I Am

Chapter 4

Peter pulled into the parking lot of a very different place than I expected. Instead of a huge white chapel it was a simple, small building. It had brown walls and a tin roof. It wasn't any strange shapes, just a rectangle.

The inside, however, was a different story. The inside of the building was decorated with neon colors and posters all over the walls. There was a small stage in the middle of the room and there was about five rows of 10 foldout chairs in front of the stage. The stage had guitars, a keyboard, microphones, and a drum set, and a small podium over to the side.

There were several doors inside the room. One leading to a girls bathroom, one to a boys bathroom, one to a game room, one to a kitchen, and one to a classroom.

The game room had a table with multiple games: pool, air hockey, and table tennis. There was a bookshelf on the side with board games. There were some classic games like Monopoly and some like Bible trivia games. The walls were painted bright red.

The classroom was used for the Sunday School class and the Wednesday Night Girls Club. The walls in this room were dark blue.

A lot of people came over to meet me and say "hi" to Peter. They were all very nice. No one in particular stood out I me, though.

When the service was about to start Peter led me over to sit in the second row of seats in front of the stage. A group of teens came up to the stage. A pretty girl with dark, chin length hair put an acoustic guitar over her shoulder. Another very tall girl with long brown hair went to the drum set. A short boy with close cropped brown hair put a bass guitar over his shoulder. Another boy, about average height with curly black hair went to the keyboard and a girl with waist length blonde hair put on an electric guitar.

They all walked up to microphones and the girl with the dark hair holding the acoustic began to speak.

"Hey guys!" She said. "We're just going to sing one song then you can all go to your groups."

The drummer tapped off the tempo and the rest of the band began to play a rock song with lyrics about Jesus' grace. There was a projector putting words to the song on the wall behind them. There was people around me singing, even Peter was singing, but I didn't really want to sing. So I just stood there an listened. They were really a good band.

When the song was over Peter led me over to the classroom. He explained that on Wednesdays the girls and boys split up. I reluctantly went into the classroom and sat down at a large round table. About 20 girls total came in and sat down, including the girls from the band.

The next person to come in the room was, surprisingly, Mrs. Em! She must have been one of the teachers.

"Hello, girls," she said, "How is everyone tonight?" A lot of girls quietly said good, or wonderful, or something of the sort.

"It looks like we have a visitor tonight. Hello, Briella!"

"Hi," I said quietly.

"I'm so glad you're here! Did Peter bring you?"

"Yes ma'am." I replied. There was a bunch of "awwww"s from around the room which cause me to blush a little.

"Ok," Mrs. Em said and began her lesson. She talked about how every girl is beautiful, she said God created each and every one of us perfectly with His hands. I wasn't sure if I believed in all the God stuff but the lesson was very uplifting.

Afterwards, we went into the game room and started playing table tennis. A lot of girls asked me about Peter and I. I just told them that he was my boyfriend and we had been together for about 2 days. Pretty soon the boys came into the game room. Peter challenged me to a game of table tennis and I accepted. Of course, I won. After about 15 minutes Peter and I left.

"Peter, do you really believe in God?" I asked as we were driving.

"With all I am." He replied. "Do you?"

"I don't know."

"He's real." Peter said with confidence in his voice.

"How do you know, Peter?"

"I talk to Him, He talks to me. He answers my prayers and enacts miracles. He saved me from sin, and damnation, and He'll. Of course He's real."

"What about when your mom died?" I asks this question a little quieter because I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"When she died, I only became closer to God. For awhile I rebelled against God. I was just so mad that He would take my mom. Then I learned that I had to trust Him through everything. I'm closer than ever with God now."

I didn't know what to say anymore. How could Peter love a god whom he believed took his mother? It didn't make any sense. I would have to think this through.

"Did you enjoy the service?" Peter asked me.

"Yeah it was fun. And, like you said, it was NOT what I was expecting."

Peter chuckled a little.

"It looks like we've arrived."

Peter walked me up to my door and gave me a hug.

"Goodbye, Briella."

"Goodbye, Peter."

He released me from the hug and I walked inside.

My mom and dad were in a huge argument. My mom was apparently mad that my dad had been passed out on the couch and hadn't done anything useful all day. My dad was mad that my mother hadn't been home all day and never called or anything. I decided to just sneak off into my room.