Forever and Always

Church Night

On Wednesday, Amadeus and I devised a plan: we would go to show choir after school, then my mother would take us to my house until time for church. I was very excited to bring him with me, it was a big place, no doubt about that, but it had the small, cozy, family feeling as well.

After the day was over, I asked Sean if he wanted to meet me in the commons so he could walk me to show choir. I stood waiting at the wall beside of the entrance doors of the school as he turned the corner. He hugged me, and normally I would feel like I was melting into his arms, but something was different today... Sean's hug lasted longer than usual, and I felt no trace of the once "special" feeling that was always present with him.

About fifteen seconds into our greeting, his friend Christian marches up to us, spilling out the words I always heard from him when I was with Sean, "Hurry the f*** up!!" He said it with such anger, and I felt startled. Normally, I would just ignore him, but I quickly pulled away. Walking at a fast pace to the chorus room, I shout, "Bye," to them.

I hear footsteps approaching me from behind, and I spin around, facing Sean.

"I wanted to tell you," he says, with a quiet voice, "I'm not going to be able to make it to Homecoming...I just remembed that my dad wanted to go to a corn maze with me the same day, I'm sorry."

"Okay," I whisper. It hurt, but at least he was honest with his decision.

I turn back around and walk faster this time. With every step I took, it made me more and more excited. I realized that I could go with Amadeus still. The dance wouldn't be so bad after all. Yes, Sean had upset me but it happened quite often. I was used to it. It was sad to say as well.

I sit my things down in a chair beside of Amadeus and he greets me with a hug. I accept it gladly, in need of some comfort. He smells like Old Spice and it calms me to feel his big arms wrap aroud me like I was a small teddy bear.

"How is your day going?" Amadeus asks, patting my leg.

"It's okay, Sean said he couldn't go to Homecoming, so I get to go with ya!!" I smile from ear to ear, as he returns the gesture.

"Great!! Hey, do you think I could maybe come over a bit before the dance? My mom and step-dad wanted to go to a car show on the same day, and they need to drop me off somewhere."

My heart stops. Sean lied to me. Anybody who knew him knew that he was obsessed with cars. He lied to me. Over a car show.

"Sure," I answer, knowing my parents wouldn't care. In that moment, the small bit of guilt that was in my heart vanished immediately. I shouldn't feel bad about going to a dance with another boy, Amadeus was like my brother. Sean was just missing out. A car show. Seriously? He could have at least told me the truth. It just hurt that he didn't.

~~After Practice~~

My mom met us in the parking lot, in her usual spot right outside of the choir room. I was excited that Amadeus was going to meet some of my family. When I hopped in the car, I introduced him to my mother.

"I'm Amadeus," he greets her smiling.

"I'm Cora's mom, Missy." She replies, "How was everyone's day?"

"It was fine," I answer.

"Mine was pretty great," Amadeus says.

When we arrived home, mom had a pizza waiting for us. We ate as Amadeus met my brother and dad. Then before we knew it, it was time to go to church.

We got to the counter where you sign in, got our nametags, and walked into the youth room, claiming out seats.

My friend I've had since preschool, Jordan, met us shortly afterwards.

"Who's this Cora??"

I laugh, "This is Amadeus, my brother." As I say the last two words, he slides his arm around me.

I introduce him to other people in the youth, and we have a blast. The highlight of the evening though, was the moment we jumped into praise and worship. I saw the way he would sing and lift his hands, and in that moment, I fell in love with him. In a brotherly way. He nudged me often and reminded me to smile, he always was looking out for me. He was starting to make my smile real.