All You Need is a Little Faith

by Vaanya Singh

I reached Andy’s hotel and enquired about him. I was told that he was in the lobby. Sure enough, I found him talking to a girl in one corner. The girl was giggling and he was playing the typical playboy.

  ‘Andy!’ I called out in a sexy voice.

  I put on my flirtatious best when he saw me. His eyes travelled up and down my body, lingering for a bit on my chest. He smirked and finally looked up. ‘Do I know you?’ he was curious.

  ‘I am Molly, and I can’t take my eyes off you,’ I replied. I fabricated a story for him—that I had come to the hotel to meet someone else but since I had seen him, I was besotted. I had asked the hotel staff for his name and decided to approach him.

  ‘So I’ll get us a table...’ he started to say.

  ‘How about a booth somewhere in the dark? It’s more private,’ I said with a suggestive look.

  ‘Sure,’ he said with an annoying smirk.

  We got a booth towards the rear end of the restaurant at the hotel which was perfect for my plan. After we ordered our food, I put my plan into action.

  I shifted myself so that my body was pressed to his. Then I started trailing one of my hands on his chest.

  ‘So, Andy, tell me a little about yourself.’

  ‘There’s nothing much to know, babe. I’m not from this town; I’m simply visiting.’

  But he sucked in a breath as my hand trailed up and down his thigh.

  ‘I can’t control myself anymore! I need you right now. Right this second,’ I said, in a desperate tone.

  He was about to protest but I quickly kissed him, shutting him up. His hard lips crashed against mine. It was sickening. It took all of my willpower not to throw up.

  Someone cleared his throat. I broke the kiss to see the waiter holding our food with a smirk on his face. What’s with men and smirks?!

  ‘Enjoy your food,’ he said before walking away.

  I turned back to Andy who was still breathless. I pecked at his lips before getting up from my seat.

  ‘I’ll be waiting.’ Saying this, I made my way to the ladies’ bathroom, adding an extra sway to my hips.

  Two minutes later, Andy came knocking at the door. He made his way towards me like a predator going to his prey.

  He pushed me against a wall and his hands started to roam over my body and his lips met mine. I tried to make him believe that I was actually enjoying it. But I quickly turned our position and pushed him against the wall.

  ‘Strip,’ I ordered.

  He smirked but did it anyway. I waited till he took off his last item of clothing.

  ‘Your turn,’ he said, but I ignored him, taking out the handcuffs.

  ‘Kinky, I see, but don’t worry; Andy likes it kinky,’ he said, with a horrible smile.

  I smiled a fake smile and cuffed him to the pipe. Just when he thought I was about to come to him, I turned around and started collecting his clothes and quickly put them in a plastic bag I was carrying.

  ‘Wait, where are you going?’ he asked in confusion. I ignored him and kept walking. ‘Wait. What the fuck, bitch! Where the hell are you going?’ he yelled.

  ‘This was for Cory.’ Saying this, I walked out of the washroom.

  I quickly told the waiter to make a parcel to carry away all the food at the table. Just then, I saw two girls heading to the bathroom. I took out my camera to record their reaction.

  The girls entered but quickly came out screaming as they saw the naked Andy. Satisfied with my work, I grabbed the food, told the waiter that Andy was paying, and left for home.

  CHAPTER 16

  We’re all a little weird. And

  life is a little weird. And

  when we find someone

  whose weirdness is

  compatible with ours, we

  join up with them and fall

  into mutually satisfying

  weirdness and call it love.

  True love.

  VAIBHAV

  Today the school was buzzing with excitement for some reason. People were jumping from one place to another.

  ‘What’s all this about?’ I asked Vidya. ‘No idea,’ she replied with a shrug.

  When I entered the school hallway, my eyes literally popped out of their sockets. The entire hallway was painted hot pink!

  ‘Holy Christ!’ Vidya exclaimed.

  The lockers, walls, even the ceiling were all hot pink! Then it clicked. Faith! She had hot pink paint splattered all over her the other day and she said something about a bet. And my suspicion was confirmed when Faith entered the hallway wearing denim blue high-waisted shorts and a T-shirt that said ‘I DIDN’T DO IT’ in hot pink. Oh, the irony!

