Then, with a voice I don’t expect at all, this man starts singing Alive by Pearl Jam, and while I’m smiling from ear to ear, I’m also confused why a 90’s rock song is playing inside this church right now. Shouldn’t I be hearing some slow gospel music? If nothing else, shouldn’t he be playing an acoustic guitar rather than an electric guitar?
The boy behind drums, who looks eerily similar to the lead vocalist, plays like his life depends on it. The other vocalists sing harmonies, and my entire perception of how this service is about to go changes. Suddenly, I’m at a rock concert for Jesus.
When the song ends, the celebration and praise are loud. I clap too, realizing that I have a lot to learn and understand about church.
The next few songs sound like pop more than rock and include more verses about God and Jesus, but I still enjoy them. After the last song, another man walks on stage. He looks to be in his forties or fifties, and he wears glasses and a button-up shirt. Most of the people here wear nice, dressy clothes, so I made the right choice to at least wear my best dress.
When the man speaks, his voice comes out nasally. He introduces himself as Craig, the lead pastor, and asks the crowd to give Paul and the worship team a hand. Paul must be the lead vocalist and guitarist because he waves, and everyone claps again. Then, Craig lists off a few announcements for upcoming events before leading us in prayer.
“Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing so many people here today to worship you and honor you. We thank you for loving us more than we could ever imagine or understand and for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us. We thank you for making Him alive today and for giving us renewed hope that we will conquer death as Jesus did. I pray that we can hear today’s message with open ears and open hearts, Lord, and that you may bring life to each of us today. I pray for all our sakes in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.”
People all around me mumble an “amen” as well, and I peek my eyes open to see people lifting their heads. So I do the same.
An older man and a younger boy walk up the middle aisle and squeeze past Dane and me to sit next to Pam. The boy looks like Dane, so they must be Dane’s brother and father. Dane’s dad whispers a “good morning” to us before putting his arm around Pam and facing the front.
Then, Craig begins telling the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. He quotes parts of the Bible, makes jokes, and sounds pretty convincing, but to me, it sounds like nonsense.
I listen intently to try to understand, but the more Craig says, the more confused I get. I don’t understand who Jesus is or how he relates to God, and I definitely don’t believe that he was resurrected. That’s obviously not humanly possible. I take in all the information with a grain of salt.
After service ends, I’m doubtful and confused, but maybe Dane can clarify some of this later.
Everyone stands to leave, so I follow suit. Dane and his family lead the way out of the sanctuary, saying “hello” to random people on the way out. They stop in the lobby, and Dane’s dad holds his hand out to me.
“Nice to meet you, Penelope. I’m Ethan, Dane’s father. I’m sorry we were late,” he says. I shake his hand and smile.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I reply and then look at Dane’s brother.
“I’m Joseph,” he says.
“Penelope,” I say. There’s an awkward silence, and Ethan takes a step back.
“Well, we’re gonna head out. We’ll see y'all later,” he says. He gives Pam a kiss, and she tells him bye.
“Okay. See you at home,” Dane says, giving his dad a hug. Then, Ethan and Joseph wave and walk away towards the front door of the church.
Pam turns and leads us down the hallway, and we walk inside a room that says “Family Prayer Room” on the door. She closes the door and sighs loudly. The room is small and plainly decorated. A white chair and white couch sit on two sides of the room, and a small table stands in the middle.
Pam sits in the chair, and I sit next to Dane on the couch, even though I don’t know why we’re in this weird room. Pam smiles at me, but it doesn't reach her eyes.
“What did you think?” She asks me.
“It was… better than I expected,” I say honestly.
“I’m glad. I hope you enjoyed it.”
“Paul doesn’t usually play music like that,” Dane says with a short laugh. I frown slightly. That’s discouraging.
“Yeah, but he really did such a great job,” Pam pauses, “So do you want to talk about anything?” Dane quickly shakes his head.
