A Journey of Faith

Dustin was just turning around in Faith's direction to see if she had any more questions, when she threw him a curve ball.
"Why do you wear your sun visor turned backwards and upside down? Is it a gang thing or something?"
Dustin laughed quite a bit at this insinuation. So much so that it made Faith start to laugh a little herself. This sound caused his heart to jump deep inside his chest. Hard enough that he stopped laughing all together and just stared at her with an awe that made Faith stutter uncomfortably with her next question.
"W..W.. Why did you laugh at that? I was serious. I've never seen anyone in my life wear their hat that way before."
"Good. That's exactly what I was going for when I started to wear it like this at the age of fifteen. One day I was coming down the stairs for breakfast, my dad looked at me and said very casually, "You really need to find your own thing." I asked him what he meant by that, and he just simply said, "You're starting to look like every teenager in Fallows. Instead of being a follower, choose to be a leader. Be your own person. Find your own thing that no one else is sporting and change it up each time someone else tries to make it their own. This way people will look at you and see that you are confident in yourself, because it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you but God."
Dustin just smiled over at Faith and said, "No one ever tried wearing their hat this way, so it stayed "my thing" this whole time. Dad thought it was a little weird, but that's why he liked it so much, because I didn't really care that he laughed every time I walked into the room with it on."
"Your parents sound really amazing. They truly care about you. It shows in how you are today."
"And how am I today? Charming, funny, cute?" Dustin asked while winking over at Faith.
Faith knew he was just joking around but her stomach flip-flopped with butterflies. "What I meant was that you really show people that you care, like your parents showed you, but, yes to all of the above." Faith didn't know where that came from and turned away with a blush running from her neck all the way up to her eyes.
Dustin laughed again and, to spare her more embarrassment, changed the subject. "I really need to start capturing some of this great scenery on camera before I lose the natural lighting." Dustin started setting up his equipment and then proceeded snapping picture after picture. "Hey, do you want to take a few yourself? You said it would be neat to be the one behind the lens. Here's your chance." Dustin said while handing over the camera to Faith and showing her how to zoom and snap.
Faith had taken the camera very hesitantly. She wasn't sure she wanted to, for fear of breaking something. She knew this kind of stuff was most likely very expensive. But once she started choosing her shots and seeing them through the lens, she was fascinated. She took about ten pictures, when she heard something move in the trees behind her.
"What was that?" She whispered and quickly handed the camera back to Dustin.
Dustin had heard it too and promptly grabbed Faith's arm moving her behind him. "Could it be an animal or something?"
"They usually don't come this close to people. They're more scared of us than we are of them." Faith said nervously. She wasn't sure yet if she should tell Dustin about the van. She didn't want to sound like one of those paranoid girls making something out of nothing.
They stood there in silence for about two minutes just watching the bushes where the sound had come from. It had stopped, but Dustin still remained alert and ready to protect Faith with all that God gave him. "Maybe we should head on back before we are stuck trying to climb the path in the dark. I brought a flashlight, but I would much rather not have to use it." Dustin said while still keeping an ear out for any more rustling. He took a peek at his watch and realized they were there relaxing a lot longer that he originally thought. "Wow, it's after 4:00 already. The sun seems to be setting rather quickly. We better get a move on."
Faith thought Dustin seemed a little more on edge about the dark than she imagined he would be. She didn't blame him though. She was not sure why, but her nerves were reacting a lot more than normal too. She started to grab all of his equipment and the empty bottles of water that they had been drinking and shoved them into his backpack. She went over to the tree line to grab the lens cover she had dropped earlier while taking her pictures, when she glanced up and saw someone duck behind a large Mountain Laurel Bush. She quickly ran over to where Dustin was struggling to put the backpack on.
"Someone is out there. I saw someone out there." Faith whispered in a complete frenzied panic.
"Where?"
"He ducked behind a bush. He must have seen me coming closer to the tree line."
"Okay. Don't panic. Let's just quickly head on over to the trail-head and get to the car." Dustin sent up a quick prayer for protection and guidance.
They started up the same trail they had come, when halfway back to the vehicle, they heard a loud gunshot ring out. Faith let out a scream and grabbed Dustin's arm.
"Did you hear that? That is what's going to happen to you when I catch up to you!" A deep voice shouted out to them coming from their right.