"Hey, Sherm?" Faith asked as they waited for Sheena to send the okay for Faith to head to her apartment. "There's one more thing that I need to get off my chest."
"Okay. What's that?"
"What's the real reason why this whole hero thing still appeals to you so much? Please don't mistake this for me being ungrateful, because it isn't, but since I never really questioned why Rowan acted so innocent during my time with him, I feel more than ever like I need to start questioning that behavior in other people more--regardless of how long I've known them or how nice they've been to me in the past. I don't think that deserves to just be chalked up to simple paranoia, especially not in a case like mine. So, I have to know--is this all still based on a childhood dream? Or is there some ulterior reasoning behind it now? And give it to me straight--don't say whatever you think I want to hear."
Sherm paused, as though carefully considering how he would word his answer. "Well, it's like I said before--Rowan did inspire me to continue pursuing that dream, but I didn't fully go into why earlier. The fact hasn't changed that I've always had a general interest in helping others, and I did want to see you both be happy again and help where I could, but there eventually was another reason too, especially after Violet and I started getting serious in our relationship. Honestly..." Sherm sighed. "It's almost like he inspired me for all the wrong reasons, and I guess you could say I used Rowan as an example of what not to do, what kind of boyfriend not to be to her. And while I admired the way you took charge and refused to give up on him, and at first I too believed he could get better over time, I didn't want Violet to feel about me the way you felt about Rowan. You know, like he couldn't do anything for others and needed to be mothered and protected all the time? So...that's my ulterior motive if you wanna call it that, since you wanted to know." Sherm fidgeted with his fingers, as though nervous about how Faith would perceive all of what he'd just said.
"Oh," was all that Faith could say at first. Is he saying he looked down on us in some ways? No, don't overthink it. You DID say for him to answer honestly, after all. But in a way, Sherm's answer was actually relieving to hear. It made him seem more human, and not like a suspiciously perfect or flawless character out of one of his old comic books. He wasn't perfect...and that was ultimately how Faith wanted it to be with everyone she interacted with from now on. "So, I guess in some way or another we're all guilty of being too passive about each other's situations, huh?" she finally commented.
"Yeah... And I mean, I know Violet can take care of herself as well as me if she had to, but I guess the inner man in me has always wanted to make sure that she has a good protector when she needs one," Sherm continued. "I want us to be equals, instead of just one always protecting the other, you know? And I guess I shouldn't judge you too much for not wanting to tell your parents about what's been going on, since there're some details of this that my girlfriend doesn't know yet either. I do plan to tell her though--it just needs to be at the right time."
"Well," Faith shrugged, "don't do what Rowan and I did to each other, and just be open about everything from the beginning. Even the uncomfortable things, because you'll dodge a lot of bullets that way--figuratively and maybe even literally. She seems understanding though, which is a lot more than I can say for my mom today...but I digress. Even if vigilantism might not be something Violet entirely agrees with, I think if you told her something similar to what you just told me, she'd likely support you in your goals, while you continue to support her in hers."
"I hear you," Sherm said somberly. "And if nothing else, at least tell your parents you're okay later tonight, when you get a chance. And I'll back you up on that fact if you need me to."
"Thanks. Because at the rate things are going, they'd probably trust your word over mine anyway."
Sherm rolled his eyes and opened his mouth as though he was about to argue with that statement, but stopped when Faith's phone suddenly vibrated in her hand.
"Oh--Sheena just texted me. She says Aaron left just now. So..." Faith exhaled, "I guess we're really doing this, then."
"Yep..." Sherm fumbled with his own phone as he readied it to dial the S.A.S., likely due to his hands shaking from excitement.
Faith leaned in once it started to ring, somewhat eager herself to be a part of the conversation this time.
"Hey. So is your friend ready to meet?" came the familiar voice of Nayla, who wasted no time in getting to the point.
"Yes Sky, we're ready--I mean, my friend is ready," Sherm said, almost giddily. Being a part of something like this, no matter how small, was likely already a dream come true for him.
"Can I talk to her? I just want us to work out a few final details."
Sherm urgently pushed the phone into Faith's hand.
"Faith?"
Faith swallowed hard as she held the phone up to her ear. "Yes...it's me. Listen, I'm ready to head to Sheena's now, but give us at least 20 minutes before you arrive at the door. I need to try to break this to her in the most delicate way I know how to. It might be better if she hears it from both of us, individually."
"Good, 'cause I was just about to suggest that," Sky agreed. "But before we do this, how do you know for certain that Sheena's not a knowing and willing participant in Aaron Galanos's crimes?"
Faith recalled what she said earlier to Sherm, about no longer wanting to trust anyone that appeared overly nice or innocent. "Well the truth is, I don't know for sure, but...I'm almost sure. I've thought about it more than once, but I can't think of any real motives she would have for hurting me or intentionally putting me in any danger. But I'll be watching her closely, just in case."
"Okay," Sky said. "Good to know. And I need to know what route to take out of the city tonight, so does she have any family or friends outside of here that I could take her to?"
