Pastor Brian stood silently on the stage for a few minutes, watching as people lifted their hand. A gentle smile spread across his face. "Thank you. Now, I'm going to ask those of you who raised your hand to get up out of your seats and come down here to the front. Don't be shy, most of the students here have already done this."
I still hadn't looked at Soda or Steve since lifting my hand. And I felt kind of stupid at the thought of going up front. After all, what if they hadn't lifted their hands? What if I was the only one? What would they think?
"Chris, will you come up with me?" Soda whispered. "I don't want to go up by myself."
"You lifted your hand?" I asked.
"You don't think I'm weird now, do you?" Soda asked softly as he stood up.
"No, but I was afraid I was the only one." I admitted.
"Well, you're not. Look, even Steve is getting up. Lets go with him. That way, we can find out what or as Pastor Brian put it, who everyone is searching for together." Soda said as we followed Steve out into the aisle.
"Steve, wait up!" I called softly. He stopped and waited for Soda and me to catch up, then we walked up front together where others were gathering. "How was work?"
"It was okay." Steve replied. He looked at me carefully. "Do you think we'll discover what we and everyone is searching for here? Or will this be like everything else?"
I shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to find out."
"I wish Pony had come with." Soda commented as we found a spot along the wall and stood together waiting for what was next.
"Me too." I agreed. "I wish Two-Bit had come, too."
Steve and Soda both nodded. Like me, both of them had turned their attention back to Pastor Brian who was still standing on stage watching as people gathered in front of where he stood. The three of us were kind of standing in an area where we weren't with the others but we weren't away from them either. Just close enough so people would know we had gone up front. But not close enough to look like we were a part of what was going on.
"Could the leaders and alter workers please come down now and start going over the packets now?" Pastor Brian asked.
"That's it?" Steve asked. "Where's the answer? What or who are we searching for?"
"You're about to find out." Jeff said joining us. Aaron was also joining us, three white envelopes in his hands. "We'll explain everything as we go through the packet."
Aaron handed each of us an envelope. "This is kind of uncomfortable, isn't it?"
None of us said anything. We just silently looked at the envelope in our hands. Soda turned his nervously in his hands. While Steve and I stared at ours like we weren't sure if we should open it or drop it and run.
"You can look inside." Jeff said with a grin. "You won't find the answer to what you're searching for until you do."
"Can't you just tell us?" Steve asked impatiently.
"Usually we do. But Pastore Brian instucted us not to for tonight." Jeff explained.
"Why?" I found myself asking. I was still staring at the envelope in my hands.
"Because the drama is called 'Searching' Pastor Brian wants everyone to open the packet and look at what's inside before we explain anything." Aaron said. "Jeff and I have already found what we're searching for. The only way you three will find it is if you open the envelope."
Soda stopped turning his envelope and looked at me. "I'll open it if you open yours."
"Yeah Chris." Steve said. "You started questioning what people are searching for, you should open yours first."
I sighed. I know it sounds silly, but the idea of opening that envelope made me nervous. "Let's open them at the same time."
Jeff nodded. "That works. I'll count to three. Then you guys open the envelopes, okay? One, two, this is going to be good guys, and three!"
I opened my envelope as Steve and Soda opened theirs. I reached inside and pulled out a handful of stuff. I noticed that both Steve and Soda were doing the same. We all looked at Aaron and Jeff who were both watching us.
"Are you ready to find out what all this is about?" Aaron asked. He grinned as Soda, Steve and I all nodded. We were finally going to find out what or who we were searching for. At least I hoped that was what was going to happen.