Faith

Kaia smiled and waved at Faith and her mother as they drove away in their car.

"Your friend's so pretty." Faith's mother remarked. "Why have you never told me about her before?"

"We just became friends today. She's so nice, mama. She introduced me to her other friends and they were all so nice also."

"I'm happy for you Faith. She seems like a nice person too. But . . . can't she talk?"

"No." She looked down. "That's what I want to ask you about, mama. I . . . I want to learn sign language, mama. Do you know anyone that can teach me?"

"What's this? My baby's asking me for something?" Her mother teased.

"I always ask you for something, mama." Faith huffed.

Her mother laughed. "Sure you do, but only for the important things. I'm not saying that it's bad. Keep it up. Ask me for things more, ok?"

"Then . . ." She smiled slyly.

"I know that look. Don't give me that look. Whatever you ask with that look, I'm not giving."

Faith laughed, "Ok, mama."

They fell into a comfortable silence as the sound of the wind outside and the other vehicles around them filled the calm.

"Mama?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Have you ever seen anyone cover their mirrors with a cloth before?" Faith asked, remembering Kaia's house. All the mirrors in her house were covered with cloth, even the one in the bathroom.

"I don't think I have, baby. Why?" Her mother glanced at her from the corner of her eyes.

"I'm just wondering. Why do you think someone would want to cover their mirrors? How will they be able to see if they look good or not before they go out?"

"Maybe they don't want to see their face." Her mother replied, eyes on the road.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know the world we live in now? All everyone cares about is their face and that's reasonable when an attractive face is all you need to get accepted into practically anything." She sighed. "I have seen people use up all their lifespan to become the most beautiful or handsome person in the world for only a day. Then they die."

"People do that?" Faith asked, horrified.

"It's addicting. Once you change your appearance, you want to keep changing it. You could be the most perfect person in the world and still find flaws in how you look. Some know the limit, but . . . not everyone."

She pressed her lips together as her bottom lip quivered. A silent memory playing out in her mind as she spoke.

"Mama?" Faith touched her hand, she looked at her with concern. She made the same face Kaia does when she zones out. An expression full of regrets and pains.

"Oh! Sorry, baby. I was just remembering something. What were we talking about? Oh yes, mirrors. Right?"

"Yes. You said something about them not wanting to see their face."

"Ah, yes. I remember. Maybe they hate the way they look, so they don't want to see themselves OR, and I hope it's this, it's because they don't want to keep focusing on their face. Look around you, Faith, what do you see?"

Faith looked out the window, around the small town.

"I see trees and flowers and buildings an-"

"Mirrors. Every building has mirrors for glass. The only way you can tell what's inside is by entering it or by looking at its sign. Your grandmother told me that during her mother's time, you could see inside the stores from the outside."

"Really? How?" Faith's eyes sparkled with interest.

"I was so interested to know about it too. See, you know our glass cups?"

"Yes?"

"We can see through them, right? They used glass like that in shops. And behind that glass, if it's a dress shop, they will show a statue wearing their dresses. I think I have some of the pictures. Would you like to see them when we get back?"

"Yes! Yes! I want to see!"

♣

Kaia stood outside long after they left. Dreading to go inside to that pain in the neck, but as the winds blew and the darkness grew, she knew that she needed to enter sooner or later.

Begrudgingly, she walked back to her house. He collapsed the moment he introduced himself to Faith, leaving the two of them to carry him to his bed.

When she entered the house, he was sitting on the dining table with a paper in hand. He still looked very drunk but tried to stay awake. He stood up the moment she closed the door.

"Kaia! Where's your friend?"

"She left with her mother. Goodnight." She signed and walked past him, unwilling to deal with anything he has to say.

"Wait, Kaia. I have something to talk about with you." He held the paper to her, which she took and read.

It was a transfer certificate.

"What's this?" She signed, looking him in the eyes.

"I met with Harlo just a while ago and she took me to an early dinner. She asked how you were and how you were coping. She asked about your school and all that." He scoffed. "I'm surprised she suddenly cares so much about you. I know it's all because you changed your face. Otherwise, couldn't give two sh-"

He stopped his sentence and cleared his throat, nervously. "Anyway. Even if she was so annoying, she made one good point. I think its best you change schools, it's nearing the end of the year but some schools might still accepting. What do you think?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I know your mother's . . ." He shut his eyes and took in a deep breath. His one and only admirable trait is the love he has for her mother. She rolled her eyes as he sat back down on the chair, hands in his head, waiting for him to continue.

But this is a surprise, previously, she did so badly in school that she was forced to transfer. She looked at the paper again and walked into her room.

She took the jacket the boy left behind from her bag and checked the front. Sure enough, the logo of his school is embroidered there. If she transferred there, he wouldn't be able to run from her.

But…she remembered the uniform he wore. White dress shirt with black dress pants, a black necktie and…she looked at the jacket in her hand, black jacket.

She looked at her uniform hanging on her window stilt, and the uniform he wore. She prefers her school's uniform to his any day. But…she has to do what she has to do.

