“I asked my parents about coming over for lunch! They said it was fine. I’m really looking forward to that homemade soup!” Becca interrupted and changed topics. She seems really uncomfortable talking about other people’s religion.

I’m not sure what to say next. I always seem to say the wrong thing when it comes to sensitive subjects like this.

“Yeah. It’s really good. My dad’s an amazing cook. My best friend calls him super dad.” Maybe it’s not a good idea to keep talking about my dad with the curious look Todd keeps giving me. “I was really interested in coming to church. I wasn’t sure what to expect. All the people I’ve talked with seemed really nice. And Becca, your parents seem cool. They... seem to be really popular with everyone.” Okay, cool might have been a stretch. I didn’t really know much about them and they haven’t talked to me all that much.

Arg... why do I have to be so bad at lying!

“Yeah... Oh! I thought the pastor might be interested in seeing your bible. He’s right over there. Let’s go show him!” Becca stood and practically dragged me over to the pulpit where the pastor was still standing. He was surrounded by people but they didn’t seem to mind us interrupting. “Pastor Randy, This is a friend from school. She hasn’t been to church before and this is her first time. You’ll never believe what she brought! Her dad lent her his bible and I think you may want to check it out.”

Pastor Randy’s son Dan greeted us with a super friendly smile. He was very handsome and looked to be in his mid twenties. His black hair was just long enough to style into a fashionable wave and he looked like he spent a decent amount of time preening himself this morning. His clothes seemed a bit under dressed compared to everyone here but he still looked well put together. If he was a bit younger I would have a instant crush. Who was I kidding, I practically swooned when I saw him.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Hey, Becca. It’s nice to meet you Becca’s friend from school.” Dan said and I may have laughed a bit more than was warranted.

“My name is Xena. Becca wanted to show pastor Randy my dad’s bible. She thinks he might want to see it.” I say, knowing full well I was just babbling.

“Oh? Is this it?” Pastor Randy said and pointed to the huge book I clung against my chest. “It looks rather old.”

“Yeah! It’s in Latin too!” Becca exclaimed and I passed it over to the pastor.

“Very cool.” Pastor Randy said while sounding like someone who wasn’t sure if ‘cool’ was still something kids say. “Can you read this?” Randy asked after flipping open the first page.

“Yeah! She was following along during the sermon. She can speak a ton of languages! She even talked with Todd in Latin a bit.” Becca raved. She acted as if I was some sort of miracle worker. Pastor Randy looked over my shoulder and I realized Todd had stepped up behind me.

“Yeah, she knows her stuff.” Todd said with a nod back to his uncle.

“That’s incredible. I hope you want to come back again sometime. I know today’s sermon was a bit dry, but you can ask Rebecca here, I tend to have a lot of fun with my parishioners. I’m not always such a downer.” Pastor Randy smiled at Becca and passed me back my bible. “And if I’m not quite to your tastes, my son Dan here is on his way to being a pastor himself and I plan on including him with some of the more youth directed sermons starting soon.”

Dan smiled at his dad and was about to say something when a woman around his age came up to him and wrapped her arm around his. “Honey, my mom wants to speak with you. She needs to get going soon.” The woman pulled gently on Dans arm and he followed her downstairs.

I know it’s stupid, but I was really hoping he was single. Not that I was going to try anything. I think I’m a bit jealous. It doesn’t help that the woman he’s with is drop dead gorgeous. Gah! I’m being stupid! Stop! I really hope I wasn’t staring.