The New Preacher (Drake)
"So, Drake," my mother said excitedly. "Are you ready to meet the new preacher...?"
"Yeah," I scoffed. "Sure. Another old guy to meet." I rolled my eyes as my mom hit me lightly.
"Drake!"
"Sorry." I wasn't sorry though. My church has had 5 new preachers recently and all of them found better jobs in California instead of boring old Oregon.
I listened to MCR as my mother drove to the church building. I hated waking up early to just listen to some guy drone about God. It's not cool. It was boring and I always fell asleep. At least it's summer and next week I get to go to camp.
As my mother pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a cute young guy standing by the doors, his brown hair covering his face. I never saw the guy before, which surprised me since I knew everyone who came to my church. Was he visiting?
"That's Adam. He's the preacher's son." My mother said.
My mouth went dry as I realized he was probably as straight as a ruler. Preacher's son?
I should probably mention that I'm gay. I've been in the closet for 10 years. I'm 16 right now, so I was really young when I knew I liked boys.
The preacher's son, Adam, was really hot. Lean, well fit, nicely dressed. His hair glowed red in the morning sun.
"You going to greet him, Drake?" My mom nudged me. I hadn't realized she had parked near the doors, close to Adam.
"Y-yeah." I stammered quietly and got out of the car. Adam looked up and I had to catch my breath. His eyes were sapphire blue, as blue as peacock feathers. The most beautiful blue I've ever seen. "Uh... H-hi." I said nervously. "My name's Drake."
"Hello. I'm Adam Nixon." Adam said carefully. He glanced down and fiddled with a small thread on his button up shirt. "My dad's the preacher, Christian Nixon."
"Yeah. My mom told me we had another new preacher." I chuckled awkwardly. This boy was probably a year younger than me, but he was cute and I can tell that he was more mature than most 15-16 year olds.
"Another new one?" Adam asked. His beautiful blue eyes were wide with curiosity. "What do you mean by 'another'?"
"Yeah. We had other preachers that were here before, but they all left for better paying places." I mumbled, unable to look him in the face.
"That's stupid." Adam said. I could see he was starting to relax now. "My father came here a few times in his years and said that it was so nice here we were gonna move." He sighed dejectedly. "So he took me out of school, away from my friends, and we moved here."
Adam looked so lonely, I couldn't help but blurt out, "I could be your friend." I looked away in embarrassment. "If you want that of course."
Adam looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah, man." I nervously held out my hand for him to shake. "We'll be great friends. I can introduce you to my other friends if you would like that."
He smiled, perfect white teeth gleaming. "Alright. That sounds great." He shook my hand with ease. His hand was warm against my cold skin. "Friends."
"Friends." I agreed.
Adam wandered into the building with me as I showed him around. "Next week I'm going to a camp, so I won't be here." I told him as we passed buy a huddle of old women chatting about those who we should pray for.
"Oh, my dad said I'm going too." Adam piped up. "He said it'll help me meet new people and make friends."
I nodded. "Yeah. I've been there before." I frowned. "It's a bit harsh to people not from church."
"What do you mean?" Adam frowned with me. I silently cursed, knowing this may put me in a bad reputation in my church.
"Well....Um... One year, someone brought a guy trying to recover from smoking and... the staff verbally attacked him and almost drowned him in the creek to 'baptize' him."
"Oh my god.." I heard Adam mutter so quietly I didn't think I heard him.
"And the next year, last year actually, a girl came with her lesbian friend and both girls were sent to the camp's 'hospital', which was like an asylum. They both went insane there and had to be sent away. The staff claimed they were possessed by the devil." I turned to look at Adam. "It's basically a conversion camp for those who aren't pure in God's eyes."
"That's terrible." Adam said. "How do these people get away with it? This camp should be illegal."
"I don't know how they get away with it. I usually stay there for a month. Some stay for a year. Some even longer." I sighed. "It's supposed to be a helping camp, but nothing about it is very helpful."
"I agree." Adam muttered.
"Yeah. There are kids as young as 7 there. Makes me sad to see them there."
Adam sighed. "Life was never this complicated before my mother left us."
"What happened?" I dared to ask. I winced inwardly as he glared at me, as if I slapped him.
He sighed and looked away. "It's a long story..." I could tell Adam was uncomfortable with the topic so I didn't press him.
"Okay, dude." I turned to see everyone filing into the auditorium. "Come on. Church is about to start."
Adam followed me into the room where I saw my mother and the preacher, Christian Nixon, talking. She had that "I-Think-You're-Cute" smile and I nearly gagged. It was gross when my mother flirted because she always made it look so damn obvious.
"What?" Adam asked.
"Nothing." I said quickly. "Come on. You can sit next to me back here. Just jab me awake if I start falling asleep."
Adam laughed, a beautiful chime I wished to hear again. "Okay, man," he chuckled as he sat down next to me.