“No, I don’t want to talk about it.” He sighs. “It was still a good service.”
“Yes, it was,” Pam says.
“Yeah,” I chime in, even though I don’t think my input matters.
“Well, what are your plans for the rest of the day?” Pam asks, looking between Dane and me with a smile. Dane looks at me, and I shrug.
“I think we’re going to go out to eat, and I don’t know. We’ll figure it out from there,” Dane says.
“Do you need any money? I don’t have much, but,” she starts to open her purse and finds her wallet, “I can give you a twenty.” She pulls a twenty-dollar bill out of her wallet and offers it to Dane. He takes it and puts it in his pocket.
“Thanks, Mom,” he says and stands up. Pam stands up too and steps over to Dane, wrapping him in a hug. She lets out a sigh combined with an “oh” noise.
“I love you,” she says and breaks away from the hug. Dane smiles.
“Love you too, Mom. We’ll see you later. Okay?”
“Okay. Have fun,” Pam says. Then, she looks at me. “I’m sorry this morning didn’t go as planned, but I hope you still enjoyed it. This will absolutely never happen again. I can tell you that.” I give her a reassuring smile.
“It was great. Thank you,” I say. Then, Dane takes my hand and leads me towards the door.
“Bye, Mom,” he says.
“Okay. Bye,” she replies.
When we’re back in the safety of Dane’s car, he leans his head back onto his headrest and closes his eyes. He blindly reaches for my hand, and when he finds it, he holds tightly.
His chest moves up and down quickly at first but then slowly the more he breaths. After a few minutes, he opens his eyes and looks at me. He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes like his mom’s. He looks exhausted all of a sudden.
“I love you, and I’m sorry about that,” he says.
“I love you too. It’s okay,” I say. Those three words still feel weird coming out of my mouth, but they’re becoming more common. I’m trying to get used to it.
“Well, what did you really think of all that?”
“It was… interesting. I was surprised by the music in a good way. But all the stuff Craig talked about didn’t make sense. Like it’s not possible for someone to be resurrected, so it doesn’t even make sense,” I say.
“Well, it’s possible because of God. He can perform miracles,” Dane explains, but that still doesn't make sense. I shrug.
“I guess, it’s just hard to believe.”
“That’s where faith comes in.”
“Faith?” I ask. I’ve heard the term but don’t know what it means in the context of Christianity. Dane lets out a breathe and smiles.
“You have a lot to learn.”
CHAPTER 10
My new strategy for dealing with Dane leaving next month is to be in complete denial. It’s not the most mature way to deal with this situation, but I don’t know what else to do. Since Dane came into my life, I finally started to heal from all the insecurities inside me, and I’ve become more of the woman I want to be because of him bringing me out of my shell. So I’m terrified that when he leaves, I will backtrack. I’m scared, and Dane knows it.
Right now, he watches me eat my ice cream like I could have a breakdown at any moment.
A couple of girls burst out laughing at a table behind us, and I glance over at them. The line for Mrs. Curl’s ice cream snakes halfway around the building
already, and it consists of people young and old.
I turn back towards Dane.
“What’s up?” I ask. He still stares at me, but now, he smiles innocently.
“Just looking at my beautiful girlfriend,” Dane says.
“Oh, whatever.” I roll my eyes but smile too.
“Are you coming to my volleyball game tomorrow? It’s the last one of the season, and it’s senior night,” Dane says. He started playing volleyball about a month ago for the first time, and I’ve gone to every game I could. I enjoy being the supportive girlfriend on the sidelines.
“Yeah, of course. I’ll be there. Will your parents be there?” I ask.
“Maybe my mom.”
“Okay, awesome. Can’t wait.”
✦✦✦
The next day, the school day passes the same as most have been recently: slowly and without much excitement. Although I still work hard in school, I let myself slip a few times, especially in AP Physics where I failed to turn in a few homework assignments. Somehow, I’m still managing a B, though, so I’m not too worried.
