by John Byrne
Tensing his muscles, ready to run if he had to, Asher said in very rapid sentences, “I sorta-got-Faith-pregnant-it-wasn’t-planned-neither-of-us-meant-it-to-happen-but-we-just-had-this-strong-bond-between-us.”
Reverend Wilkes closed his eyes, looking very much like a man who was fighting a losing battle with his temper. “How dare you,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“How dare you come into my home and tell me you got my daughter pregnant.” He opened his eyes, giving Asher a very un-Christian look. “I know my daughter. She would never have broken one of the ten commandments unless someone had led her astray.”
“Wait a second, that’s not fair!” Asher cried, thinking back to the way Faith came on to him with all her talk about fantasies. But, probably, that wasn’t anything she would want her father to know.
“It isn’t?”Reverend Wilkes prompted him.
Asher kept his mouth shut this time, trying to craft a perfect answer.
“Why don’t we call her and see what she has to say,” Reverend Wilkes said.
That was definitely not want Asher wanted to do. He had wanted to wait to talk to Faith until after he’d gotten her father’s blessing. Which, judging by the way it was going, would never happen in a million years.
“Wh—what are you doing?” he asked as Faith’s father reached for the telephone.
“I think it’s time I call my daughter.”
Asher leaned forward, waving his hands. “No, wait. I don’t think we should do that.”
Reverend Wilkes raised his eyebrows as he dialed and pressed the button for the speaker phone.
After two rings, Faith picked up. “Hey, Daddy,” she said, and with those three syllables, Asher could tell she wasn’t her usual sunny self. She sounded defeated and stopped up, like she’d been crying.
“Faith. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Sure. Did you get the paperwork for the new school?” Faith asked.
Asher’s heart contracted. Was that what he had driven her to…a new school, far away from him?
He sat silently, sweating through his boxers, while Reverend Wilkes said, “There is a surprise visitor sitting my study with some very disappointing news.”
Faith was silent on the other end of the line.
Reverend Wilkes said, “Honey, you know how I feel about surprises. And disappointments.”
“Who’s there?” Faith asked quietly.
“Asher Van Der Bos.”
Asher thought he heard a sniffle before Faith said, “And what did he tell you?” She sounded miserable and Asher felt like the biggest scum to ever walk the earth.
“He said that you had broken one of the Almighty’s commandments. He said you were pregnant.”
Reverend Wilkes had barely gotten the words out before Faith shrieked into the phone, “How could you!!!! Are you trying to ruin my life? You’ve already ruined Colebrook for me! What is your problem, Asher? If you’d had any decency, you would have come to the doctor’s appointment and then you would have KNOWN I WASN’T PREGNANT!!!!!!”
Asher flinched as her voice rose higher and higher. Even the reverend looked taken aback, like he didn’t know his own daughter had that kind of fight in her.
Faith kept going, “It was just a problem with my thyroid that caused me to skip my period and the home pregnancy test was wrong. I’m not pregnant, you asshole!!!!”
Reverend Wilkes broke in to calm her down. Looking very flustered, he said, “Now hold on just a minute, that’s ENOUGH talk of pregnancy and…other—”
“No, she’s right,” Asher said, cutting him off. “I am an asshole. It was selfish of me to come here. I should have tried to talk to Faith again first, rather than coming to you. But don’t you realize, Faith,” he said into the phone, “that I did this because I love you? I’ve been a terrible boyfriend—hell,” he said, flinching again at his word choice as the reverend winced. “I mean, heck, I haven’t even been your boyfriend. But I want to. I love you. I want us to stay together always.”
Faith sobbed in the phone. She said something that Asher couldn’t understand. Neither, apparently, could her father, because he said, “Faith, honey, can you please say that again?”
“I said, ‘I will see you at Colebrook, Asher.’” Then she hung up the phone.
A few minutes passed in silence. Asher looked down at the floor. He looked at the wall just above the reverend’s shoulder. Finally, he dragged his unwilling gaze to meet the reverend’s.
“Um, yeah, so, apparently, she’s not pregnant,” Asher said. “I am so sorry I came here. I probably ruined your faith in Faith.”
“There are some things a father never wants to know about.” He opened the door of his study. “I think you should go now.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Asher held out his hand.
Reverend Wilkes looked at it.
Asher pulled his hand back in and stuffed it in his pocket. “Well—I’m sorry.”
“You should be. I will forgive you, in time. But right now, I just want you out of my sight.”
That was fine by Asher. To him, the more important question was, what did Faith want? I will see you at Colebrook. But what did that mean?
****
It was snowing again when Asher arrived back at Colebrook. He was dying to see Faith and ran around the school like a madman, trying to find her. Most of the students had returned from the long weekend and there was a crush of them in the dorms, the lounges, the common rooms. But no Faith. Where could she be?
He looked up at the clock and realized with a jolt that it was nearly 7:00—time for the Abstinence Club meeting. Nah, she wouldn’t, he thought. But then, maybe she would. With the stupidest grin on his face, he raced to the meeting room.
Asher peered through the small window in the door to the room. It was busier than usual with a throng of students sitting silently around, watching Faith. Asher was pretty sure their sudden interest had little to do with abstinence and a lot to do with the rumors he’d accidentally circulated about her pregnancy. Faith handled it well, though. She smiled comfortably at the other kids but there was a look of excitement in her eyes.
