Four Boys in a Band

xiv. georgia

The rest of youth group passed in a blur. After two more worship songs, Pastor Sam opened the lesson with a word of prayer, before teaching a brief message about letting your light shine in the darkness. Jacob was in awe. Since arriving in L.A., he had been astonished at the worldliness of Hollywood. He was grateful for Pastor Sam's message; it encouraged him to keep being a light for Jesus even in the darkness of the world.

As promised, Pastor Sam and some other adults organized the youth group in some games. It was boys against girls. They played things like flashlight tag and glow-in-the-dark charades; however, Jacob and Wes loved the paint war most of all. Each person was given a red or blue glowstick to distinguish their team. Then they played a game similar to Capture the Flag, except they used a stuffed monkey instead of a flag, making it Capture the Monkey. The defenders were given water guns full of wet glow paint to spray the runners. When someone succeeded in getting the monkey, whichever team had the most paint on their players lost. The boys lost, but they wore their paint with pride.

Once youth group was dismissed, Jacob said, "You go on ahead, Wes. I'll catch up." Wes nodded and headed out of the church. Jacob stayed behind to help clean up.

The Harmony Angels and some other teens were staying behind as well. Jacob inconspicuously made his way over to Avery. Together they unstacked chairs and aligned them into rows.

"Hey, can we talk?" he asked.

Avery eyed him suspiciously. "Okay . . ."

Jacob exhaled. "You seem like a cool girl," he began.

"Why, thank you." Avery smirked.

"And I really admire the passion you have for singing, especially for singing to God."

Avery grew slightly more serious. She had realized that this wasn't just a friendly chat.

Jacob continued, testing the waters. "But the other day you—and Brooklyn—well, you kinda . . . stabbed us in the back. I thought I could trust you."

Avery bit the inside of her cheek. She perched tensely on the edge of a chair. "I'm sorry about that. I really am. I just . . . well, it's hard to explain. It's complicated."

Jacob sat down tentatively too, sure to keep one chair between them. He didn't want to upset her in any way. To him, Avery was like a ticking bomb, always threatening to explode. "Could you explain it to me? I'm very perceptive."

Wrong answer. Avery's face hardened, and she leaped up from the chair. "Stay away from me, Jacob. My life is my life, and you're not a part of that." Then she was gone, like a thunderstorm—brief, but intense.

Jacob rose. Normally he would feel defeated and go home to wallow in self-pity. But Avery had piqued his interest. Maybe she was testy because she was hiding something. He raced home as fast as he could to tell his friends. Maybe they could help him solve this mystery.

*

"Lights out, boys," Katrina ordered, her voice not unlike that of an army sergeant's.

"Good night," Reggie added just before Katrina slammed the door to the boys' apartment.

Calvin was just drifting off to sleep when suddenly his eyelids lit up with an explosive brightness. His eyes flew open to see Jacob holding a flashlight and aiming the beam directly into Calvin's face. "Are you awake?" he whispered.

"Well, I am now," Calvin grumbled. "What is it?"

Thankfully, Jacob aimed the beam away from either of their faces. "I need to talk to you guys, and it had to be without Reggie or Katrina in the room. Come on, I have to wake the others."