Into The Light

By the Grace of God

I had woken up a little earlier than I planned on, after I got ready for the day, I hobbled down to the Nurse's office for my morning dose of medicine, I felt a lot better this morning, physically and emotionally. I had texted Zack, telling him that I would meet him at the gazebo instead of him coming by my cabin

As I left, I saw Pastor Evan heading toward the dining hall

"Good morning Lila,"

"Good morning, can we talk?"

"Of course, what's going on?"

"Why did you take preaching away from Zack,"

"He broke camp rules,"

"He was helping me,"

"He still broke the rules,"

"You were so worried about me falling earlier. But when I almost did and Zack helped me, he got punished for it,"

"You also have no proof that nothing else happened between you two,"

"If we were gonna do something, it would have been when we shared a cabin during fall weekend two years ago, You're being unfair to him and completely unreasonable,"

"Excuse me young lady, but you aren't going to talk to me that way, the rules state that if you aren't back to your cabin by the second bell, you get in trouble,"

"Grace trusted my word, why can't you do the same,"

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore, my decision is final Delilah,"

"My decision is final as well, after camp is over, I'm no longer going to be a member of the youth group,"

I hobbled away from him with tears streaming down my face. I got to the gazebo and sat down and waited for Zack to get there. I saw him coming down the hill toward me holding a bag and two cups of coffee.

"Good morning beautiful,"

"Good morning Zack,"

"Are you okay? You look upset,"

"You might be upset, but I confronted Evan about last night,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, and he's being unfair about it, Grace trusted my word, He's concerned we 'did something' and we don't have proof of where we were,"

"You didn't have to confront him,"

"I know, but I wanted to, it's your dream babe, I told him after camp is over, I'm not going to be part of the youth group anymore,"

"Lila, you didn't have to say that, I know how much youth group means to you,"

"It means everything to me, but I can always find another one, or not go at all,"

"Thank you, it means a lot that you would stand up for me and that you are willing to give up something that means the world to you to try and make me happy,"

"You're welcome, I want to be there for you however I can, even if it means giving up something important to me,"

"I love you,"

"I love you too,"

"I'm glad I have you, there's nobody else I'd rather have to spend time with me and cheer me up,"

"What do you want to do today?"

"After breakfast, let's hang out at the pool, I'll make sure you're okay if you decide to get in, after lunch, we'll get ice cream or coffee, whatever you want,"

"Can we go back to the beach this afternoon?"

"If that's what you want to do, of course, we can,"

"I want to spend time with my friends and my boyfriend, I refuse to lay in my cabin again this year,"