Spencer closed the front door of the house and turned around, where she noticed her mother sitting in the kitchen with her sister.
"What the hell are you so happy about?" Melissa asked, referencing the fact that Spencer hadn't stopped smiling from ear to ear since she turned around.
"Nothing." Spencer said, quickly wiping the grin from her face.
"Where have you been?" Veronica asked.
"I told you I was going out." Spencer said. "You were sitting in the living room going through paperwork, but you were too busy to even listen to me."
"I'm sorry, honey. I'm just under a lot of stress right now."
"It's fine. I get it."
"Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat."
"I already ate…I'll be up in my room."
Spencer then walked out of the kitchen and disappeared upstairs. She walked into her bedroom, closed the door and flopped down on her bed. Spencer pulled her phone from her pocket and began composing a new text message, with Emily as the recipient. Spencer typed and erased numerous times, eventually deciding to trash the message altogether, not wanting to feel like she was bothering Emily. Spencer laid her phone down on the bed and placed both of her hands behind her head as she recounted every last detail of her evening with Emily. Spencer could feel her crush on Emily intensifying each day that she saw the architect and although Spencer didn't get the kiss that she so desperately desired, she was still happy to have been able to spend the time with Emily.
Late the next afternoon, Emily was kneeling on the ground, spreading some wood chips out around the barn, when Melissa stepped outside.
"This side over here looks a little thin." Melissa said, crossing her arms over her chest looking down at the ground. "Wouldn't you agree?"
"You're right." Emily said, glancing up at Melissa. "Not to worry, though. I'll be sure to take care of it right away, Miss Hastings."
"Good. You missed a spot over there too, you know." Melissa said, condescendingly as she pointed to the side of the barn.
Before Emily could respond, Melissa turned and walked across the yard, passing Spencer as she neared the house.
"Hi, Emily."
"Hey, Spencer. How's it going?" Emily said, standing up.
"Good, thanks. What did she say to you?"
"Who? Your sister?"
"Yeah, was she rude to you because if she was…"
"It's okay. She was just critiquing my work a little bit. There's nothing wrong with a little constructive criticism."
"I know my sister. She doesn't do constructive criticism."
"It's fine, really. She's the one that's going to be living here, so I need to do the work up to her standards. Is there something I can do for you or are you just out here enjoying the nice weather? It really turned out to be a gorgeous day."
"I actually came out to see if you wanted anything to eat or drink...I can make you something…"
"Thanks, but I'm fine." Emily smiled. "I actually need to pack up and get going here shortly."
Emily then reached into her pocket when she heard her phone chime. She opened her text messages and read over the one that she had just received.
"Crap." Emily sighed as she typed on her phone before placing it back into her pocket.
"What's wrong?" Spencer asked.
"The two people who were supposed to be helping me with tonight's youth group just canceled on me. I don't know if I can handle it by myself. Tonight's the younger group of kids."
"Do you not like kids?"
"It's not that at all. I love kids, I'm just not sure how well things will go, being just me left to handle a group of like fifteen six year-olds."
"Well...I'm free tonight, I could give you a hand."
"That's really sweet of you Spencer, but I could never ask you to do that for me."
"You never asked me to do anything. I'm volunteering."
"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?"
"I don't mind at all, I'd love to help you out. It might even be fun."
"Thank you so much. You're totally amazing." Emily said, placing her hand on Spencer's shoulder.
"No problem." Spencer smiled. "What time do you want me?"
"Youth group starts at six. I promise it'll be short."
"Do you want me to meet you at the church a little before six?"
"Sure...I mean unless you wanted to come by my place with me. I was just gonna run home and take a quick shower, then head to the church. We could go over together and I can bring you home afterward."
"Sure. That sounds great."
"In that case, just give me a few minutes to pack up my stuff and we'll get going."
"Okay. I'll be right back, I just wanna go grab my phone."
When Spencer returned and Emily had finished loading her truck, Emily walked over to the passenger side door and opened it for Spencer.
"Thanks." Spencer said as she climbed into Emily's huge candy apple red Dodge Ram truck.
"Be careful, my truck's kind of a pain to get in to."
Once Spencer was inside, Emily shut the door, walked around to the driver's side and got in.
"I like your truck. It's really nice."
"Thanks. My parents bought it for me right after I graduated college."
"That was really cool of them."
"Yeah, it was. I told them not to, because I knew it was really expensive, but they insisted."
"They probably couldn't help themselves, I'm sure they were just really proud of you."
"Thanks." Emily said, glancing over at Spencer.
"So...do you live far from here?" Spencer asked.
"No, I'm only about ten minutes away, just on the other side of town."
When they arrived at Emily's apartment, she parked her truck next to her Prius in the tenant parking lot. She and Spencer both got out and made their way to Emily's apartment. Emily unlocked the door and Spencer followed her inside. The apartment was much larger than Spencer had expected it would have been. It was very open and spacious between the kitchen and living room. There was also a small dining area, near the kitchen.
