Group: Living in the Silence
Drabble No. 2: Question of Faith
Rating: PG
Fandom: Joan of Arcadia
Spoilers: Silence and anything before
Pairing: Joan/Adam, Luke/Grace
Disclaimer: Joan of Arcadia and all related elements © Barbara Hall Productions, Inc. and CBS Productions, in association with Sony Pictures Television. All rights reserved.
Author's Note: Second try. May be better. May still stink.
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"Hey Geek, where's your sister?" Grace said, walking up behind Luke and hitting him on the head. She sat down next to him and waited.
"I couldn't get her to come," Luke said simply, looking over at her. "She said some incomprehensible nonsense about Adam... eating her faith and you telling her how to live her life? I think she was still half asleep." He shook his head.
Grace looked at her watch. "At twelve in the afternoon? And I didn't tell her any such thing. I told her to fix her problem."
"She says the medicine makes her sleep more. She's just complaining. She's acted weird ever since she got home..." Luke didn't want to talk about Joan, but he knew that she was Grace's friend and Grace wanted to talk about her. He wanted to know what was going to happen between them. He wanted to know if that kiss had meant as much to her as it had to him. "Grace-"
"No, Luke, I don't want to talk about it. It- it shouldn't have happened and it was a mistake, alright?" She stood up. "I gotta go." She quickly walked away, leaving the boy alone.
"Why did you have to pick this one?" He asked himself quietly, standing up and walking away from the bench.
---
As the Girardis sat down for dinner, Joan was being her usual pouting self. Luke was talking about an experiment and of course, no one was listening to him. Helen turned to Will and gave him the 'Well?' look, so he cleared his throat and looked at his children.
"Kids," he said, waiting for everyone to look at him. Joan kept her eyes down, stabbing her fork repeatedly into her meat. He sighed and continued, "your mom and I have been... discussing, and we think it would be a good idea if we... try to go to a church. Just to test one out, see if we like it. I think of it sort of like buying a car. You've got to test drive it first to see if you want to stick with it and-"
"No," Joan said simply, not lifting her head.
"Now Joan-" Helen started.
"No Mom, I'm not going," Joan said, dropping her fork on her plate and looking up at her mother. Kevin and Luke watched her curiously.
"Joan, we think this is something we should all try as a family. It will be a better idea than counseling, I promise," Helen chuckled.
"I told you he's not real. I don't believe in him." Joan was beginning to grit her teeth. She was not going to be forced to go to a church and worship something she had no faith in.
"Honey, you were sick. Besides, weren't you the one who said Joan of Arc wasn't crazy? She thought she was talking to God. If you don't believe in him, why would you believe Joan of Arc?" Helen's voice was filled with disbelief. How could this girl be so wishy-washy? How could she live like that?
Joan shook her head, thinking back to the night she told Adam her so-called secret. "Sometimes we all say things that we think are true until we're told differently." She stood up and pushed in the chair. "Maybe Joan of Arc was just sick too, Mom." With that she left the table and went to her room.
The other four heard her slam the door and Kevin looked at his parents. "What was-"
Will shook his head. "Don't even ask, Kevin."
---
Joan walked down the street past Arcadia High, wandering to no where. She tried to stay at her house as little as possible after the conversation they'd had at dinner. She couldn't believe that all this time she'd thought she was talking to God and her parents hadn't even mentioned church and then when she finds out that she was just hallucinating it all, they decide to become the good Christian family of the year. Well she wasn't going to stand for it. They couldn't force her to believe in God and they couldn't force her to go to church. There had to be some sort of cult she could join...
With her head cluttered with thoughts she hadn't even noticed the small old lady walking in front of her. She collided head on and knocked the woman over, who in turn threw her cane about ten feet away from her and whined like an injured animal.
Joan's eyes got wide as she realized what she'd done and she quickly picked herself up and began helping the woman stand.
"My cane, dear, I need my cane," the old woman pointed toward the wooden cane that was lying in the middle of the street. Joan stood and headed toward it, but stopped when a truck zipped by and ran over it, splintering it into pieces. Joan stared in shock at the cane.
