Alive
Chapter Three
Lance slid into the seat next to Faith- she was early this time- and took a deep breath. He was going to follow Justin’s advice and not judge people on how they dressed.
“Hi, I’m Lance Bass,” he said.
“Faith Edwards.”
Lance brightened up at her name. A person with a name like that couldn’t be a Gothic girl. It was just too funny to even picture. “Nice name. For a little while there, I was wondering if you were a Goth or not. The first day of class you scared me with all of your piercings and tattoos and how you were dressed. But now that I know you’re not a Goth, you’re not that scary, tattoos and piercings and all. Are your tattoos fake?”
Faith’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a really asshole, you know. Assuming that, just because my name is Faith, I’m a good girl. I am a Goth, and all of my tattoos and piercings are real. I am not a good little Christian girl.”
Lance was taken aback. “Uh, I’m sorry. But with a name like that, it’s hard to imagine you as a Goth.”
“What, it’s hard to picture a girl who’s parents would give her a Puritan trait name would be a Goth?”
“Yeah. You just don’t seem the type.”
“Well, I am. And don’t assume things, Bass.”
Professor Hiller walked in then and all conversation stopped.
*~*~*
“I talked to her today,” Lance told Justin, as they walked to their class. “And totally made a fool of myself and insulted her.”
“What’d you say?”
“Her name is Faith, and so I assumed that she was just dressing like that to rebel and basically told her that.”
“And she got pissed?”
“Yeah.”
“So she really is a Goth?”
“Yeah.”
Justin laughed. “Lance, dude, you’re going to make an enemy one of these days.”
“I think I already have.”
“Ah, it can’t be that bad.”
*~*~*
“He talked to me today,” Faith told Catriona later that day as they were heading to the apartment they shared with two other friends.
“What’s his name?”
“Lance Bass. And no, he’s not nice. He insulted me. He assumed that I’m not a Goth because my name is Faith.”
Catriona laughed, knowing how upset Faith go at people assuming that she was a good girl because of her name. “Poor guy. Did you give him one of your evil glares.”
“Yeah. I think I scared him even more.”
“If he’s scared by you,” Catriona began, “then just imagine how frightened he’d be by Lona. She even scares me.”
“Lona scares everyone except for extreme Goth’s like herself,” Faith said. They were referring to their friend Elona Cybele, one of their roommates. She was extremely gothic, always dressing in dark clothes, lots of times leather, skintight things, always wearing a spiked collar and cuffs, and was never without a black velvet cloak. It was the opinion of Faith’s that she’d make a good vampire in a movie. She could even talk with a Translyvania accent.
“So he’ll never be meeting her, I take it.”
Faith shot a glance at her friend. “Why would he ever meet her? Why would he even have the opportunity to meet him?”
“You never know, he might end up coming over.” Catriona smiled evilly.
“Cat, whatever you’re thinking, stop it.”
“What is Cat thinking?” Sarah Aslesen, their other roommate, asked, walking up the car.
“About the guy I told you about, the one I met in History. Well, he talked to me today, and ended up insulting me and now Cat has this idea that he’ll be coming over.”
Catriona got out of the car. “You never know, Fay. He just might.”
“He’s frightened by me. Why would he ever come over?”
“He could be like being frightened by girls,” Sarah suggested.
“And he could be harboring this secret passion for you,” Catriona continued.
“He’s never been frightened or put off by a girl before that is attracting you to him,” Sarah supported.
“And he could be secretly in love with me and the world is coming to an end tomorrow.” Faith shook her head.
“My friends have twisted minds.”
“Faith Brittany,” Catriona began.
“Don’t use my middle name,” Faith warned.
“Faith Brittany Moonbeam Edwards,” Catriona emphasized to piss Faith off, “stop being such a spoilsport. You never know, you two might have to work together on a project or something.”
“Faith Brittany Moonbeam Edwards?” Sarah was struggling to keep a straight face as the three girls walked to their apartment. “What kind of a name is that?”
“Go ahead and laugh,” Faith told her. “Even I find my name funny. My mom was a believer in feminine names, my dad wanted to Puritan character trait so that way I’d have a better chance of being a good girl, and my mom’s sister suggested Moonbeam and my mom fell in love with it.”
“Your aunt was a hippie?”
“No, actually she wasn’t. She was actually just writing a poem when my mom was trying to figure out another name and said “moonbeam” and Mom loved it.”
Sarah laughed. “I would have changed my name the day I turned eighteen.”
“It’s not that bad,” Faith said, “as long as people don’t know my middle name. Kind of ironic, when you think about it. And at least it’s not as bad as Lona’s name.”
“There is no doubt in my mind why Lona is what she is,” Catriona said. “With a name like that, you have to be messed up.”
*~*~*
“It’s the Goth’s again.” Faith, Catriona, and Sarah were standing in line at Burger King, waiting to order dinner. The group of guys who had tormented Faith and Catriona the first day just walked in.
“Have I ever mentioned how much I hate jocks?” Catriona asked, in a voice loud enough to carry to them. “They think they can walk into any place and automatically be the center of attention. And if it doesn’t come to them, they have to make some stupid ass comment and draw attention to them.”
“Yeah, and you want to have some of that attention,” the same one who had hit on Catriona said. “That’s why you do what you do.”
“No, that’s the reason why you hate us so much. We take the attention away from you because we’re not sheep. Like you.”
“Cat,” Faith warned. She looked at Sarah. “She’s not pleased with them, to put it mildly.”
“I’m fucking pissed off at those assholes who think that just because I dress and act the way I do- and I don’t even act all that Goth- they can treat me like shit.” Cat pushed her blonde hair off her face. “Damn bastards.” As she was saying this to Faith and Sarah, her eyes met blue ones watching her from across the room. A chill ran down her spine. Then she frowned. There was no way in hell she was going to ever fall prey to jock again.