Breathe

Chapter Four - Come As You Are?

Tuesday at school went by so quick, Opal nearly didn't even remember waking up this morning. She wished the day would go slower. She was secretly dreading this evening. As she walked with Jalin to his car, she looked at the ground. Jalin noticed something was off about her. He decided to make a guess about what may be troubling her.

"Babe, you sure you want to go to that church thing tonight? You could always decline." Jalin said softly to her.

Opal shook her head. "I promised James that I would be there. I don't break my promises, no matter how much I may highly regret making them." She said firmly.

"Well...you want me to go with you?" Jalin asked as he opened the car door for her.

Opal was very surprised by his offer. Jalin hated the thought of stepping foot into a church. For what reasons, Opal didn't know. So, for him to offer to go with her to the youth meeting was really sweet to her. However, she shook her head once more.

"I know how much you don't like church. Plus, I grew up there, I am more used to it there than you. I don't want you to feel out of place or weirded out by it." Opal said with a soft smile.

"Okay, you don't know what I'm used to, Opal. You forget I had a grandma that used to drag me to church? Plus, I know you'll feel out of place too. I just want to try to make you feel better while you're there." Jalin said as he grabbed her hands.

Opal sighed as she looked away. She couldn't believe how mindful Jalin was of her. But she didn't want him to come with her to church. In all honestly, she felt like everyone there would somehow embarrass her in front of him, or worse, embarrass him somehow. She wasn't about to let that go down. So, she once again shook her head. "No, Jalin. I will be perfectly fine. Don't worry about me, okay?"

Jalin shrugged and then smiled at her. "Yeah, because I have a tough girlfriend." He said before kissing her.

Opal kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and giggling. "And you better not forget it either." She said with a wide smile. "Now, I gotta go home so I can try to rest before I have to go." She said as she reached to close her door.

Jalin went to the driver's side, got in, and drove off to Opal's house. Once he got there, he kissed Opal goodbye before she got out of the car and then went home.

James wasn't outside waiting for her again, which made Opal smile. She walked inside and went to her room. She did the little bit of homework she did have and then laid down in her bed. She found herself wondering about what tonight had in store for her. She really wished she could go out with Jalin, but she knew she couldn't break a promise. She found herself dozing off and let sleep take over as her eyes finally closed.

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Opal woke up to James tapped her shoulder. "Opal, time to get up and get ready. You still going, right?" He asked.

"Mm-hmm..." She answered groggily.

"Well, get on up and get ready, little cousin." James said before walking back out of her room.

Opal started dozing back off until she heard gospel music playing throughout the house. She knew she couldn't sleep now even if she wanted to. She sighed as she forced herself up and got dressed into some different casual clothes. She put on a purple off-the-shoulder top with some blue jeans and some purple, fuzzy, slides.

She went to the bathroom and did her hair, just simply brushed her naturally curly hair that frizzed all the way out since Sunday, and pulled it back into a ponytail. Opal walked out of the bathroom and ran into James, who had on a dress shirt with a tie, jeans, and dress shoes.

James smiled at her until her saw what she was wearing. "Oh, no. You need to change." He said as he looked at everything she had on.

"First of all, no. Second of all, why do I need to change?" Opal asked, folding her arms.

James stammered, wondering why this was even a question. "Do you not see what you have on, Opal?"

"Look, if I can wear it to school, I can wear it there." Opal said with a scoff.

"But you aren't going to school, you're going to church." James said, getting irritated with Opal's attitude.

"And doesn't the Bible say 'Come as you are?'" Opal shot at him with a devious smile.

James sighed and rolled his eyes. "Opal, I know this isn't how you are. Now, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Go change your shirt."

"Make me, because you ain't nobody's parent." Opal folded her arms.

"As true as that is, I'm your legal guardian. And I'm not going to repeat myself." James said firmly.

"Good, don't waste your breath." Opal said, a wicked smile on her face as she turned from him.

"Opal!!" James raised his voice. He doesn't know how that worked, but Opal yelled as she stormed off back into her room and changed her shirt.

Opal came back out with a purple and black t-shirt. She slammed her room door and stormed out of the house to James' car.

"This is going to be a long night." James said softly as he grabbed his keys and walked out the door. "Father, give me strength." He sighed as he got into the car.

Opal was looking out the window with a look of anger. As James started his car, he looked into her eyes and sighed heavily. He felt like there was no progress in her losing her anger and bitterness. He shook his head as he pulled out of the driveway and drove to church. Then that same voice in his right ear said, "Give here completely to me."

James nodded in agreement with the voice as he exhaled sharply.

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I know, I know. Short chapter. 😬 But, I'm sure the next chapter will be longer. I'm actually pretty excited for the next chapter. Are you? Well, I hope so, because I'm starting on it now. See you in the next chapter!
Bye for now! 💕
PrincessNightWolf