A Deeper Cliche

Chapter 6

Cherry: Well who have you guys been hearing?

Me: There's no need to be spreading more gossip than is already going around. Besides, this time is supposed to be about God. Not who some guy might like or what he's doing at our youth group.

Cherry: Come on Belle, you ruin all of the fun.

Me: Seriously, Cherry. You should know better. You know how bad it can be when rumors and gossip go around the church and cause problems for your family.

Cherry: *sighing* Fine, you're right.

Tabitha: Maybe I should go up and talk to him and see if I can figure anything out.

Me: No!

Cherry, Alice, James, & Tabitha: *looking at me strangely*

Me: I just mean there's no need to go and bombard him with questions that really don't even matter. Tonight is about God, and the only thing that Rascal needs to hear about is him. So, unless you plan on doing some evangelizing to him, I think it's best to stay away.

Alice: Wow, You're more passionate than I remember. I though you were more of just a shy Bible girl.

Tabitha: She's probably right. We should leave school things for school time and just focus on youth group tonight. There's no sense in letting Rascal screw that all up.

Me: Exactly! This is time for us to get closer to God and help anyone who is visiting to find God. So, that's all that he should be to us today. Just a normal stranger who is visiting. Not some god, or whatever you all think that he is who the most popular guy in our school.

Tabitha: Well then maybe we should at least go welcome him. I'm sure a guy like him would certainly like to be greeted by four good looking girls.

Cherry: What about James?

Tabitha: What about him? He obviously doesn't matter.

James: Like he'd really like to see you and your annoying butt.

Tabitha: *flipping him off, much less subtly than I could tell she meant it to be*

Me: I think it's a good idea to introduce ourselves. And James should come because we don't need to look like we're hitting on him or whatever. I know he gets enough of that at school, Tabitha.

Tabitha: *rolling her eyes* Whatever. But it's not my fault if he falls for me because I'm too damn good to turn down *flipping her hair in a way that's supposed to look sexy, but just looks ridiculous*

Me: Language! Don't forget we're at church.

Tabitha: *rolling her eyes* Thanks a lot, cussing police.

All Five of Us: *walking over to where Rascal is standing by another boy I vaguely recognize from school and possibly even church*

Me: Hello, I'm Belle, this is Cherry *pointing at her* and her boyfriend, James *pointing towards him* this is Alice *pointing to her* and that's Tabitha *point at her* I've never seen you before here, so I hope that you'll like it. And if you need anything, we can be sure to help you.

Rascal: *smiling big at me* I'm Rascal. It's nice to meet you all. Are you the welcoming committee or something?

Me: No, we just thought that we'd introduce ourselves. I think we go to school together, so we figured we'd welcome you and let you know who we all are.

Rascal: That's too bad. If they used all of you as the welcoming committee, I'd bet you'd have a lot more people, especially boys coming in.

Me: *gaping my mouth at him* This is a church! How can you be so rude?! We are here to learn about God, not walk around like some kind of sex objects for you disgusting pigs. *walking away abruptly, not wanting to be anywhere near him anymore*

Rascal: *yelling after me* I'm sorry, I was just making a joke.

Me: *turning around* That might be good for something at school or with your friends, but that is extremely disrespectful at a place like church. So, either you find a way to start behaving less rudely, or I think it's better for you to leave.

Rascal: Look, I'm sorry *putting his hands up defensively* If I'd known it'd be that bad to you, I never would have said it.

Me: *walking back towards him, taking a deep breath* I'm sorry I overreacted. But I really do not like crude humor, if you can even call it humor, like that. It's very disrespectful. My friends an I are much more than just pretty girls. I hate it when we're reduced to that.

Rascal: Trust me, I know you're not just pretty girls. I've seen you all around school. You're much more mature, well-behaved, and all around good people than the rest of the sluts there. Again, I'm sorry for the way I said it, I didn't mean it rudely. That's just sort of the way I am. I guess I should have realized that coming into a church means that I need to act differently.

Cherry: You're allowed to come as you are, but you still have to be respectful of the people and their beliefs. But, we all forgive you.

Rascal *nodding at Cherry, then turning to look at me* Can you forgive me?

Me: Of course. I'd be a terrible Christian to not do it. Plus, I can tell you really are sorry.

Quickly my thoughts of how good he looked returned to me over the rest of the night. He'd managed to redeem himself from the terrible image that he gave to me when he'd made that rude comment. And though I hated that I was beginning to think the same way as all of the other girls in our school, about how hot and great Rascal was, I just couldn't help it. I was getting feelings all over my body that I'd never at all had before. Rascal was doing something to me that I didn't like. But, it was more than just his looks and his popularity. I could see something in the way that he apologized and interacted with us the rest of the night that made him seem right. Like a good a decent guy. And I wanted him.