The next day, I wake up to my phone ringing. I look at the clock and see thats its 7 o'clock in the morning.
Who can be calling at 7am on a Sunday?
"Hello?" I cautiously answer the phone.
"Hey Penny." Ethan's voice tickles my ear.
"Whats up?" I say trying to make it sound like I didn't just wake up.
"Would you like to go to church with me?" He asks.
"You go to church at 7 o'clock in the morning? On a Sunday?" I'm honestly shocked.
He laughs. "Yeah. Would you like to go?" He repeats. "I can pick you up."
I brush my hair with my hand. "Um, sure." I look at the Bible on my night stands. Maybe I should bring it? My dad used to bring his Bible to church.
"Great! I'll pick you up in 30 minutes?" He said.
"Yeah. Sounds good. See you then." I hang up.
What should I wear? I wore my usual clothing to youth group, but that was youth group. Youth group is full of teenagers, church is full of judgmental old people, or so I heard. I should wear something fancy. I have a little black dress that's fancy enough.
I was going to wear it to homecoming.
Eh, I can just ask my mom to buy me a fancy dress from the thrift store for homecoming.
I put on the black dress, I haven't wore a dress in a very long time. It feels uncomfortable.
Then I hear someone at the door. I run downstairs and open the front door. On the other side I see Ethan with his eyes wide looking at me from head to toe.
"What?" I say embarrassed.
"Wow! I've never seen you in a dress before." He says.
"Is it not appropriate for church? I can go change." I said.
"No, please don't. You look beautiful." He said. That made my heart race.
"Thanks." I said probably blushing like an idiot.
"Are you ready?" He said. I nod and we get in his truck and leave.
We arrive at church, the same church that youth group was at. We go inside and find our seats, next to Ethan's family. I get some stares from strangers, but they turn the other cheek and focus on what they were doing.
Worship starts and I enjoy the guitarists once again. They are very skilled. That also made me think on the music competition, it's on December 29th which is only a month and a half away. I think I might join.
Service comes and I notice Daniel making his way up to the stage.
This is his church?
He stands on the stage and begins to pray.
After praying, he clears his throat. "Good morning everyone. Glad to see that you are all here this morning. Today my sermon is on forgiveness. One of the hardest thing to do. I know that mostly all of you here have someone that you need to forgive. I might be because they've hurt you, physically, or mentally." Those words felt like an arrow to the chest. "I'll tell you now, that it'll be never easy to forgive someone who has hurt, or betrayed you. But it was easy for Jesus to forgive us, when he died on the cross. Imagine if all of your life, you've done horrible, wicked, unforgivable things, and yet, all you had to do was ask Jesus for forgiveness and mean it, and He will forgive you. If only we can forgive one another that easily." He continues to talk about forgiveness.
Soon, I find myself lost in his preaching, which is weird for me.
Daniel looks at his watch. "I'm going to keep you people here for a few more minutes. I know they're people here, who never asked Jesus into their hearts. And those people are feeling, confused, lost, lonely, scared, hopeless. Let me tell you something, there is hope. When you become a fully dedicated Christian, you won't regret it. Yes, it will be hard, it will never be easy to be a Christian in this world. But the reward, when we get to heaven, will be worth it. I'm going to ask you to do the hardest thing you have ever done. If you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, stand up."
My heart begins to race, my palms get sweaty. What is wrong with me.
Don't you dare stand up Penelope!
A few people stand up. "Great, anyone else?" Daniel said.
I look at the ground.
"It's now or never." He says.
I put both hands on the seat in front of me. And before I know it, I'm standing up.
Oh my gosh!
Daniel looks at me and smiles. "Awesome. All who stood up, please come stand in front of the stage."
I start walking towards the stage. It didn't even feel like I was walking, it felt like someone was pushing me from behind. I questioned how I got to the stage.
Daniel looks at the five of us in front of him, he smiles.
I suddenly feel tears in my eyes.
He walks up to me. "Penelope, are you ready to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?" He asks.
What the heck are you doing Penelope?
I process those words in my head. Jesus. Lord and Savior. I can't...
Wait.
I want this.
I nod my head. He bows his head and starts praying. I bow my head and close my eyes. "Repeat after me. Jesus, I ask You to come into my heart and wash me whiter than snow. Forgive me of my sins, make me new in Your name. Lead me in the path that you designed for me. Jesus, I want You to be Lord of my life. In Jesus name, Amen."
I repeat every word and meant it with my heart. I open my eyes and realize that many hands are on my back and shoulders.
People are praying for me?
Daniel gives me a hug. "Let's talk after prayer." He tells me.
Everyone prays with the rest of the people who stood up. I go back to my seat. In an instant, I feel Ethan hug me.
"I am so proud of you." Ethan says with a shaky voice. He hugs, me tightly, than releases me.
