omg. so many reviews. I love it. let's gooo!
SingingCupcake: Yay! So many YES's! (btw, adorable pen name)
funpuppy725: Twice? ha ha, thanks.
iShineS3: Glad to have made you laugh!
PhobbyWriter: Don't spaz too much!
XxYesterdayTodayTomorrowxX: Yus! They did happen! PS: Good choice of baked good.
viet girl14: Well, thank you. It means a lot that someone likes how I write the characters, and that I (hopefully) do them justice.
Chelsea(guest): Glad the cliffhanger wasn't too stressful. (as you may have been able to tell by the reviews for Chapter 8, I'm not good at cliffhangers making people happy xD)
MultiFanficWriter: Best.
Screensaver.
Ever.
Night Owl Revolution: *pets dragon* I shall.
PS: I finally made the chapter longer!
PPS: I'm disappointed in the fact that no one caught the reference last chapter. I shall repeat it: Mwahaha. MWAHAHA. MWAHAHAHAHA- What? It's how I laugh.
Cookie to first person who gets it.
Scene goes through her closet Sunday morning, looking for a frilly dress. She sighs. Just as she was getting back into her old clothes.
"Scene, what are you doing?" Intern 2 asks, walking over. He's fixed the severe bedhead he had earlier; must have come from sleeping on the couch. I'll let him have my bed until he's better. She decides. He pauses and adjusts the hand towel in between his arm and the crutch.
"Looking for something fancy." She sighs again. Intern 2 grins slightly.
"Just wear something nice, it doesn't have to be lacy or frilly. The church we're going to is more relaxed than what you've probably heard. Just don't wear, like, painting clothes." He laughs quietly. "Now, I'm going to cook some eggs for breakfast, okay?" Scene nods, smiling. As he walks out, she pulls out a plain black tee and denim jeans. She slips into converse sneakers, and puts her hair in a pony. She grins at the result; relaxed but not too...young. She skips out of her room, into the kitchen.
"You look cute." Intern 2 says.
"Thank you!" Scene squeaks. Intern 2 flips a serving of scrambled eggs onto a plate, and hands it to her along with a fork, before starting his own omelet.
"So, I looked it up last night, and the church I went to when I was in junior high is forty-five minutes from here." He says. "I was planning to go to another one, until I found this. It'll be a long drive, but I really want to see it."
"M'kay." Scene says. She looks down at her eggs, still anxious about this whole idea of Christianity. Would God like her? Well, He liked her enough to save Intern 2 from the car crash. Besides, this is obviously important to Intern 2, and after all he's done for her, she decides it's her turn to do something for his happiness. It'll be...good. She smiles to herself, still looking at the eggs.
"What?" Intern 2 says, chuckling as he scoops his finished egg onto a plate.
"Nothing, just thinking." Scene says, eating her last bite of eggs. She puts her plate in the sink, and Intern 2 puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Scene, I want to talk to you." He says. Scene swallows her anxiety, then nods. This is it. Any questions they have for each other, now is the time. But truthfully, she doesn't want to ask. Intern 2 places his plate down on the counter, and walks her to the couch. He sits her down, and looks her in the eyes.
"Give it all you've got."
"Alright, Scene." Intern 2 takes a deep breath. She knows this must be difficult for him, too. Bringing back things he thought were lost to him. "People will be friendly and will want to talk, so you should know that. You don't have to sing during Worship, and you don't have to take part in prayer. But if you want to, definitely do so, okay?" She nods slowly. "Any questions?"
"Will...will these people...will God...will they like me?" Scene asks, wincing when Intern 2 laughs softly.
"Of course, Scene. God loves everyone." He says, as if it were obvious. Scene hugs him quickly, then stands.
"Lets go."
The drive there seems to go by quickly. The church, which looks to be very crowded as people move about, has two buildings, and a parking lot.
"The small building is for the kids, the Sunday services for under high school." Intern 2 explains. "Looks like the nine o'clock service is leaving. We made it at the perfect time." He parks his car, and puts his hand on hers. "Ready?"
"Yep!" Scene says, more confidently than she feels. They get out of the car, and walk up to the church. Intern 2 lights up when he sees an older man talking to a young couple and their baby. They walk over just as the couple is walking away.
"Hello, Pastor Colin." Intern 2 says. Scene stays slightly behind him; not hiding but not as outgoing as she once was.
