pretty girl

Chapter 1

Word Count: 782

Blaire's POV:
My family has been going to this church as long as I can remember. I was baptized here, my parents got married here, heck, even my grandmother got baptized and married here. Oh, also my dad is the pastor. Needless to say, our family has quite the reputation in the church. Everyone in Youth Group wants to be my friend just because they want to suck up to my dad. I always know what is happening in the church because of my family connection.

So when I show up at Youth Group on Thursday night, and there is a girl I've never seen being bombarded by all of my friends; I am confused to say the least. I walk up to the circle surrounding the flustered stranger.

"Hey guys, I know you are excited, but give her some space." Everyone's attention turns to me, and then they back away and continue playing their games before the activities start. I stroll up to introduce myself.

"I'm Blaire, what's your name?" I ask, reaching out to shake her hand.

"I'm Melanie. Thank you for saving me back there," She replies, grabbing my hand and shaking it back.

"No problem, we don't get many new people our age so you can imagine how excited they are. They can be a bit overwhelming at first, but you will get used to it." She smiles at that.

"Everybody sit down, it's time for Circle Scripture," our leader Joshua sings out. I grab Melanie's hand and pull her towards our circle of chairs in the middle of the room.

"All right everyone. We have a new kiddo here so let's go around the circle and say our name, age, and one thing about us. Emma, you can start us off."

Everyone introduces themselves, then it is my turn. "My name is Blaire, I'm 17, and I'm the pastor's daughter." Melanie's face becomes surprised and then she frowns. Is it because my dad is the pastor? I hope she still wants to be friends.

She goes next, "I'm Melanie, I'll be 17 in a few weeks, and I just moved from Oregon." Everyone gasps. "Wow, did you live on the beach?" Mark asks.

Nebraska being in the middle of the country, completely landlocked, most people from here have never been to the ocean. The thought of living in the same state as a beach is mind blowing to most kids here. "No, I lived pretty much 2 hours from the beach. We didn't go very often."

*

After Youth Group we are allowed to play with the pool table and other games until our parents arrive. Thursday nights are when my dad plans his sermons in his office, so I'm usually here for a long time. I pull my book out of my backpack and head outside to read on the curb as always. 

There is a group of people playing kickball in the parking lot, among them is Melanie. She sees me and smiles. Suddenly a mini van pulls up and a bunch of kids pile inside. A lot of kids carpool with David's mom because she has a big van. The people left decide to go inside because there is not enough left for the game.

Mel runs towards me. "Everyone here is so nice," she states as she plops down next to me.

"Yeah," I reply, putting a bookmark in the page and closing my book. She leans over to read the title. "I love that book, I just finished it last week."

"Don't you dare spoil it for me, that is my biggest pet peeve." She laughs at that. "Of course not, that is cruel." We both start giggling.

The door behind us opens. "Dad?" I ask, confused. "I got done early. Ready to go?" He replies.

"Yeah," I gather my things and Mel frowns. "Hey dad, can Melanie come over? She is new so I want her to have someone she knows on Sunday."

He smiles, "Of course she can. Is that okay with your parents, Melanie?"

"Yeah, I just have to text them to tell them where I am. I can't stay very long though."

She gets out her phone to tell her parents, but I grab her arm and pull her towards the car. We quickly pile in, laughing.

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So that is the first chapter of my new book. Tell me what you think. The title is based off of the song Pretty Girl by Hayley Kiyoko and the picture in the cover is from one of her music videos. She is my favorite artist, so I had to use her as inspiration.

Have a good afternoon loves 💘