DISCLAIMER: CHARMED AND ANYTHING YOU MAY RECOGNISE IN THIS STORY DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. FAITH CULLEN BELONGS TO ME AND IF YOU WISH TO USE HER IN ANY STORY PLEASE ASK PERMISSION FIRST.
The next day, Chris found himself at his usual table watching Harry imitate a walrus using breadsticks shoved up his nose. Carolyn Marvich, Emmalee Tompkins and Mary Winsworth watched in horror as Harry proceeded to remove them and eat them while Benjamin Harris and Jackson Carle cheered him on.
"GROSS!" the girls shrieked in horror.
Chris laughed, glancing at his watch for the fifth time. He was meeting Faith in the library in ten minutes.
"YO! Chris!" Harry asked, "When are you meeting that chick for 'tutoring?'"
He said the last word with a wriggle of his eyebrows; clearly indicating that he thought there would be more then that done.
"Chick?" Carolyn interrupted, eager for gossip, "What chick?"
"Hope Cullen." Harry supplied, reaching across the table and snagging a pear from Benjamin's plate.
"Faith Cullen, Harry, Faith Cullen." Chris corrected, rolling his eyes.
"Whatever."
Carolyn's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.
"Faith Cullen? Miss Art-Freak?"
She shrieked with laughter, her hot-pink nails snatching her expensive phone from her purse.
"I have to tell Joy!"
Joy Hart was the school 'queen bee' anyone who was anyone was in her 'clique'. And anyone not in her little group was automatically a loser. She was basically a female version of what Wyatt had been when he was in school; popular, surrounded by friends, the school golden-child, the list went on. Only Joy was the opposite of Wyatt in attitude. Wyatt was a friend with everyone… Joy was nice to nobody.
Carolyn was one of Joy's 'fallbacks', if Joy ever found herself without a groupie for a day she ran to Carolyn for friendship. Harry and Carolyn were dating, thus the new addition to Chris's usual lunch table.
On a normal day you would find Chris, Harry, Benjamin, Jackson Emmalee and Mary crowded around the table together.
Chris narrowed his eyes, "Why is it funny?"
Carolyn gave him an 'are-you-stupid' look and tossed her caramel hair.
"Because Faith Cullen is probably one of the school's most outcasted freaks! DUH! She has ALWAYS sat by herself since freshman year, spends all of her time in the library or art room and have you seen what she eats for lunch? Cafeteria food! Do you know how many calories we are talking there?"
Every member of the table looked at their trays, piled with food dripping in grease. Carolyn pointedly crunched down on a carrot stick and waved her near-perfect nails.
"Anyway, she barely talks to anyone and her sense of style is practically nonexistent."
Carolyn pointed over Chris's shoulder so he followed the direction she was pointing and, to his great surprise, saw Faith sitting alone at a table, book open beside her tray of half-eaten food. Today she was wearing paint-splattered jeans and a pale blue tee. Her hair was tied up into a low ponytail again.
"Has she always sat there?" Chris asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. Always." Carolyn replied, dialing Joy's number, even though the cheer captain was only across the cafeteria.
A knot formed in Chris's stomach. Faith had always sat alone in at the table just behind them? How could he have not noticed that?
"Hey," Emmalee said softly, touching his arm, "I never noticed her either. Don't feel bad."
Chris smiled at Benjamin's girlfriend and looked around the table.
"Please tell me we aren't the only ones who have never really noticed her there before." Emmalee pleaded.
Harry was too busy trying to shove spaghetti down Carolyn's throat to notice what was being said but Jackson and Mary nodded.
"I didn't notice her. I feel really bad. She looks sort of lonely." Mary whispered, tucking her strawberry blonde hair behind her ears.
Jackson nodded in agreement and wrapped a strong arm around Mary's shoulders. Chris turned to look at Faith again but found the table abandoned.
"Where'd she go?" he asked, confused.
"What time were you meeting her in the library?" Harry questioned, abandoning his quest to feed his girlfriend.
"Twelve-thirty." Chris replied, wondering what it had to do with anything.
"It's twenty-nine past now."
Chris glanced at his watch and realized, to his horror, that it was in fact only a minute before half past.
