Hearts, Scars & Horseshoes

Chapter 64 - Faith

"What are you doing in like two hours?" I asked Tori as soon as her face appeared on my phone.

She scrunched her face as she thought before replying, "Luke asked me to go to the movies."

I rolled my eyes not bothering to hide it from her. "You should definitely cancel on him and come with me instead."

"Where are you going?"

"Toby and his friends are all hanging out." I was staring at my closet, hoping my invitation sounded slightly more interesting than a dumb action movie that Luke wanted to see. "It'll be fun."

What I wasn't saying was that I was a nervous mess and needed Tori there to ease my mind if only a little. Yes, technically I had met his friends. But it was for the briefest of moments before he had pulled me away.

"Come on Tori." I begged. "Luke always ditches you for a better offer and you know it."

"Faith!" Tori's was just as shocked as I felt at my words.

"It's true." But I wasn't taking them back.

I watched her bite her lower lip, trying to decide if giving up a potential night with her long time crush was worth it or not.

"Please." I was no longer begging, I was whining.

She blew out a breath, rolling her eyes. "Come over."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I danced back and forth ending the call.

I pulled some outfits from my closet, cramming them into my school bag that was no longer filled with books before shoving my feet into my canvas shoes and darted out the door.

                                 ———————

I followed the gps through the subdivision of massive houses. Luckily I had been to Perrin's before and although I still found the houses enormous the shock of it had worn off on my first visit. Tori however had an unending strand of "ohs" and "ahs" falling from her lips.  I could feel nerves rise as the gps ticked down the distance for me. Even though I had moments of bold moves with Tobias, I was still unsure and amazed that he liked me. Plain old, nothing special, broken Faith. And until I saw his face and those green eyes, those thoughts would linger in my head.

"You have reached your destination." The electronic voice of my gps announced.

"Holy cow." Tori exclaimed, eyes wide, mouth agape as she stared at Perrin's very impressive house.

"Did I forget to mention Perrin's rich?" I asked, bringing my car to a stop behind Toby's truck.

"Uh yeah. You left out that detail." She said, clambering out of my car after me. "This is crazy."

"He's really nice." I said as if all rich people are inherently not nice. "Come on."

I skipped up the couple steps to the massive front door, pressing my finger into the doorbell. My heart was slamming away in my chest as I looked back at Tori, a cheesy smile on my face. Her lips parted like she was about to say something when the door was pulled open.

"Hey." Toby's voice greeted me, calming and exciting me all at once.

I spun around, my hair fanning out around me as I met his green eyes.

"Hi." A smile overtook my face and before I knew it I was propelling myself forward, colliding with his tall frame.

If I took him by surprise he didn't act like it, his arms folded around me, his lips against the top of my head. There were moments when I felt bold, where I just reacted rather than thinking about what the old Faith would do. They were always fleeting moments followed quickly by insecurities. Should I have thrown myself at him like that? Was that allowed?

As I pulled away I mumbled "sorry" sheepishly tucking some of my hair behind my ear.

He smiled, a low laugh rumbling in his chest as he pulled me into his side. "Don't be."

"You guys are really adorable." Tori announced, breaking me out of the little world I had slipped into upon seeing Tobias.

"Hey Tori. Good to see you again." She nodded her head, her eyes taking in the inside of Perrin's house. "Come on, everyone's out back."

Toby dropped his arm from my shoulders, his fingers finding mine. The simple act had my heart expanding in my chest and the smile that hadn't left my face since I saw him growing wider.

He led us through the house and out onto a deck that overlooked the lake that Perrin's house sat on. We followed him down the steps, an uncovered hot tub at the bottom. There was a small grass lawn just past the pavers that the hot tube sat on, a sandy beach with a volleyball net stuck in, followed by a massive body of water. The last time I was here, I hadn't even looked out the back windows of the house.

"This is like the perfect party house." Tori commented just as Perrin approached from across the lawn.

"Yeah, my parents like to entertain a lot." He said, holding his hand out to Tori. "Perrin. Nice to meet you."

"Tori, you also."

"Drinks are in the fridge in the garage right there, help yourself but if you're going to drive I need keys." He ran his hand through his light brown hair before stuffing it in the pocket of his jeans.

"I'm driving." I said. "I don't drink anyway."

A smile spread across Tori's face, knowing that she didn't need to be responsible now that I confirmed what she already knew.

"Alright well help yourself, I'm going to back." He gestured to where the rest of the guys were out by the volleyball net.

"Yeah, we'll be there in a minute." Toby nodded. "Here I'll show you the garage."

Toby led us to a small garage off the back of the house, a four wheeler parked on one side. There was a couple bottles of liquor on a work bench at various stages of empty. A refrigerator sat in the back, cases of unopened beer cans waiting to restock the fridge.

"Beer and pop in the fridge, vodka and tequila, and they've got whiskey at the beach." Toby said, pulling two red cups from the stack. "What are we drinking?"

I poured myself some Coke, Tori made herself a vodka and pop concoction and Toby grabbed a bottle of water. I wondered if he wasn't drinking because of me. The old Faith never in a million years would have drank but maybe the new Faith was a little more adventurous. I wasn't sure but the thought of doing something illegal, something my parents would no doubt be mad about, had a blast of excitement rushing through me. Maybe not today but maybe.

                                 ———————

I was trying to have this done at Christmas and well as we can all see that didn't happen. But at least it's here. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I did!