  ‘Hey,’ she greeted us with a bright smile.

  ‘I know what you did this weekend,’ I whispered once she was next to me.

  ‘Just lied to me, there’s no other. I know what you did last summer. Tell me where you’ve been!’ she started singing. ‘I know what you did last summer...’

  I burst out laughing. ‘Seriously! How did you do it?’ I asked her.

  ‘That is for me to know and for you to find out,’ she whispered back.

  Just as I was about to say something, a very sleepy Vanessa and a hyperactive Ron walked up to us. Vanessa groaned and said, ‘I’m so sleepy’ before leaning on the locker and shutting her eyes.

  Ron kept jumping up and down on his legs. ‘What’s up with both of you?’ Vidya asked.

  ‘First I couldn’t get a proper night’s sleep, and then we overslept and had to rush to get to school,’ Vanessa tried to explain with her eyes shut.

  ‘We?’ I asked her. ‘Ya, Ron and I. It’s all his fault. I mean who decides to have a movie marathon on a school night?’

  ‘Wait! Ron spent the night at your place?’ Faith asked with wide eyes.

  ‘Ya. I fell asleep while watching the movie, plus it was late, so her mum asked me to stay,’ Ron said, trying to solve a Rubik’s cube.

  ‘Wait. I’m confused. Someone, please explain properly,’ Vidya said.

  ‘One day Ron and I were talking and I told him I hadn’t seen any Disney movies. So last night he showed up at my doorstep holding a stack of Disney movies. My mother was too excited because it was for the first time I’d got a guy friend over at home. So she let him be,’ Vanessa said, rolling her eyes.

  ‘Hey!’ Ron protested.

  ‘Anyway, he forced me to watch all the three parts of High School Musical, Hairspray, as well as both the parts of Teen Beach Movie. Imagine my condition! So while watching the last movie, we fell asleep on the couch and overslept this morning,’ she finished.

  ‘Then how come you are dying and Ron’s flying through the clouds?’ Faith asked.

  ‘It’s known as black coffee; three cups of black coffee.’

  Cory appeared at the scene with Damon and Alex. She was humming too.

  ‘What’s with her now?’ I asked Alex. ‘Don’t even ask,’ he said, rolling his eyes.

  ‘Summer break is about to start,’ she said, in a sing-song voice.

  ‘Thanks for stating the obvious, sis,’ Damon said dryly. ‘So ... I was thinking ... at the beginning of the break, let’s go to Pushkar,’ Cory threw the suggestion in the air to no one in particular.

  ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ Samrat said, entering our circle. ‘Ya, let’s go,’ I, too, agreed.

  The small town of Pushkar, in Rajasthan, spread around the Pushkar lake, was the ideal place for people like us. We could hang out there for several days with no specific agenda, enjoying the hippie culture as much as the beautiful sunsets and evenings by the lake.

  Aditya was out with Julie again. Mum and dad were at work, so instead of going home, I went to Damon’s place.

  ‘Do you want to go and watch Suicide Squad?’ he asked me when I entered his house.

  ‘Sure, man. What time?’ I asked, heading to the living room as Damon headed to the kitchen to grab a snack.

  ‘Check with Alex; he’s inside. Ask him what time will suit him and Faith.’

  I mad
e my way to the living room and for the second time in the day, my eyes popped out of their sockets.

  Alex and Cory were having a heated make-out session on the couch. Alex’s shirt was on the ground and Cory was straddling him with her hands running up and down his chest. As Alex grabbed Cory’s shirt to take it off, a loud crash stopped him.

  Damon had dropped the bowl of nachos as he saw the scene before him. Cory quickly got off him and Alex wore his shirt.

  ‘Damon...’ said Cory, but she was cut off as Damon punched Alex. ‘That’s my little sister! How dare you, Alex? I thought we were best friends,’ Damon yelled, throwing in another punch.

  ‘Damon, look, I can...’ Alex started to say. But Damon cut him short.

  ‘There is no explanation to this,’ he said, frustrated.

  Cory was crying now. As Damon threw another punch at Alex, Cory jumped in trying to block him but Alex was quicker. He held Cory by her waist and pulled her to his chest, turning around, shielding her.

