Finding relationships is easy... Keeping them is the real game.
That's what I'm learning in my first one. It's not easy. Our rival schools are an hour apart, my best friend's turning secretive, my parents are controlling, and my brother's still an a...
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A/N: This chapter contains mature content (fallout of sexual assault)
After school, brownies in hand, I stood outside St. Mary's Catholic Church. The Mary's House charity wasn't affiliated with the church, they just rented space for meetings and Mary's office.
If Mary was her real name.
The usual white-stone exterior and a central monolithic spire towered over me. Exterior underlighting lit up the lower part of the entrance and cast shadows over the window tops and roofline.
"Hey, Prudence," a feminine voice said as I reached for the door handle.
I'd gotten the worst name in the group.
As an avid Beatles fan, Mary gave us anonymous names. Some girls had exchanged numbers. I hadn't, but I wasn't dealing with the same real-time situations that most of these girls were.
"Hi, Rita." I smiled at the tall, thin girl with flawless dark skin glowing under the sunset. Normally, her braids cascaded down her back, but today her head was wrapped in a scarf. The forward-speaking girl was a few years older than me.
"Brownies?" Her eyes sparkled with interest.
"Sure are. Dark chocolate with sea salt." I smiled as she held open the door, and the expansive sanctuary space enveloped us inside. "Thanks, Rita."
The interior of the church took my breath away every time. A three-story ceiling was vaulted with a central peak. Halloween decorations hung from the dark wood corbels. Calming sage green walls flanked the intricate, arched stained glass windows and Biblical scenes in green and yellow blocked frescoes.
Fake spiderwebs and orange and black streamers hung from the ten globed chandeliers. The muted lights painted the room in intimacy despite the room's vast size.
"Rita, Prudence." Mary's grandmotherly voice greeted. Her long, silver, straight hair swept behind her as she took brisk steps closer.
"Hi, Mary." Rita's arms extended for a quick hug. Since my hands were full, I nodded as Mary released Rita and patted me on the shoulder.
"You spoil our sweet tooths, Prudence." Her smile always warmed me from the inside out. "Or is it sweet teeth? I'm not sure. We're waiting for one person, but you both know where to go."
"Straight into those brownies," Rita joked as we headed down the narrow, dim hallway with cream walls and worn gray carpets.
The second doorway led into the kitchen area, where one gigantic round table sat in the center with ten chairs. Mary liked everyone able to see each other while eating. Once done, the table was pushed aside, and we left the chairs in a circle for the meeting.
As usual, several platters of food were laid out for dinner on the counter flanking the sink. While I grabbed a dinner plate, my brownies disappeared one by one until only crumbs remained.
