"Well… I don't see why not… so long as Cindy stays…" Jimmy said.
"You kidding!" Sheen exclaimed. "There is no way Libbinator is going to go across the world, risking her life, to where I don't know if I'll ever see her again!"
"Nope." Libby sighed, "not Libbinator either."
"It's not like she's going to have your kid!" Jimmy said.
"It's not like anyone told you to get Cin pregnant!"
"It's not like-" Jimmy started to say.
"Boys! It's not like either of you have a say! At least not till you come to Christ." Hanna said. "And, Jimmy, you're right… at this moment it is seriously in Cindy's and the baby's best interests that she stays here. We all know that unless everyone in the house goes, I should stay. So… I'm planning on sending Bethany and Libby."
"Where would I be going to?" Libby asked.
"I was thinking Europe, it's a little safer. It wouldn't be immediately, but sometime in the near future."
"And who knows, maybe you can come too Sheen!"
"Assuming you decide to come to Christ I don't see why not." Hanna said.
"Why does that matter?"
"Because, if you didn't accept Christ and I sent you then you'd turn up to be a distraction. Not only that but I'd be putting you in danger."
"I can handle that." Sheen said defensively, remembering all the times he had to battle aliens and such; although… Jimmy did most of it.
"But as the leader of our group, if you died I'd feel responsible."
"And you'd feel OK if Libberz died?"
Libby sighed, "Try again. And I think what Hanna means is that if I die then she knows I'll be with my Father in Heaven."
"Oh, I get it! So you just don't ant me to go cause you don't think I'm good enough to make it into Heaven!"
Libby hung her head, "haven't you heard a thing that we've been saying? It's not about you. It's not about if you are or aren't good enough. It's about God. It's about Christ being good enough; good enough to cleanse you of your faults…and…Cindy… what's that on your forehead? Anyways," she turned back to Sheen after shaking her head, "God knew we weren't good enough so he paid the price of Heaven for us, with His life."
"What do you mean?" Cindy said, rubbing her forehead with her hands.
"She's joking with you." Jimmy said slightly agitated. "There's nothing there."
Bethany snickered, "she probably didn't want Cindy to make fun of hers. Hanna! You need to wash your face too!"
"You're one to talk!" Hanna shot back in a sisterly joking-but-not way. All of the girls started rubbing their foreheads having no clue what they were trying to get off, well…minus the fact that the other girls had a plus sign looking thing on their foreheads.
"You guys, quit pulling each others' legs… there is nothing on anyone's forehead!" Jimmy said.
"Except that zit on Cindy's" Carl said jokingly.
"What!?" Cindy asked.
"There's no zit, Cin. Go see for yourself." Jimmy suggested. Cindy slid out of the booth and went to the ladies restroom. Looking in the mirror, se was satisfied with what she saw.
Cindy re-fixed her hair and left the bathroom with a smile. She never had any 'real' self-image problems. Well, there was that once in seventh grade when she had tried to lose a few pounds by not eating; however, that ended within days when she found out that food included Atomic Cocoa Blasts. Having been a cheerleader for the past three years, and on of the top ones at that, she was one of the trend setters and always had the 'cool clothes.' So, if she had any history of self-image problems it was in thinking too much of herself.
Lately, however, when she looked in the mirror she didn't smile because she looked great, was dating the smartest sixteen-year-old, or because she knew she was at the top of the pyramid of popularity; now when she looked in the mirror she saw a wonderful creation of God. She grinned as she walked out of the bathroom. Well, the others should wash their foreheads… but I have no clue why Libby would tell me… mines as clean as can be. She slipped back into the booth next to Jimmy and looked across at Libby. "I didn't see anything."
Libby took the last bite out of her non-fat latte bar. "Weird, looks clear as crystal to me," Libby stared at Cindy's forehead a moment longer. "If I didn't now any better I'd say you had taken some glitter and drew a cross on there… although… it's not really glitter looking… actually… looks a lot like a crystal look. It blends pretty well right into your skin."
"Kinda like Hanna's… Libby's is darker, and blends in with her complexion too." Bethany observed, the look on her face was as if a light bulb just went off in her head.
"You girls are nuts! Probably more so than Shayna could ever be! You're delusional! Cindy, you didn't see anything for one reason and one reason only… there is nothing there," Jimmy said shaking his head.
"You don't see it?" Hanna asked.
"No…" Jimmy said as if the girls had lost it.
Bethany turned back around to the rest of her table, "Alexa," she said. Alexa looked up from her pretzel, which she had been nibbling on piece by piece. "Do I have something on my forehead?"
"Yea… it's pretty! How'd you get it?"
"You have one too, well, I'm guessing… I haven't seen mine… but Cindy's and Libby's and Hanna's are the same."
"What about Sheen. Carl, and Jimmy?"
"No… they don't have one…"
Alexa's face lit up, "the mark." She said in complete confidence.
"What?" Bethany asked. She had an idea that the mysterious marking was only on the believers… but she wasn't sure.
"The mark. I've been working on memorizing Revelations and in Revelations 7:3 it talks about a mark, or seal, being put on God's people."
"But others can't see it?"
"I'm guessing not. It doesn't say that in the Bible… but if they could we'd be dead, wouldn't we?"
"I suppose so…"
"Hey!" Cindy said as a girl with burnet hair entered the Candy Bar. She hair was straight and dropped to just above her shoulders. She had her head down towards the ground, but Cindy saw that weird sparkle. She has something on her forehead too… perhaps… "Hey, you!"