"Hello, what's your-" He pauses. "Wait a minute." Intern 2 grins and lights up more as the Pastor recognizes him. "Melvin Munson, I can't believe it!"
"I'm back!" Intern 2 hugs him.
"I haven't seen you since you were fifteen, Melvin!" Colin exclaims. He sees Scene.
"This is Norma." Intern 2 says. Warming up knowing Colin is so kind, Scene eagerly shakes his hand.
"Hello, I'm Colin Wilson." Colin shakes Scene's hand firmly, but kindly. Scene decides she likes it at the church already. She just hopes they like her, too. "So Melvin, what happened to you?" He motions to his leg.
"Car accident." Intern 2 says.
"Ah, well thank God you weren't hurt worse." Colin says. Intern 2 nods, and Scene considers what Colin just said. She's heard people say "Thank God" before, but not from someone who is actually religious. Not that she's hung out with that many religious people. But anyway, somehow it seems different. Genuine, like he's actually grateful to a higher existence.
"Looks like everyone is going in." Intern 2 comments.
"Well, I'm not speaking today, I rarely do as old as I am," Colin says. "So why don't you sit with me and my wife?" For some reason she can't explain, Scene feels really happy he asked.
"Sounds great, thank you so much!" Intern 2 says.
"Beth, look who has come back." Colin says. Beth smiles, and hugs Intern 2.
"Melvin! It's been too long!" She says. She turns and shakes hands with Scene. "I'm Beth Wilson."
"Norma." Scene says, grinning. Beth scoots down two seats, Colin sits next to her, then Intern 2, then Scene on the end. She finally starts looking around. There looks to be about 500 chairs, and most of them are filled. In the back, there is a small desk-thing which someone uses to control the projection on the screen above the stage, and the speakers and microphones. On the stage, four people who look like a band- two are holding guitars, one walks over to the drum set, and one goes to a keyboard -get ready. Another guy walks up to the microphone.
"Alright everyone, welcome. I'm Pastor Michael, if you don't know me." He says. "We're about to start our worship session, and...let's get excited, okay? Time to praise the Lord!" Scene listens to the excitement in his voice, and smiles at his passion. She tunes out the rest of what he says, and finds it hard to concentrate while everyone is singing and clapping. She does notice it's a lot more upbeat than her Uncle Simon had implied, though. She looks at Intern 2. He's singing with his eyes closed; she listens to his voice, and finds that while he has no spectacular talent, he's not half bad.
After the "Worship" as Pastor Michael referred to it as, he comes back up, and says; "Before you go back to your seats, why not take a moment and greet someone new?" Scene tenses. Too many new people. Luckily, no one seems to notice her before they're sitting back down.
Pastor Michael starts his sermon, and Scene starts getting more anxious, and finds it hard to pay attention in her chair. She taps her foot, but is gentle so that it's silent. After the service, everyone either stays in the room to chat, or goes outside.
"So what did you think of church?" Intern 2 asks her when Colin and Beth go to speak with Pastor Michael. They start walking out.
"It was nice, but kinda slow moving." She says truthfully, albeit slightly sugar coated. The word she wanted to use was "boring", but knew that might hurt him. She'd never want to hurt the best thing to ever happen to her.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Intern 2 promises as Colin and Beth walk over. "Oh hey, we were just about to get home."
"Well it was nice having you back, Melvin." Beth says. "Make sure to rest that leg."
"Will do, thank you so much for welcoming me back so easily." Intern 2 says.
"And your old friend from seventh grade comes here for the nine o'clock service, so maybe if you come then, you'll see him." Colin says. Scene wonders if he only had one friend; based on what he revealed about his childhood during MyMusic, it hardly surprises her.
"Old friend, I don't recall." Intern 2 says.
"You don't remember Alfred Sperling?" Colin says. Intern 2 seems to remember, but Scene definitely does.
"Alfred Sperling, he works at the same print shop as me!" She says.
"Really?" Intern 2 says. "I guess we'll definitely have to come to the nine o'clock service next week." Scene nods happily, although she'll see Alfred before then at work. They say goodbye, and head back to the car. She has a skip in her step, so she's slightly in front of them when Colin tells Intern 2 something in a low voice.
"You make sure to take care of her. She's a keeper."
For the record, I wrote this according to my experience with church. So, if it's different than what you may have thought, that's why.