She walked back to the kitchen, where her father had fallen asleep on the table. Tears still streamed out of his eyes.

You're hopeless.

She shook him awake.

"Kaia! Oh yeah, we were talking." He wiped his eyes. "I have some suggestions. I heard of a very friendly school just above our house, I'm sure they'll make you feel welcomed. Or ano-"

She tapped on his arm and signed, "I will transfer but I want to choose my school."

"Of course. Good. That settles it. Uh. Do-"

"Good night."

With that, she walked back to her room. Now all she needs to do is find the school that has this logo. That shouldn't be hard.

♣

"Kaia? Kaia! Hey, you ok?" Faith waved her hands in front of Kaia.

"She gets like that sometimes," Shia said. "Maybe she is hungry. Have a bun, Kaia."

They were at the park again, Kaia had invited Faith to go with her, and she still had borrowed Kaia's clothes. But neither minded. Only Aliya and Max were yet to arrive.

"I'm fine." She signed.

"I don't believe you. You've been spaced out the entire day." Faith took a bite of the bun Shia made, irritated.

"Here." She took an ID out of her pocket and gave it to Kaia.

"I thought I lost this. Where did you find it?"

Caitlyn translated for her.

"See? You didn't even notice anything."

"Who didn't notice anything? Hi all!" Aliya and Max entered the park, waving at the both of them.

"Hi!" Caitlyn and Faith shouted in unison. Kaia waved at them and Shia shouted, "Welcome! Glad you could make it."

"Of course!" Aliya ran to Faith and gave her a big hug. "It's been so long, I missed you."

"I missed you too." She hugged back.

"What about me?" Caitlyn pouted.

"Of course, you too. I missed everyone!"

"But we saw each other yesterday," Shia said, earning glares from the three of them.

"Let them be." Max sat between Shia and Kaia. "Hi, Kaia. How are you feeling now?"

"I'm fine, and you?"

"I'm fine too."

"She's not fine!" Faith shouted, still in an embrace with Aliya and Caitlyn. "She's being bullied."

"What?!" They all cried in unison and looked at Kaia.

"Is this true?" Max asked.

Kaia shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I don't remember being bullied, Faith."

"Wait, Faith, you said something about her ID?" Caitlyn clapped her hands like she found a clue.

"Yes! Those kids took your ID and hid it the whole day. I kept trying to get it back from them but they only ignored me and you just took all the punishments from the teachers. I finally was able to find ma'am Elena and she got your ID back from them."

"Thank you. I have to thank ma'am too." Kaia smiled at her and zoned out again.

"What's on your mind so much, Kaia?" Caitlyn grabbed her head in her hands, squishing her cheeks.

"Nothing."

"It's definitely not nothing. Tell me."

All through this conversation, Max had to work as a translator.

"Is it because of those kids bullying you?" Max frowned, his hand.

"Kids? They are only around two or three years younger than you, Max." Aliya mused.

"Ok wait! This is unrelated but Kaia's sign for Max's name is 'fireworks', Caitlyn is 'flower', Shia is 'sky' and Aliya is 'dove'. I already know that I am 'soft' because you told me. Did I get that right?" Faith looked at them expectantly, especially at Kaia.

Kaia got up and hugged Faith, as she signed.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you just said." Faith laughed.

"She said 'good job'." Caitlyn translated for her.

"It's ok." Faith hid her face as she felt her cheeks burn. The rest of them looked, unable to hide the smile on their faces.

"Faith~ Come with me for a second." Aliya pulled Faith out of Kaia's arms and they walked to a corner of the playground, whispering.

"Wait. Why am I 'sky'?" Shia asked. "And Max 'fireworks'? The others are easy to understand."

"You're just like the night sky to me. Full of beauty and comfort."

"Wait, then what about me?" Max looked at her expectantly.

"You're like fireworks to me." She simply signed, rubbing her exposed arms as the wind blew.

She untied the jacket from around her waist and wore it, not caring if that was someone else's anymore, she was cold and a little frustrated with the boy.

"Wait, that's not fair. How- Where did you get that jacket?"

Kaia looked at it then signed, "A boy."

"Who?"

Kaia shrugged. Then she realised something.

"You know this school?" Caitlyn beat her to it. "Kaia has been asking anyone that passed this way but no one seems to know it."

"We-"

"We're back! Hey! Did you give your school jacket to Kaia, Max?" Aliya looked at him, wriggling her eyebrows.

Kaia walked up to him, stopping only when she was right in front of his face, making Max forget how to breathe.

"You go to this school?" She looked at him with her sparkling deep blue eyes.

"Y-yea." He cleared his throat and tried to speak calmly. "It's Frias High."

She hugged him tightly, relief washing over her. She finally found it.

"Thank you."

"N-no problem." He laughed nervously.

"Why do you want to know so bad though, Kaia?" Caitlyn asked.

She looked at all the faces that stared at her, finally giving a genuine smile from relief.

"I've chosen the school I'm transferring to." She pointed to Max. Ok?"

"Transfer?"