Classes were canceled this Thursday as Faith stood by her bed stuffing a rolled up cardigan into her suitcase. Kevin's funeral would be on Saturday and the Headmaster and Parent liaison thought it would be best if the friends of the deceased received two additional days for bereavement. The ceiling fan whipped lulling Faith into a deep state of pondering. She remembered the first time she met Kevin, it was in Evening, Massachusetts. He was the new kid in town after his parents' purchased the O'Malley estate and Faith's mother tasked her with the duty of delivering a tray of cookies to the Tomlinson's.
The nine-year-old griped but she carted the cookies over anyway. It was a two-mile hike to her next-door neighbors' house but she performed the errand with ease since just across the street was her best friend's house, Isabeth Ovien. She didn't need an access code because the twelve-foot iron gate was already open. After ten minutes of walking along the cobblestone path, a palatial Victorian mansion came into view.
Three moving trucks blocked the front of the house and next to them was a coy pond where a long-haired brunette boy, a foot taller than her dribbled a basketball. Once he caught sight of her he abandoned the ball, took the platter from her hands and jammed and a cookie in his mouth. After inhaling the cookie in two bites he said, "Good but could be better" and Faith knew from that moment she and the boy would be friends from a distance.
The cry let out from the door hinges called Faith's attention. Maya uttered nothing as she walked to her side of the room. She dropped her backpack next to her bed, slipped off her flip flops, and then swung open the doors of her armoire. Faith watched her roommate from the corner of her eye. Maya studied the neatly hung apparel like she would be quizzed on it later.
Faith dropped the square folded button-down dirt in her suitcase then said, "Are you still mad at me?"
"Still." Maya rose up as she held the word out a little longer than needed. "I had to sleep on the couch in the rec room two nights in a row!" She held up two fingers so Faith could better understand.
Faith exhaled as she fiddled with the waistband of her Burberry skirt, "You think I'm a bitch." Faith read the emotion on Maya's face, the pink cheeks and flared nostrils. "Be honest. I won't bite." She slightly smiled. Maya opened her mouth about to speak but Faith cut her off. "No need to answer. I know I am....but I do it for your own good."
Maya's cheeks reddened even though she tried to smile, "My own good." She ran a hand through her freshly straightened hair. "You're mental."
"I'm deterring you from what you think you want." Faith fixed the tuck of her tan short sleeve button down. "You want to be one of us. You want to be in our circle."
"I...am in your circle." Maya quipped pulling out a stack of undergarments from the top drawer of her dresser.
Faith laughed then abruptly stopped when she realized Maya really believed she was apart of her group. "You hang out with us. You accompany us to parties, sometimes on a vacation or two but you're not one of us."
"What is this?" Maya asked. "Putting me in my place."
"Well, not really....sorta." Faith stepped closer to Maya's yellow comforter covered bed. Faith saw a haze of mist form over the girl's chestnut eyes. "I'm not trying to be mean." Faith held up her hands. "Just honest."
"Yeah, I got it." Maya rolled her eyes at Faith before turning back to her dresser. "You all are rich and I'm just the scholarship kid with a mom on welfare."
"That's not it! " Faith raised her voice leaning over Maya's bed. "You're blessed and you don't even know it." Faith examined the stitching of the yellow comforter. "You're going to go to college. Study what you want. Meet a nice guy. Get married, have two point five kids and live in the suburbs." Faith watched Maya in the dresser mirror staring back at her. "That doesn't happen for us, for the people in my circle. We go to school our family wants us to go to. We don't marry for love but who we are told to marry and we have how many kids are expected for us." Maya swallowed hard as she saw the mist brewing in Faith's eyes. "I'm not being a bitch because I don't like you. I'm being a bitch to push you away from the expectations and obligations of this circle."
"Obligations." Maya huffed before turning to face Faith. "You do whatever you want."
"I'm a rebel." Faith pushed down her feels and smiled. "You're not." Faith grabbed the toiletry off the nightstand and pushed it in her suitcase. "Money doesn't buy happiness and just because you see smiles on our faces doesn't mean we're happy." Faith zipped up the suitcase, pulled it off the bed and sat it on its wheels. "Just because you have two eyes, Maya; doesn't mean what you perceive is the truth." Faith flicked her hair off her shoulder and smiled at Maya. "I'll be waiting for you in the limo, so I can go home...to Evening and bury my friend."
Do you think Faith is right? Should she push Maya away?