Fanfiction: Origin - Part One
“Faith, what happened?”
Directing her face towards Mrs. Matthews, Faith did as her mom had instructed.
“I fell,” she said, pointing to the dark bruise that had developed on the left side of her face. “I hit my face on the floor.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?” the teacher asked, not convinced that a mere fall could produce such a mark. “You can go to the nurse’s office if you like.”
Faith let her eyes look towards the floor as she gave the most melancholy smile Mrs. Matthews had ever seen from a child so young.
“Thanks, Mrs. Matthews, but I’m okay.” Faith placed her backpack on the ground, unzipping a portion and reaching her hand inside. “Here’s the money to pay you back for yesterday. Thanks again.” She placed two dollars on the teacher’s desk, and without further prompting, made her way through the maze of desks, found her own, and sat down. She stared straight ahead at the board, her gaze never faltering.
School didn’t start for another ten minutes, but Faith had arrived early, explaining that she had been dropped off by her mom. Mrs. Matthews sighed and collected the money into her purse. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen child abuse, and she knew it was far from the last, but it broke her heart to see a girl of Faith’s caliber treated in such a manner. Already, Faith had shown only politeness and an eagerness to learn; despite that, however, she was being punished by someone at home. Having seen too many instances of similar cases at South Boston Elementary, Mrs. Matthews made a silent promise that she would continue watch out for Faith. She wouldn’t see another promising student be swallowed by violence and mistreatment.
Faith continued to sit quietly at her desk, awaiting the arrival of the other children, but her thoughts weren’t on the upcoming school day. As much as she tried to stay focused on the day ahead of her, her thoughts kept straying back to what had happened. A bitterness the likes of which she had never known filled her to the breaking point, and it required all of her self composure and patience to simply appear as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
She found herself only looking forward to two things: talking with Kelly, and more importantly, never seeing Chris ever again.
Dampening down her stray feelings, Faith managed to pay attention to the lesson with her usual level of intensity until the bell for recess rang, allowing her to file out of the classroom with the other kids, flashing an appreciative smile at Mrs. Matthews on her way out. Once outside, she anxiously proceeded to search for Kelly, slightly worried that her new friend was just a dream. Heart sinking by the second, she almost gave up, but then she spied Kelly wading through the other kids, making a beeline straight for Faith’s position.
“Hi!” Kelly stated with her usual perkiness, but her tone immediately changed upon getting closer to Faith. “Oh my God, what happened?”
Faced with a dilemma, Faith quickly considered her options before replying. Telling Mrs. Matthews a little lie was one thing; Kelly, on the other hand, was Faith’s only companion at school. Should she lie again, or just tell the truth?
“I…uh…it’s nothing,” Faith finally said.
Kelly leaned in closer, her grey eyes flitting back and forth as she examined the bruise. “Looks like you got hit or something,” Kelly decided.
Dumbstruck, Faith had no response. How had Kelly known? Thinking quickly, she struggled to come up with a suitable excuse.
“No, I fell.” Inwardly, Faith groaned. Not one of her best lines.
Suspicious, aware that a bruise like Faith’s didn’t appear from a mere fall, Kelly shrugged, not wanting to push her new friend any further. “If you say so,” she said. Quickly changing the subject, Kelly extended her hand. “You want a granola bar? My mom always gives me one, but I think they taste like crap.”
Grateful that Kelly had moved on to a more neutral subject, Faith reached out and took the bar, examining the label. Deciding that it didn’t look so bad, she unwrapped it and took a bite. It wasn’t the best thing she’d ever tasted, but it was food nonetheless. “Thanks. What’d you do last night?”
“My parents made dinner.” Kelly rolled eyes. “They love to have ‘family nights’. It bugs.”
“Doesn’t sound so bad,” Faith said, chewing another piece of the granola bar.
“Let me put it this way: it’s so boring that eating a granola bar would be more exciting.”
“Oh.” Faith started to say something else, but the bell rang, signaling that everyone had to go back to class. “Hey, thanks for the granola bar. See you at lunch?”
“Sure. See ya,” Kelly said, giving a wave and walking back to her own classroom.
Finishing the last of the granola bar, Faith put its wrapper in the garbage can, already anticipating lunchtime.
Later, after school had finished and Jesse had driven down to pick Faith up, the two were preparing dinner together. Having studiously finished what little homework Mrs. Matthews had assigned, Faith was not unaware that her mother was suddenly acting a lot more motherly. Between breakfast, a better-than-usual bag lunch, getting dropped off and picked up, and now the overly congenial conversation, it seemed that Jesse was striving to become a better parent. Maybe she feels guilty, Faith thought to herself as she poured some milk into two glasses. But it wasn’t really her fault.
“Tell me about Kelly,” Jesse was saying as she boiled some water on the stove. “What’s she like?”
Faith turned to put the milk back into the fridge. “She’s nice. Today she gave me a granola bar.”
“That was kind of her.”
“Yeah. She just moved here over the summer, I guess.”
“Oh… Where’d she move from?”
Faith gave a shrug. “I kinda forgot to ask, mommy.”
“That’s all right, Firecracker. I’m sure she didn’t mind,” Jesse said, putting some noodles into the pot. “I’m just glad you have a little friend to play with.”
“Me, too.”
With nothing else to do in the kitchen, Faith went over and plopped down on the couch. Her face was beginning to feel slightly better, but the bruise remained the same dark purple color. She hoped it would fade soon; at school, all the kids had stared and whispered, and she’d felt horribly embarrassed. Wrapped in her thoughts, she barely registered the knock at the front door, but she snapped fully aware as Jesse walked through the living room, turning her gaze to Faith on the way.
“Stay there,” she said, pointing at the couch. Approaching the door, the knock sounded again. Not louder or more urgent than before, though. It sounded exactly the same. Polite. Almost timid. Jesse got to the door and called, “Who is it?”
Some genius had decided that the apartment complex could do without peepholes in the front doors, apparently trying to save money, with a typical disregard for the tenants’ safety. Jesse had learned long ago that one never opened the door for anyone without carefully confirming his or her identity beforehand.
There was no immediate answer, so Jesse asked again. “Who is it?”
After another short silence, the person on the other side of the door found the courage to reply.
“It’s Chris.”