Her face lit up when he opened the door and walked into the room. Asher scooped her up and tilted her head to kiss her. She pulled back slightly. “Were you serious? You love me?”
“I do,” he said. “Now, shut up and kiss me.”
She did, oblivious to the stares around them. Their tongues entwined. Asher’s hands drifted down, gathering as much of her as he could to bring her closer to him. After a long moment, he pulled back to whisper in her ear, “Let’s go.”
Faith smiled broadly and let him tug her toward the door. On his way out of the room, Asher called out to the kids waiting in the rooms, “Feel free to do this with each other. Just use a condom, okay?”
Back in his room, it took all of two minutes before they both lost their clothes. Faith’s body was just as soft as Asher remembered. He ran his hand along her stomach, watching the muscles quiver, before dropping his hand lower. Faith responded with no reservations. There wasn’t any need this time. There was no guilt, no sense of secrecy. They took their time enjoying each other. When they were both ready, Asher pulled out a condom.
Faith laughed and reached for her purse. She opened it to reveal a small foil pack. “If you weren’t going to be prepared, I was,” she said with a giggle.
Afterwards, Asher held Faith closed and whispered how much he cared for her. And he realized for the first time since he could remember, he was truly happy.
****
The next day at lunch, a group of students were trying to hang a banner outside. Asher crossed the quad, past the group of students,, his fingers wrapped around Faith’s. They came across Markham, who was leaning against a tree and watching the banner-hanging process.
“Hold on a sec,” Asher said. He dropped Faith’s hand and jogged over to Markham. “I owe you, man,” he said, giving him a hard pat on the shoulder.
>
Markham never took his eyes off the students in the background as he said, “Glad you guys worked it out.”
Asher turned around and followed his gaze. Piper Harrington was there, watching as one of the kids dropped the banner. Someone else came over and ripped it up. Piper Harrington started yelling at the kid, gesturing wildly, before Dax came over and talked to her. He put his arm around her. Asher had seen Dax and Piper hanging out a few times before—looked like that meant something. Then again, maybe not. Piper shook his arm off and snapped something at him.
Markham tore his gaze away briefly to look over Asher’s shoulder at Faith. “Was it worth it?” he asked and Asher was surprised by the genuine curiosity in his eyes. After all, Markham never asked questions…he was the one everyone turned to with their own. “All the worry and work it took to get it right, was it worth it?”
“Oh, yeah,” Asher said. “It’s like…when you’re in a regatta and you’ve been rowing hard and the stroke suddenly picks up the pace at the end and you think, I don’t have it in me but you push hard because that’s what you’ve been trained to do and suddenly you surge ahead and win. It’s a rush like that.” He added quietly, “She’s everything to me now.”
Markham nodded once. “Thanks,” he said. He straightened up and they both watched as Piper Harrington ran away from Dax, rubbing her eyes like she was crying.
Without another word, Markham turned and hurried after her.
Faith came up and slipped her hand into Asher’s. “What was that?”
Asher thought back to the time he’d gone to Markham for help and had seen a girl who looked like a poor imitation of Piper coming out of his room. He smiled as he answered Faith, “A beginning, I think.”
WANT MORE TWIST LITERARY?
COLEBROOK ACADEMY SERIES
Markham Savoy is Colebrook Academy’s most infamous student…He’s also the most attractive, most deviant, and most charming, but who’s counting? Every Colebrook matriculant knows that Markham is in the business of making problems disappear. And Colebrook students have no shortage of problems. But his aid comes at a price?an obligation to one day repay the favor. Given the number of kids who get in trouble at Colebrook, Markham has a veritable army of willing minions to do his bidding. So the question is, after years of collecting and collating the secrets of his peers, what exactly does Markham have in mind?
Each installment of Colebrook Academy is told from the point of view of a different student. As these characters’ lives intertwine, each reveals one of the shocking, interlocking secrets that will help Markham leave behind a legacy. A final coup de grace that the halls of Colebrook Academy will never forget.
The Dirty Secrets of Markham Savoy (Available Now!)
Dane’s Addiction (September 10th 2013)
Vivianne and the Quixotic Kiss (October 8th 2013)
…plus more Colebrook Academy coming in 2014!
ALIBI SERIES
ABIGAIL SHELTON IS DEAD
Spring Valley’s golden girl is found floating face-down in her boyfriend’s pool, hands bound behind her back, head bleeding, drugs and alcohol in her system. Her friends are the only suspects?and they all have reasons to want her dead. Everyone has an alibi, but no one is innocent.
ALIBI is a 4-part young adult e-book series. Each installment reveals the perspective of a different character: the secret love, the nemesis, the boyfriend, the best friend. As their tales unfold, we learn that Abby is not as perfect as everyone believes, but she’s not the only one with secrets to hide. This page-turning tale of suspense, betrayal, murder, and lust will keep fans of Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars up and reading well past curfew.
ALIBI, Volume I: Charles
ALIBI, Volume II: Palmer
ALIBI, Volume III: Mason
ALIBI, Volume IV: Rowan
ALIBI, Volumes I-IV: The Complete Series
Table of Contents
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