"Bye guys! I have to go!"
A chorus of goodbye's came from the table as Chris disappeared out the doors, heading towards the library. Three minutes later he reached the door to the library and pushed it open, feeling a blast of cold air hit his skin.
Faith was already set up at a table; calculator, math textbook, notebook and pens ready, her eyes trained on the novel in her lap.
"Sorry I'm late." Chris apologized.
"Two minutes, thirty seven seconds. No problem." She replied, not looking at him.
Chris cocked an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Okay. I figure we should start with the basics. What are you having the most trouble with?"
Faith placed her bookmark in the page, closed the book and held her notebook in the crook of her arm.
"The math part."
Chris sighed and opened his own textbook.
"Okay then, we should probably start with some easy problems and then work our way up. Did you get any homework last lesson?"
"I wasn't in my last lesson. I haven't been at school all week except for yesterday and I didn't have math then. Mr. Porter isn't at school, today so I couldn't get anything from him."
"Is there anyone from your class you could ask?" Chris queried.
She gave him a level stare before giving him a blunt and direct answer.
"No."
Chris nodded and tried a different approach.
"Well what was the last thing you did in math?"
Faith silently opened her notebook and showed him the page. Notes on algebra were scrawled in slightly messy, but readable handwriting. Flowers and birds decorated the margins, clearly showing that Faith had probably been paying little attention.
Chris also noted that the date was from the previous week.
"Okay then, we'll start with some simple algebra."
Faith snorted at the word simple but said nothing else.
Chris opened his textbook and began to explain how to do the problem in the simplest manner possible. A few minutes later he lowered his pen and looked up.
"And then you have your answer. Sound simple?"
Faith nodded, taking her notebook back from his hands and eying the problem.
"Here's some from the page you wrote own in your book. I'll help you through them and-"
"It's fine. I think I may actually understand. I'll tell you if I need help."
With that said, Faith propped her book up in her hands, picked up a pencil and began to write out the problems, eyes flicking back and forth from the notebook.
"Uh-Faith are you sure because-"
"Chris, it's okay. You can work on other stuff if you want and I'll ask for help. I'm pretty sure I have it."
Chris eyed her but removed his own math homework and began to write. Every so often he would hear Faith's pencil stop but then quickly continue writing. Something nagged at the back of his mind though. He had explained the problem to her in a simple manner but if she were in desperate need of tutoring she would have asked for help long before now.
"Faith," Chris began, raising his head.
"Don't move." Faith instructed him suddenly.
Chris froze instantly. After years of hunting demons he had learned very quickly that when you were told not to move, it was usually wise not to move.
"Why?" he asked slowly.
"Because the light hits you all wrong when you do. Move your head back to where it was."
The words registered in his brain and Chris immediately realized why she wasn't struggling with math. She wasn't doing it.
Despite protests; Chris raised his head and pulled down the notebook, only to find the beginnings of a sketch of him on the paper.
"Faith," he started, not wanting to sound like an annoying teacher or parent, "I thought you were doing your math. I'm supposed to be helping you."
Faith sighed, "Look, Chris. I appreciate your help and all but I don't need help in math. I don't need to pass it."
"You do to graduate."
"I don't plan on graduating. I have other plans."
Chris raised an eyebrow.
"Well I was asked to tutor you so obviously someone thinks you are going to graduate."
Faith rolled her eyes.
"Chris, look. I don't plan on graduating so I don't need you to help me study. End of story."
The bell rang through the library, alerting them that there was five minutes to make it to class.
"Where are you going next?" Chris asked, trying to re-establish a conversation and steer it towards tutoring.
The look she threw him was icy and sharp.
"Miss Melville's English. Room 172."
Chris stopped and watched as Faith disappeared down the hall. No way.
He opened his timetable and groaned, nearly smacking himself round the back of his head for his stupidity and lack of observation skills.
There in black ink was the words 'Miss K. Melville- English. Rm 172'
Faith had been in his English class for the past month of year twelve. He just hadn't noticed.
Chris hurried down the hall towards his classroom. He was such an idiot.
Wyatt wiped a tear away from his eye, much to Chris's displeasure.
