They had all been invited to Mr. Anderson's house that night, again. But Eli absolutely refused to go along, no matter how much Lillian persisted. He heard them walk out the front door as he laid alone in the dark on his bed. He saw the light under the door turn off, heard the door shut and lock. Then all he heard was crickets and flies buzzing.

He lay like this for half an hour, thinking about Jacob, then thinking of nothing. His mind needed res, but his body couldn't sleep. He felt calmer. In a few days, Faith Diaz would leave and then he'd never have to see her again. In a few more days, he'd be back home where he belonged.

He didn't want to believe it when he heard a knock at the door. Did Lillian forget her keys? He sighed turned his face into the pillow and hoped whoever was there would go away. They knocked again. Eli forced himself out of bed, went out of his room, shielded his eyes when he switched on the light, and groggily fumbled to find the doorknob and open it.

Faith Diaz.

The blow this dealt to his exhausted mind stunned him for a few moments. "Hi there, can I come in?"

She didn't really wait for his answer, as Eli was not blocking the entrance. "I got worried when you didn't show up tonight. I hope everything's okay? I felt bad, thinking you'd be here all by yourself all night. I wanted to check in on you."

"Well, aren't you so thoughtful of others!"

Faith sat down on the couch, but when she saw Eli was not joining, got up again. She was twirling a long strand of hair around her finger nervously. Eli glared at her. Finally she said,

"I can't keep going like this! God I can't. I was waiting for you to come tonight so I could talk to you. I can't keep my feelings hidden anymore. I need to say them, and I need to know what you say to them. Almost from the first time I saw you, I could hardly stop thinking about you. I tried. I tried so hard. I wanted to forget you, and ignore, like I knew I should. I knew it was stupid, insane for me to have these feelings for someone like you. You're about the opposite of everything I ever thought could attract me, but God, you've attracted me more than any other man I've ever known! I know, I know you're poor, and you don't have a good job and you can't buy me nice things. Yes, people judge will us, they'll think I'm an idiot to go for a guy like you, when by anyone else's standards I'm totally out of your league. But here it is. Despite all of that, I still want you!"

Eli could only imagine how ridiculous his expression looked at that moment. He looked at Faith, staring so intently into him, and his heart began racing. How was this possible? She could not possibly be thinking these things. But God, listen to her. She really was.

"In spite of all your flaws, I still love you. I love you!" She reached out her soft, long fingers onto his arm. "Don't stay quiet, please it's killing me. Say something. Say something, please."

For a second, Eli felt sorry for her. And deep inside, he was extremely flattered to hear her saying she loved him. But that passed in an instance. He looked at her, standing there, expecting him to just fall at her feet. Eli stepped away from her.

"I really don't know how to respond to that," said Eli, very truthfully. "You want me to say something, but I believe you really only want to hear me repeat the same feelings back to you. But I can't do that. I don't feel the same way about you, I never expected you to say something like this to me, and I really would have preferred if you never did. I'm sure, as you said, all those reasons you say made you try to ignore your, er, love, will make it very easy for you to get over me."

The hand that had been dangling in midair, which had reached out to touch Eli's arm, now drew back close to Faith's body, the fingers clenched deep into her palms. Her mouth was open, her face white. She had no idea how to respond, and so didn't, until she could get control of herself. Eli had no idea what to expect.

"So that's it, huh? I pour my heart out to you, and that's all you can say to me? Can you at least tell me why I'm being rejected?"

"Can you tell me why you decided to come in here with no warning, and telling me you loved me, no matter how much you hated the idea, that it was stupid, insane, the opposite of everything you valued, to like someone with all of my flaws, totally beneath you and without even the money to buy you nice stuff?"

He could not stop talking now. "What exactly did you want to reply to something like that? Did you just assume because you're so totally out of my league, I'd just be jumping to get my chance with you? Like I could ever like you, let alone love you. Do you think I could love the person you destroyed my brother's chances at happiness?"

Faith's mouth widened, but she did not interrupt Eli.

