The Silicon Valley Connection

15 | faith - week 0.5: pay it forward

"And...time!" they call out once I reach the edge of the pool. "Fifty-five point forty-eight seconds. Not bad for a 100-m freestyle, Sommers," Sol says with a genuine smile.

"Yeah, but not even close to where I want to be for qualifiers," pushing myself out of the pool.

"Whoa there, speed racer. One stage at a time."

My phone vibrates on the nearby bench from our group chat.

The STEMsistas

NICHELLE: hey, are Soledad and Kacey with you?

FAITH: Sol is. why? what's up?

NICHELLE: meet me at the library ASAP.

FAITH: uh, okay. we'll be right there.

SOLEDAD: go easy on her, Elle.

KACEY: ^

NICHELLE: no promises.

FAITH: you girls are scaring me.

KACEY: I can at least guarantee you won't die???

FAITH: thanks for the vote of confidence, Kace.

KACEY: no problem. so, my art studio seminar is bound to start soon, but I'll see you guys in the Mae Jemison conference room after, right?

NICHELLE: yes, ma'am.

SOLEDAD: yup.

FAITH: as always.

Nichelle is the first one to grill me when Sol and I walk into the conference room.

"When were you going to tell us about Hunter? Most importantly, me? We had to finally find out through Marcus, for God's sake, and I was right there that day, Faye, damn it."

Okay, that wasn't as bad as I thought. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? You know now. There's no point in dwelling on what I should've done then. He made his choice. I made mine."

Soledad clears her throat and gives Nichelle's hand a tight squeeze. "Babe, I think she's aware of what could've been done. Some things are repressed to the point where we don't feel the need to rehash the past. And don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing she did in that situation. I know I would, and I'm sure Kacey can agree too."

Kacey nods. "Yeah. I still think it's mind-blowing that we were at The Coffee Press at the same time. If I knew Hunter was such an..."

"Asshole?" Sol chimes in.

Kacey laughs. "Essentially. Then I wouldn't have said yes to that date."

Nichelle shakes her head. "You didn't know." Her eyebrows wiggle in my direction, and her mouth curls into a sly grin. "Besides, I heard from Marc that Aidan took care of it apparently."

So that's why there was a scar and a small bruise on his face earlier this morning. I didn't give too much thought to him being into the whole "allyship" thing, considering my own skepticism about what that word really means to others. However, after witnessing more proof that he's comfortable...letting others know when they crossed a line is a positive check in my book.

I still have my reservations about him, though.

"Either way, high school was a wild time, and although our experiences were different, it doesn't mean yours wasn't any less important. We're not only here for you now, Faith, but we're here to stay and not going anywhere," Kacey says, a reassuring smile on her face.