Losing my Religion (nyo Fruk)

18

My brother called me at the telephone station near the Church on campus. He could only tell me that he would meet me at my dormitory an hour before the event. This way, we could all walk together to the church. I had a few things to do before this, so I would not have a chance to change till later. I planned to bring my clothes and other stuff with me. That way, I could change at the church in one of their dressing rooms. I assumed they had it for the holidays. My church back home had one, and the kids would use it to change into costumes for the theatre shows they put on. It was the same thing every Christmas.

The birth of Jesus...

I suppose that is normal...nothing has changed from the story in the past few thousand years. So, it isn't as if I could say, "Hey, can we see something else for once?" That would surely get me kicked out. And shunned...

Probably damned too...

whichever would come first.

"I am surprised you aren't dressed yet; what is wrong with your clothes?" Amelia asked. Madeline and I stood beside each other as she looked me up and down. "Everything is wrong; it is not what I want to wear," I spoke. She lifted her hands as if defending herself for the comment. We were still waiting for my brother and Alice. I could not help but look around anxiously.

"Don't worry, she will be here, and if she is late, she will let us know, and I can tell her to meet us there," Madeline spoke. She was trying to reassure me. No one knew about the kind of relationship I had with Alice, so they assumed that we had turned out to be friends. We were odd friends who sometimes counteracted each other, but friends nonetheless.

"Yes, of course-"

"Francine!" I heard a familiar call. Hearing my brother's sweet voice made me smile. I turned around quickly to see him, but he hugged me before I could do that. My brother would always be this dramatic whenever he saw me. He would pull me up slightly and spin me around like he had not seen me in years.

It had only been three months.

"Brother! you will embarrass me in front of my friends!" I laughed. He stopped suddenly, turning toward Amelia and Madeline, who only smiled. "Right, your beautiful, beautiful friends, ah may I?" he asked. He grabbed Amelia's hand, kissing it. I could only roll my eyes as she tried not to laugh.

My brother...

He was a flirt...

Yet, I had to keep up with being the good Catholic girl, not that it was bad, but hypocritical on his part. He would set me up especially with catholic boys because, as he says, "boys only want one thing," which is not a problem for me.

Since I want a girl...no boys are needed in this scenario.

"That's enough, brother..."

"Right! Didn't you say there was a third? Where is the lovely lady?"

I think I would destroy him if he tried kissing Alices' hand. Even his little comment made me feel so upset I couldn't describe it. "Yeah, she is meeting us there; Madeline was just about to text her!" I explained. She looked at me with an expression that wanted to ask, "I was?" however, my nod to her indicated that she needed to text her to meet us there.

Having no phone was frustrating! That is the next thing I will get! A phone!

"Alright, let's go!" Louis put an arm around me, pulling me along as the girls walked behind us. It is sad to say that my brother was very traditional. If he ever found out, there is no telling what would happen. "Are you keeping up with your bible studies? Praying? Going to service?"

"Yes, Yes, Yes, what else would I be doing?"

It is so awkward to have Amelia and Madeline listening to the conversation.

"Well, I was talking to some of the people back home who still constantly talk to their sisters and daughters...and many are finding respectable husbands...I wasn't sure if that was the case for you, my sweet sister."

"I don't talk to guys...let alone any respectable catholic ones..."

"Yes, I was slightly worried you'd try and run off with a Greek Orthodox believer..." He pretended to be dramatic, but I sensed he was serious. It even made Amelia and Madeline a bit uncomfortable. "That would not happen," I laughed. He turned to the girls, smiling as he pulled me along.

"Make sure she meets a good catholic boy for me?" he asked. He smiled at them, but they could only nod at him nervously. And me...well, I was thinking of Alice and thinking of how my brother would view her as the devil.

For, like me, on many occasions...the only other type of person he didn't like, that wasn't an Atheist, was the British. He despised the British...and for some time, I did too. However, I have made an exception for my dear Alice. She was everything he didn't want me to have, which only made me want her more. She wasn't a good catholic boy. She was a punk, atheist girl who also had room in her small body for anger management issues that she tried to compensate it by being a huge, raging lesbia-

"Although, I think I would rather pick one out for you," my brother laughed, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Yeah, great..."I smiled a bit awkwardly. He was terrible at picking someone out, besides the fact that I did not like the appeal of men. I wanted to imagine that they could have compensated for that by having at least a mediocre personality. Anything!

They could have been interested in collecting marbles, and I would have tried. However, they didn't. Instead, they were as bland as British cuisine.

Thank goodness Alice can't hear my thoughts.

"Alright, enough talk of relationship. Can we please walk normally?"  I asked. He finally let go of me, so I could walk beside the girls. I really hope they do not get the wrong idea about him.