After school, I finish my homework as quickly as possible so I can leave for Dane’s volleyball game on time. My most important class right now is AP Seminar, and I have a huge presentation coming up that I am not at all prepared enough for. I work on the presentation and the paper that goes along with it for a while, but my head starts to hurt after half an hour. So I put everything away and get ready to leave.
My siblings are all holed up in their bedrooms, playing video games on their PlayStations or computers as usual, so it’s relatively quiet when I go downstairs. Dad sits on the couch watching TV, and I turn the corner to the kitchen to find Mom making dinner.
“Hey, there,” Mom says.
“Hey,” I say.
“You going out?” Mom asks, noticing that I’m not in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
“Yeah, it’s senior night for Dane’s volleyball team, and it’s his last game.”
“Okay. When will you be home?”
“I’m not sure, but I’ll text you,” I say.
Over the last few months, my parents have loosened up on how strict they are with me. I’ve brought Dane over multiple times by now, and I think they’re finally starting to like him, which I never thought would happen after the ticket incident. But I’m grateful.
“Okay, have fun and be safe,” Mom says. I smile at her and walk over to the front door.
Dad sits up and looks over at me.
“You going to see Dane?” He asks.
“Yeah, I’m going to his last volleyball game,” I say again.
“Cool, have fun.” He turns back around to watch TV again, so I sit down on the floor to put my shoes on. Then, I grab my purse and keys and head out.
I get to Dane’s high school a bit early, so when I head inside the gymnasium, I’m one of the first people there besides the player. Dane’s team warms up on the gym floor, and I spot Dane right away. I smile at him when he sees me, and he waves.
By the time the senior introductions are about to start, the lower half of the gym bleachers have filled up quite a bit with parents and students.
Dane’s mom walks into the gymnasium and spots me pretty quickly. She walks over and leans down to give me a hug where I’m sitting. Then, she sits next to me.
“I didn’t miss anything. Did I?” She asks.
“Nope. It’s about to start, though.”
The boy’s volleyball coach introduces himself, and the senior boys line up on the gym floor. Dane is last in line, and he looks especially tall standing next to his teammates. He watches his coach talk.
The coach introduces each of the seniors and talks about some of their high school achievements and other extracurricular activities. When he introduces Dane, Pam and I cheer.
After Dane, the coach wraps it up and invites the other team to come onto the floor. Then, they play. And Dane’s team loses.
“I feel bad. It’s his senior night,” Pam says after the game.
“I know. Me too,” I say with a frown.
“Maybe you can go cheer him up,” she says. She points to Dane and smiles. I tilt my head at her and then look towards the gym floor to find Dane standing with a sign. I can’t read it, but I have a feeling I know what it is. I smile and walk down the bleachers towards Dane until I can read it.
“Will you go to prom with me?” Dane asks when I’m closer. A smile fills my whole face, and I nod.
“Yeah, of course,” I say. Dane holds the sign in one hand and steps towards me to give me a kiss. All the people, who I know are still standing around us, disappear for a few seconds as we kiss, and then he steps back. His face is flushed, and he runs his hand through his hair.
“I know it’s a bit late, and we already planned on going together. But I wanted to do something to ask you like other people do,” Dane says. It’s true we already decided to go together over a month ago, which is why I’ve already bought my dress and shoes. But it’s sweet that he did this.
“I love it.” I take Dane’s sign in one hand and wrap my other around his waist.
Pam joins us on the gym floor with a big smile.
“You guys are too cute,” she says. Dane wraps his arm around my waist as well. “Do you want me to get a photo?”
“Sure,” Dane says, “But I don’t have my phone.”
“Here, you can use mine,” I say and hand it over to Pam. Then, Dane and I pose with his sign in front of us, we smile, and Pam takes the photo.
“Perfect,” she says and hands me my phone back. “Are you hungry? Would you like to go out to eat somewhere?” Dane looks at me.
