Chapter 4

Faith's POV

"Did you have fun with the Jensen kid yesterday?" Alicia asked her sister during breakfast.

"I did actually." Faith responded. "He's nice. I like him."

Alicia gave her a look. "Oh, please don't tell me you're going to put the moves on him."

The younger girl nearly spat her milk. "I can talk to a guy without wanting to sleep with him, you know?"

"Whatever." Alicia rolled her eyes. "Just remember that you're in charge of washing your own sheets."

Faith threw a muffin at her sister. "You're disgusting."

She didn't want to admit it, but her sister wasn't entirely wrong. She had planned on 'putting the moves' on Clay, but she also didn't want to come off as desperate. They had just met, after all.

Her friends hadn't contacted her in days. She was bored, but most importantly, she was lonely, and yesterday had been the first time in a long time that someone had paid attention to her.

Maybe I am desperate.

Faith grabbed her phone and dialed Clay's number. Here goes nothing.

"Faith? Is something wrong?"

"No." She said. It's best to be upfront. "Do you wanna come over to my house and watch a movie?"

The other line went silent for a moment, and Faith closed her eyes, hoping not to be rejected.

"Okay." Clay finally replied. "I have to help my grandma with something first, but I can be there in an hour."

Yes! "Perfect! I'll text you the address!"

"Do you need me to bring something?"

"No, that's okay. Bye." Faith hung up, and texted him the address. She waited for Alicia to leave for work, and changed into some prettier clothes.

"Now all I need is to pick the movie." Faith began checking all the DVDs they had. "The Notebook...no, too romantic. A Walk To Remember... no, too sad. Titanic... too damn long..." She was about to give up when she found the perfect film. "10 Things I Hate About You... yes! This one is excellent. Romantic, but not too sappy, and hilarious. I hope Clay likes it."

After what felt like forever, the bell rang, and Faith nearly tripped over her own feet on her way to the door. When she opened it, Clay was standing there, holding a candy basket.

"My grandma told me that it would be rude to show up empty-handed." He explained. "Is this okay? I really didn't know what else to get."

"It's perfect." She nodded. "Let's just not tell my dentist. Come in."

Clay laughed at her joke, and followed her into the house.

Clay's POV

The first thing he noticed were the paintings hanging on the walls. There were at least seven of them, and they all had flowers on them. No surprise there. One of the tables was filled with photos of Faith, and two other blonde women Clay presummed were her mother and sister. But the picture that captivated him the most was the one where Faith was wearing a red and white cheerleader uniform. She looked quite radiant; her hair was tied down in a ponytail, her smile was covered in red lipstick, and she was holding a pompom in each hand. It was a pleasant sight.

"Embarrasing, right?" Faith's voice startled him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, cheerleader can be fun and is a pretty good exercise, but I think it was invented by some man who just wanted to see girls shake their bodies in short skirts."

"Why are you on the squad, then?"

She gave him a sad smile. "My mom. She was a cheerleading coach, and being on the team makes me feel closer to her, I guess. I don't know, it's a silly reason but it helps me cope."

Clay felt sorry for Faith, while at the same time envied her strength. He couldn't imagine how he would handle losing his mother. Even though Lainie could be overprotective sometimes, he loved his mom more than anything. "It's not silly at all. I'm really sorry about your mom."

"Thanks." She took the candy basket from him. "Follow me."

He walked with Faith towards the living room, and the girl left the basket on the table facing the TV. He sat on the couch, and continued to look at his surrundings.

"I hope you like Diet Coke." Faith said, pointing at the cans on the table.

"Sure."

She nodded and grabbed the remote, sitting next to him. "I picked one of my favorites. You can handle a chick flick, right?"

Clay would have prefered to see a horror movie, but kept that to himself. He was beginning to think that Faith had a superpower that made it impossible for anyone to say no to her. Or maybe I'm the one who has a power that doesn't allow me to say anything other than yes. "I'll do my best."

Faith's movie of choice turned out to a 90s romantic comedy that Clay had never heard of before. It was about a girl who was forbidden to date anyone until her sister did, so one of the girl's suitors comes up with the idea to set the sister up with the school rebel. The boy found himself enjoying the movie, and wondered what Hannah might think of it. Hannah... should I be thinking about her right now? He glanced at Faith, who was completely focused on the film and happily chewing some M&M's. If Jeff were here, he'd be teasing the shit out of me.

Clay drifted his attention back to the screen, not wanting to miss any more details. When it was over, he was taken aback by his companion's face. Faith was crying.

"What's wrong? Is it the movie?"

"Yes, I'm sorry." She murmured, removing the tears with her fingers. "That last part always gets me, you know? Kat's poem was so sad."

"Yeah, but she and Patrick ended up together." He pointed out. "It was a happy ending."

"I know, I know." She took a sip of coke, and her grin returned. "I'm a little oversensitive, I guess. Did you enjoy it?"

"It was great." Clay stated. "I didn't expect to like it as much as I did."

"We could watch another one tomorrow, if you'd like. Or we could do something else."

He was flattered that she wanted to spend more time with him. "Are we... is what we're doing now a date?"

Faith snorted, and her cheeks turned bright red. "Do you want it to be?"

I feel like an idiot. Why did I ask? "I-I don't know."

"Then let's not stress about it." She patted him on the shoulder. "We're just two young, nice looking people spending time together. There's nothing wrong with that, right?"

"Right." Clay cleared his throat, standing up. "I should get home."

"Okay." Faith stood up as well, and walked him to the door. "Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for inviting me." They looked at each other for a few seconds, until Clay broke the eye contact and left Faith standing by herself. He turned around to give her a small wave, which she returned. I really should talk to Jeff.