"I'm really sorry that my place is kind of a mess." Emily said, picking up a pair of jeans that were draped over the back of the chair in front of her desk. "I haven't had much time to clean lately."
"It's okay. I don't mind at all. You're obviously busy with work and everything."
"Why don't you go ahead and make yourself at home. I haven't been grocery shopping in a while, but if you're hungry, you can eat what ever you can find that isn't growing hair."
"I'm fine, thanks." Spencer laughed.
Emily laughed too.
"I'm gonna jump in the shower, I'll be quick."
"Take your time, no hurry."
Once Emily had disappeared into the bathroom, Spencer wandered throughout the apartment. She walked over to Emily's large, corner desk, half of which was taken up by Emily's desktop computer. The other half of the desk was cluttered, yet somewhat organized with multiple half-finished architectural drawings, house ware and tool catalogues and other paperwork. Spencer picked up a photo in a frame from the corner of the desk, near the computer monitor. The photo was of Emily standing in between a middle-aged man and woman who Spencer assumed were probably Emily's parents. Spencer placed the photo back on the desk and noticed Emily's degree from Texas Tech hanging on the wall above the desk. Spencer then focused her attention on the bookshelf, near the couch, which was packed full of books about building, architectural design, famous structures, home improvement and landscaping. A few books about interior design as well as a copy of the Bible. Spencer picked up a hard cover book about Roman architecture and began to flip through the full-page color photos. After about ten minutes, Emily walked out of the bathroom and was about to step into her bedroom, when she looked over and noticed Spencer standing near the bookshelf.
"Find something interesting?" Emily asked.
"Oh...yeah...I was just..." A slightly startled Spencer stuttered and almost dropped the book in her hands as she turned around to find Emily in just a bra, with a towel wrapped low around her waist.
Spencer immediately became distracted by the sight of Emily standing in front of her, half naked. Emily reached up and pulled her hair back into a pony tail as Spencer's eyes followed a few droplets of water as they cascaded down the raven-haired girl's neck and chest. Unable to help herself, Spencer's eyes slipped lower to Emily's toned abdominal muscles. Emily was in better shape than Spencer could have ever imagined and even the architect's impossibly tight t shirts that she wore to work didn't do her bare body nearly enough justice.
"This is one of my favorite books." Emily said, walking over to Spencer. "I really love Italian architecture."
The sound of Emily's voice snapped Spencer out of her thoughts.
"It's beautiful." Spencer said, forcing herself to look Emily in the eyes. "Have you read all of these books?" Spencer closed the book she was holding and placed it back on the book shelf.
"Yep. Some I've even read twice. If you're interested in interior designing, you should really take a look at this one." Emily pulled a book off of the shelf and handed it to Spencer. "There's a lot of great information in here. Why don't you take it home with you and read it over?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"So...what exactly do you do at youth group? I'm sorry, I'm just not really like a regular church-attending person, so I don't really know...I mean I believe in God and everything, don't get me wrong..."
"Relax, Spencer. It's cool. Church isn't for everyone. You can still believe without participating in organized religion. And even if you didn't believe in God, it doesn't mean I'd respect you any less. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions, I would never treat someone badly because their beliefs are different from my own."
*Could you possibly be any more perfect?* Spencer thought to herself.
"You're not like most of the Christians I know, everyone who goes to my country club thinks that going to church makes them a saint and gives them the right to judge everyone else...can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well, even though I haven't been to church in forever, I know that a lot of Christians still aren't exactly big on being gay. Doesn't that bother you at all?"
"Luckily, everyone at my church has accepted me and pretty much welcomed me with open arms, but I know that, unfortunately there are people out there who will judge me and dislike me based only on my sexual orientation, but I don't let it get to me. God made me this way for a reason. I just pray for those people and hope that God will touch their hearts and make them realize that love is love, whether it be between two men, two women or a man and a woman, it doesn't make any difference, the feeling is still exactly the same."
"You're absolutely right. I just wish there weren't still so many closed-minded people in the world."
"I know. But look at it this way, things are changing, slowly but surely. Nowadays, for every one closed-minded person, there are probably two open-minded people willing to stand up for you. Oh and I never answered your other question…you wanted to know what we do at youth group. Usually with the younger kids, we read to them from the Bible, take a short snack break, then play some type of Bible related game, focusing on what we just learned. Youth group usually only lasts like and hour and a half."
"So…I'm gonna go put some clothes on, then we can leave. I'll be back in a minute." Emily said as she turned and walked toward the bedroom.
"You ready to go?" Emily asked when she returned a few minutes later.
"I'm ready if you are."
"Okay, let's get going, then. I don't want to be late."
