t have me. Hell, she wouldn’t even talk to me lately, she avoided me like the plague. And I wasn’t having any of it, I wanted my Faith back.
It’s a small miracle she talked to me today in front of the school, and all day, I’m pent up with excitement, knowing I’ll pick her up tonight. I take extra care in my appearance, and even though my dad nearly bursts a coronary, I even skip boxing practice in the afternoon. He knows something is going on, but he’s still pissed.
“I’m heading out now,” I shout towards the kitchen, where mom is feeding the twins. My baby brothers were born when I was sixteen – a surprise for everyone in the family. Lately it seems like our life is all about changing diapers and babysitting. And boxing practice, of course. Never forget that.
“River!” My father storms down the stairs and gives me a stern look. I’m prepared for another lecture about skipping practice when he walks over to me, but instead he surprises me with his next words. “Are you really taking out Faith tonight?”
“Yeah, we’re going to a party.” I’m trying to keep my tone cool, even though my heart is going crazy in my chest. “Why?”
Dad grins and pushes a hundred dollar bill in my hands. Money’s been tight since the twins made an appearance, and I shoot him a surprised look. “What’s this for?”
“Make it a night to remember,” dad says awkwardly. And in the next second, the stern expression is back on his face and he’s scowling at me. “Treat Faith nicely, son. And tomorrow, it’s right back to practice. No more skipping, y’hear?”
“Yes, sir,” I say with a wide grin. I wave and I’m out in the next second. I can’t believe it. The old man’s gone soft.
I head for my bike in the garage, my baby. It was something I’d been saving up for, and when I got the chance to get a used bike last summer, I jumped on it. I’ve been working on fixing her up for months now, and I can finally say she’s ready.
Tonight’s the first night I’m taking her out. It only seems appropriate, being such a special night and all.
I rev the engine and can’t stop smiling as I take the bike for a spin. This is incredibly stupid, because Faith lives next door, but I still pull up on their driveway a moment later. I readjust my leather jacket, smooth down my mess of a hairdo, and ring the doorbell.
My heart’s beating fast as fuck, and my hands are sweating. I can’t believe this is finally happening. Faith and my first date… Better make it one to remember.
“Coming!”
The grumpy shout belongs to Faith’s father, Mr. Collins, whom I’ve gotten pretty close with during my time as his neighbor. He’s a good guy, and I really felt for him when Faith’s mom passed away. Her battle with cancer was long and difficult, and it made all of their lives hell.
I still remember the way something inside Faith broke on the day her mother died. I remember holding her, soothing her, even though I was only sixteen years old. In a way, it felt like the tragedy was my own. I’d been close with Mrs. Collins, like she was an aunt of some sort. Seeing her grow pale, lose her hair, and finally, her life, had left its mark on me as well. But Faith… she suffered the most.
I swallow the lump that’s lodged its way in my throat just as the front door flies open. Mr. Collins is standing on the doorstep, glaring at me. When he realizes it’s just me, he stops scowling and smiles in surprise, clapping me on the back.
“River! How good it is to see you.”
“Likewise, Mr. C,” I reply with a grin, sticking my hand out for a firm handshake. I’ve missed the man, ever since Faith decided to cut me off. Hopefully, tonight gives us a chance to rekindle the relationship. “How’ve you been?”
“Can’t complain,” he says with a smile. Except I know he can and should complain. I learned from my mom that Mr. C lost his job a few months back, and he’s been struggling to find work ever since with an injury he got at his previous job. He had a home improvement company that went bust, and it’s been difficult ever since. Especially with the load of medical bills still left over…
“Can’t say I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here, River?” Mr. C asks with a confused grin.
“Oh, I came to pick Faith up,” I say with a wide grin, winking at Mr. C like he’s an old friend. “She didn’t tell you? She finally agreed to go out with me! Picked the perfect day, too.”
“Faith?” Mr. C gives me an apologetic look. “Son, she left thirty minutes ago.”
My look is one of confusion as I stare at Faith’s father. “What do you mean? I was supposed to pick her up at…” I look at my cellphone. “Eight. It’s now a few minutes past. Am I too early or too late?”
Mr. C looks awkward as hell, shifting his weight from one foot to another. “I’m so sorry, River… Had no idea you were supposed to go out tonight, otherwise I would’ve talked some sense into her.”
“I don’t get it,” I reply with furrowed eyebrows.
“She left with this guy, Jason, said they were going to a party?” Mr. C gives me an apologetic look, just in time for my heart to sink down to my stomach. “Sorry, River.”
“Oh,” I say lamely. “Well… It’s no big deal, I guess. I’ll just… leave then.”
Mr. C gives me a look that knows exactly what’s going on. Once again, Faith’s left me feeling like a fool. “Why don’t you come in for a moment, River?” he offers kindly.
“That’s okay,” I shake my head. “I should really get going. You’re doing okay, though, Mr. C? I noticed your lawn needs mowing. I’d be happy to do that for you, if you don’t have the time.”
He visibly cringes at my words and I regret them right away. “That’s okay, River. I’ll get to it tomorrow. You’re a good guy, kid. Now get to that part
y and show my daughter how big of a mistake she made by standing you up.”
I’m grinning from ear to ear as I walk away with a hand raised in goodbye. “Thanks, Mr. C. I’ll see you around!”
“Not if I see you first!” Faith’s dad jokes, and I laugh as I get on my bike. Faith may have stood me up, but that doesn’t mean the party’s over. I know Becky, the girl who’s throwing the whole thing, has been into me for months now, and I’m in the perfect mood to show Faith she’s not the only girl for me.
My face is a mix of regret and gloating as I ride my bike to Becky’s house. It’s already booming, with loads of cars parked outside and a crowd gathering on their porch. As soon as I get off my bike, a girlish scream pierces my ears and someone throws their hands around me.
“River! You came!”
The girl moves away, leaving a cloud of sweet, girly perfume in her wake. “Yep, told ya I’d come,” I tell Becky with a weak grin. She looks frigging delighted, and I guess she’s happy to see me. That becomes even more apparent when she steps on her tiptoes to reach my mouth and kisses the hell out of me.
I try to resist, but she’s unrelenting. And judging by the taste of her mouth, she’s also a little drunk on… vodka, is it?
I finally manage to move away and shake my head at Becky, laughing. “So I take it the party’s a hoot?” I tease her. It looks like she’s had her fair share of fun already.
“It wasn’t until you came along.” She’s flirting with me, batting her mascara-encrusted lashes and licking her glossy lips. Becky is pretty – tall, sexy, with a great rack and long dark hair. But really, she has nothing on Faith.
Speak of the devil…
I feel a gaze burning into my flesh and I raise my eyes to find Faith standing on the porch, her hand intertwined with some preppy guy. She looks furious, but I don’t give a fuck. I give her an enthusiastic wave, right before pulling Becky into my side and planting a wet kiss on her mouth. My make out partner is more than happy about that, and I can see Faith seething from afar. Mission accomplished.
