"Noooooo!" Mercedes screamed as she abruptly woke up after having a nightmare.

Uncontrollably, her eyes opened. She looked around and saw that she was in her bedroom which was bright and full of color, not outdoors at night during a time in which it is almost impossible to see anything at all but the darkness itself.

She sighed before looking at her alarm clock as it continued to 'buzz,' then she turned the alarm clock off.

Today is Wednesday.

Mercedes sat up in bed. She knew that she'd been sweating because not only was her face, neck, and chest damp and cold, but so was her pillow.

She got out of bed before walking over to her mirror and looking at her reflection.

'Thank goodness.' She thought, glad to see that she looked better than she expected to look.

With her nightmare as the only thought on her mind, Mercedes knew that she needed some time alone.

Mercedes starts Physical Therapy for her arm today, although she is now able to drive again, so she decides to leave earlier than usual, and drive herself to school.

She knows that she has to get to school at a decent time anyway because she has to speak during the morning announcements to let the other students know about today being the first day of the meeting for the Christian club that Mercedes was starting, called the 'God Squad.' She already spoke to Principal Figgins about the idea, and he loved it.

After brushing her teeth and taking a shower, Mercedes got dressed. All she had to do to her hair was comb it, since she slept with it wrapped underneath her scarf.

She tried to make as little noise as possible as she exited her bedroom and walked towards the stairs, so she didn't wake her grandmother.

Mercedes entered the kitchen. She made a quick breakfast consisting of fruit salad and two slices of toast before going back upstairs, to her bedroom.

She ate a bit of her breakfast as she packed her backpack.

Before she left, Mercedes texted Sam.

MERCEDES: - Hey! I don't need a ride today. I'm 'behind the wheel' again. Lol See you at school.

Later that day, Mercedes is in study-hall.

Unfortunately, studying was the last thing on her mind.

As she thought, she tapped her pencil on one of her textbooks and stared at her notebook.

She couldn't get the thought of her nightmare off of her mind, despite how difficult it already is to acknowledge all of the memories of the accident.

Mercedes knew that she should probably speak to someone about what's been occurring, but she didn't think that she could. Not only were people, including herself, beginning to think that things were getting back to normal for her, but she figured that talking about any or all of this would just make things worse by keeping it on her mind as opposed to how things have been lately, with the nightmares occurring less and less often, though still intense.

She shook her head and close her eyes for a moment before she tried, once again, to focus on her schoolwork.

Sam approached the table at which Mercedes was seated.

Mercedes saw Sam and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." He smiled back at her as he took off his backpack and sat across from her on the opposite side of the table. "You know what? If I wasn't such an understanding guy, I'd assume that I must be so awful to be around, that you'd rather drive your own car, alone, than be driven by me and in my company."

Mercedes laughed. She leaned across the table and gave Sam a kiss.

Sam smirked. "…Like I said, I'm an understanding guy. So I guess it's okay."

"Yeah, I thought so." Mercedes said, with a nod.

"By the way, you know that I heard you during the morning announcements." Sam said. "You sounded good, girl." Sam said in a playfully sexy tone.

"Mm-hm, I'm sure I did." Mercedes smiled. "Everyone knows that talking about religion is sexy." She said sarcastically.

"It is when you're the one doing the talking." Sam winked at her.

"Oh?" Mercedes asked with a chuckle. "So are you going to join the club? Literally."

Sam laughed. "Sure." He said. "As long as you meant it when you told me that you don't have to be a 'devoutly' religious type of person to join. Like I told you, as weird as it may seem, I can't even remember the last time I went to place of worship of ANY kind, excluding the few times that an event for school was held at local church. I know that it was a few years ago, but I can't actually remember the experience. I just know that it happened." Sam said. "That seems even weirder than I thought it seemed."

"No it doesn't, Sam." Mercedes said. "Everyone's different, so we don't all have to have the same experiences in life. I would never base a person's morality on how often they attend church."

Sam smiled.

"But you know that you and your family are always welcome at 'Church of Holy Christ.'" Mercedes said. "You all should visit on one of these Sundays."

Sam nodded. "I'd like that."

Mercedes smiled.

"Will you be singing?" Sam asked.

"You know it," Mercedes said. "Hello, I am one of the members of the choir." She said playfully.

Sam laughed.

Joe walked past the couple as he headed towards the hallway. He smiled as he saw them. "Hey, you two." He said. "I'm looking forward to seeing you this afternoon, Mercedes. Your idea for a Christian club is awesome."

Mercedes smiled. "Thanks, Joe."

He waved before he continued walking.

Sam sighed after he saw the boy exit the room.

Mercedes noticed that Sam seemed different. She laughed. "Sam, I get the feeling that you aren't happy about Joe being a part of the club."

"What do you mean? I couldn't be happier." Sam's tone was obviously sarcastic. "I don't know, maybe I wouldn't have a problem with Joe if he actually seemed to respect the fact that you are MY girlfriend." Sam was serious.

"…Are you jealous or something?" Mercedes asked. "Sam, Joe is just a friend. I met him months ago, after he sang at church during a visit with his band and their parents."

Sam considered everything that Mercedes said. "And he knows that he's only your friend?"