  Alex waited for the impact but it never came. He turned around confused, looking at Damon.

  ‘Why did you do that?’ Damon asked Alex. ‘Do what?’ Alex asked, genuinely confused.

  ‘Pull Cory away like that. She’s my sister; I would never hurt her.’

  ‘I know you never would, but this was like a reflex action. I couldn’t risk her getting hurt,’ Alex explained.

  Damon was quiet for a minute, thinking. ‘You really care for her, don’t you?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes. I love her with all my heart. Always have and always will,’ he said with so much emotion that it scared me.

  Damon stared at them for another minute before nodding. Cory instantly threw her hands around him repeating ‘thank you’ over and over again. Alex, too, hugged him.

  ‘I’m going to get us something to eat!’ Cory exclaimed before running off to the kitchen.

  As soon as she was out of earshot, Damon looked at Alex and spoke in a dead-serious voice.

  ‘Best friend or not, break her heart and you’ll wish you were never born.’

  When I reached home, my parents were rushing about; mum was wearing a red dress and dad, a tux.

  ‘Hey, mum, you look pretty,’ I complimented, kissing her cheek.

  ‘Aww... Thanks, honey! We’re so sorry but this emergency gala came up and we have to go. Beth and James are joining us at the gala, too. I promise you, this Saturday we’re going for a family dinner.’

  ‘It’s okay, mum, I understand. What about Aditya?’

  ‘Oh, he’s spending the night at his friend’s place. You’ll be staying over at Faith’s tonight.’

  ‘Is that okay?’ dad asked. ‘Sure,’ I replied shrugging.

  I went up to my room and packed a bag for the night. Once I was done, I headed over to Faith and Alex’s place.

  When I entered their house, Alex was sitting in the living room watching TV, and Faith was nowhere to be seen. The parents had left for the gala.

  ‘What’s up, man?’ I asked, sitting next to him.

  ‘Where can I take Cory for a date? I mean, we’re dating and I haven’t even taken her on a date!’ he said with a worried expression.

  ‘Why don’t you take her to the carnival in the next town?’ I suggested.

  He thought for a moment before yelling, ‘Brilliant!’ A few minutes later, Faith came down holding a big bag. She bolted out of the room yelling, ‘Going out! Don’t wait up.’

  I don’t think Alex even heard her because he was too busy texting someone. Cory, I assumed.

  Alex and I stayed awake for some more time, goofing around and prank-calling people before we called it a night. Alex went to the first floor to his room whereas I stayed on the ground floor in the guest bedroom. I turned off the lights and quickly went to sleep.

  It was around one at night when a startling sound woke me up. Someone cursed before picking up whatever they had dropped. I sat up in bed only to find that my bathroom door was open and the lights switched on.

  I silently made my way to the bathroom only to find Faith on her tip-toes trying to reach for something in the top cabinet.

  ‘Faith?’ I asked unsurely.

  She turned around to face me. She was wearing a pair of spandex and a black oversized T-shirt. Her hair was wet.

  ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up,’ she spoke and tried to walk towards me but winced as if the action caused her pain.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked and immediately rushed to her side.

  ‘Oh, it’s not a big deal. I just needed some bandages. The box in my room is empty,’ she explained but winced again.

  ‘Faith, what happened? Did you hurt yourself?’ I asked, starting to get worried.

  She looked at me, unsure.

  ‘Promise you won’t tell anyone?’ she asked, sticking out her pinky finger.

  That gesture brought back a million memories. ‘I promise,’ I said, entwining our fingers.

  ‘I went cliff-diving but by mistake I landed on some rocks. And it’s not as bad as it looks,’ she said, lifting up her shirt and pointing to a nasty gash.

  ‘Oh, God!’ I whispered.

  Her entire stomach was bloodied because of a medium-sized gash just below the swell of her breasts.

  ‘It’s not that bad,’ she said, trying to assure me but winced.

  ‘Not bad, my ass! That looks horrible!’ I exclaimed.

  Faith didn’t say anything and looked away as tears started to well up her eyes. I quickly cupped her face, looking her in the eyes.

  ‘Hey, don’t worry. I’ll fix it. Just trust me!’

