7 Days {edited}

Fourteen

"Wait, your mom's a lesbian?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah... But please don't tell anyone!"

"No, no, I won't! I was just...wow. I haven't met anyone who's in the same shoes as me."

"Neither have I. And I feel like everyone who knows about my mom judges me. You know, like they think I'll turn out like her?"

"I feel exactly the same way! Well, not about your mom. But with my brother."

"Yeah," I said, still in shock. I couldn't believe someone actually got it!

"And now that I've been here for two years, and I've heard that one sermon, I feel differently towards my brother. Nothing's the same as it used to be, ya know?"

"Yeah."

"I mean I still love him and we still hang out, but...he has a boyfriend and it's weird hanging out with them when I've been told how wrong it is."

"Yeah, I know how you feel. My mom is married to a woman now. She divorced my dad for this other girl."

"Wow. I can't even imagine," he said.

"Yeah, I, uh, haven't told anyone that," I admitted.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me," Lincoln promised, pretending to lock his lips and throw away the key.

I laughed at his childish gesture, but I was unbelievably grateful. I didn't think there was anyone at this camp who would understand how I felt.

"I don't really have anything against gays or lesbians, but I was really hurt when I found out my mom was cheating on my dad with a girl. And just cheating on him in general! It ruined their marriage and practically my whole life. I hated her girlfriend. It's a little different now, because I've gotten used to it. But sometimes it still hurts, just knowing my mom left my dad for Lauren," I confessed.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry."

"Thanks." It was good to hear, even if it wasn't his fault. But sometimes I'm sorry isn't an apology at all. You're just sorry that someone had to go through what they did.

"My brother's not married to his boyfriend, but I think it could definitely get to that point," Lincoln sighed.

"Have you said anything to him about the way you feel?"

"Oh, countless times. But he won't listen. I've invited him to church and stuff but he doesn't want to go because he doesn't think he'll be 'accepted,'" he said, making air quotes.

"I see." I knew exactly how that felt. No one accepted my mom's change. That's why we stopped going to church.

"But anyway...this year has been a lot better. At camp, I mean. It doesn't offend me as much as last year."

Lucky, I thought to myself. "Yeah, well, it's not so easy for me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Everything just seems so...wrong. I don't know. The sermons seem out of order and I never get anything out of it except 'you're wrong.' I've been an evolutionist my whole life," I admitted.

He raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Well, not an evolutionist, exactly. Just someone who believed what the science teachers said. I've never heard the creation story."

"Oh, I see."

"I know it probably sounds stupid... Everyone must know that story."

"Not really. And I'm not judging you, if it seems like that. I've actually been confused about the story myself at times."

"Really?" I asked in disbelief. Surely we couldn't have that much in common.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Like, why didn't God create everything that has to do with the sky in the same day?"

"Or how was there light without stars, a sun, and the moon?" I added.

"Right? But the Bible actually explains that God was the Light of the world, so they didn't need a sun or anything at first," he told me.

Oh. That kind of made sense.

"There's a lot of things that can be questioned in the Bible. But I guess you just have to believe that it's real. And if you don't, there's nothing wrong with you. Sometimes God doesn't choose certain people to be part of His kingdom, and that's okay. I don't really understand it, but that's the way it is."

"Hmm. I never really thought about that," I said. "Tell me more about this kingdom."

"It's basically God's chosen people. If you have a personal relationship with Jesus, you'll go to heaven when you die. That makes you part of His family. Does that make any sense?"

"It does, actually." I don't know if it was God telling me it was true, or if it was just the enchanting boy in front of me telling me all those things, but for once in my life, I understood. My next words surprised me as I said them.

"I think I want to be part of this family you speak of."