Huh? Is she talking to me? The burnet pointed to herself, a questioning look appearing on her face.
"Yea, you!" Cindy hollered toward the door.
The burnet walked over to the booth Cindy was in. "Hi." She said, a London accent apparent in her voice.
"You aren't from around here, are you?" Love the accent though, Cindy thought.
"Not really… I guess you could say I'm a permanent foreign exchange kid."
"You guess?" Cindy asked questioningly.
"Well, at the time of the rap- I mean disappearances…"
"Rapture? Don't worry, we're on your side." Cindy assured the girl, pointing to where she hoped the Seal of God was.
"I see… and the boys?"
"They're undecided; however they are our friends, and that one's my boyfriend." Cindy said, pointing towards Jimmy, who was talking to Sheen and Libby about current events.
The burnet nodded; seemingly satisfied that she was safe. "My name's Ally."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Cindy, and that's Libby. So why are you a permanent exchange student?"
"At the time of the rapture I was supposed to head back home, to England, in about a week. Of course, after the rapture they canceled all flights… well, you know, unless you happen to be ' his royal highness' Natas Reficul." Cindy laughed at the sarcasticness in his voice. "So… I sought out a different aer-o-plane home; it would have left one month after the rapture. I called my mum when the telephones were restored; she wasn't there. In fact, none of my family answered. I found out from my best friend that my mum committed suicide shortly after she found my two younger brothers missing." Ally, who at the beginning of her story had moved to sit down at the already crowded booth, was now silently crying and had her head down towards the table.
"Wow…" Cindy said not really sure what to say, not only had the girl been a continent away from her parents, but she hadn't seen her mother for at least the last six months… and now she knew, she'd never see her again. "I'm so sorry."
Ally shook her head, obviously she wasn't done, or she just needed to talk. "I don't know if my friend knew the Truth or not… I can't even say for sure that she's dead. However, I haven't heard from her since the day I found out about my mother committing suicide…the day before the worldwide earthquake hit. If I could re-do anything about the what's happened since the rapture I'd tell her about Christ over the phone. It hurts so much that I know I'll never see my mom again… but I can't even imagine eternity without Tammy."
"As far as how I came to Christ, since I'm sure you would like to know, My host-home parents were Christians, and Elizabeth was very involved in her church. So, naturally, when she and I swapped, I agreed to fill in for her at her church; as a result… it's my own fault I was left behind. I'd heard… and I'd even taught a little about the end times. One thing no one, not Elizabeth, not the pastor, not Elizabeth's parents… I suppose God knew… but even though I had agreed to fill in for Elizabeth at her church, I never actually asked God into my heart. Not only that… I never really even acknowledged that He was real."
"Of course, the rapture proved me wrong. Elizabeth's parents, her friends- who I had started calling my friends- and everyone I'd worked with around the church, all disappeared… except this guy, Dale Jay, and a few others who never really liked me. Elizabeth's parents left me the house, which I currently live in; it gets lonely… but it's better than nothing."
"I'd hate to ask," Cindy said, "but… what about your dad?"
"He was on a business trip in New York City on September 11th. We had received a phone call after the first plane hit telling us he was OK, because he'd been running late. He only talked for like two minutes before hanging up. Within the next hour his boss called us saying dad died while trying to get a tourist who was stuck in a wheelchair out of the 2nd building as the 2nd plane hit. He had died immediately." Ally seemed so calm talking about that compared to the loss of her mother, and possibly best friend, that Cindy couldn't help but wonder why; apparently it showed on her face. With a small smile Ally added, "I was only five at the time, so I don't remember him much… but I'll never forget when the woman's life, whom he ended up saving, showed up on our front porch and thanked me, saying something about how Dad had told her that his daughter would be disappointed if he came home and she found out that he could have helped someone but didn't."
"Wow! That's really amazing… I mean.. that you got to meet them and all."
"Yea, it was almost as if Dad had sent them to me, as a last good bye."
"Are you living with anyone right now?"
"No… I've been attending Trib Harvesters downtown. My 'home' isn't far from there, and I was blessed enough that it wasn't too harmed by the earthquake."
"We really need a name for our church!" Hanna, who'd turned around to listen when Ally mentioned the World Trade Centers, exclaimed. "And… for that sake our small group too!" Out of the five original church groups founded immediately following the mass disappearances, their group was the only one still without a name. Not to mention, that since then new home groups were founded… and even the majority of those had a name, including Trib Harvesters.
"So… you run the church at a local residence!" Ally said, laughing. "I think it's funny that even though you don't have an official name you are so widely known."
Hanna laughed, "yea… more like because we still don't have a name after three going on four months!"
"Don't be so sure! You guys, although residing in an attic of a house, are one of the biggest groups around."
"Well… that says a lot about Retroville when our attendance is usually no more than fifty. Hey, why don't you move in with us! I mean, if you wanted to. Jack and Jackie are the only adults staying there…but they've told us all that they aren't, and don't want to be, our parental figures. They just happen to live in the same house and are there as follow believers to guide us when we need it."
"Would I have to switch churches?" Ally said, seriously liking the idea.
Hanna laughed again, "of course not! Not unless you wanted to, we'd be glad to have ya. But, it's not as if we're competing for the most members. That would be dumb. In fact, if you did move in I could drive ya there whenever you all meet."
