My Church Girl

Chapter 9

Friday church group meeting:

"Hey guys, today we had to read your favorite Bible passages, but let's turn this into the next lesson and make today a Musical Friday. Everyone is allowed to choose one song." The leader of the group suggested.

"Great idea, Ava!" exclaimed  a boy with blond hair and brown eyes. "Can I be first?"

"Of course Billie, go for it." Ava nodded with an enthusiastic smile.

Billie looked at her eagerly. "Can we sing 'City of Stars' as a duet?"

The girl pondered, "I'm not familiar with that song. I can read the lyrics, but I've never heard it before, so it might not sound great." She said apologetically biting her lower lip.

"You don't know the song?" Billie seemed perplexed. "Haven't you seen 'La la land'?"

Ava shook her head, "I haven't. Maybe you can ask someone else in the group who knows the song and sing the duet with them."

"No," the boy insisted. "I want to sing with you. Besides, you should definitely watch the movie sometime. Maybe we could go together?"

"Sure, just ask my dad if he don't mind." She responded, patting him on the shoulder.

While the guy was pleased with the answer, another person in the crowd felt uncomfortable. She remained seated throughout the song and couldn't enjoy the new duet by the church singers. When, after playing a few songs, Ava approached her and softly asked, "Harper, do you want to pick a song? Maybe one you know how to play on the guitar?"

However, the girl's response caught her off guard, a chilly "No, thank you," delivered without a glance at the person she was addressing.

"Okay," The girl with eyes of blue ice said confused.

As the musical session continued, the leader of the group kept glancing over at her green-eyed friend. The girl sat there, her expression guarded. The worried girl decided to approach her again after the next song.

"Harper," she said softly, "is everything okay?"

Her friend looked up, her eyes still cold. "Yeah, everything's fine."

The blond girl leaned in a little closer. "Is there something bothering you? Did I do something to upset you?"

"No, I just need some space," She uttered irksomely. And the church girl did what she was asked.

As the meeting came to a close, the leader of the group tidied up the tools, while her green-eyed friend merely lingered at her desk, not bothering to lend a hand. This deeply troubled Ava, she sensed a shift in Harper's demeanor and was puzzled about what have she done to cause it.

"Why are you mad at me?" She asked in frustration.

But the answer was pronounced in an irritable tone, "I'm not mad at you, just finish quickly and let's go home."

Ava was taken aback, what she feared began to happen so quickly and suddenly, Harper is tired of her company and wants to get rid of her as fast as possible, "Sure, sorry for keeping you waiting." Was all she could say.

Harper's eyes softened as she saw the hurt her words had caused. She took a deep breath, pushing aside her frustration, and walked slowly towards Ava. Wrapping her arms around her, she whispered, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that." The hugged girl stood frozen, trying to compose herself, "I just... I don't know what happened. I was angry about your duet with that guy."

"Why?" The blue-eyed girl asked barely audible, still trying to figure out what's going on with her friend.

"I don't like his voice. He ruined the entire performance. I wanted to hear only your voice, not some creep guy." Ava's eyes widened, but she remain silent, unsure of how to respond. In her head, her friend's reaction was exaggerated, but then again, she struggles with anger issues, so she needed some support instead of judgements. Although, before she could find the right words, she was stunned by the next question. "Do you really like him?"