"You didn't notice that she was in your class for an entire month?" Wyatt howled, laughing even harder.
Chris had returned home after an awful day and recounted his tale to Wyatt- who found the entire situation rather amusing.
"Don't you have an apartment to be in?" he scowled sullenly.
"I'm sorry Baby Brother but either she is that good at being invisible or you are just too unobservant."
Chris threw up his hands, "That's just it Wyatt! Only a handful of people actually knew who she was!"
Wyatt crossed his arms. Tilting back on the chair tediously, he tried to think of something to make his brother feel better.
"Well then maybe it isn't you. Maybe she is just very good at not standing out."
"I guess. But how am I supposed to tutor her if she doesn't want to be tutored?"
"You could always try not tutoring her." Wyatt suggested.
"But Principal Hayne asked me to. I can't just tell him that she doesn't want to be tutored because he told her she was expected to cooperate. So she'd probably get in trouble and be even angrier at me!"
Wyatt rolled his eyes and slammed his chair to the ground.
"Well I can't help you, sorry! Now I have some studying to do so… shoo!"
"Can't you study at your apartment?"
"No. Here has more of a familiar atmosphere and it's calming and-"
"Wyatt." Chris interrupted.
"Mom's making roast." Wyatt finished with a Cheshire cat grin.
"You are pathetic Wyatt." Chris laughed.
A knock sounded politely on the door and Paige poked her head through.
"Hello my lovely nephews. I just dropped in for a chat! Chris there is a young lady at the door asking for you."
"There is?" Chris asked.
Wyatt whistled and clapped him on the back.
"Well go and see her baby brother. Don't keep a lady waiting."
Chris raked his brain, trying to think of who it might be. Emmalee and Mary were on dates with Benjamin and Jackson respectively and Carolyn wouldn't be caught dead three feet from the house.
Chris, Paige and Wyatt ambled down the stairs and Chris stopped dead when he found Faith sitting politely on the kitchen stool talking to Piper, Leo and Henry.
"Faith." He said slowly.
"This is Faith?" Wyatt asked, intrigued.
"Hello Chris." Faith said politely, slipping off the stool and handing him a textbook.
"I took your math book by mistake today. Sorry about that. I was going to give it to Harry to give back to you but he was too preoccupied with running from Principal Hayne to take it. He did, however, manage to shout your address over his shoulder before he passed."
Chris took the textbook from her hands and became acutely aware that every set of eyes was turned on him and Faith.
"Why didn't you return it on Monday?"
"I'm not going to be at school next week. At all. Family stuff." Faith replied offhandedly, clearly making that point that she would like the subject dropped.
"Oh. Okay, well thank-you."
Faith's lips twitched at the corners, "You're welcome. But I've changed my mind about something. When I get back to school I was wondering if you could help me with my math again. I apologize for my behaviour today. It was uncalled for especially since you took the time to help me study."
"No," Chris interjected quickly, "Not your fault. But I will help you when you come back to school."
She smiled again and Paige coughed.
"Oh! Faith this is my Aunt Paige and Uncle Henry and my brother Wyatt and my mom and dad."
Faith threw a small smile at Paige and flicked her gaze to Wyatt.
"Nice to meet you."
Wyatt nodded politely, nudging his brother in the side and giving a wicked grin when Faith turned her back.
"It was nice meeting all of you. I'll show myself out."
Faith gave a small wave and disappeared out of the kitchen. The front door opened and closed quietly and silence blanketed the kitchen for minute.
"What a well mannered young lady." Piper approved.
Wyatt looked at his brother and gave another grin.
"So." He said, eyes shining.
"What so?" Chris asked, not sure if he wanted to know where Wyatt was going with this.
"That's Faith?"
"That's Faith." Chris stated.
"She seems nice." Wyatt commented.
"And what do you mean by that?" Leo questioned, knowing where his son was probably going to take this.
"Nothing, nothing. How's the roast coming?"
Piper rolled her eyes then directed them at her youngest son. He was frowning at the textbook Faith had handed him.
"What's wrong Peanut?"
"Nothing." He answered distractedly, "I'll be back okay. I need to check if I left my phone in my car."