We wait till after prayer. "I need to talk with Pastor Daniel." I tell Ethan. He nods and I get up and go towards Daniel.
"Hey Penelope. I'm so happy you made this decision today. I am very proud of you." Daniel said.
"Am I supposed to feel different? I don't feel very different." I said.
He chuckles. "You will notice the difference soon. The way you act, the way you look at people."
"Can I ask you to do something for me? Can you not tell my mom? She would freak out." I said.
"It's not my job to tell her. But I wouldn't wait too long before you tell her." He said.
"Of course I will tell her soon. I just need time to adjust to things. I do feel happier." I said.
"That's good. And if you need advice, come to me, or even talk to Ethan. He's a new Christian too, but he's had a little more experience. He's a great man of God." Daniel said. He then tells me a few scriptures to look up in my Bible. Then we part ways.
I meet up with Ethan. He's smiling. We walk outside together. I then feel someone lift me up.
"Congrats Penny." I hear Buck. "How does it feel?"
"I don't know yet." I say.
Jessica comes up and hugs me. "Congratulations Penelope. I'm so happy for you." She says.
Wow. Me getting saved makes me feel like I just got engaged or something.
The next morning, my alarm wake me up for school. I get up and look in the mirror. It makes me ponder. Christians don't dress like I do. So, I decide, since I am a Christian now, I shouldn't dress like I usually do. Instead of black clothing, black make up, tons of jewelry, and purple contacts, I decide to wear, a bright aqua shirt, some denim shorts, and one silver necklace. I put on a tiny bit of eyeliner, and some light lip gloss. I curl my jet black hair, and maybe I'll but some hair dye later to get rid of the blue streaks. I also take out my piercings. I look at myself, I completely look like a different person. I'm honestly shocked.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
I start to walk to school. I notice Ethan's navy blue truck drive by.
Rude.
I enter the school and go to my locker. I see Ethan look in his locker.
He glances at me. "Uh, that's not your locker miss." He says.
I look at him and laugh. "Ethan it's me." I said.
He looks at me in shock. "Penelope?" I twirl letting him get a good look at me.
"What do you think?" I said.
"Wha, what?" His jaw literally dropped.
The bells rings.
"I'll see you at lunch." I wave at him and I go to class.
When lunchtime arrives, I get my food and head towards the table. All eyes are on me. I slowly sit down.
"Oh. My. Gosh." Buck says. "You have green eyes?"
I look at all the people at the table. They're staring at me like I'm some foreign student.
"What?" I say to everybody.
Buck reaches over and touches my forehead. "Are you feeling okay?" He asks.
I swat his hand away. "I'm fine!"
"What did you do?" Jessica asks me.
"What do you mean?" I say. "I'm a Christian now, so I've decided to change my appearance and lifestyle a bit." I force a smile.
"Don't tell me you sold your guitar and deleted your music?" Ethan's looks at me.
I shake my head. "Heck no! My guitar was expensive." I think for a second.
Are Christians allowed to say heck?
Jessica grabs my hand. "Just cause you're a Christian now, doesn't mean you have to completely change your looks. You can still love God and wear the stuff you normally wear." She said.
"But you guys are bright and cheerful, you don't have piercings or anything." I said.
"I have a tattoo." James said.
I ignore him.
"We like the old Penelope better," Ethan speaks up. "I mean, if you're fully committed to this new look, then knock yourself out."
"Yeah, you're hot either way." James winks at me. I feel myself blush.
"So, I can wear the things I do, and God won't hate me?" I said.
"He will never hate you Penelope. And wearing things you do will never upset Him. He's looking at your heart, not your appearance." Jessica said.
"Okay, I'll go back to me tomorrow." I said.
"Thank God!" Buck sighed.
"It's a good thing you guys talked me out of this. When I got home, I was going to donate all my stuff to the thrift store." I said.
"Well I'm glad you didn't." Ethan said.
I look at him. "Why? You don't like this look?" I said.
"It's not that I don't like it. It's just not the girl I fell for." His eyes grew wide when he realized what he just said. Mine grew also. The whole table turns their heads towards him. "I didn't mean to... I'll be right back." He stands up and leaves.
"Oh, he's so into you." James said.
"Well, duh! It's been obvious since the day they met." Buck adds.
"Guys, she's right here." Jessica said. She turns towards me. "You two would make a cute couple though."
"You think so?" I said.
She nods. "Go for him girl. Buck, you give Ethan a push too. Then they will fall in love, get married and have 7 kids." Jessica rests her head in her hands and sighs like she's in a fairytale.
"Woah! Guys, me and Ethan are just friends." I say.
"Ethan's just said he fell for you. He's so in love with you."
The flashback of the halloween party came to mind. When Ethan asked me to kiss him. I would have never thought to do it on my own. He also asked to kiss me again when he dropped me off. Does Ethan really like me?