A Thin Line Between Love & Hate (Love Conquers All series) ORIGINAL VERSION

Chapter 15: "Judge Not the Outward Man" (Revised)

"What was it like, having to spend all that time with a fag?" Distaste dripped heavily from Grace's words. Grace had latched onto him the moment he'd made an appearance and now sat beside him on the back-porch steps. Her honey-blond hair flowed over her shoulders in long, silky curls and looked much healthier than Patty's hair. Josh suspected that she secretly trimmed her hair to prevent it from developing split ends, but never enough for anyone to notice. She put off a faint, perfume-like scent, though none of the girls were allowed to wear perfume. Once, he had overheard Grace telling the other girls that she added scented bath beads to her bath water and it created the effect of light perfume. Josh didn't know if that was true or if she simply wore perfume. He didn't care.

"What did you talk about?" Patty asked skeptically. Patty and Wiley had hit it off as soon as they'd met. They sat sideways on a lower step, facing each other.

"Nothing," Josh mumbled. "We just worked on the project." He didn't want to talk about Brandon, not with them.

"Yeah, right," Wiley snorted. "I know Nichols. He's always trying to convert fag haters, make 'em see the light that it's okay to be a perverted queer and God don't care at all."

"That's just ridiculous," Grace said. "God hates such perversion. How can anyone think something so vile and unnatural is okay with the Lord? It's sacrilegious. Just thinking it, is enough for God to send someone to hell."

Josh felt sick and wanted to pull away from Grace's touch, run away from them all and from the frightening reality of their words; maybe God wasn't the loving friend that Brandon insisted he was...but the hateful, vengeful God Josh's father preached with such conviction. Josh's throat began to knot, making it hard to breathe. His eyes burned and he blinked rapidly, fighting the tears with all his might.

"Is that what he tells you?" Patty asked Josh. "Is he trying to change your beliefs?"

"I told you," Josh replied thickly. "We just worked on the project. That's all. We didn't talk about anything else."

Wiley looked at Patty and rolled his eyes, a smirk on his face.

"It is their agenda to convert people," Grace said. "Twist their minds and pervert their desires." She hugged Josh's arm. "Just be careful, okay? They play nice to draw you in, make you think they're your friends, but they're not. They have sick thoughts in their head. Repugnant lusts toward straight boys."

Josh thought about Brandon, and Cooper. They had welcomed him into their home and treated him like family. Grace would say it was all a lie; a trick. It didn't feel that way to Josh. But what if she was right?

"It's no secret that Nichols has a repugnant lust for Josh." Wiley snickered and Patty laughed. Wiley nudged Josh's foot. "He got the hots for you as soon he saw you, you sexy little thang." He and Patty busted up.

"Shut up," Josh snapped. "He does not."

"Right." Patty rolled her eyes. "That's why he conveniently showed up to give you a ride home. And why he made sure he would get partnered with you on the science project. Sounds to me like he's got some dirty plans a brewing." She glanced at Wiley with dark glee. "Get you out in the woods all alone and really convert you. What could you do? I mean, really? You're not that tough, he could probably overpower you...live out his lustful fantasies."

Josh shifted uncomfortably, his nerves stretched taut. "Just shut up," he mumbled. "He wouldn't do that."

"How do you know?" Grace asked sincerely. "They're capable of anything. You know that. I can't believe you even went inside his house with just him and his fag dad. They could've done awful, despicable things to you."