"You damn hypocrite! You tear apart my brother and your best friend, even though they loved each other – but you get it into your head you like me, and suddenly it's okay, despite all those problems, despite all those reasons you gave Chloe to dump Jacob! And don't you dare try to deny you tore them apart, because I know very well you did it, and bragged about it!"

He paused, seeing how this affected Faith. She hardly seemed shaken by it all. In fact, she looked like she was fighting back a smile of pretentious disbelief.

"Do you deny it?" demanded Eli.

"Of course not. I did break apart my friend from your brother, and I'm glad of it. I've been more caring to her than I've been to myself."

"It's not just that either, Faith! When I found out about that, it just confirmed what I already knew about you. Genesis Williams told me all about you. Can you defend yourself there, huh? Were you being caring then, eh?"

"You certainly seem interested in that woman's issues," said Faith.

"How could I help but feel sorry for someone who's been so mistreated?"

"Mistreated? Mistreated? Oh, yeah, that poor baby's been treated so badly!"

"Yes, she has Faith! By you! You took away all the advantages and opportunities your mother wanted her to have! You left her with nothing in the world, stole her from being able to enjoy the best years of her life, possibly ruined her career forever, and you talk sarcastically about it?"

"Is that what you think of me?" said Faith. "Is that actually what you think – Fine. Fine! I see how it is, then. But somehow I think you would've overlooked things if I'd come gently. Maybe if I walked in here with a big phoney smile, and act all sweet, and giggly and batted my eyelashes, and said what a big strong man you are! I guess the world's tough for a woman who believes in being honest."

"You couldn't have done anything to get a different response from me! I would have rejected you, even if you had spoken like someone who was ever thoughtful of other people's feelings." Eli enjoyed seeing the humiliation growing on Faith's face. "From the day I've met you your behaviour has shown me you're conceited, self-important, and arrogant, with a disregard for common courtesy! That was enough to make me dislike you, and everything after that has just built on my hate. I can't imagine what ever made you like me. All I can think is that you were upset I was the only person around you who refused to kneel down and bow at the altar of your ego, and that drove you mad! You are the last woman in the world I could ever love."

"Just stop it!" cried Faith. "I get it, alright! I'm sorry I ever came here. I'm sorry I ever met you! This was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life!"

He had managed what he wanted. He wanted to wipe that smug, self-assured expression from her face, and now he finally saw pain break away in it. It did not make him feel any better. She turned and ran out of the cabin. Eli stood in the same spot for almost a minute, a million thoughts bursting in his mind at once, battling to get the sole focus of his poor little mind. He could not believe it possible that Faith Diaz had fallen in love with him, and that he had rejected her. It

He walked to the kitchen, searched under the sink for the strongest bottle Lillian kept in the house, and poured himself a large drink.

It was a miserable night that the few hours he did manage to sleep did not help erase. When he woke up, the sun had just risen, but he stayed lying in his room until he was sure everyone else had left. When they had, he wandered into the kitchen, fixed up a light breakfast, than sat down wondering what he should do with the rest of the day. He saw Lillian's laptop on the counter, and wondering if Jacob had written him lately, he turned it on and looked in his inbox. There was only one new message.

Faith Diaz | Please read this | 8:19 AM

Immediately Eli clicked on it, and found a very long message within. Apparently, Faith was more expressive in writing.

From: fdiaz_16 - .com

To: elibennett_90 - .com

Before I begin, I'll make it clear to you this is not an attempt to retry what I did last night. After what happened, I don't hold any hope of anything ever happening between us, and I'm not going to insult both of us by lingering on that. Actually, any sane person would not write to you at all, but I need to set the record straight. I need to explain myself to you, and I hope you'll be nice enough to read my explanation. After this, you never have to think of me again if you don't want to.

You made two accusations against me last night that I do not think were fair. One, that I broke apart Chloe and your brother despite their love, and two, that I have in some way destroyed Genesis William's life. I think the second is the worst one. To think that I intentionally, with pleasure, kicked out my childhood friend, a girl my mother loved, a woman with no other means but the charity of my family, who had been promised an education – that I think is much worse than breaking apart a young couple who knew each other for just a few weeks.

