Serena sighed as she watched Darien leave like there was a fire in the building. This is going to be a long school year she thought to herself as she went to her locker. She collected the books she needed for homework and started writing a note on a blank page in one of her notebooks. "Hi Serena," a boy said next to her.
Serena turned and smiled at her brother. "Hey Sammy. How was your first day?" She continued writing her note.
Sammy sighed. "It was so boring. All my teachers are boring, but at least Dean is in most of my classes." He noticed the note she was writing. "What are ya doing?" he asked as he tried to look over her shoulder.
Serena folded up the note up and put it in a small Bible before closing her locker. "I wrote a note for someone," she explained. "I'm gonna give it to him next time I see him."
"Him?" Sammy said curiously as they walked out of the school. "Sounds like you have a boyfriend. Wait until I tell dad! He's gonna kill you."
"I don't have a boyfriend," Serena protested. They continued on their way home playfully arguing with one another. For the most part Serena always got along with her brother and she was thankful for the relationship they had. "Do you wanna get some ice cream before we go home?" she asked as they approached the Crown Parlor.
"Yeah!" Sammy yelled causing Serena to laugh. They went inside and it was full of kids from their school. The Crown was the local hangout spot famous for its dual arcade and snack center. They waited in line and Serena caught sight of Darien sitting in a booth with his friends. "Here," she told Sammy as she gave him some money. "I'll be right back. Get me a small Strawberry Delight if I take too long." She made a beeline towards Darien's table with the Bible and the note in her hands. Lord, give me strength.
Darien looked up and frowned when he saw Serena come in with a younger boy with brown hair. Is she stalking me? He turned his attention back to his friends and pretended not to see her. "What's got your underwear in a bunch?" Andrew was asking him.
"It's not important," he replied. "It's just that I was already assigned a project with a partner in my sociology class."
"Ugh," Chad said. "I hate group work."
"Me too," Beryl said.
"So who's your partner?" Rae asked.
Darien sighed. "Let's just say it's gonna be a long year."
"It's Melvin Carpenter isn't it?" Mina asked.
"Worse," Darien muttered. He looked up again and saw Serena coming towards him. Oh, God no!
"Hi Darien," Serena said cheerfully. "Hi everyone. How are you today?"
They just remained silent and stared at her. "What do you want, Meatball Head?" Darien said agitatedly.
"I wanted to ask you something before you left. Since we're partners for the project, do you think you can come over to my house sometime? We can get to know each other better and my mom would love to have you for dinner."
"Dinner," Chad snickered nudging Darien in the shoulder. Everyone except Darien laughed.
"I'll be busy," Darien said shortly.
"Well, maybe some other time when you're not busy," Serena said. "I also wanted to give this to you." She handed him a small Bible. "There's a note in there for you with my number just in case you need me."
Darien rolled his eyes. "Why couldn't you just give me your number like a normal person?"
"I wanted you to have it for reference just in case you wanted to know more about Christianity."
"Well I hope that's not a love note," Beryl said before Darien could respond. She started rubbing his arm. "Trying to flirt with my boyfriend isn't going to make him like you." She scoffed. "No one in their right mind would bother with a freak so get lost."
Darien yanked his arm away from Beryl. "You're not my girlfriend," he muttered. He caught sight of Serena's face and she looked genuinely hurt.
"Serena," the brown haired boy said appearing beside her. "I got your ice cream. Are you ready to go?" He stared at her for a moment. "What's wrong?"
"Aww," Chad said. "She already has a little boyfriend running errands for her."
"Why would I ever date my sister?" the boy asked innocently. "That's gross!"
"Of course you wouldn't date her, honey," Beryl said. "No one would."
He glared at her. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? You can't talk about my sister like that!"
"That's enough, Sammy," Serena said shakily pulling him along. "Let's go."
"But I wasn't done," Sammy said as he was pulled away by Serena. They all laughed at her as the two of them left.
"I'm sorry man," Andrew said after calming down. "Dealing with her all year is going to be a living hell."
"I know," Darien said flatly. He caught sight of Serena out the window with her brother outside and she looked really upset even as he tried to cheer her up. It was weird because she was usually able to ignore the insults hurled at her with a smile on her face, but she wasn't smiling and he actually felt bad for her. "You guys didn't have to give her such a hard time. I was fully capable of handling my own battle with her."
"Aww," Mina cooed. "You're defending her now. That's so sweet."
"No I'm not," Darien said sternly. "I'm just saying I can take care of myself."
"Don't forget about having dinner with her and her family," Chad said causing the group to laugh again.
"Shut up, Chad," Darien said.
"Lighten up, Darien," Beryl said. "You know we're just playing around. I was simply trying to help."
