Just a Click Away

Chapter 12

     For some reason Greg's bowling game was way off tonight. Usually he would strike out almost every time, but his head was not in the game at all. His mind kept dwelling on Leslie and her sweet smile. Glancing in her direction, he found that her eyes were often on him as well. After a few rounds of failure, he decided to go over to Leslie's group and see if she would introduce him to her friends.

As he approached the group, Leslie waved him over. "How is your game going?" Leslie asked as if she hadn't noticed that he had taken up the rear in all three games he had played.

"Tonight isn't my night for bowling, apparently. You all looked like you were having fun, and I wanted to see how my tips were helping you." Greg raked his fingers through his coffee brown hair.

"It's been a good night! Thanks to your pointers, I'm in the lead; which almost never happens." Leslie's smile made her sea green eyes light up. "Would you like to meet my friends?"

"Sure! I'd love to"

Leslie guided him to the group of whispering women. Their soft voices suddenly ceased when Greg and Leslie approached. "I wonder what she told them about me." Greg questioned within himself.

"Greg, I would like you to meet my friends, Margaret, Elle, and April. Girls, this is my friend, Greg."

"Hello, Greg," Elle was the first to hold out her hand. "It's good to meet you."

"It's very nice to meet you Greg," Margaret waved.

"How is it you know Leslie?" April was never afraid to come out and ask what the others were wondering.

"We met in the parking lot outside of my apartment building, I already told you that, April," Leslie answered for him.

"She must not want to talk about our conversations online. Maybe her friends don't know she's on Christian Cupid." Taking this cue from Leslie, he agreed that they had indeed met in her parking lot, and again at church a while after that. Her friends were very pleasant, and offered him a spot in their next game if he wanted to play with them. Knowing his game would be even worse the closer he was to Leslie, Greg declined.

Leslie went to the concession stand to get some nachos, and Greg decided that he would tag along, he wouldn't mind getting himself a Coke. There was a long line for food, and Greg and Leslie decided to wait at a table until the line wasn't so long.

"Well, I have been reading Psalm 139 almost every day this week," Greg said as he looked into her lovely green eyes. "That Psalm has taken on a whole new meaning for me. There is so much in there that makes me more thankful than ever about God's love for me. I don't know how I could have missed it for so many years." Greg hoped that Leslie would open up to him when she saw how much he cared.

"Oh, Psalm 139 is my favorite!" Leslie clapped her hands over her heart. "I didn't have the best childhood, and that passage has meant more to me than you could ever imagine."

"Will she share her secret with me?" Greg chose his words carefully. He wanted her to feel safe telling him whatever it was that she kept buried in her past. "I'm sorry to hear that your childhood was so rough. Would you like to talk about it?"

After some consideration Leslie heaved a sad sigh, "I was physically and emotionally abused by my father when I was very young. I can't go into detail on that, because it is way too painful to let my mind go to that place again. Just know that if you can imagine it, my father inflicted it on me. He let me know on a daily basis that I was completely worthless and didn't deserve anything better than what I was getting." Leslie lifted the sleeve on her oversized grey sweater revealing a multitude small, round scars on her upper arm. "That is where my father burned me with his cigarettes." Tears sprang to Leslie's eyes, and she did her best to keep them from falling, but despite her best efforts, two tears slipped slowly down her pale cheeks.