"I... I... what can I... oh no, I'm so so sorry, I can't believe... oh this is not good," Joan shook her head and just looked at the woman.
The woman feebly began trying to stand and Joan rushed over to offer her arm. Standing up completely, the woman nodded at her. "It's quite alright, Joan, it wasn't your fault... completely."
Joan dropped the woman's arm and looked in horror. No. No she was taking medicine and this shouldn't be happening. "How... did you know... my name?" Joan's mouth hung open and she began backing away from the old woman. "You can't... you aren't... stop it! Stop talking to me! It's not real! I'm ok! I've got medication, I'm not sick anymore! Just... just leave me alone!" She turned quickly on her heel and began running away from the woman.
She wobbled back and forth, trying to stay standing. She reached her hand out after the girl speaking as loud as she could, "No, dear, it was on your bracelet. I read your name off your..." she sighed when she realized the girl couldn't hear her. Looking around for something to grab hold of, she slowly made her way to a tree to wait until she could find someone to help her.
---
Luke and Adam sat awkwardly on the bench in the park, not used to talking to each other like this. Adam had no other choice. He was desperate to know how Joan was doing at home and, even if he didn't want to admit it, Luke wanted to know what Joan and Adam had talked about any time recently. So the boys decided to meet, though the park stirred weird memories of Glynis inside Luke.
"So uh... how is she doing?" Adam finally broke the silence, looking over at Luke, who continually stared straight ahead.
"She's... well she's been ignoring us all, actually. I think it might just be her body familiarizing itself with the antibiotics which is causing a chemical imbalance in her head and making her... a bit unbearable." He almost shuddered.
"So is this... how she acted before the disease... happened?" Adam prodded carefully.
"No, this isn't her at all. Not that we can pinpoint exactly when the disease began affecting her, but I don't ever remember her being this bad. She was moody, but she's also female and that's to be expected of them." He shook his head.
"Has she said anything about me? She won't... answer the phone when I call and when your mom answers she won't take the phone and I... I just want to talk to her, y'know?" Luke finally looked at him and tried to read what was on his face. He sounded genuine enough and if he hadn't slept with his sister then maybe... maybe he was an ok guy.
"She hasn't said much. But she's mentioned you a few times. She said once that..." Luke stopped. Telling Adam that Joan said something like 'he ate my faith' probably wouldn't be the greatest thing to tell a boyfriend that his girlfriend had said. Luke suddenly wondered if that comment had anything to do with Joan's dismissal of their parents' idea to attend a church.
Realizing he had been quiet for a while, Luke shook his head. "She said she wanted to talk to you she just... was missing some... some faith?" He wasn't sure that was a good thing to say either, but it sounded better than 'faith eater.' Maybe Joan was just getting those silly Harry Potter books mixed up with her dreams. Surely that was it.
Adam looked forward again, nodding slightly. Luke hurried to say something else. "The other night at dinner, Mom and Dad said we should uh... should try to go to church. Just to see if it would work out. Joan... she sort of threw a fit. Said she wouldn't go and she didn't believe in God. Has she ever... mentioned anything like that to you?"
Adam sat still. Truthfully, she had mentioned God to him before, but she had also said that she talked to him which definitely wasn't saying she didn't believe. Opening his mouth to speak, Luke interrupted him again.
"Mom mentioned the time that Joan had gotten an A on that exam about Joan of Arc. Joan had been really interested in her and screamed at us all at the table that Joan of Arc wasn't crazy. Which doesn't make sense if she doesn't believe in God. Why would she defend someone like that if she didn't believe?"
Adam sighed. Joan of Arc thought that she talked to God. Joan had told him that she was talking to God. So what did this mean? Was Joan crazy? Or was she just affected heavily by the disease? And why had she said she was missing faith? Was she missing faith in Adam or missing faith in God?
Finally he shook his head, trying to clear all the questions and looked over at Luke. "I don't know, man. I don't understand any of it."
They sat in silence for a while, not speaking and watching the sun set over the horizon. Standing, they said goodbye to each other and Adam was left alone with his thoughts of his girlfriend and whether or not he could deal with all of this.