  She nodded. I lifted her up and placed her on the counter and went to get the medical kit.

  ‘I’ll need you to take your shirt off,’ I said. She hesitated but took it off, revealing her black lace bra. I sucked in a breath, trying to concentrate on the task at hand.

  ‘This is going to sting a bit,’ I warned her as I started to dab the alcohol wipes. She hissed in agony.

  It pained me to see her like that.

  Once the wound was clean, I examined it. It wasn’t deep, which meant that it didn’t need stitches. However, it still would need some time to heal.

  When I was done bandaging the wound, I looked up only to find Faith staring at me.

  ‘What?’ I asked, confused. ‘Nothing,’ she quickly said, jumping off the counter and bending down to grab her shirt.

  Damn that spandex! I couldn’t handle this anymore. I called her name and as she turned around, I grabbed her hand, pulling her to me and crushed my lips to hers.

  She was quick to respond as she parted her lips, giving my tongue enough access to enter.

  ‘Vaibhav,’ she moaned as I teasingly bit her lip and started kissing her face. She gave me more access to her neck and I started kissing down it and simultaneously lifted her and put her back on the counter, making sure not to touch her wound.

  Just above her collarbone, I started to tease the skin, biting it, then licking it and sucking harshly, sure to leave a mark. Her small hands tugged at my T-shirt, pulling it off. Then her hands tugged at my hair.

  I moaned as she tugged harder. I got one of the bra straps undone and kissed her shoulder. Slowly my lips made their way to the swell of her breasts and my hands reached her bra clasp.

  Just as I was about to unclasp it, one of the soap containers fell onto the ground, catching our attention.

  ‘I should leave. Goodnight,’ she said and practically ran out of the room.

  That night I went to sleep thinking about a certain green-eyed blonde-head.

  CHAPTER 17

  Love me or hate me, both

  are in my favour ... If you

  love me, I’ll always be in

  your heart. If you hate me,

  I’ll always be on your mind.

  FAITH

  ‘I got it! I got it!’ Alex yelled, running around in the house holding an envelope.

  ‘Got what?’ I asked, sitting up on the couch. ‘My interns
hip letter!’ he said, practically shoving the letter in my face.

  Alex had been hoping to do an internship with this company in Pune. He was heavily into creating art pieces that could work as book covers or T-shirt prints or individual designs for tattoos, etc. The company that had chosen him for the internship was one of the best in the field and recognising Alex’s talent meant that he would be able to get a good start to his career in art. The wide smile on his face made me smile, too. But suddenly his smile faltered.

  ‘How will I tell Cory?’

  After their date at the carnival, Alex and Cory had become even more serious about each other. Alex had anyway been pampering Cory since the day they started going out!

  ‘She’ll understand,’ I assured him.

  ‘I know she will, but...’ he trailed off.

  ‘How about I arrange for a slumber party to cheer her up after you break the news to her?’ I asked.

  ‘That would be nice,’ he said with a small smile.

  ‘Why don’t you go talk to her right now and I’ll organise the party,’ I suggested.

  ‘That’s a good idea,’ he said, slipping on his shoes and picking up his car keys off the table.

  I called Vanessa, Vidya and then finally Cory. They all quickly agreed. I visited the supermarket and went to the junk section and filled my cart with food. I grabbed some nice face and hair masks, too.

  At six, Vidya and Vanessa showed up and twenty minutes after that, Cory showed up. As soon as I opened the door, Cory lunged at me and burst into tears.

  A concerned Theo trailed behind her, dragging his small superman suitcase.

  ‘It’s okay. He’s not leaving for another week-and-a-half,’ I said.

  ‘But we just started dating and what if he finds someone better?’ she said, sobbing.

  ‘Cory, listen to me. That guy is smitten with you. He’ll be a total idiot if he even lays his eyes on another girl.’

  She nodded.

  ‘So, let’s get this party started!’ Vidya said, throwing the cushion in her hand in the air.

  ‘Yeah, let’s party!’ Theo said, imitating her.

  ‘Sorry. I got the responsibility for him tonight. Don’t worry, he’ll be out in the next two hours or so,’ Cory whispered.