"Faith!” I finally found my voice. “What are you doing here?”

Faith took a step backwards and looked at Charlie with pleading eyes.

“Bells, I think you should accompany her to the cafeteria. She had not eaten a single thing since she arrived this morning.” Charlie interrupted before I could ask any more questions.

“Um, okay.” I set down the soup on the table by Charlie’s bed and reminded him to drink it while the soup’s still hot. I spotted a brown chequered suitcase next to Charlie’s bed. It must be Faith’s. I exchanged a meaningful glance with Charlie before I stepped out of the room.

I held the door open for Faith. She threw another unsure glance at Charlie before she came out. I led the way to the cafeteria while Faith followed quietly beside me. She kept her eyes glued to the ground the whole way.

I pushed opened the pale pink doors to the cafeteria. It was a small place; there were only ten tables at most. Most of the tables were occupied, since it was lunchtime. Faith went to get herself something to eat while I went to find seats. People stopped their conversations as I walked past them.

Lucky I had chose to wear a baseball cap today. It helped to hide my face as I made my way to the back. I pulled the cap lower while I walked past familiar faces that now held suspicion and scepticism. How I wished to have Edward’s gift right now, then I could know what these people were thinking about. I could bail if people got too close to discovering my identity.

I found one empty table at the back of the cafeteria. I sat down and rubbed my temples. I was confused. There were so many things I wanted to ask Faith. Why was she here? Isn’t she supposed to be in California with her grandma? Why didn’t Alice warn me about this unexpected visitor?

I was still pondering over the millions of questions in my head when Faith came and set down a tray, taking the seat opposite me. She took a sip of the hot cocoa, while gripping the mug tightly in her hand. Silence filled the space between us. She was waiting for me to speak first. I scrambled my mind for the correct things to say.

“Hey Faith.” I spoke softly in my musical voice, not wanting to startle her.

“Hey.” She replied; eyes still glued to the table. She fell silent again. I took a deep breath before continuing.

“I know I looked really different from last time...”

“I know. Uncle Charlie told me. You had a serious illness two years back, you had to move to Alaska for treatment and stuff. When you finally recovered you looked different.” She finally peeled her eyes off the table and looked straight at me. Her hair was untidy with odd strands sticking out at weird places; her usual warm brown eyes were puffy, dull and lifeless. She had deep dark circles and the eye bags below her eyes were huge. She looked so... different from what the little that I could remember.

***

Faith was the only daughter of Uncle Joseph, Charlie’s younger brother. She was just two years younger than me, and a total opposite of who I was. She was athletic and outgoing, and very popular in school. Despite our differences, we were as close as real sisters. We used to live on the same street back in Phoenix, until that particular summer when I was fifteen.

It was the last day of school before summer break; I had met her outside her school. Our schools were next to each other, so we always met up to go home together. We were happily planning our summer getaway when we turned into our street and saw a police car parked right outside her house. Renee was speaking to a policeman, and she was crying. We broke into a run towards Renee. That was when we found out the tragedy. Faith’s parents were killed in a car crash.

Faith was shocked by the sudden news. She simply slumped down on the ground and began sobbing uncontrollably. I took her back to my place while Renee informed Charlie. He came the next day and began to make preparations for the funeral. I stayed with Faith the whole time. We spent every night huddled together, crying our hearts out. She finally pulled herself together and stopped crying the night before the funeral. She did not drop a single tear during the entire ceremony.

Faith was a changed person after that fateful day. She was no longer her bubbly self, and she rarely spoke anymore. Her maternal grandmother arrived on the day of the funeral. Granny offered Faith to stay with her in California, and she agreed. Staying in her old house was too unbearable for her. Every inch of the place held memories of her parents, a painful reminder that they will never be back again.

Faith flew to California two days later. We kept in touch via letters and emails, and occasionally Renee would let me visit her during the summer vacations. But ever since I moved to Forks, I slowly lost contact with her. I thought Faith had forgotten me, and I kept it that way when I found about the Cullens.

***

I tried to start up the conversation again.

“How did you know Charlie was in hospital?” Faith could not have found out about Charlie’s hospitalisation thru Renee. I had kept the most of the bad news from her; I just told her Charlie had some accident during work and had to take a few days off. It was true, in some sense. I did not want a worried, overreacted Renee to show up expectedly the next day. Knowing her, that was exactly what she would do.

“Did you come alone? Or did Granny come with you? Where is she?” I asked. Questions just came one after another. I could see tears slowly gathered at the corner of her eyes.

“Oh Bella. I feel so horrible. I’m all alone now. Granny... granny... she’s gone.” Faith broke down and began to sob uncontrollably. People started to turn their heads in our direction to see the sudden commotion. I moved to the seat next to her and patted her back, trying to comfort her. After a round of crying, she managed to compose herself. She spoke again.

“I called your Phoenix house’s number after Granny’s funeral, but nobody picked up. So I thought I could come and visit you guys here at Forks. I just got here today. I got directions along the way to Uncle Charlie’s house, only to find the house empty. I asked around with the neighbours, and found out about Uncle Charlie’s accident. So I came straight here to visit him.”

She looked at me with tear streaked face and puffy red eyes. I broke the glance after a minute, and began to concentrate on the mini cracks on the table that had suddenly caught my attention. I felt so guilty, not able to be with Faith when all the awful stuff happened. When we were little, she used to stand up for me whenever kids jeered about my parents being separated. I had sworn to be by her side whenever she needed me. I had broken our promise.

Faith seemed to know the turmoil that was going through me. She nibbled her sandwich while keeping her eyes on anything but me. I did the same. She finished the rest of her lunch in silence. I followed her back to Charlie’s ward. He was finishing up the soup when we entered.

“Hey, you guys are back. How’s lunch?” Charlie asked with an over-the-top enthusiasm in his voice. I closed the door behind me while Faith went to stand by Charlie’s bed. We did not reply. Awkward silence filled the room.

“Um, Bells? Why don’t you take her back to my place? She must be exhausted with all the travelling.” Faith gave a tiny nod and went to pick up her suitcase. I bid Charlie goodbye and led the way to the car park.

***