Dare to Stand Alone

Chapter Five

I sat on my bed, thinking. Tomorrow, at 6 o'clock, I would finally go on a date with a girl I'd been dreaming about for months. I didn't have a car to drive. Should I take Brian's? No, that's not a good idea. He'd probably be at work at that time anyway.

Wait, Josh has a car. Maybe I could text him and ask if I could borrow it for a few hours. I reached into my back pocket, but felt nothing. Frustrated, I remembered that my phone was taken away.

I groaned and fell back onto my bed. I'd probably figure out something.

"Wayne, remember that you have Mutual tonight!" Mom yelled from downstairs.

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, Mom!" I yelled back. I'd probably just go take a walk rather than go to Mutual. I hadn't been in years.

Hours passed with me only laying on my bed, bored out of my mind. I finally rolled off my bed and grabbed the remote to turn on the T.V. I flipped through the channels, unable to find anything entertaining. After a few minutes, I signed and turned the T.V. off. I climbed back into bed until the time came when I was supposed to go to Mutual.

I left without even considering going to Mutual. Everything we did there was always extremely boring and dumb. Sometimes we did a scripture study, other times we'd do service. If I really wanted to do those things, I'd still go. They were pointless activities.

I decided to walk up to the park near my house. I walked into the pavilion and noticed a small, tan girl with brown hair sitting down at one of the tables, reading a book. I smiled.

It was Nicolette.

I stood there, debating whether or not I wanted to approach her. She probably wouldn't be happy to see me at all.

Without thinking, I walked over and sat by her. She looked up at me as if she were offended and closed her book. Without speaking, she stood up.

"Wait!" I said, grabbing her arm. She slowly sat down.

She gave me a surprised and angry look. "What do you want, Wayne?"

I smiled, "Ah, so we're on a first-name basis now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Why are you here? Are you following me?"

"Nah, I guess we just keep ending up at the same place at the same time," I said.

She looked me dead in the eyes, "Who are you, Wayne Parker?"

"Would you really like to know?" I scooted a little closer. She immediately got up and walked away, with me following close behind her.

"No, but really. Don't you have Mutual on Tuesdays?" I asked.

"No, I have them on Wednesdays." She was walking faster.

I ran out in front of her. "Do you hate me?"

She stopped. "Why are you so concerned with me all of a sudden?"

"I'd like to say the same about you."

"What? I couldn't care less about you!"

I leaned in close. "Then why didn't you rat me out?"

She pushed me away. "I didn't do it for you, I did it for Caleb."

"Then why didn't you rat me out?"

"If I told them you did it, they might have found out he contributed."

"I wouldn't get my buddy in trouble," I said in defense.

"You say that, but I can't believe you. You wouldn't do anything for Caleb. All you care about is your precious little self." She pushed by me. I was stunned. I let her walk away. I could see that she didn't want to talk to me anymore.