|
Chapter 12 "Telephone,
Brenda!" She was not expecting a call from anyone.
She sighed as she put down her bobby pins. Brenda had been
working with her hair for the last 20 minutes, and it had just
about gotten the best of her. She clumped down the stairs,
still in her nightgown, and grabbed the phone.
"Hullo."
"Hi! This is Julie!" came the voice over the line.
Oh no, not Julie, thought Brenda. Julie was one of her
cousins, just a year younger than Brenda. She did not know
a lot about their church, as her parents went to a different
denomination.
A thousand thoughts chased through Brenda's mind.
Surely Julie knew that she was repenting. But did she
understand anything about repenting? What would she ask?
What did she want? Brenda really did not feel like talking
to Julie right now. But she said, "Hi,Whats up?"
"Oh, the ceiling," was Julie's corny reply.
Brenda began to wonder what to say next. What kind of a
conversation was she supposed to have with Julie anyway?
But Julie went on.
"Actually, I was just wondering what was up with you. I
heard that you...joined the church and all."
"Yeah" Brenda said to stall, while she was thinking
frantically of what to say next. Would it always be like
this when someone asked about her church? Would she ever
know exactly the right thing to say?
"You'll have to tell me about it sometime," Julie said.
Brenda wondered what "it" was referring to. The church?
Her conversion? Or had Julie said something that Brenda missed?
Julie bubbled on. "Right now, I have something to tell
you! You will never guess who I saw last night."
Brenda was silent. She had no idea who she was supposed
to guess.
"Well, aren't you going to guess?" Julie did not give Brenda
any more time. "You remember that cute guy you met at last
year's homecoming?"
Brenda realized she was supposed to answer. She did not
necessarily remember any guy in particular, but she did not
exactly want to dig up old memories now. "Not exactly,"
seemed like a safe answer.
Julie was undaunted. "Oh, I'm sure you do. You
just aren't awake yet. His name is Mitch. He still has
that curly light-brown hair and soft smile. And you should
have seen his eyes when he saw me!"
Julie had to stop for a breath, which allowed Brenda's
thoughts to catch up. Brenda was vaguely aware of a desire
to remember the guy Mitch and hear more about him, but the
desire to hang up the phone was even stronger.
"And you won't believe what else!" Julie was saying.
"He asked about you! He talked to me a little, of course, and
then he asked about you, you know, what you were doing and
stuff. He sounded interested!"
Those last words crashed on Brenda and took all her strength
away. She wondered why these things had to happen to her.
A mental picture of a curly-headed boy began to form from
fragmented memories. How was she supposed to explain to Julie
that she wasn't interested in guys anymore since she started
repenting? And, more importantly, how was she supposed to keep
herself from being interested? ... |