"Yes--she has a lot of different relatives who live out of town, so that shouldn't be a problem. We'll let her decide who she wants to stay with once we get to that point...assuming that she cooperates. Oh, and another thing--Sheena lives in a relatively safe neighborhood, but to be on the safe side I'm going to have her wait outside on the balcony for me since it faces the parking lot, and meet me out front once she sees me pull up, just to make sure that I myself make it in there safely. Do you want us to wait outside for you too?"
"Nah, I'll be fine. This ain't my first rodeo, after all. Now when I get there and y'all answer the door, I'm gonna need at least one of you to be all smiles. It's a big party, a girls' night, whatever you wanna call it, until all three of us are safely inside that apartment. We'll discuss more from there. She probably won't be too eager to believe you at first, so go ahead and start the conversation without too many details, and then I'll help fill in any blanks. And I will be bringing some evidence with me, so don't worry about that part. Sherm already gave me the address, but I'll need you to text me at the same number that you two just used to call me, once you're there and ready for me to go to the door."
After confirming which number on the card Sherm had initially called, Nayla concluded, "Now, this last part is the most important, for all our sakes--if she asks you who I am, I need you to just tell her that I'm somebody who has dirt on Galanos and doesn't wanna see any more people suffer because of him. Nothing more than that, nothing less than that. Got it?"
"Got it," Faith acknowledged.
"When I get there, I'll be wearing a green shirt, tan pants and white shoes. So unless she's expecting anyone besides us tonight, I'd advise against answering the door for anybody else. Any other questions?"
"No...I believe we've covered everything we need to for now."
"Well in that case, I'll see you soon."
"See you soon."
Upon ending the call, Sherm gave Faith a final supportive hug as he got ready to leave. "Good luck over there. Keep me updated, okay?"
"I will," Faith said, deciding she would wait a few minutes after Sherm left before leaving herself--partly to make it look less suspicious, and partly to rehearse one last time what she would say to Sheena.
The blonde pink-clad figure that waited for Faith and soon joined her on the sidewalk out front was a welcome sight upon arrival. Faith would try to be as humane as possible in breaking the news to Sheena once it was time, but she would continue to allow her friend to think she'd come here to talk about guys and makeup just long enough for them to get safely inside. Once again, Faith just hoped that the place inside of which they were about to talk hadn't been bugged somehow.
Faith wanted so badly to grab Sheena's hand and run with her inside, but made herself walk beside her at a normal pace as Sheena chattered about how good it was to see her and about the movie she and Aaron had been watching. Even once they'd climbed the stairs to the second level and were safely inside Sheena's living room, Faith just wanted to see her happy face and hear her calm voice for a few minutes more before it was time to get to the point. Maybe someday they could just get together and talk about ordinary trivial things again, at least assuming that Sheena would still want anything to do with her after tonight...
While Faith could hear Sheena's enthusiastic tone of voice as she now took her back to her wardrobe and began pulling out various outfits (most of them pink and lacy ones that Faith wasn't likely to wear anyway), she could only make out the words of her own thoughts as she swallowed hard and finally opened her mouth. "Sheena..." Faith interjected. "Thanks for letting me come over this late, but I didn't actually come here for dating or fashion advice. I need you to stay calm and listen to everything that I tell you, okay?"
"Oh, um...okay?" Sheena laughed for a moment, obviously caught off guard.
"Sit down," Faith said, gesturing at a large chest at the foot of Sheena's bed where she had already seated herself.
Slowly putting down the blouse she had been holding and joining her on the chest, Sheena continued to study Faith's apprehensive facial expression, slowly realizing how serious Faith was. "Are...you alright? Is this about Rowan?"
"No. This time it's about Aaron."
Sheena's eyes now became as wide as saucers, and looked as if she was already jumping to assumptions inside her head on what Faith meant by that. Or...does she already know the actual truth? No, she can't know. She would've already clued me in if that was the case.
"Please, I just need you to stay calm here. It's not what you might be thinking. Sheena...I want you to know that I care about you, and I want to help you--even if some of what I'm about to say might be hard to hear."
Sheena tilted her head. "Faith...what's going on? You're making me a bit nervous here."
"Okay, so...the truth is, I know a lot of things about him that I failed to tell you when I first could have. I don't want to go into too many details yet, but Aaron is capable of some messed-up things, and I don't feel comfortable at all with you two being together. It looked like he was using you from the beginning, but I was so busy obsessing over my own...well, it makes me sick even trying to call it a relationship now, but...I thought Rowan was the only important thing in my life, and I pretty much neglected everything and everyone else. But no more. Telling you the truth now is the least I can do, after waiting so long to do it."
Sheena's eyes were no longer as wide as before, but she still looked uncomfortable and now somewhat irked. "Um...Faith, I told you already--we're good now. Aaron and I sorted out our differences, and there's nothing shady going on with him. He might act a little tough sometimes, but his friend Keith explained everything to me--people are always trying to falsely accuse him of crimes he didn't commit because they're jealous of his success, and it just really gets on his nerves. Kind of like...what you thought was going on with Rowan..." The more Sheena talked, the more prevalent the look of realization on her face had become, likely recalling what Faith had told her just recently about her own experience with someone she had thought she could trust...someone who she thought was just another unfortunate victim of circumstance.
