Believe

Chapter 4: CONNER

After church on Sunday Conner goes on a search for a job around town. He has to use his mother's car and if all things go well then he can save up enough money for his own car. He stops at a shopping mall and spots a fast food court. He notices a sign in the window of Steers asking for help. He talks to the boss and they inform him that they will call him sometime next week. Conner drives around the town looking for more job offers and ends up at the restaurant Mug & Bean asking if there are any waiter positions that are open. He catches a flash of golden hair in the corner of his eye and turns to see Maddie laughing in a both with three other girls. He doesn't really want to interrupt her but hopes that she looks over here and he can catch her eyes. He turns back to the counter and decides to order a milkshake while he is here. He orders the bar one milkshake which is actually quite delicious. When he finishes he pays for the milkshake and when he turns around he knocks into someone.

"Whoa sorry dude!" a blonde hair boy who looks to be about the same age as Conner says.

"Hey, no problem it was my fault" Conner says with a laugh.

"I saw you earlier talking the boss, are you looking for a job?" they guy asks.

"Yeah, was hoping to get one. I've been driving around for awhile searching for one" Conner says with a laugh.

"Well what's your name maybe I can put in a good word" the guy says and winks at Conner.

"Conner" he replies.

"Mine's Liam" the guy says back.

"Nice to meet you Liam" Conner says and sticks his hand out.

Liam shakes Conner's hand and gives him a smile.

"Well, I gotta get back to work. Will catch you later" Liam says.

"You do that" Conner says as Liam starts walking away.

Conner turns towards the door and nearly knocks into another person.

"Whoa, two in one day" Conner says with a laugh.

He is about to apologize before he realises who he had nearly knocked into. It was Maddie.

"Oh hey I'm so sorry" he says to her.

"Hey Conner I didn't know you were here" she says with a smile.

"Well just stopped in to see if there was a job opening for me" he replies.

"Oh I see that's cool. So how are you?" she asks.

"Good thanks and you?" he asks.

"I'm well thanks" she replies.

"So what are you doing here?" Conner asks her.

"I'm here with my friends, we're having milkshakes" she says.

"That's nice, well I don't want to keep you" Conner says and smiles.

"Oh no I don't mind" she says with a laugh.

"Well see you around" he says.

"Bye!" she replies while walking away.

When he looks behind his shoulder to look at her, he sees her head bent close with her friends and they were all giggling. He had hardly seen her at church this morning but then again he had so many people introducing themselves to him and he didn't get a chance to go to her.

When he arrives home he is met at the door by his younger brother Lucas. He can see the excitement in his eyes and wonders what has caused it.

"Wow, someone is excited" he says with a laugh.

"Guess what?" he says while jumping up and down.

"What?" Conner plays along.

"We are going to the beach next week!" Lucas says excitedly.

"That's cool buddy" Conner says and picks up Lucas and puts him over his shoulder.

He bursts out laughing and starts to squeal. He walks towards the kitchen and puts Lucas down just as he enters the kitchen. The air contains wonderful smells and he sees that his mother has started dinner already. Sunday dinners are always special to his mother, he has no idea why but has never wanted to hurt her by saying anything.

"Hey Conner" his mother greets cheerfully.

"Hey mom" he replies and grabs an apple from the fridge.

"Guess you found out about the beach" she says with a laugh.

"Yeah" he laughs back.

"Well your father and I decided since we only start work in twee weeks time, we want to spend as much time with you kids and we thought the beach was a good start" she says with huge smile.

"We thought we would go on Wednesday, how does that sound?" his mother asks.

"Sounds cool mom, I would like to get back out on the waves anyway" Conner says.

"That would be nice dear" his mom replies.

"I'm going to finish up my room mom. Call me when dinner's ready" Conner says.

"Sure, go ahead dear" his mom replies.

He goes up to his room, puts his radio on and starts unpacking the rest of his boxes. In one of the boxes he finds a photograph of him and his best friend Dylan from back home in Cape Town. They had been friends since pre-school and Dylan had helped Conner get to know God properly and to be reborn again. Conner had given his life to God four years ago and he is trying hard to stay on the path that God is directing him on. He smiles at the memories of his time with his best friend and puts the photo in his desk drawer. He sits at his desk and turns on the computer, he logs onto Facebook and goes onto Dylan's page to write a quick "Hi" on his wall. He logs off and decides to take a shower before dinner.

At the dinner table Conner's dad surprisingly asks Conner what he thinks of the Crawford family. Conner is curious as to why his father is asking him directly.

"They are quite a nice family" answers Conner.

"What about Madeline?" his father asks with a sly smile.

"She's pretty cool I guess" Conner says.

"I'm glad you have made a new friend Conner" his mother says and gives his father a look.

"I'm glad to Mom" Conner answers with a smile.

The rest of the dinner is spent discussing the new church they had attended this morning and whether Conner had found any job offerings.

Hey guys! Will be updating soon. Please vote and comment! Thank you so much for reading!