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Before midterms, Faith went back to the GLC only twice after she met the team. She focused solely on studying and found everything else a distraction. After midterms in mid October, she frequented the GLC often and had her first meeting with JJ.

Most people on campus did not refer to JJ by his actual name. He preferred to be called by his initials. JJ was the captain of the boys' team. He was popular among the girls. Despite being the captain, he only joined practice on Wednesdays and Fridays. He made it clear to the coach that he had an important responsibility on Mondays. A responsibility no one ever dared question him about. After all, he was the youngest son of the president of Cher. He held a lot of power in the school because no one dared to offend him.

JJ first met Faith on the Wednesday after midterm week. She came in dressed for practice and was having some small talk with some of the boys while they waited for JJ and Josh. JJ and Josh were roommates. They shared an off campus apartment in a condominium close to school. So, they usually went for practice together on Wednesdays and Fridays. They were best friends.

As the duo entered the court, they walked over to the bleachers where Faith and the other players were conversing.

"Oh you must be the cute girl who plays better than me. Josh never shut up about you. I am JJ nice to meet you."

There was a silence and Josh turned tomato red. He made an attempt to change the direction of the conversation but soon gave up after a couple of stutters.

Faith reached out to shake JJ's hand that she had left hanging. Practice that day was very awkward for Josh. He could not make eye contact with Faith and she felt it. Faith tried to break the ice. She was usually not the one to initiate conversation with him because she was shy of him but she gave it a go during a short break.

Josh was sitting on the floor with a soaked t-shirt gulping down some water from a thermo flask. Faith approached him.

"The way you drinking that, you probably need a gallon ay?"

It wasn't such a funny joke but Josh laughed so hard he almost choked. That joke brightened his day. He finished practice with a smile on his face most of the time.

JJ was the campus sweetheart. He was sometimes arrogant but that just made him fit the"bad boy" archetype a lot of girls liked. According to the standard of most girls, he was handsome.He was used to being the cool mischievous jock that everyone was interested in. Thus, it made it hard for him to process Faith's total lack of interest in him. He didn't like her, he just found her indifference towards him unusual. She spent more time talking to Josh when she came around the court than him. He resolved to make her fall for him. He was not going to lose to Josh so to the surprise of his teammates, he started to show up for Monday practices.

Meanwhile, Faith was gaining a lot of attention on campus for always hanging out with the basketball team. There were different reactions to her. Some people were curious about how she got close to them. Some thought she was so cool. There was also a section that did not approve of her closeness with them out of jealousy. They called her all sort of names like slut, seductress and gold digger. They made up stories to drag her name in the mud. They made her out to be evil. The damage that the word of mouth did to her reputation was worse than what social media could've done in 2020. It is not as easy to block your ears to avoid whispers as it is to switch off your phone to avoid tweets. Faith was a good actress. She played oblivious to all the rumours and whispers. She was having the time of her life with her new group of friends.

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The cafeteria was busy as it normally was on Friday evenings. The table most people wanted a seat at was the basket ball team's. They had a special place in the cafeteria that anyone who occupied it had to vacate on their arrival. Faith only met the team on the court but that day, she was at the cafeteria with them. From a third person's point of view, the boys were humouring her well. She was grinning from eye to eye. They were having a good time. That was the cool table in the room. That table was everyone's envy in the cafeteria. Partly because most times, JJ picked up the tab.

Faith went off to use the washroom shortly where she had the misfortune of running into a group of girls. A group of girls who lets just say weren't a fan of her. Faith was washing her hands in the crowded sink area. Faith suddenly felt a cold liquid running down her back.

"Oh sorry I just wanted a sip of my orange juice, my hands must have slipped." The girl behind her said as she put her bottle back in her bag. This was met with quiet giggles.

It was quite out of place to want to eat or drink in the bathroom but Faith was not ready to pick a fight. She walked back to her seat in the cafeteria in a soaked shirt leaving a trail of orange juice behind her. On seeing her, Josh took off his denim jacket and put it over her.

"That is not going to help. There is literally juice dripping from her. I didn't change for practice, I have a change of clothes in my bag. Do you want to change into my shirt?" JJ asked.

When Faith was back after a change of clothes, the boys tried to get her talk about what happened but she wasn't ready to do so. Her mood was down and so was the mood of the table. After the silence was getting too long, the table dispersed. Josh offered to walk Faith back but she refused.

As Faith walked from the cafeteria to the dormitory, she was met with even more whispers and pointing than she had gotten used to in the past couple of weeks. Then she realized that she was wearing the shirt JJ used for basketball practice. Everyone who went to watch him practice knew that shirt. She regretted wearing it. She knew that she gave her haters more reason to call her names and spread lies. She was glad the semester was almost over and she would soon be home for the 2- week December break. She was excited to go back to Huckleberry. She missed Sarah, Peter and all her other roommates. She even missed Madam Eunice.

Faith's walk back to her room felt like forever because of all the stares. She managed to escape that reality by thinking of all the people she missed and what her plans were for the December holidays. She escaped mentally to a place where she was not Faith the slut but rather she was Faith the futuristic girl that everybody loved.

Faith got back to room 210 exhausted and embarrassed. Trisha who had not been there for a while was that evening. Faith ignored both Trisha and Gwen since that was the kind of relationship she had with Gwen and the kind of relationship Trisha seemed to want with her. She took a shower and got into bed to read a book. Trisha was still there. Faith thought she saw Trisha smile at her but that was impossible.

"Hey, do you want some cookies?" Trisha asked Faith as she took a box of chocolate cookies to Faith's bed. Faith ignored and turned on her side.

"Well someone's got an attitude." Trisha exclaimed.

"It is not an attitude it is just indifference." Faith clapped back.

Trisha whispered something to Gwen and left the room, banging the door behind her.