Finding Faith

*edited February 8 at 10:50am*

I need some fresh air I thought as I glanced down at my watch. 9:58. This whole scene, the flirty girls, the drinks, everything; it all made me uncomfortable. I had to get outside, even if only for a couple minutes. I looked up from my shoes to locate an exit. I started walking and shuffled between huddles of girls and guys. They were so cliché, it almost made me sick. All the girls had globs of dark makeup around their eyes, skin tight low shirts, and shorts almost short enough to be belts or skinny jeans that seemed to be spray-painted onto their legs. Most of the girls had fake blond pin straight hair. Guys and girls alike could be seen with plastic red cups or bottles of beer. Some were getting a bit loud, which meant that they probably had too much already. I shook my head trying to drown out the noise.
Me? Well, minimum makeup was more my style. I didn't really see any reason to slop it on, it made me look worse, not better. I was wearing my Converse sneakers and faded jeans. Sure they were skinny jeans, but they weren't skin tight. On top I wore a simple black tee with a white Burton logo displayed across the front. It was probably a size or two too big, but it was comfortable. My hair was a natural dark brown with a slight curl, which I thought looked pretty good sometimes.
As I passed a small group of people, two of them being Danni and Alyssa, the girls who brought me here, Danni stopped, smiled at me and handed me a plastic red cup.
"Hey Faith, where you goin'? Have a little something to drink." I peered inside and saw what looked to be an orange cooler. The three girls and one guy all looked at me expectantly. They must have noticed I hadn't drunken anything like all the rest that night and I wasn't getting tipsy. I smiled at them, politely refused the drink and continued on my way to the door. On the counter beside the door there were some cans of pop. I picked out a Sprite and opened it, heading out.
Once outside, I was alone. With the door closed behind me the loud chatter, high giggles, and background music evaporated into the night. There weren't enough people there to make it super loud, but it grated on me all the same. I closed my eyes and breathed in the cool night air and listened to the night sounds around me. Crickets could be heard from the field, a lone owl was somewhere in the distance, and every so often I'd hear a car crawling by on the gravel road.
I took a long swig of my Sprite then checked my watch for the sixth time that night. Its only 10:04. I've only been here for an hour; this is supposed to be fun, not some stupid obligation. But in truth, it felt more like an obligation then anything else. I definitely wasn't into the party scene. Sure, it wasn't a wild party with a hundred people and music so loud you can't hear yourself think and everybody pressed together, but still, this wasn't my scene. I still felt a strange obligation though. I had just moved to the area and those two girls from my class invited me. I didn't think it was going be like this though. I remembered their words earlier when they'd told me that they wanted to hang out. They said they'd pick me up at seven, we'd hang out at Danni’s place for a while, get ready and then we'd come here to watch a movie with just a couple other people. There were only supposed to be five of us, not twenty-five. "Come on Faith, it'll be fun. You can just stay at my place that night. I thought you wanted to make friends?" It was hard making friends as it was. It smelled kind of fishy though, you could always tell when Danni and Alyssa were hiding something, like they knew this was gonna happen. And this was definitely one of those times. But for the sake of making friends, even girls like them, I decided I'd take the chance and go with them.
I checked my watch again and sighed when the numbers glowed 10:08. I leaned on the rail and put my chin in my hands.
I heard the door open and close behind me. By the sound of the shoes it wasn't Danni or Alyssa. I turned around to see who it was and saw a guy from my school I'd never talked to before. I'd seen him, but we didn't share any classes together as he was grade 12 and I was grade 11.
"Enjoying the night air?" He was beside me now and peering down at me with soft brown eyes. He had brown hair and his face was slightly tan. He grasped the rail with large hands that looked calloused from work. He was wearing a simple white tee with blue jeans and worn out shoes. I didn't realize I expected him to be tipsy or drunk till I realized that I was surprised that he wasn't.
"Yeah..." I didn't really know this guy too well, just what I saw of him at school, so I didn't try to keep up a conversation. He just stood there in silence, gazing out into the night as I had been. It became sort of a companionable silence. I felt a connection to him. Maybe it was because of the fact that he didn't fit the stereotype of the guys back in the house just like I hadn't fit in with the other girls. Maybe it was because of the fact that he seemed to dislike the whole party scene just as much as I did, and maybe it was something else. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
I checked my watch again. 10:13.
"What time?" I looked at him quickly when he spoke. For some reason the intrusion into the silence had surprised me.
"Oh, it’s almost quarter after ten." I lowered my eyes to my now half empty can of sprite so that our gaze wouldn't meet again.
"Only?" He joked. "By the way, my name's Chase." Out of the corner of my eye I could see him turn towards me and hold out his hand. I looked at him then put my hand in his and shook it.
"I'm Faith. Nice to meet you Chase." I attempted a smile without seeming to be shy, which is what I felt at that moment. I had to admit it to myself, Chase was pretty cute.
"So you as bummed about this party as I am?" He looked hopeful.
"Yeah, I wasn't really expecting it. I was told it was just gonna be a couple people watching a movie. I think I might call my mom to come pick me up soon, I don't think I'm gonna be staying here much longer." I leaned my elbows on the railing again and Chase followed suit beside me.
"I was told the same thing. I think that it was a last minute party, a couple girls and guys invited an extra twenty people, and Tim didn't say no to having so many extra people come over. And his parents let him do whatever he wants." He said with a disapproving shrug, and then there was silence once again.
I could hear the laughter inside get a bit louder. It was times like these I wish I had a cell phone, it would be so easy to just call my mom, have her pick me up. She'd understand.
"Do you have a cell phone I could borrow for a minute?" I broke the silence and looked up at Chase expectantly.
Without answering he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and handed it to me, smiling. I murmured thanks and flipped it open to dial home. I heard the phone ring once. Twice. Right after the third ring I heard a voice on the other end.
"Hello?" It was my older brother James. He was just two years older then me, and I adored him.
"James! Hey, can you get mom on the phone real quick for me?" I heard muffled voices on the other end as he handed the phone over.
"Hello? Faith, what’s the matter?" My moms' voice sounded worried.
"Hey mom, I'm at Tim's house with Danni and Alyssa like I said I was gonna be, but there are alot of people here. They're drinking and stuff and I'm not comfortable, can you come pick me up?"
"Sure, I'll be there in about ten minutes, ok hun?" I looked at my watch. 10:21.
"Ok."
"And Faith?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for calling. I'm glad you called. I love you and see you soon." I could almost hear her smile, if it was even possible to hear a smile.
"I love you too mom." I flipped the cell closed and handed it back to Chase.
"Faith?" I turned my blue eyes on Chase as he spoke, "I just want to say... for the past three weeks, since you started school, I've really admired you. I've noticed how you're different. You're not afraid to be yourself. When you're surrounded by girls who all are in some sort of unspoken contest to see who can wear the tightest clothes or wear the most makeup, you wear what you like, and not what others want. You try to fit in with everyone, but you don't compromise who you are to do that. Like right now, you came to hang out with some girls, but it ended up being a party and you're not drinking when they offer you drinks, and you're not even staying. I totally admire that." He looked slightly nervous as he spoke, and it came out in almost a rush. Like he had wanted to say it for a while.
I quickly realized my mouth was gaping open. I quickly shut it and smiled instead.
"If you don't mind, do you want to maybe hang out sometime? I'd like to get to know you better."
At that point my heart was doing some crazy flips and for a bit I didn't really know what to say. Then I quietly said, "I'd like that very much."
We began to talk, just some small talk about school and a bit about our families, but it was good. It felt refreshing to talk to him. Time passed more quickly then it had all evening. When I heard a car pull up to the house I looked from the red Hyundai to my watch in almost disbelief. 10:32. Already?
I turned to Chase to say goodbye and he held out his hand. I shook his hand gently as he said "I'm glad I met you Faith. I'll see you on Monday at school right?"
I smiled and nodded my head. "G'bye, see you Monday!" I flashed him a smile then darted for the car waiting in the driveway.