-end two-
Drabble No. 2: Question of Faith
Rating: PG
Fandom: Joan of Arcadia
Spoilers: Silence and anything before
Pairing: Joan/Adam, Luke/Grace
Disclaimer: Joan of Arcadia and all related elements © Barbara Hall Productions, Inc. and CBS Productions, in association with Sony Pictures Television. All rights reserved.
Author's Note: Second try. May be better. May still stink.
-----------------------------------
"Hey Geek, where's your sister?" Grace said, walking up behind Luke and hitting him on the head. She sat down next to him and waited.
"I couldn't get her to come," Luke said simply, looking over at her. "She said some incomprehensible nonsense about Adam... eating her faith and you telling her how to live her life? I think she was still half asleep." He shook his head.
Grace looked at her watch. "At twelve in the afternoon? And I didn't tell her any such thing. I told her to fix her problem."
"She says the medicine makes her sleep more. She's just complaining. She's acted weird ever since she got home..." Luke didn't want to talk about Joan, but he knew that she was Grace's friend and Grace wanted to talk about her. He wanted to know what was going to happen between them. He wanted to know if that kiss had meant as much to her as it had to him. "Grace-"
"No, Luke, I don't want to talk about it. It- it shouldn't have happened and it was a mistake, alright?" She stood up. "I gotta go." She quickly walked away, leaving the boy alone.
"Why did you have to pick this one?" He asked himself quietly, standing up and walking away from the bench.
---
As the Girardis sat down for dinner, Joan was being her usual pouting self. Luke was talking about an experiment and of course, no one was listening to him. Helen turned to Will and gave him the 'Well?' look, so he cleared his throat and looked at his children.
"Kids," he said, waiting for everyone to look at him. Joan kept her eyes down, stabbing her fork repeatedly into her meat. He sighed and continued, "your mom and I have been... discussing, and we think it would be a good idea if we... try to go to a church. Just to test one out, see if we like it. I think of it sort of like buying a car. You've got to test drive it first to see if you want to stick with it and-"
"No," Joan said simply, not lifting her head.
"Now Joan-" Helen started.
"No Mom, I'm not going," Joan said, dropping her fork on her plate and looking up at her mother. Kevin and Luke watched her curiously.
"Joan, we think this is something we should all try as a family. It will be a better idea than counseling, I promise," Helen chuckled.
"I told you he's not real. I don't believe in him." Joan was beginning to grit her teeth. She was not going to be forced to go to a church and worship something she had no faith in.
"Honey, you were sick. Besides, weren't you the one who said Joan of Arc wasn't crazy? She thought she was talking to God. If you don't believe in him, why would you believe Joan of Arc?" Helen's voice was filled with disbelief. How could this girl be so wishy-washy? How could she live like that?
Joan shook her head, thinking back to the night she told Adam her so-called secret. "Sometimes we all say things that we think are true until we're told differently." She stood up and pushed in the chair. "Maybe Joan of Arc was just sick too, Mom." With that she left the table and went to her room.
The other four heard her slam the door and Kevin looked at his parents. "What was-"
Will shook his head. "Don't even ask, Kevin."
---
Joan walked down the street past Arcadia High, wandering to no where. She tried to stay at her house as little as possible after the conversation they'd had at dinner. She couldn't believe that all this time she'd thought she was talking to God and her parents hadn't even mentioned church and then when she finds out that she was just hallucinating it all, they decide to become the good Christian family of the year. Well she wasn't going to stand for it. They couldn't force her to believe in God and they couldn't force her to go to church. There had to be some sort of cult she could join...
With her head cluttered with thoughts she hadn't even noticed the small old lady walking in front of her. She collided head on and knocked the woman over, who in turn threw her cane about ten feet away from her and whined like an injured animal.
Joan's eyes got wide as she realized what she'd done and she quickly picked herself up and began helping the woman stand.
"My cane, dear, I need my cane," the old woman pointed toward the wooden cane that was lying in the middle of the street. Joan stood and headed toward it, but stopped when a truck zipped by and ran over it, splintering it into pieces. Joan stared in shock at the cane.
