COME MY WAY • RODRICK HEFFLEY

thirteenth chapter

the bright morning sun beamed down on giselle's skin, reminding her of how unusually hot it was today in plainview as she walked the steps towards the staircase of the church. church on sundays were mandatory in the aoki household and giselle had been attending almost everyday of her life, only getting to skip this one time in 7th grade when she caught the chicken pox. she even went to catholic school for crying out loud and the nuns were stricter than her parents.

people gathered outside, greeting each other and having small short conversations before mass began. no matter how hot it was, it didn't stop people from greeting one another in the blazing heat. giselle was already sweating like a pig under her white wool cardigan and she wanted nothing more than to be inside where at least there'd be a fan of some sort.

but just her luck, her parents had begun to engage in a conversation with one of their friends. this was typical. giselle sighed, trying her best to keep a happy face before her mother would notice and call her out for being 'unnecessarily' rude.

she caught a glimpse of zara and her family entering the church and envied her best friend for escaping the heat. quinn's family wasn't religious so seeing her at church was usually a rare sight, which was ironic considering she went to a catholic school.

ding!

1 new message from zar🌞

zar🌞;fingers crossed you bump into rodrick again! 😊

m'aam this is a church. it is the lord's time. get off ur phone smh

zar🌞:😛😛😛

as much as she tried to deny it, giselle couldn't help but feel a bit excited in seeing this boy again. his presence for some reason brings in a lot of laughter in her life and she really liked that, but she would never admit it to her friends. they would immediately paint it the wrong way and assume she was developing a crush.

"this is our daughter giselle!" her mother's voice called out her name, snapping her out of her thoughts as she instantly hid her phone back into her cardigan pocket. "giselle, meet the jefferson's!"

giselle turned towards the family her parents were talking to and forced a polite smile out of her. "hello." she said greeting the family of three.

they looked bubbly just by the way they appeared. the mother wore a colorful flower patterned dress and had a short bob haircut that screamed soccer mom, whereas the father looked a tad older than his actual age with his gray hair and fading mustache. giselle's noticed them before around the community service center.

"hello giselle! your mother has spoken so highly of you," mrs. jefferson gushed. "an honors student at st. mary's prep? that is a huge deal!" she beamed, enthusiastically.

giselle was flushed to begin with. she didn't like the attention her parents gave her when it came to her academics, it made her feel like their trophy child and quite frankly, it hurt to feel as if they only ever gushed about her when it came to school.

but of course, she put on a smile and gracefully thanked the kind woman for her compliment. it was her usual routine and she was used to it.

"not only that but our giselle is one of the young leaders at plainview's community service center," her father spoke up, making his daughter want to vanish into thin air even more.

she was praying this didn't make her seem too much like an overachiever. it was the last thing giselle ever wanted.

"impressive!" mr. jefferson beamed, "perhaps you'd help show rowley around this week?" he asked, motioning towards their son. "he's volunteered to help out this year."

he was adorable, giselle thought. he had red hair, a cute chubby face and dressed unusually different from most of the kids his age. he had an elegant cleaned up style to himself. she found it unique.

rowley smiled back at her nervously, as if the sight of giselle kind of terrified him.

"of course, i wouldn't mind." she answered, "i'll see you thursday, rowley?" she asked, hoping her tone would convince the young boy that she wasn't as terrifying as she seemed.

rowley gulped before shaking his head slowly.

oh boy, giselle thought. did he know of her or something?

"alright! lets head in!" her father exclaimed, "mass is about to start."