Chris grabbed his jacket and proceeded out to the driveway. He clutched the textbook in his hand and a small crumpled piece of paper in the other. A small piece of paper had been tucked inside the book, telling him to come out to his car.
He rounded the garden bed and found Faith leaning up against the car he had saved and paid for all on his own.
"What is it Faith? Is something wrong?" he asked, confused as to why she would go to such lengths to get him outside with her.
"Chris, I just wanted to apologize. A real apology. The one inside was pretty vague. But your parents can be quite intimidating I hear so I figured I'd get you outside first. Parents sort of scare me."
"You don't need to apologize-"
"Yes I do. I was very rude to you today, especially before English. I just don't have the same plans a lot of people in my life are expecting me to follow and it's getting a little tiring so I'm snapping at everyone. And I figured I should apologize."
"It's okay." Chris assured her, "It was none of my business in the first place."
Faith nodded and wrapped her arms around her body in an attempt to ward off the cool, dusk air.
"I should probably get going. So, I'll see you when I get back to school and we can arrange our next tutoring session then."
"Bye Faith."
"Goodbye Chris."
The pale girl headed down the driveway and along the street. Chris looked back up at the huge manor and saw the living room curtain close abruptly. With a sigh he headed back inside, knowing that he was about to face the Spanish Inquisition.
He closed the manor door and shouted towards the kitchen.
"Am I not allowed a private life?"
Paige looked at him excitedly, "Are the two of you dating?"
"No. She just wanted to give me a proper apology for how she acted today. I think she was too embarrassed to do it in front of you."
"Oh, okay." Paige said airily, clearly not believing a word Chris had said.
Henry cracked his knuckles and yawned.
"We better get going. Good seeing you all."
Paige nodded and the two disappeared in a flurry of orbs.
Leo crossed his arms and looked at Chris.
"Poor girl, is she sick?"
"I don't know. We aren't exactly best buddies dad, I've only known her since yesterday. Why?"
"Oh her skin is just very pale. She is probably recovering from that flu that's going around. Oh well. I'm going to go and buy more milk for us seeing as someone cleaned us out."
Wyatt gave a sheepish grin and laughed.
"Sorry."
Leo shook his head and headed for the car.
Chris placed his head on the bench and sighed. He couldn't quite pinpoint it, but something was wrong with Faith.
"MOM I DON'T NEED TO GRADUATE! THERE IS NO POINT!" Faith shouted angrily.
"Do not speak to me in that tone Faith Isabella Cullen, I am your mother!"
"But mom, you need to accept the fact that I'm probably not going to graduate!" Faith yelled in vain.
"NO! You will graduate and you will graduate with a passing grade in math Damn it!"
Faith closed her mouth and let a solitary tear drip down her pallid cheek. Her mother let out a heavy breath and her eyes softened.
"I'm sorry Faith. I shouldn't have yelled. Now is not the time to fight. Now, how was your first tutoring session with Chris?"
"Fine. He showed me how to do some equations and his explanation actually made some sense." Faith began sullenly.
"Well of course it would," her mother, agreed, "He's the son of a Charmed One. Must be very brainy."
"He is. But I think that is more to do with excessive studying more then his bloodline mom."
"I suppose. Why don't you tell him you're a witch dear? Maybe he could help you work out what your powers are!"
"Mom. I don't want to know what my powers are. Besides, I'm only half witch. Maybe I didn't get any powers."
"Nonsense." Her mother brushed off the comment as if it was nothing and telekinetically levitated a small herb jar towards her.
"You have powers, you just don't use them."
"Because I don't know what they are." Faith finished.
"Exactly. Maybe Chris can help you discover your powers. I'm glad you have made a new friend Faith."
Her mother bustled out of the kitchen and Faith sighed.
"I don't want friends." She whispered to the empty kitchen. "I just want to be normal."
A/N- Thank-you for the reviews, favorites and alerts! I'm so happy! Now I just want to clarify that I have nothing against cheerleaders or any school stereotype. Those kinds of stereotypes drive me crazy but for this story I figured that there needed to be some kind of 'villain' and in all the movies it is the popular girl. So I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you take the time to leave me a review.