I hope, however, to make it clear why I did what I did. Look, I knew as well as anyone else that Chloe had feelings for Jacob. But I never, until the night of the party at her penthouse, had any idea that these feelings were more than a girlish crush, a summer fling with a local boy in a town we were visiting. You have to understand, I've known Chloe a lot longer. I'd seen her 'fall in love' many, many times before, and had no reason to believe this time was any different.

At the party, I overheard, not just your brothers, but all of their local friends, talking about Jacob and Chloe as if they were already married. I heard them not only doing that, but talking about all the connections a relationship with Chloe would bring them and that they hoped to encourage Jacob, despite his reluctance, to pursue the relationship for those causes. I was understandably shocked, and from then on paid close attention to Jacob and Chloe. It was clear that in her heart, Jacob already meant more to her than any other boy she'd ever been with.

But I also noticed your brother. He was nice, fun, friendly. But that was it. I saw no passion, no particular interest towards her. All summer he had never done anything to suggest, from Chloe's own confession, that he was interested in her as more than a friend. Not a word, not an action, not a single move. And hearing that he told even his younger brothers they were just friends, I had no reason to doubt it really was the case. Of course, you must know your brother better than I do. If you think I was wrong, than I must have been.

If I was wrong, than your accusations against me were right. But I must say, despite that, his quiet expressions and appearance made it hard for a casual observer to believe his heart was touched. Certainly I hoped that to believe she was indifferent, but I don't allow my actions to be controlled by hopes. Your family's lack of money was only a small additional concern – I knew it that would not matter to Chloe's happiness. But the wild behaviour of your three younger brothers did help convince me that Jacob was not someone Chloe should get attached to.

I'm sorry to insult your own family, but it is what I truly saw, and I refuse to lie to you. I knew Chloe was going to New York for work. I knew her brothers did not want her together with Jacob. All I did was convince her, once she left Toronto, was to not go back, and not try to keep up a relationship with Jacob. I explained to her what I had overheard, and told her I didn't believe Jacob loved her like she loved him, and finally convinced her that carrying on thinking about him would only hurt her.

All I did was in the best interest for my friend. Chloe lacks confidence in her own judgment. It was not hard for me to lay the seed of doubt and convince her against what her emotions were telling her. Knowing only what I did at the time, I cannot regret my actions. There is only one point I do regret – I knew Jacob was in New York, and I kept that secret from Chloe. I thought having to see him again would only send all the bad memories flooding back, at a time when Chloe was just starting to get over him.

Keeping secrets is too close to lying for me to able to forgive myself. But what's done is done, I guess. Maybe you won't agree with how I acted, but I honestly believed it was for the best. Now, about Genesis. I don't know exactly what story she told you, but I've known from my experiences with her for her to be a compulsive liar. That being the case, all I can do is tell the whole story of what happened, truthfully, and hope that answers your questions. If you don't trust me, I can get others to back up my story.

Genesis' mother was the head of staff in my mother's house. They were good friends, and my mother doted on Genesis as she was growing up. My mother helped support them – her father had a habit of squandering the hard-earned money of her mother, before he left her. Genesis was good at sucking up to my mother, maybe she did sincerely like her, it was hard to tell the difference with her. I do know that with her own mother, things got so bad, despite Mrs. Williams constant attempts to reconcile the situation, that Genesis eventually cut off all ties with her, which is why she did not turn to her own home after I cut off her trust.

As Genesis got older, I began to see her true nature. By this time, my mother was very sick, and I saw no reason to burden her, by telling her how the sweet kind girl she had known was growing up. I heard stories of how she acted when she went away from school. She would party all night, not show up to classes, skip assignments, and then act outraged that she was failing out. Instead of studying, her pastime seemed to be finding boys, and it seemed the richer he was, the more likely Genesis was to go after him.

It became clear that not only was she failing her classes; she was wasting through what was supposed to be to cover her day-to-day expenses. By her last year, she barely had half the credits she would have needed to graduate. She often called me asking for more money (she had to buy an awful lot of textbooks!), and I always did, but when she finally told me she was dropping out altogether, as there was no way she could pass, that was the last straw. She expected me to pay her, in lieu of the final year's tuition, to get the cash value so she could live off it.

