They searched the main lobby, the kitchen, the dining hall, out in the yards, up in the piano room, and the F.A.I.T.H. wing. Fayth even had Charles sneak into the girls' dormitory and ask if she was in one of the dorms.
Vivian was nowhere to be found.
Exhausted, Fayth escaped to her dorm and drowned four candies into her blood stream. It was the second time she had done that today, a total of eight all together. She knew it wasn't healthy. She was aware that serious consequences will come out of it, but she was willing to take the risk if it meant being with Lexis on a daily basis, or tolerate watching Vivian scare the living hell out of her Academy life.
On her way to the F.A.I.T.H. wing, Fayth found Anthony waiting for her. His eyes were on the floor, kicking the toe of his shoe against the tile.
When he heard Fayth, he looked up and smiled big. "Rihanna! I've been waiting for you!"
"Hey kiddo. I'm mad at you, you know that?"
His smile melted off. "Why? What did I do?"
"I never see you around anymore. You don't even tell me where you go or what you're up to."
A lump formed in his throat. "Actually..."
Fayth stared at him, waiting for him to tell her what type of trouble he's caused in his absence.
"I was at the hospital."
Fayth froze in her spot, her expression blank with confusion. "Wait, what? When did you get hurt?"
He shook his head. "I didn't. I was there for a check up."
"For that long?"
"It's a complicated check up."
"That doesn't make sense." Fayth insisted. "Is there something going on that you didn't tell me? You're not sick in the head or something, right? You don't go to a mental institution every now and then, do you? Your personality definitely calls for it."
He threw his head back and cackled. "You sound just like him."
"Like who?"
"My brother, Lexis."
"Can you just click stop on your nonsense?"
"You can." He wiggled his right eyebrow and tapped his lips.
"Oh god." Fayth pushed him by the head. "Thank god your brother isn't like you. He'd be the most obnoxious player to ever exist."
Fayth vaguely remembered the moment they had in the cold room, and instantly felt her face flush.
What the hell...
"Then you don't know my brother." Anthony said, feeling proud. "He used to flirt so much with my grandma, my grandfather used to get jealous. Legit. I'm not even kidding."
Fayth found herself laughing.
"And my grandfather was the one who taught him how to flirt too. But that was a long time ago. Before that...day." Anthony's eyes were sad this time, and Fayth began to wonder exactly what had happened that eventful day. She faintly remembered some of the things Anthony had once mentioned.
"What about your mother? How is her relationship with your brother?"
"They don't talk."
"What do you mean?"
"They just don't talk. I've never seen them say hi to each other or anything. She's working a lot out of the house too, so I'm not really sure what's going on. The only person Lexis had ever been close with is my older sister, but she died a few years ago. That's when..."
"When what?"
"Well, Lexis was pretty normal before. But that night, the night my sister went to the hospital? Everything changed. I don't know what happened. I was younger and everyone just wanted me out of the way. That's all I remember–being pushed here and there by the nannies and the caretakers. Being pulled into my room while one of the nannies read me a book. I remember her hands shook a lot. Her eyes kept looking at the door. She was scared, but I don't know from what."
Fayth, coming back from her memory of their old conversation, ruffled Anthony's hair. "Hey kiddo, feel the present. It's more real than what had happened back then. If you hold onto it, you get sucked into this island that you can't get off. The past is in the past."
"It's not if its living with you in the present."
A ribbon of fear wrapped around Fayth's airway when he said this.
Vivian...
"Right." She pursued her lips and positioned her body towards the F.A.I.T.H. wing. "Well, I have to get to class. I'll see you later?"
She was about to walk away, but Anthony caught her by the arm. She looked down at him as he struggled with what he was going to say.
"Is everything okay?" She asked.
He nodded and let go of her arm.
She stared at him, confused. "Okay then..." She turned and began to walk toward her class, but she was suddenly stopped yet again by Anthony. This time his arms wrapped around her tightly.
"Lexis hugged me." He breathed. "For the first time since I could remember, he hugged me this morning. He wrapped his arms around me like this and literally cracked five bones in my upper half. Usually, when he does things like this I become the happiest clown you could ever see, but when he did it, a part of me was terrified. Change. That's all I thought about since this morning. Change. Something is going to change, and I'm terrified of it."
Fayth turned around, and tears were spilling from her eyes as she watched Anthony cry. She took his face in her hands and wiped his tears away with her fingers.
"To see someone die and wish it was easier to witness."
Fayth shook her head. Can't be.
"Why are you crying you doofus?" Fayth said, wiping her own tears with her arm. "So your brother hugged you, big deal."
"Why are you crying?" He said, smiling through his tears.
"Because you're crying."
Anthony leaned in and kissed Fayth on the cheek. "I'm that likable?"
She groaned and pushed him away.
He sighed and bit his bottom lip. He seemed to be battling a decision inside his head. Finally, he took out an envelope from his back pocket and displayed it between them.
"I don't trust many people. That's also something I inherited from Lexis. But..." Anthony stared at the envelope. It was plain white, already sealed shut from the back. He looked up at Fayth. "I want to entrust something to you, but you have to promise to never open or read this."
"Why are you giving it to me then?"
"Because you're the only one I trust."
"Okay...?"
He took ahold of her hand and slipped the envelope between her fingers. "Can you give it to Lexis for me?"
"Who?!" Fayth exclaimed.
"It's important. I'm going somewhere soon and I don't think I'll be there on that day to give it to him."
"When?"
"Believe me, you'll know."
Fayth sighed.
"Oh, and one more thing." He added.
"What now?"
"There is something I wish you'd say to him, before you give him this letter."
YOU ARE READING
F.A.I.T.H.
Romance"I was broken. Nothing, no one could fix me. Until you came into my life again. I wish I had gone with you that day instead of him. Because, now I can't imagine how I spent the previous years of my life without you by my side. You are my savior. You...
