P for Perfect

Chapter 53- Travis

Are we out of the woods yet?- TSwift

Faith and I decide to leg it back home. This is, in hindsight a very bad decision because on foot it'll take us nearly 30 minutes to get to the bus stop. And I mean the bus stop, not the house.

Anyways, I guess it's working for me because I get to spend 30 quiet minutes with Faith. Yes, I'm mentally gagging as well.

"It's about to start raining," Faith frowns at the sky.

"It's cloudy but it doesn't mean rain will fall," I correct her. She gives me a crazy look and as if to support her point thunder rumbles over us.

"Okay, so it might rain," I amend. She rolls her eyes and continues walking.

"Did I tell you that my dad agreed? He's okay with me not studying medicine," she turns her head to see my expression. The said expression is somewhere between shock, happiness and epiphany.

"Dudee! How'd you manage to get that?"

"I told him, I just told him that I can't be a doctor and he understood. I still can't believe it!" She's jumping on her feet now.

"Does your mum know?"

"I don't even know, and it's safe to say that I don't really care! I'm just so free you get?"

A drop of rain lands on my nose.

"I totally get, so it's biomedical science for you right?"

"You bet," she winks at me. "Oh oh, it's drizzling already. Is there a place we can hide?"

"It's just drizzling and you want to hide," I tease her.

"Abeg abeg, let's enter one of these diners. Do you have cash with you?"

"Always."

"Great, because it's your treat."

••••

We enter a random diner called Amy's. It's a bit cheaper than what we're used to but I picked it because there are a lot of teens here. Faith orders two bottles of Pepsi for us and we choose a table at the back.

"How long do you estimate that we'll stay in here?" I ask her as I sit next to her.

"I don't know, until the rain is walkable I guess," she shrugs.

"Faith. The rain is walkable now," I gape at her.

"I beg to differ. Stop complaining and enjoy the view," she waves me away.

"Which view? Is it the rundown hotel next door?" I eye her.

"I don't know," she snaps.

"No need to get all worked up. Are you on your period?"

"Travis!"

"What? You've been jumping from one mood to another," I raise my shoulders in defense.

"I'm not on my period thank you very much," she drops her phone.

"If you say so." I look away from her and try to do as she suggested, stare at the view but I still end up turning back to her again. And I'm glad I did, because I catch her staring at me.

"Why are you staring?"

"I'm not," she answers immediately, looking away.

"You definitely were. Which is confusing because I'm not Alex." The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop them.

"What?" Faith's eyes fall back on me.

"It's nothing. I'm just saying that one should only stare at their crushes-"

"I don't like Alex anymore, I thought that was clear."

"When you were talking to Ara earlier it sounded more like you were trying to move on and bury the crush."

"Is that what you've been thinking of since?" She spits, suddenly angry.

"No, it's just an observation."

"Observation my foot. I'm going home." She grabs her phone and stands up.

"Wait Faith, the rain still isn't walkable." I try to grab her arm but she shrugs me off immediately. The rain is falling hard now and if Faith doesn't stay back she'll definitely catch a cold but her dense mind doesn't think about this fact as she storms out the diner and into the rain.

I might be even denser because I storm right after her.

"Faith!" I yell over the rain. I haven't even been under the rain for a minute and I'm nearly drenched already. Faith is stomping her foot as she walks ahead of me, not looking back once. I grimace and purse my lips as I realize running is the only way to get to her. I quicken my pace, each leg jumping off the ground at it's own time until I'm close enough to grab her by the arm.

"Are you mad!? You're going to get sick!" I yell over the rain yet again.

"Leave me alone!" Faith yells back.

"Why are you so angry? It was a mistake, I was wrong, I'm sorry." She stops struggling to release herself and stares right at me.

"I'm angry because of you."

"I know, which is why I'm apologising-"

"You're so freaking blind!"

What?

"I mean how can you not see that it's not Alex I like, it's you!"

...what?

Faith realizes what she's just said at the same time that I do and her face goes blank. She starts to turn around but then I tighten my grip on her arm.

"You like me?" I repeat. She doesn't reply, just stares at me like she's suddenly dumb. "Faith, say it again."

"Why?"

"I would love to hear it."

"Why?"

"Because I like you too." There, confession complete. Is it cringe that we stare at each other for like a moment before Faith speaks again?

"Are you joking? Because if you are I'll never speak to you again," she warns.

"Why would I joke?" Even as I ask the question I'm laughing. Faith seems to realize at this point that we're completely drenched with rain water and are standing on the side walk on an empty road. And yet, she brushes the stray hair out of eyes and looks directly at me.

"I still want to know how it feels..." She trails off. At this point I can hear my heart beating and my throat is completely dry. She starts to say something else but I cut her off and lean in before she can. The words dry in her mouth as we both get pulled in into what I'd like to call the kiss of our lives.