Obviously, I had no choice but to refuse. I made it clear to her that if she chose to go back to school and apply myself, I would pay for everything she needed, even extra terms to make up for her flunked classes. She refused, and was furious I didn't let her spend my mother's money just the way she wanted. If she wanted to go out on the world by herself, she could do it on her own dollar. Desperate to get her money somehow, she did something I could never have imagined. I hate even having to think about it, and do so now only for your benefit.

As I've told you, I have a brother, Angel, who is twelve years younger than both Genesis and me. After leaving school, and refusing to return home to her mother, Genesis went back to New York, not far from Long Island, where Angel was going to school. Without my knowing, Genesis was secretly meeting with him almost every day after school. She passed off the first meeting as a coincidence, then wormed herself into my brother's life, even trying to poison him against me. She seduced him, she made him think they were in love. He was fifteen years old.

Eventually, she convinced him to run away with her. They went to another state, and had a quick wedding in a small chapel. I managed to find out where they were, and learned of the wedding. I was, thankfully, quick to point out the invalidity of marriage licence to a minor without a guardian's consent. I knew the only reason Genesis did this was to get her hands on my brother's money, and avenge herself against me. As soon as she knew the marriage wasn't valid, she left, without a word to my brother, and never saw either of us again, until I ran into her in Canada.

Genesis certainly realized, after the fact, that we could have easily pressed charges against her. I'm sure that is the only reason she never bothered us again. I was tempted to inform the police, too, but I was so grateful to have my brother back, I wanted only to keep him safe and never have to think about that all again, that I decided to let her go. My brother was always introverted and awkward, and being violated and betrayed by Genesis only made it worse. This is the whole story. If you trust it, I hope you'll never say I mistreated Genesis again.

I don't blame you for believing whatever lies you were told. How could you know better? I wanted to tell you all this last night, but I was too upset to speak rationally with you. If you need to, you can ask Grace, and she'll confirm it. She's the only other person in the world who knows about this. I have nothing else to say, but I really hope I didn't write all of this just to have you send this to your recycle bin without opening it!

F. Diaz

Eli sat, dumbfounded, staring at the screen when he had finished. He did not think he'd ever read something so quickly in his life. His mind reeling, from the onslaught of emotions charging at him from the words. He read her saying she would explain her actions, and was outraged, as if she thought any explanation were possible. He read her explain what she did in Toronto, his mind ready to reject every syllable. He read so fast, he was hardly making sense of what Faith was trying to say. He couldn't believe for a second that he thought Jacob unfeeling, and her comments about her family made him angrier still. Worse, she did not even sound like she was sorry about what she did. It was all arrogance and disrespect!

Then he read the part about Genesis, and the emotions grew more painful and confusing. A lot of the details matched with what Genesis had told him, but if this was true, it would completely destroy every good feeling he'd had for Genesis. He felt surprise, anxiety, even fear. He wanted to deny it, to call it all lies, to scream it couldn't be true. He read without barely noticing the last page, turned off the computer, and told himself it was impossible.

Thirty seconds later he restarted the computer, hurriedly logging back into his inbox and had the email open again. He tried rereading the parts that had to do with Genesis, slowly this time, taking in every sentence. The details about the relationship of Genesis, her mother, and the Diaz family matched with what he'd been told. All the details after that were different. One of them must be lying, and she wished it was Faith. But when he read, and reread, the parts talking about Genesis' decision to quit school, her demanding the receive personal spending money in lieu of tuition, and Faith's initial offer to continue paying for her studies if she so chose, Eli had to pause. He tried weighing things down, considering everything he knew impartially, but he couldn't. It was one person's word against another's!