“I think we’re going to hangout for a bit, and then I’ll come home for dinner,” Dane says. I nod, even though I wasn’t aware of any plans after the game. Pam smiles.
“Of course. I’ll see you back at home. I’m so proud of you,” she says and gives Dane a short hug. Then, she leaves Dane and I alone, and a huge smile returns to my face.
“Thanks for this,” I say.
“My pleasure. Prom is in… what… four days?”
“Yep, and I’m so excited to go with you,” I say and stand on my tippy toes to give him a kiss. “It’ll be the best prom ever.”
Dane and I head out of the gymnasium and drive to a park together in his car. We get out and walk around, holding hands and chatting about whatever comes to mind. But before it gets dark, we leave and drive back to Dane’s school where he drops me off at my car.
We kiss and tell each other we love each other before heading home in opposite directions.
✦✦✦
Four days later, I slowly descend the stairs in my house, feeling like a princess out of a movie. My parents and grandma come into view first, and finally, I see Dane holding a bouquet of flowers. I smile and blush, suddenly feeling strange at the center of attention.
“Wow,” Grandma says, “You look beautiful, Penelope. That dress is perfect on you.”
Everyone nods, and a smile is plastered on Dane’s face. He looks handsome, wearing a simple black and white suit to match my black and white dress. His hair swoops across his forehead in his normal style, but he looks like he’s straight out of a movie too.
Meanwhile, my mom and grandma snap photos of us from every angle.
Dane hands me the bouquet of flowers, and I lean my nose into them. They smell amazing.
“Thank you,” I say. Then, I feel awkward because I don’t know what to do with them.
“Here,” Mom says, reaching out her hand to take them. I give them to her, and she puts them in an empty vase for me. I smile awkwardly, putting my hands on my hips.
“What now?” I ask.
“Well, we’re going to take more photos. Right?” Dane asks. I nod and look towards Mom.
“Yes,” she says, “We’re going to meet at‒what park is it? The one in Greenwood?”
“I don’t know what it’s called. I just know how to get there because we’ve taken pictures there before,” I
say.
“Okay. I'll tell my mom to meet us there,” Dane says and pulls out his phone.
“Is your dad not coming?” Mom asks.
“No, he’s working,” Dane says.
“Okay, no problem. We’ll make sure to get a lot of good photos for him to see,” Mom says with a smile.
Everyone walks outside, and the sun shines bright. The clear blue sky and warm air make today a perfect day for prom.
Dane and I get in his car, and he leads the way towards the park. My parents follow behind us the best they can. Dane holds out his hand, and I take it without a second thought.
“You look amazing,” Dane says.
“Thanks. So do you,” I say.
“Thanks,” Dane says in a sarcastic tone. I stick my tongue out at him and look out the window.
We get to the park fifteen minutes later and find Pam waiting for us. She compliments me, making me blush again, and gives me a big hug.
Then, Dane and I walk around and pose all over the park for a bunch of photos. When everyone is filled up on photos, we hug each other and part our ways.
Dane drives us to Buca di Beppo for our pre-prom dinner, and the restaurant is packed. It’s loud and full of other prom goers. I recognize random groups of people but only focus on Dane.
Dinner is filled with small talk, lots of laughs, and lots of smiles. We order way too much food but eat as much as we can, leaving the rest and getting back into the car to drive downtown to the prom venue.
The venue is obvious, since a bunch of people wearing pretty dresses and nice suits all walk towards the same building. Dane parks, and we walk hand-in-hand towards that same building.
The night goes beautifully, despite the faults. The playlist is horrible, but Dane and I dance together like there’s no tomorrow. The food is minimal, but we shove our faces with tiny cookies all night long. The big windows prevent the room from becoming dark, so people don’t feel comfortable enough to dance at first. But when it does become darker, the room erupts with joy, laughter, and bad dancing. It’s terrible and perfect at the same time, and every second of it is better because I get to be here with Dane.
Love Lasts Page 11