Page 11 of My Vows Are Sealed

“Did you miss the lesson in youth group about respect and kindness last week, Ethan?” I bit out.

“Pussies don’t deserve respect,” he scoffed.

Had I been this much of an asshole when I was a freshman? I mean, I remembered being insecure and feeling like plankton on the social food chain here for a little while, but I never remembered being this cruel to people in an attempt to fit in.

“Everyonedeserves respect,” I spat. “That includes Mr. Lively, and it includes Darla and her friends. I hear about you giving her, Kate, and Ashtonanymore trouble, and you and I are going to have problems. Do we understand each other?”

“Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes starts spending her time with faggots, andI’mthe one you have a problem with?” he growled. “God hates faggots!”

“Might want to brush up on your Scripture, Smith,” I chuckled dryly. “Check out the Gospels, and you’ll find that Jesus never said a single word about homosexuality or transsexuality. But you know what Hedidsay? Treat others how you want to be treated. So, unless you want what goes around to come back around to you,stay the hell away from Darla and her friends. Are we clear?”

“Whatever,” he muttered, shoving me so hard that it made me stumble backward.

Damn. For a freshman, the dude was built like atank.

He stormed into the classroom, and I took a few deep breaths before following.

Well, it looked like trying to talk some sense into Ethan had done more harm than good. I really hoped I hadn’t ended up making things worse for Darla, Kate, and Ashton.

But I’d do whatever it took to make sure he – and everyone else – got the message loud and clear.

Anyone who messed with Darla Jones or the people she cared about was messing with me too. And anyone who knew me knew that I stopped at nothing to protect the peopleIcared about.

Chapter 3

Brendan

Can’t Erase It

NINE DAYS LATER

The second I walked into the children’s room at church, my ears were assaulted by the godawful sound of theVeggieTalestheme song. No joke, whoever came up with that stupid cartoon had to have been high. Who was the genius who said, “You know how we can teach Bible stories to the kids? Talking vegetables!” And who were the other geniuses who just went along with it?

“Darla!” Nathan squealed, jerking his hand out of mine and running over to the table she was sitting at.

She looked up from the pile of pipe cleaners and beads in front of her and grinned at him. “Hey, Nate. How are you tonight?”

“We got to eat at McDonald’s! And I got this!” He proudly showed off the miniature platypus Beanie Baby that had come with his Happy Meal.

“That’s so cool! Do you know what that is?”

“It’s a purple duck. But they messed it up ‘cause it has four feet.”

She chuckled. “Nope. It’s actually a platypus.”

“What’s a pattypuss?”

I smiled as I took the seat on her other side. She had the patience of a saint with the little kids here. Most of the other kids in youth group just pretended to volunteer with the kids’ program on Wednesday nights so they didn’t have to go into the adult service, but Darla actually loved helping out with them. She worked with Peter – who had doubled as the children’s minister ever since the church had to lay off the guy who used to have that job last year – to come up with crafts that related to the lesson every week, and she never acted annoyed or bothered when the kids tried to talk to her.

“Platypuses are funny,” she said. “The only place in the world that they live in nature is Australia. They’re mammals with fur and they have a tail like a beaver, but they hatch from eggs like birds and they have webbed feet and their heads look like a duck. And they’re poisonous.”

“They’re poisonous?” I asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yep,” she giggled. “I think God was done making the rest of the animals and had a bunch of spare parts left over, so He just threw them all together and made something new. And He put it in Australia, because that’s where all the rest of the weird animals are, like kangaroos and koalas.”

“What about kangaroos and koalas?” her friend Naomi asked as she sat down at the table.

“I was just telling Nathan about how platypuses live in the same place as kangaroos and koalas. Nate, show Naomi your cool new toy,” Darla said.

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