Above the waves

26

~Savannah~

"Nate? You okay?" I ask, and everyone sits up to look at him.

He's sitting up and his head's in his hands. "Amanda called."

We stay silent, waiting. Harold and Skylar sit on either side of him probably giving him their own guy slash brother support.

"She said that Clair's the answer to everything. Then she hung up." He says softly. "We're not really supposed to be talking."

"So what's that supposed to mean? We already know the Canyons did something." Tasha says, confused.

"I don't know." Nate replies with a sigh.

"Well, I think the police will be going to their house tomorrow. We'll just wait for updates then." Lindsay says as the oldest. "For now, let's just relax and have fun okay?"

We sit on the sleeping bags nearest to each other and form a circle.

"Okay. So let's play games or do some life talk. No negative vibes okay?" Lin adds.

We nod and play Pass the Message.

Lindsay sits in the middle of circle watching our hands and arms as we tap each other. Someone, Skylar, was the one picked to have the message. He subtly tapped Harold on his right. All our arms are connected with us holding each other and the goal of the game is to tap the message until it reaches Skylar again without Lindsay knowing. She has to guess who's tapping. If she doesn't she's still it, but if she guesses the right person who just tapped the message, the person replaces her.

We continue playing and our laughter fills the salty night air. The dogs surprisingly don't wake up.We switch to real life talks, talking until about three in the morning.

"We should sleep. We have church tomorrow." Sierra finally says as we end a talk about relationships.

Among our group of friends, the twins are the only ones with a relationship right now. The rest of us are waiting for the right person and time.

We pray together then say goodnight. I struggle to get into my sleeping back, Rose and Oak quietly waking up to help me.

***
The next morning, Skylar helps me into the new wheelchair and wheels me into the house to get ready for church.

"It feels like it's been a while since we went together." Mom says with a smile.

"Any news?" I ask.

She waves it off. "We'll talk about that later. Let's enjoy the new day God has given okay?"

I smile and nod.

"Come on. We'll be late if we don't hurry." She adds ushering Sierra and Skylar out the door too.

Dad's already waiting in the car and mom helps me bring my wheelchair into the vehicle.

It takes about ten minutes to get to church and once we're there, we file into a middle row with me at the edge since the wheelchair takes up space.

The service starts and the worship leader invites everyone to stand and praise Him. I pat my hand to the left handle of my wheelchair to the beat, not being able to stand and dance or clap.

You shine brighter
than any star in the sky
Your light is shining
through the dark of the night
Jesus forever
I find all that I am in Your love, love, love

Let the music sing
hear us praise Your name
see the darkness flee
dance the night away
we have found our place
in the Savior's grace
dance the night away