HIDING FROM THE TRUTH

Chapter Five

"So how were your classes?"

Faith was temporarily shaken from her daydream and looked up from her chocolate milk to Ramona's questioning blink.

She sank back down. "Fine." The monotonous tone was a slap to Ramona's face.

She eyed Faith, brow furrowing. "How was the doctor's appointment?"

"Fine."

That monotonous tone again.

Ramona smirked that famous smirk of hers. "How were the intergalactic llamas that normally frequent your farm and raise havoc on Ridgefield, New Jersey in hopes of carrying out their covert plans for world domination?"

Faith looked up, humoring her with a smile. But the lull in her voice remained. "Fine."

Ramona sighed, becoming exasperated. Faith shoved her untouched lunch in her brown paper bag. Crumpling up the bag with repressed anger Ramona hadn't seen in a long time, Faith got up to throw it out.

But Ramona jumped up before she could pass.

Faith stopped and backed up, frowning. "What's going on?"

Ramona sighed, trying to make her look her in the eye. "Faith, you skulk around here like an abused puppy, jump at every noise, movement. You flinch when I touch you." She crossed her arms authoritatively. "I think a better question is what's going on with you?"

Faith laughed, but the bitterness was still there. "What, you think my parents abuse me?"

Ramona shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me."

Frowning deeply, she pushed past Ramona. "My parents do not abuse me, never have abused me, and never will, alright?"

Ramona froze, shocked by the shove. "Well, then what is it?" Faith kept walking, and as Ramona followed, she sped up.

"Just TELL me," Ramona urged, running now as Faith took off in an awkward, jerky jog down the hallway.

"Just leave me alone!" she shouted back, her kneecaps irritated by the impact against the floor.

Ramona slowly came to a halt. "I only want to help you!"

But Faith pretended not to hear her. She took the long way through the school's sad excuse for a library and past the second floor classrooms until she went back down the stairs and dashed in the ladies room.

Ramona spent a few more minutes looking for her, but before she could get to far, a teacher ushered her back into the lunchroom, scolding her for leaving before the bell. Forced to bring her search to a cease, she stayed in the lunchroom, her imagination taking off on what could possibly be causing her friend so much distress.

The bell rang, and classes commenced. But Faith remained alone in her stall, the fear of missing class overtaken by her fear of being seen crying in public. She used up half of a roll of toilet paper, and stayed there for the duration of the day. And though part of her was thanking God that Ramona hadn't found her, part of her still clung to the hope that she would.

But she didn't, and that was her own fault, Faith told herself. As the closing bell sounded, she emerged, packing her book bag, and reached the bus across the schoolyard in record time.

But little did she know that someone had been watching her the entire day, and that it was only be a matter of time before he would reveal himself to her…