"Sheena," Faith continued softly, "do you remember that girl you saw storming out of Happy Scoops that night, and how no one would answer any of your questions about it?"
"Oh yeah... I almost forgot about that. What about it?"
"Well, you'll get your answers now, because she's actually coming here tonight. She wants to talk to you about some things regarding Aaron. It's a lot though, and I think it'll take both me and her to try to explain it all."
"Wait a minute--she's coming here? Tonight? Faith, don't you think we should--?"
"It's rather short notice, I know, but it's the best I could do. It's not like I could just tell you all of this over the phone with Aaron sitting right there next to you."
"But Faith, where are you even getting all of this? Didn't Aaron help you with your money problem so you and Rowan wouldn't have to be separated? Didn't you say that went...well, mostly okay?"
"Well--"
"And besides, has he ever even done anything to hurt you personally?" Sheena interjected, becoming increasingly defensive and agitated. Despite her protests, however, Faith could hear the anxious denial in her voice, as though while she knew just how plausible all of this was, she still wasn't allowing herself to believe it.
"Technically no, but..." Faith sighed. "I don't want to say too much yet. Not until she gets here. I may not be able to directly prove anything, but I think she can. I can't fully go into who she is, because that's up to her to tell you if or when she decides to, but I can tell you that her intentions are for good and she wants to help us."
"Well, you know what? Let her come here. And I hope you two do have some good proof for me if you're serious about this, otherwise I'm telling Aaron and settling this whole thing myself, once and for all," Sheena muttered as she rose up from the chest and began to put away the clothes she had initially laid out on the bed for Faith to look at.
"No!" Faith suddenly exclaimed, bolting upright before she could stop herself. "No...please don't do that. Just give us a chance to explain ourselves, okay?"
Sheena sighed, shaking her head and not looking her in the eye anymore. "I really don't understand you tonight, Faith. You lie to me, invite a perfect stranger over here--let alone this late at night--and then tell me I can't talk to my own boyfriend? You still haven't told me how you know all this crazy stuff you've been saying about him."
Meanwhile, Faith's fingers flew as she texted Sky that they were ready, all while keeping Sheena within the corner of her eye to make sure she didn't pick up her own phone. "...Like I say, we'll get to that soon. And I know, I would be angry too. I always was, every time someone dared try to badmouth Rowan to me. But I hope that within the hour, things will start to make sense. Oh--and by the way, you might want to leave one of those outfits out, if you're partial to any of them," Faith advised, gesturing at the clothes in Sheena's arms.
"Why would I? It's obvious you didn't come here to look at clothes," Sheena retorted, ignoring Faith's seemingly odd advice and placing the rest of the clothes on their respective hangers in the closet.
"Well, we might be later. But like I say, we'll come back to that."
After a painfully awkward, minutes-long silence, they finally heard it--a rhythmic tapping on Sheena's door.
"I'll answer it," Faith told her, gesturing out Sheena's bedroom door and toward the one leading outside. "And I'll do most of the talking at first, if you want."
"Whatever," Sheena said, still clearly unhappy about the situation Faith had suddenly presented her with. Faith could only hope that "Sky" would be better at handling these kinds of situations than she felt that she herself was so far.
Okay, just picture it, Faith internally pep-talked herself as she walked down the hall and across the living room, confirming through the front door's peephole that it was indeed the person they were waiting for. You're still a kid, heroes and villains are still just an element of fiction for you, and it's your thirteenth birthday. Your parents have actually let you invite a few friends over for a change and your mom just got finished setting the table with games and refreshments. You've just now heard the first friend arrive and ring the doorbell, and you're over the moon because the fun is about to start... Only after immersing herself in that innocent scenario for a few seconds could Faith open the door, put on her best grin and exclaim, "Hey! I haven't seen you all year!"
"I know right? But now I finally get to see my two favorite people in the world again!" the girl at the door responded with an equally if not even more convincing grin. Faith noticed that not only did her outfit match what she said she would be wearing, but she'd also changed her hair from blue to blonde, likely to add to the disguise.
"Come on in! Hey Sheena, guess who's here?" Faith continued to force her grin until Sky was safely inside, but immediately dropped the act upon closing and locking the door behind her.
Sky's own fake smile melted soon afterward as she looked both Faith and Sheena over and approached the latter, who was giving them both an unnerved gaze. "Sorry about that. I'm guessin' you're pretty confused right now. Sheena, right?" She propped a hand on her hip while holding out the other hand for Sheena to shake. "Just call me Sky. I trust Faith here has filled you in on some of what's going on?"
Reluctantly reciprocating the handshake and nodding, Sheena answered, "Nice to meet you...Sky. And yes, I'm Sheena."
"Well Sheena, I hope we can get along, 'cause we've got a long night ahead of us."
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