He gave her a look. "I don't need your help. Can't we just drop it and leave me alone?" They continued laughing and Darien had enough. "I'm leaving," he said as he stood and left. He started walking home and felt someone's presence behind him. "What? You haven't had enough yet?" he asked.
"Come on, Darien," Andrew said. "Learn to take a joke every once in a while."
"How would you feel if everyone knew about your lucky pet turtle?" Darien asked with a smirk.
"Hey! Kamekichi is special," he said in alarm. "Mina doesn't even know about him. You didn't tell anyone did you?"
"Of course not, but do you see my point?"
"I guess," he said with a sigh as they sat on a bench together. "It can't be much fun being stuck with Meatball Head all year, huh?"
"It's gonna suck and I don't need you all rubbing it in. I just wanna graduate and get out of here forever."
"Maybe it won't be as bad as you think. She is nice..."
"Too nice… I can't stand it. She gave me a freaking Bible with her phone number in it. Who does that?"
Andrew shrugged. "Didn't she say she wrote you a note? Let's see it."
Darien opened the Bible. He flipped a few pages and found Serena's handwritten note. "Darien," he read aloud. "I'm glad you're my partner this year. I know you don't like me very much, but I hope we can try to be friends. I've highlighted some verses for you to read whenever you have the time… let me know if you have any questions. Call me anytime you need me (555.5987). How sweet," Darien said as he punched her number into his contacts on his phone. "I definitely won't be reading that thing anytime soon."
"Well maybe you can use it to research her people," Andrew said.
"Maybe," Darien replied.
Andrew checked his watch. "I gotta get ready for work soon. I'll see you later."
"See ya," Darien said. He continued walking home to his apartment and went inside slamming his door shut. He made himself some coffee and sat on the couch thinking about everything, mostly about his interaction with Serena. He hated that he was stuck working with her all year because the last thing he needed was to have God shoved down his throat all the time. As far as he was concerned God could care less about him because of all the things he had been through in his life. Darien sighed. He didn't have time to think about such things because he had other homework he needed to do.
Serena came in the house with Sammy and sighed. "Hi mom," she said as she passed the kitchen and headed upstairs to her room. She plopped onto her bed and curled into a ball. She was still upset about the way Darien treated her and what Beryl said to her at the Crown. She caught sight of the faded pink WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelet on her wrist and sighed. She knew Jesus would want her to continue showing them love and kindness, but right now she didn't really want to. She heard a knock at the door.
"Hi honey," her mother, Irene said. Serena turned over and found her standing by her door. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Serena muttered.
Irene sat beside her on the bed. "Serena," she said more sternly.
Serena sat up beside her. "Please don't pretend like Sammy didn't tell you already," she replied. "It's just the same old thing. I'm a freak and no one likes me."
"You're not a freak, honey. You have a family who adores you and lots of friends…"
"That doesn't stop people at school from making fun of me," she interrupted. "I hate it."
"You just have to ignore them, sweetie."
"Well that's gonna be kind of difficult considering one of my greatest tormentors is my partner for sociology class all year. He hates me."
"You don't know that. Knowing you you'll probably end up being the best of friends."
"I doubt it. He's obnoxious and hateful, just like the rest of his friends."
"That's not a very Christ-like thing to say, Serena."
"But it's true! I try to be nice to him and he always has something negative to say or ends up calling me names."
"It doesn't matter. You are a child of God and you're called to a higher standard. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you."
"I know, mom," Serena said agitatedly.
"I know you know, but are you gonna do it?"
Serena sighed. She hated when her mother asked her those kinds of questions, especially when she knew she was right. "Eventually," she finally said. "I have to if I'm gonna be stuck with Darien all year."
"You're not stuck with Darien. God placed you two together for a purpose and now you have to decide if you're gonna use this opportunity or abuse it. You never know how much you could change his life by being kind."
"Yeah," Serena said. Her kitten Luna ran into the room and jumped onto her bed. Serena picked her up and pet her absentmindedly thinking about all her mother just said.
Irene stood up. "I was going to bake some cookies, but it looks like you and your brother already had a snack," she said. "Sammy was nice enough to put your ice cream in the freezer for you, but you'd better come downstairs before he decides to eat it."
Serena smiled. "Thank you, mom." Her mother smiled before leaving the room. "You don't think I'm a freak, right Luna?" she asked her kitten. She replied with a small meow. She let Luna go and bowed her head with a sigh. "God," she prayed. "This is gonna be a hard school year. Please give me strength to move forward. Please watch over Darien. I don't know what his problem is, but you know all his needs and I pray you would help him through it. Please also watch over Beryl and their other friends. And help me to use this project as a great opportunity to gain a friend. Please help me to remember that with you I am pressed but not crushed, perplexed but not despaired, persecuted but not abandoned. Amen." She got up and headed downstairs to eat her ice cream.