Faith said Genesis was frivolous with her money, that she was wild and selfish. How could Eli disprove it? He had never seen what she was like, when she had access to money. Nobody Eli knew, except Faith, knew anything about Genesis besides what she told people about herself. Eli took her at her word. She was sweet, and nice, a beautiful – actually, maybe it was just mostly beautiful. He started thinking of Grace, how she acted around him, and realized how much he enjoyed her company. But did he really enjoy Genesis' company? What had they ever talked about, really? Eli could barely remember a conversation with her, except the ones that involved Faith. Why was that? Eli tried to think of some real, redeeming quality in her, but he couldn't. He looked again at the message. She wrote Grace could confirm most of it. And Eli remembered how protective Grace was of Angel Diaz, when she mentioned him the other day. Faith knew she and Eli were close, she couldn't possibly have relied on falsely claiming her as a witness, and Eli had no reason to believe Faith could get Grace to lie for her. He even thought of asking Grace himself, but realized how awkward it would be to explain all of this, decided against it.

Eli thought of the first time he met Genesis, all of those things she had said about herself. Wasn't that strange? Who talked about themselves, in such a high way, to a total stranger? And why would she then go on to reveal her deepest secrets to a guy the second time she saw him? And it was contradictory! The story she told on her first day, how she nobly and happily left school for her disdain of material things, was completely opposite to the story she told the next day – that she only wanted a break from school, that she really wanted to go back and was just stopped by Faith's cruel jealousy. She had said she loved travelling, and then said she hated it. And she never explained why she didn't go back home to her mother when she left school! And if she had done nothing wrong, if she wasn't afraid of Faith, why would she have missed the party to avoid seeing her? And before Faith left Toronto, Genesis only told the story to him. But after she was long gone, suddenly everyone had heard about it, even though Genesis claimed she hated bad-talking the daughter of her godmother!

Oh God, this changed everything! He thought back – Genesis had seemed so interested in him when they first met. She hadn't fought back when he held her hand. But then, what happened? She saw his house! She saw he wasn't rich! And then suddenly he found her dating that rich guy, Thomas King. And she said she'd been dating him since before they met! It fit in perfectly with how Faith described her – she was a gold-digger! And everyone had warned him! He'd been so blind not to see it – Jacob, Carter, Chloe, Uncle Benjamin. How could he have believed Genesis' lies? He'd spent so much time around Faith, and while she was sometimes rude, often oblivious, he never saw anything in her that was dishonest or cruel or vindictive. Her friends spoke kindly of her, even Chloe and Grace, who he trusted as having hearts of gold. She was genuinely loving to her brother. She could not have been as bad as Genesis made her out to be, without anyone, even her closest friends, noticing.

Eli was ashamed of himself. He'd been blind. Blinded by Genesis' friendly face, blinded by Faith's superior air. He had just assumed by their looks, that Genesis was honest and Faith was evil. He felt like a moron. He'd gone around his whole life like some know-it-all, like someone who just understood everything, could see through everyone and lay out their faults bare and laugh at them. But it wasn't like that. He was clueless. He knew that he never loved Genesis – what had made him so blind? His own pride! Yes, pride, which he had so often blamed Faith for having. His hurt pride made him assume he knew everything about Faith, and Genesis' flirting had stoked his pride, and made him believe everything she said. He was just as stupid as everyone he had ever sneered at as an idiot. Imagine, he'd made fun of Jacob for being too trusting –

Jacob! Eli went back to the letter and reread the first half. God, if he was right in the second half, maybe he was right here. Even Chase thought Jacob hardly showed any interest in Chloe. Much less Faith, who hardly knew him. Jacob's timidity had been his downfall, but Faith worked in the interest of her friend, knowing about a history with guys that Eli could never have guessed at.

He read what she wrote about his brothers. Was there any untruth to it? Eli had felt embarrassed of them, too. James, making a drunken spectacle of himself. Kevin, being a loudmouthed pest. Michael, harassing women. Eli had often judged people for much less public indecency.

All of this wandered through Eli's mind over the course of an hour after reading it. He paced back and forth through the kitchen. There was something that was bothering him, underneath this all, something really gnawing away at him, but he wasn't sure what. He was picturing Faith, wondering how long it took her to write that massive letter. He pictured her worried, hurt by his words, up all night, frantically typing and editing and thinking over her words, all to the end of explaining herself, and ultimately, putting an end to any future need for them to ever speak again.

That night, Faith and Grace left. The others went out to say goodbye for them. Eli stayed shut in his room, unable to bring himself to care that Grace was leaving, and too ashamed to ever look Faith in the face again.