Hearts, Scars & Horseshoes

Chapter 16 - Faith

I was pacing circles around my room, my heart was racing, my palms sweaty. I hung up as soon as I said "Tobias", an anxious, excited, ball of nerves. He had called. He had not only called but left me a voicemail and then answered when I called him back some 12 hours later. I had a date. A real date. Not a hang out. A real legitimate he asked me out date.

And once again I was going to skip bible study. I wasn't sure yet if my parents knew my attendance had gapping holes blown through it but I knew when they finally realized I wasn't going most days we were going to have a "lets sit and talk about it" meeting. Which had less talking and more "you need to stay active in the church so you don't get led astray" lectures. As if everyone who discontinued church got led astray. I wondered briefly what they'd say about Tobias when my phone went off.

It was a text from his number. I opened it up in a hurry, a giant black blob of fur stared up at the phone all smiles. Tobias had texted "he can't wait to meet you". Edward Cullen presumably had a big block head and spindly legs which only added to how large his body was and how completely adorable he was. I bit my lower lip, thinking of a response.

The old Faith would put something neutral like "can't wait to meet him too" but what would the new Faith say? Would the new Faith be bold and confidant and flirt back, or would she be shy and a little insecure.

I wondered what Tori would say. She was working so it wasn't like I could ask her and get an answer in a timely fashion. Besides that I didn't want to wait to text him back.

I typed out a response and immediately deleted it. Was I supposed to play hard to get? Maybe I should wait to answer. I let out a groan, a knock on my door startling me. I'm sure my face turned beet red as I whipped around to face it.

"I'm going to Brayden's want to come?" Simon asked me, his head poking through the crack in my door.

"No, I'm okay." I said, my phone clutched in my hand.

"Let me rephrase that, I'm going to Brayden's, come on." He said.

"I said I don't want to." I could hear the frustration growing in my voice, Simon as cool and calm as ever.

"You don't have a choice so come on."

I wanted to scream at him, a feeling I was having more and more. Simon was just so...Simon. I hated how he hid that he cried every night and I hated how he acted like he was the same old Simon. Like people could just be torn from you on a whim with little to no impact on your soul. I hated that he was lying, that he was pretending, that he was doing exactly what I had been doing. I hated that we couldn't just say it, show it. We were all fake.

"We can get some food while we're out." His peace offering.

I blew out a breath, grabbing my jean jacket off the coat hooks by my door and followed him out of my room. I glanced briefly at Elijah's door, something I did more often than not. My steps slowed to a stop, a tiny sliver of sunlight jutting through the cracked door. Who was in there? What were they doing?

"Faith, come on." Simon said, his voice stopping my hand inches from pushing the door open.

My eyes snapped to him as he backtracked down the hall, an endless amount of questions on the tip of my tongue ready to spill over and finally break the silence that had fallen over the house. His hand found the doorknob as he quietly pulled it shut. The click of the door snapping into place echoed through my body, all the questions that were about to spill out of me severed in an instant. I wouldn't be asking them, not now, not ever, because apparently that's how this family worked. We just pretended everything was normal.

I felt Simon wrap his hand around my wrist, tugging me down the hallway. I let him but I twisted around to stare back at Elijah's door. Was it my mom or my dad in there? And why did they want Simon and I gone?

"Brayden said Paisley's at therapy but she'll be home soon." Simon told me as we climbed into his car.

I nodded my head, my phone still clutched in my hand. Simon pulled out of our driveway, his eyebrows pinched together as he concentrated. It was something I had noticed he did after the accident. He always seemed hyper focused while driving now. Not that I blamed him.

"So what were you doing when I knocked?" He asked, breaking the silence that had filled the car.

"Nothing." I said, staring down at my phone.

I still had no idea what to say back.

"Sure seemed like nothing." He commented.

I rolled my eyes, letting my chin rest in my palm, my elbow wedged into the crack where the window met the car.

"Well it was."

It was far from nothing, it was a monumental moment in my teenage life but I wasn't about to tell Simon about it. And really in the grand scheme of things, my date, no matter how excited I was for it, paled in comparison to my desire to know who was in Elijah's room and what they were doing.

I stared too intently at my passing surroundings, not even seeing them. All I could think about was Elijah's room and a pair of emerald green eyes.