"I... I... what can I... oh no, I'm so so sorry, I can't believe... oh this is not good," Joan shook her head and just looked at the woman.
The woman feebly began trying to stand and Joan rushed over to offer her arm. Standing up completely, the woman nodded at her. "It's quite alright, Joan, it wasn't your fault... completely."
Joan dropped the woman's arm and looked in horror. No. No she was taking medicine and this shouldn't be happening. "How... did you know... my name?" Joan's mouth hung open and she began backing away from the old woman. "You can't... you aren't... stop it! Stop talking to me! It's not real! I'm ok! I've got medication, I'm not sick anymore! Just... just leave me alone!" She turned quickly on her heel and began running away from the woman.
She wobbled back and forth, trying to stay standing. She reached her hand out after the girl speaking as loud as she could, "No, dear, it was on your bracelet. I read your name off your..." she sighed when she realized the girl couldn't hear her. Looking around for something to grab hold of, she slowly made her way to a tree to wait until she could find someone to help her.
---
Luke and Adam sat awkwardly on the bench in the park, not used to talking to each other like this. Adam had no other choice. He was desperate to know how Joan was doing at home and, even if he didn't want to admit it, Luke wanted to know what Joan and Adam had talked about any time recently. So the boys decided to meet, though the park stirred weird memories of Glynis inside Luke.
"So uh... how is she doing?" Adam finally broke the silence, looking over at Luke, who continually stared straight ahead.
"She's... well she's been ignoring us all, actually. I think it might just be her body familiarizing itself with the antibiotics which is causing a chemical imbalance in her head and making her... a bit unbearable." He almost shuddered.
"So is this... how she acted before the disease... happened?" Adam prodded carefully.
"No, this isn't her at all. Not that we can pinpoint exactly when the disease began affecting her, but I don't ever remember her being this bad. She was moody, but she's also female and that's to be expected of them." He shook his head.
"Has she said anything about me? She won't... answer the phone when I call and when your mom answers she won't take the phone and I... I just want to talk to her, y'know?" Luke finally looked at him and tried to read what was on his face. He sounded genuine enough and if he hadn't slept with his sister then maybe... maybe he was an ok guy.
"She hasn't said much. But she's mentioned you a few times. She said once that..." Luke stopped. Telling Adam that Joan said something like 'he ate my faith' probably wouldn't be the greatest thing to tell a boyfriend that his girlfriend had said. Luke suddenly wondered if that comment had anything to do with Joan's dismissal of their parents' idea to attend a church.
Realizing he had been quiet for a while, Luke shook his head. "She said she wanted to talk to you she just... was missing some... some faith?" He wasn't sure that was a good thing to say either, but it sounded better than 'faith eater.' Maybe Joan was just getting those silly Harry Potter books mixed up with her dreams. Surely that was it.
Adam looked forward again, nodding slightly. Luke hurried to say something else. "The other night at dinner, Mom and Dad said we should uh... should try to go to church. Just to see if it would work out. Joan... she sort of threw a fit. Said she wouldn't go and she didn't believe in God. Has she ever... mentioned anything like that to you?"
Adam sat still. Truthfully, she had mentioned God to him before, but she had also said that she talked to him which definitely wasn't saying she didn't believe. Opening his mouth to speak, Luke interrupted him again.
"Mom mentioned the time that Joan had gotten an A on that exam about Joan of Arc. Joan had been really interested in her and screamed at us all at the table that Joan of Arc wasn't crazy. Which doesn't make sense if she doesn't believe in God. Why would she defend someone like that if she didn't believe?"
Adam sighed. Joan of Arc thought that she talked to God. Joan had told him that she was talking to God. So what did this mean? Was Joan crazy? Or was she just affected heavily by the disease? And why had she said she was missing faith? Was she missing faith in Adam or missing faith in God?
Finally he shook his head, trying to clear all the questions and looked over at Luke. "I don't know, man. I don't understand any of it."
They sat in silence for a while, not speaking and watching the sun set over the horizon. Standing, they said goodbye to each other and Adam was left alone with his thoughts of his girlfriend and whether or not he could deal with all of this.
-end two-