The Color Line

Square One

I wake up with the smell of pancakes in the air. Riley is next to me, playing on his phone, while Rosy and Tim are arguing about eggs in the kitchen.

"Good morning," Riley yawns. "How did you sleep?"

I rub my eyes. "I slept okay. This floor was a little uncomfortable though." He nods in agreement.

"The food is ready," Rosy sings, walking out of the kitchen. "But hurry up and eat. I'm taking you guys to church with me."

"Church?" I scoff. "Rosy, have you seen my clothes? I have nothing else to wear."

She rolls her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with your clothes. Plus my church is super laid back. It's not about what you wear. The ones who come all dressed up to impress everyone are usually the biggest hypocrites."

Well I can't argue with her on that.

"Fine," I surrender. She claps her hands and squeals.

"Okay then hurry up and eat!"

. . .

The drive to Rosy's church is really long. Eve has been asking me about it the whole time. I don't blame her though. It's a place she's never been before.

My mom never liked big churches. She always felt like they weren't the real deal and that they were more like a business than a church. She never found one that made her comfortable so we just never went.

We pull up to a medium sized building with a few cars parked outside of it. When we walk in, Eve automatically latches onto me. There are not that many people in here, probably about forty to fifty of them, and none of them are dressed from head to toe in fancy clothes. They all look...comfortable.

I see so many different kinds of people in here. I feel like I belong here, surrounded by people of many different backgrounds and nationalities. It makes me think back to Sunnytown. This entire room is what they hate the most. I just can't wrap my head around why.

All the smiling people make me feel warm inside. It's nice to see so many friendly faces.

"Harmy?" Eve pulls on my shirt before I sit down. I let her sit on my lap so that she's more comfortable.

The service starts and Eve is instantly attentive. The pastor walks out in nice blue jeans and a clean black T-shirt.

I don't feel ashamed of my outfit anymore. I seem to fit in perfectly with everyone. Its like a comfortable home where anyone is welcome.

The pastor, who I know now as Pastor James, starts off with talking about forgiveness. Somehow my mind drifts to Alex and I have to force myself to drop the thought.

"Forgiving someone is a good thing to do...not for their sake, but for yours. Forgiveness takes a huge weight off of you and allows you to move on. That is also why its good to ask God for forgiveness. It lets him know that you understand your mistakes and you love him enough to try to learn from it and move on."

About thirty minutes into service his wife walks onto the floor to greet everyone.

She's beautiful, like a work of art. I've never seen skin so dark before.

She's a deep chocolate brown with bright hazel eyes. Her hair is curly and dark, wrapped in a neat bun on top of her head. And her body...let's just say she's the complete epitome of an hourglass figure.

Her husband looks at her with pure adoration as she greets the crowd.

The rest of service is great and has Eve and I smiling from ear to ear the entire time.