FAITH

"YOU! What are YOU doing here!" I exclaimed, hatred filling my words.

After a few seconds of silence, I gave my mom and dad a look.

"Well, is anyone going to explain what is going on here!" I yelled. I was fuming with anger.

"Okay... It's okay, Fei... Calm dow--" Hope tried to reassure me.

"DON'T! Don't. You know it's NOT okay. I...I -- Someone explain to me right now, at this very instant, what the fuck is going on!"

I looked around the room, my eyes skipping the one person I have ever hated.

"Either they get out or I leave." I stated.

"What the hell, Tyler! You said we had an agreement! This is unacceptable. Not only is the girl unaware of the situation, but here we are getting insulted and yelled at!" The asshole's dad shouted.

"Please, Josh. Give her a minute. Faith, come over to the kitchen with me for a minute, hon." My mom invited me, her voice smooth.

"No! Stop trying to soften things up, mom. I'm not moving an inch until someone tells me everything."

"We're getting married, Joy." The man I despised stated, using my middle name. The name that was special to me.

After a minute of silence, I looked around the room. Wide, suspicious eyes were all awaiting my reaction.

I suddenly started laughing. It started out as a giggle but, now, I found myself laughing crazy like a maniac.

"I hate you. I will never marry you. Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"THAT. IS. ENOUGH. Tyler, we will come back, again. Explain everything you need to to that little daughter of yours. And teach her to control her mouth. You better have everything prepared by tomorrow afternoon." Josh state, getting up and leaving, with his wife and son following behind.

"Faith--"

"Yeah, no. Not feeling it. Has it ever occurred to you that I'm human? I just got home from the airport. I'm tired."

I left for my room. Hope and Jocelyn followed me.

"What the fuck just happened?" Hope asked.

"I don't understand how my parents would let Olivia and Tyler do this to you." Jocelyn thought out loud.

"You know what, girls? I don't give a fuck. They must be crazy if they think I'll marry that son of a bitch. You two know the best what he did to me. I can't believe my parents let him in this house. Unbelievable..."

"Who even has arranged marriages in this century?"

"Honestly... So fucking stupid."

As my friends continued dissing my parents and their wacko-crazy beliefs, I took my time thinking.

What was going to happen to me now?

I can't marry that bastard.

I will literally kill myself.

I'll just run away. They can't force me into anything.

We're in the 21st-fucking- century.

"Faith..? You there... Hellooo...?" Hope waved her hands in front of me.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm here."

"What are you thinking about?" Jocelyn asked me softly.

I couldn't hold back the tears, "What's going to happen to me now, Joc? What am I going to do? How could my own parents do this to me."

I cried in the arms of my two best friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was dinner time. Oliver, Jocelyn's dad, called the three of us down. I refused to leave my room, but after a long persuasion session from Hope, I gave in.

We sat down in our seats and quietly started sipping our soup.

"So, how's North Carolina? Do you three like it there?" Oliver asked us.

"Don't you dare act like everything's normal! You all very well know that it's not! How could you do this to her, dad? How could you all do this to Faith?!" Jocelyn yelled, her voice cracked as tears clouded her eyes.

"That is enough! Listen to me, Faith. I will explain everything this one time and this one time only. That Ryan kid I have to deal with has tons of trash on your behalf. You know why? It's all because of that Jackson kid you hung out and loved so much. Remember him? Yeah. So, don't you dare disrespect them tomorrow. This is all for your own good and for you only. You hear me? Look at all our family has to go through because of your reckless high school self. You know exactly what I'm talking about, Faith. Don't make me go back to those old days wher--"

"ENOUGH! I'm 24 years old. Who the FUCK are you to decide what is right or wrong, good or bad for me? I've grown, dad. You can't see it, but I've grown. Leave me alone..." I wanted to talk more but tears clouded my eyes and my voice cracked. I didn't want to cry in front of them. I threw my spoon inside my soup, making a loud CLING noise and ran upstairs.