the opening hymn pervaded the entire church, signaling that the mass was officially about to start. giselle stood up grabbing the paper filled with lyrics of the worship songs. her mother expected her to sing a long every time the choir sang and giselle dreaded it. her singing wasn't exactly what you call top tier and there is a reason why she didn't get accepted into choir in the first place.
but nevertheless, she focused her attention onto the view of the front stage, singing along as quiet as possible while watching the priest and his altar boys prepare whatever was necessary for the mass. she silently wished this would go by fast and she'd be able to go home and sleep. giselle was tired and a nap seemed perfect at the moment.
her eyes struggled to stay open as she kept singing along to the words, her mother nudging her slightly to regain her consciousness, but it was exhausting to stay up when your body just wanted to shut down.
"rodrick get up," the man standing in front of her grumbled.
giselle's brows furrowed together at the mention of that name. rodrick? she thought, slowly regaining her consciousness.
and of course, it was as if the lord was sending her a sign. rodrick and his family stood right in front her. giselle prayed zara didn't see this or else she'd begin to take it the wrong way and the last thing she needed were her smart remarks.
rodrick huffed tiredly standing back up at his father's request reluctantly. his eyes catching a quick glimpse of giselle standing behind him. she could tell he noticed her by the way he tensed up at their brief eye contact.
oh boy, she thought to herself. she noticed that he'd cleaned up well for slightly formal occasions, ditching his usual dark grunge attire for a long sleeved shirt and denim pants plus the lack of eyeliner says it all.
he kept fidgeting as if giselle's presence was burning him, it was ironic considering they were in a church.
•••••••••••••••••••••
it was finally time for the eucharist and giselle was glad that this meant mass would be over soon. she loved coming to church but her drowsiness always got the best of her and it disrupted her focus.
her parents went forward already joining in the line as giselle slowly made her way in, trying her best not to bump into anyone.
as if sitting behind him wasn't enough, she'd come in contact once again with rodrick. they both froze, motioning the other to join first until rodrick's younger brother stepped forward and went ahead leaving the two teenagers who silently bickered with one another.
in the end, rodrick followed behind his brother looking deviously eager to achieve something. it made giselle curious to see what was going on since the young boy did seem rather frigid. he was wearing a bright pink sweater wrapped around his waist and he was desperately trying to cover up his pants. maybe he needed to go to the bathroom? giselle thought to herself.
the line moved along slowly and once they were finally close to reaching the eucharist, giselle had bumped into rodrick's lanky figure. thankfully this time, her landing was soft so no noses were broken.
"hey," she murmured, her eyes fixed on his back with a puzzled expression, until she heard a loud yell.
"poop!" a young girl cried, "he pooped his pants!"
excuse me? giselle questioned in her head, as she peeked from rodrick's side to see what was going on.
ithe sight was mortifying!
rodrick's little brother stood by the altar looking absolutely helpless as he tried to defend himself from the little girl's assumption. his khaki pants were stained with some brown substance in a place where it looked rather suspicious and giselle was embarrassed for him.
"no! it isn't!" he exclaimed, turning towards the crowd of people in church as if he were about to preach. "it isn't what it looks like!"
giselle covered her mouth in disbelief on what was going on. this was so strange and unusual to be happening and she was trying her best not to laugh.
"it's chocolate!" he explained, grazing his bottom his finger.
oh dear,
"see!" the young boy exclaimed, placing his finger on his tongue causing the whole church to gasp in shock.
rodrick began to burst out laughing while giselle stayed remained still with her hand on her mouth trying her best not to give in.
she could not believe her eyes as she looked at rodrick's little brother and the rest of the crowed who had their mouths all wide open, even zara looked appalled.
giselle giggled, no longer able to hold it in as rodrick and her met eyes once again. this time both of them smiled at each other, not even realizing they were laughing at the same time.
she did say his presence brought in a lot of laughter in her life.