Faith Heights

Chapter 13

Weeks passed in a tense routine. Rhea and I both made it through our fourth interviews, but Elena and a handful of others were not so fortunate. Sent home without a word, we had no means of contacting those who had vanished. It was as if our time together at Faith Heights never happened, a whisper of a memory buried beneath confusion and disappointment. 

Altogether, nine of us were sent home. There were only twenty scholarship students left to combine into one clustered class, and when even more left, we would be integrated into classes with Faith Heights' other students.

I dreaded the thought of being surrounded by those intrusive, curious eyes.

Taylor Evans had been among the faces to disappear overnight. I'd barely had the chance to speak with her in anything more than passing, but Rhea chatted with her often enough to gather an idea of who she was.
Taylor belonged to Elena's little impromptu clique, and was almost as scholastically flawless as Rhea. She'd been friendly enough, but was rarely the instigator of conversation. She had also been just as aware as Rhea and I of the intense gazes from other students, and had planned on confronting them before she'd been sent home. All in all, she seemed like a kind, softly spoken girl that I could tell would carry Faith Height's rejection as a lifelong burden. 

Nothing hinted as to why both our files had been hidden, other than our similarly coloured hair, which was ridiculous to think played any part.

At lunch break, I asked Rhea when the next scheduled excursion for students into town was. Rhea crammed her plate with curly fries before replying. 

"I don't think there's another planned trips yet. But we're allowed to leave if we have a car. Why?"

"I need to post a couple of gifts I bought for my parents, before the end of the month."

She watched me sceptically. "The school's administration office will post mail for you if you give them the money. Does your sudden interest have anything to do with that boy you were talking to? In the music store?"

"No. Maybe. Is that a bad thing?" I countered, more defensively than I'd intended.

She smiled at me as if I was merely a child finding out the truth of Santa Claus. "It's not a bad thing, but just be careful not to get too attached. I have every faith in you, but remember that you can still be sent home. At any moment."

I scoffed. "I've met this guy twice, Rhea. It's not like we're making plans to elope."

Rhea frowned. "Twice? Have you seen him since the town visit?"

I kept my eyes down on my food, stabbing at a steaming baked potato. The cafeteria here was like a restaurant; they had everything from personalised paleo meals to fresh roasts.

"No..." I hesitated, fearing how wide her eyes would grow if I offered the truth. "I sort of stumbled across him in the forest the night of the bonfire." 

Her brow raised. "He was creeping around the school grounds at night?"

"No- it wasn't like that. I walked along the river towards the beach for a while before I saw him. He was swimming, and- we just talked." I thought back to the memory. "He actually seemed kind of shocked that anyone found him there." That I'd found him there.

She raised a hand. "Okay, so even if we ignore the creepy meet cute, what did you have in mind if you saw him again?"

I laughed awkwardly. "Uh- I really hadn't thought that far. I would just like to see him again. There's nothing more to it."

"Yet," She whispered, winking conspiratorially. We walked along an empty section of a cafeteria bench, far enough away from any other students that might glance our way.