Mercedes nodded. "He's a nice guy, Sam. He wouldn't try anything, knowing that you and I are together. Besides, I think he has a girlfriend. He was seeing some girl over the summer."

Sam nodded too. "Okay, okay. So I was wrong."

Mercedes smiled.

Suddenly, the bell rang.

Both Mercedes and Sam gathered their belongings. While holding hands, they walked out of the room and made their way to their classes for the next school period.

A few hours later, Mercedes and Sam were seated in an empty room, waiting for other students to arrive.

Soon, they were greeted by Joe. "Good afternoon, you two." Joe said.

The couple smiled. "Hi, Joe." They said, in unison.

"Thanks again for coming." Mercedes said.

"No problem. But then again, you had to have known that I would show you support for this idea of yours, right? Besides, I don't know of many schools that have clubs like this anymore, so I can definitely appreciate the fact that you're doing something about that for our school." Joe said.

"That's nice of you, man." Sam said, and he meant it. He extended his hand for Joe to shake. "It'll be fun having you as a fellow member of the club."

Joe smiled. He shook Sam's hand. "Thanks. You too."

The three of them spoke for a while, until they saw someone standing in the doorway.

Quinn greeted everyone. "Hey, everybody," she said with a smile.

Mercedes smiled back. "Hey, Quinn." She said before the two boys next to her said the same.

Quinn saw Joe, then she immediately looked away from him and turned her attention towards Mercedes. "So…are all of you a part of this club?" She asked.

Mercedes nodded happily. "Yeah. I know it may seem shocking, but Sam is actually a member and not just here for me." Mercedes said playfully. She laughed as Sam poked out his tongue at her. "And Joe has been as excited about the club as I have!"

Quinn tried to prevent her smile from being replaced with a frown. She came up with a lie as quickly as she possibly could. "Um…actually, I just remembered that I was supposed to go home right after school today." She said. "Maybe I'll see you all next time." She stepped out of the doorway and began walking down the hall.

Sam was confused. "Oookay. What was that all about?"

Joe sighed. He knew exactly why it is that Quinn left. "Trust me, you do NOT want to know."

Mercedes walked out of the room and down the hall until she approached Quinn. "Quinn!"

Quinn turned around to face Mercedes.

"Is everything okay?" Mercedes asked.

"…Yeah." Quinn lied.

Mercedes knew that Quinn was lying. "Are you sure?" She asked. "You can tell me if there is something wrong. Maybe I can help you."

Quinn smiled. "That's sweet of you, Mercedes. But it's not that type of problem."

"Ah, so there is a problem?" Mercedes asked.

Quinn briefly closed her eyes, realizing what she just said. "Okay, so you got me."

Mercedes nodded. "Tell me what's wrong."

Quinn decided to be completely honest. "Well…I haven't told this to anyone else…but, Joe and I…" Quinn said. "…we dated over the summer."

Mercedes did not expect to hear her say that. "You two dated?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, but not for long." She said. "That's the problem. Not necessarily the fact that he broke up with me, but the reason why he broke up with me."

Mercedes listened as Quinn continued speaking.

"To make a long story short, us having our first kiss led to a discussion about…you know, sex. He said that he didn't want to go any further than kissing because he wanted to remain abstinent. As I just demonstrated, being secretive obviously isn't my thing, and I ended up letting it be known that my past 'sex-life' was wild, to say the least. The next day, he said that he no longer thought that he was ready to date." Quinn said. "That was it."

Mercedes felt badly for Quinn. She gave her a hug. "I'm sorry about that, Quinn."

Quinn thanked the shorter girl.

Mercedes looked into her eyes. "I can see that you're still hurt by it." She said. "I'll be honest. What happened between you two sucks, but Joe isn't a bad guy, so I think he meant it when he said that he just wasn't ready to date, after all."

"Yeah, but I know that hearing about my past is what made him realize that." Quinn said.

Mercedes held Quinn's hands. "…Do you still like him?" She asked.

After she thought for a moment about her answer to Mercedes' question, Quinn nodded. "Yes."

Mercedes smiled. "Then I think that you should re-establish your friendship, and see where things go from there." She said. "It seems to me that if you were special enough for Joe to date, making you the first and only girl that he has ever dated, you'd be special enough for Joe to try to get to know better and then decide whether or not he's actually interesting in dating. I think that you making the first move will allow everything else to fall into place on its own."

Quinn smiled and gave Mercedes hug. "Thanks." She said. "If you don't mind having a 'drama-queen' as a member of the club, I'd still love to join."

Mercedes laughed. "You're welcome to join us." She said.

The two girls began walking back towards the room.

After they entered the room, everyone sat down.

Joe glanced at Quinn. The guilt that he felt towards the girl was made obvious by his somewhat sad facial expression, before he put the thought aside.

Joe, Quinn, and Sam smiled at Mercedes as she spoke.

"Okay, everyone. Let the first meeting for the 'God Squad' officially begin." Mercedes said.

A/N: Hi, all you readers!

Don't forget to let me know what you thought about this chapter by leaving a review. I love being able to know what readers think regarding the story, and your wonderful reviews truly make that happen. Thank you!

Hope you enjoyed :)