Page 2 of My Vows Are Sealed

“Nope,” I told her. “It sucks, but Nate getting his medicine is more important.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll miss seeing you every day, though,” she said, turning a few shades darker.

I fought the urge to chuckle. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew she’d been nursing a little bit of a crush on me for the past year or so, and it was actually kind of adorable. Especially right now, when she was obviously embarrassed about something as silly as making a mess out of a powdered sugar donut. I mean, being real, whodidn’tmake a mess out of those things anyway?

“You’ll still see me,” I promised. “I mean, unless you stop coming to church every Sunday and Wednesday.”

She giggled uncomfortably, like the mere thought of not coming to church was too much to handle. But I didn’t get the sense that her discomfort was still being nervous talking to me. It was more like she was afraid of what the consequences would be.

“Like my dad would ever let that happen,” she muttered.

Before I could prod her for more information – even though I had absolutely no idea what I’d be able to do with said information – there was a knock on the youth room door, and then it opened.

“Ben-Ben!” my two-year-old brother, Nathan, squealed as he zoomed into the room ahead of my parents. That was as close to “Brendan” as he could get right now.

“Hey, squirt,” I teased as he wrapped himself around my leg like a koala bear on a eucalyptus tree. “Can you say hi to Darla?”

“Hi, Dawa,” he garbled.

“Hey, little man,” she laughed, a grin spreading across her face, then looked at my mom and dad. “Hi, Mr. James. Hi, Miss Ruth. How are you?”

“Just fine, Darla,” my dad said cordially. “You all ready for school to start?”

“Yes, sir,” she sighed. “Heard Brendan’s not coming back this year. Sucks that we won’t be seeing him around as much.”

My mom smiled indulgently, like Darla had suddenly morphed into a toddler. “Well, he should be around more kids hisownage, anyway. It’ll be good for him.”

Oh, really? Because as of yesterday, she was afraid of my poor, innocent young mind being corrupted by all the evils of this world as soon as I set foot on a public high school campus.

Without even thinking about it, I pulled Darla into a hug.

“You’ll still see me on Sundays and Wednesdays every week,” I promised her. “We’re not just going to stop being friends because I’m going to a different school now.”

“Darla!” Pastor Jones’s voice boomed.

Darla and I both jumped a little at the sudden noise. She flinched and, for a split second, cowered further into my arms like she was afraid of him before quickly pulling out of my embrace. Then we both turned to look at the doorway, where her father was standing with a scowl on his face.

His large frame almost completely filled the entryway, casting a shadow on the whole room, and his long, scraggly, grayish-blond hair and thick-rimmed glasses almost reminded me of one of those crazy preachers you’d see footage of on TV. Like…oh, what was that guy’s name in Texas who’d been involved in that crazy shootout with the government a couple of years ago? David Kiddush? Carat? No, wait. Koresh. That was it. David Koresh.

“Yes, Dad?” Darla said quietly, her voice trembling a little.

“My office. Now!” he growled.

Averting her eyes, she quickly rushed out of the room with her shoulders hunched and her head bowed. I watched her run out, wanting more than anything to run after her and ask her what was wrong, but I knew I couldn’t. Not right now.

With a parting glare in my direction, Pastor Jones turned and walked away, and an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. But I didn’t dare speak out against our pastor to my parents, who thought he’d hung the moon. Especially not here at church.

“She’s a child, Brendan,” my mom scolded.

“And?” I scoffed, snapping my head back to look at her. “She’s myfriend.”

“You need to be spending more time with people your own age. It’s wrong to allow her little crush to continue, and you know it,” she countered.

I sighed. “Mom, it’s harmless.”

“Whath a cruth?” Nathan asked, looking up at me.

I picked him up and tickled him in the ribs, which made him squeal and giggle. I couldn’t help smiling. As weird as it was for me when my parents told me that they were expecting another child just as I was going into middle school, I loved this little squirt. He could always make me smile and laugh just by being in the same room.

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