I watched Faith as she half ran towards the waiting car. Right before she sat down she looked over at me to smile and wave another goodbye. Her smile was gorgeous. I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and flipped it open. 10:34.
There wasn't much point in staying anymore. Faith had left, and everyone else inside didn't think of much else then the alcohol and self-centered fun that was only for their own gain. I turned to the house, the only reason I was going in was to grab my keys from the table where I left them. I closed the door behind me then walked to the table, which happened to be in the middle of the room. I grabbed my keys then just stood there for a couple minutes, taking it all in. I shook my head slightly and made my way outside again.
I was now driving down the gravel road in my old Honda, Faith's big warm smile and her bright blue eyes in my head. She was beautiful, unique, and simply amazing! I hardly noticed the two cars till I was almost at them. In horror I pulled off to the side of the road and fumbled at the door of my car. Once out, I ran towards the cars and at the same time I was dialling 9-1-1.
The red Hyundai was there. A faded old green car had T-boned the red car... on the passenger side.
"Hello, 9-1-1 what's your emergency?"
"Please! Help! There's been an accident!

I watched Faith's immediate family walk down the center aisle of the church then they all sat in the front row. Her mother's face had a couple bruises and scratches in it, and her right arm was in a cast. Her eyes were red and puffy as well. I could tell she was Faith's mom though. They had the same color hair, and same blue eyes. Then there was her father, it looked as though his face was made of stone. If it wasn't for the rim of red around his eyes I would have thought he had no emotion. He had the same chin as Faith. And what looked to be her older brother sat beside Faith's father. He had to be James. Faith had mentioned him in that brief time we had to talk. Except for the fact that he was older, they could have been twins.
I clenched my jaw and tried to make my face void of emotion as sorrow filled me.
Ironic isn't it? I thought. She chooses to be different then the crowd, to not drink... but she's dead because someone else chose to be stupid. Just like that. It happened so suddenly. I had no idea the night that I finally found her, I would also lose her.