The next day, he stepped down to the living room, and looked around for his phone. His grandma came in from the kitchen, saw him and asked, "Where are you off to?"

He glanced at the coffee table, and picked up a pillow from the couch. "Big fun Saturday night at church."

"Can you skip it this week?" she asked. "I was going to go visit Betty Lou."

Tyler thought, Haven't you visited Betty Lou enough? But then he said, "I can probably get Rachel to drive me."

He found his phone on the windowsill, and tapped his screen. Are you guys going to church tonight? Could you pick me up?

It actually took a while to ring – like fifteen minutes – but Rachel had said, Ok. We'll be there soon. Tyler stepped out the door and waited on the porch.

When their car arrived from down the street, it parked at the curb. Christian was in the driver's seat, and Rachel sat next to him, so Tyler pulled open a back door. "Hey guys, thanks for the ride," he said, and neither of them seemed to know how to respond.

They drove around the block, and onto West Vine. "So," Tyler asked, leaning forward, "what are we doing tonight?"

"I don't know," Christian said, and stopped at a corner. "What is there to do?"

Rachel turned slightly, to both of them, and said, "Maybe we can just talk."

They arrived at Living Water, and parked in front of the stairs. Bethany and Will were on the porch, and Kayla was just leaving her car. Tyler stepped onto the pavement, and took Rachel's hand. She squeezed it for a moment before she let go.

They jogged up the steps, and Christian opened the doors. Rachel looked back and said, "I guess Katie's not here," and they crowded into the lobby.

When they got to the main activity room, Christian opened the door and flipped the switch. The room was still dark, and he flipped it up and down. "Are the lights burned out?" Tyler asked, and Christian said, "Yeah, I guess so. We can... I guess we can just sit in here."

They filed back to the auditorium, and each pulled out a chair, arranging it into a semi-circle. Tyler sat between Rachel and Bethany, and waited for Christian to speak.

"Well," he said, "Maybe tonight we can talk about.... Maybe we can go around the circle and talk about what it means to be a Christian. For each of us."

There was silence for a minute, and then Will said, "Okay, start."

"Well," Christian said, and coughed slightly. "What it means for me is that I have a personal relationship with Jesus, and that I can go to him and seek counseling when I need to. And that I try to follow his teachings, and be as much like him as possible."

"The same thing, I guess," said Kayla, and looked at Will.

"Um," Will said, "well, if you really want to get deep about it.... I guess I just don't want to go to Hell."

"Yeah," said Bethany, and laughed. "Me neither."

It seemed to be Tyler's turn, and so he said, "Well, I don't know if I really consider myself a Christian."

A five-person murmur rose from the group, and he tried to find words to appease it. "Maybe I'm just at a point in my life where I'm searching," he said. "I'm searching for answers."

"And what brought you to this point?" Will asked.

"Well, recent events in my life, I guess," he said, just making shit up as he went. "Being exiled down here and everything."

"Do you want to tell us why?"

Tyler glanced at Rachel. "Maybe you should tell them."

She looked at the group. "Well, he... he's on probation, because.... It was something to do with drug paraphernalia."

"Transporting drug paraphernalia from one location to another. Which really changed my whole life overnight."

"So we're sitting next to a real-life criminal," said Bethany.

"Well, I don't consider myself a criminal," Tyler said. "It's not like I've been to jail."

"But you –"

Christian interrupted. "Guys, let's stop being so judgmental. Even if Tyler was a criminal, we should forgive him and invite him into our church. Like Jesus said."

"Yeah, for real," said Tyler, and laughed.

The conversation finally drifted to another topic – Bethany's wedding dress and what kind of cake she wanted – and an hour later Christian looked at the clock. "Well," he said, "I guess we can call it a night," and everyone stood up to hold hands. Rachel and Tyler entwined their fingers, and Christian led the group in prayer. When it was over everyone pulled their chairs back into place. Rachel had let go of Tyler's hand, but she walked close to him as they crossed the carpet to the doors.

The sun was setting, and as they stepped to the ground Christian unlocked his car. He and Rachel got into the front seat, and Tyler reoccupied the back. They drove out of the parking lot, and Rachel asked, "Can we stop somewhere? Get something to drink?"

"I guess," Christian said, and pulled onto West Vine. A gas station came into view, and he turned into the parking lot. "I'll go in," Rachel said, and clicked off her seatbelt. "What does everyone want?"

"An orange soda," Christian said, and she looked at Tyler. "Just a Coke."

Rachel left the car, and Tyler looked out the window. He thought for a minute, and then leaned forward, resting one arm on the front seat. "I'm just curious," he said. "What do you think about gay people? Do you accept them?"

Christian looked over the steering wheel. "I don't know.... I don't think I really know any."

"Well, I'm bisexual."

"You are?"

"Mm-hmm. I was in a relationship with a guy, before I moved down here."

"Does Rachel know?"

"Oh, yeah," Tyler said. "I told her."

"Well, the Bible says...." Christian sighed. "I don't hate you and I'm not judging you, but the Bible does clearly say that a man shall not lay with another man as with a woman."

"It says that?"

"Yes," he said, and nodded.

"Does it say anything about lesbians?"

"No, not specifically."

"So it's all right for women?"

"I guess.... I don't know. Maybe."

Rachel returned, and opened her door. She got in and stuck a bottle of Coke over the seat. Tyler took it, and when she handed a soda to her brother, he grabbed it and said, "I don't like this."

"Well you just said to get orange."

"But I don't like tutti-frutti whatever."

"Do you like Coke?" Tyler asked. "Want to trade?"

"Okay."

They exchanged plastic bottles, and Christian started the motor. They drove back to Tyler's house, and pulled into the driveway. His grandma was still out, so Tyler asked, "Do you guys want to come in for a while? Hang out? Watch TV?"

Rachel looked at her brother as if to say, "Can we? Can we?" and Christian said, "I don't know...." He picked up his phone, tapped the screen, and Tyler saw the word Mom. He typed something, and Tyler thought, You are seriously twenty years old and you're calling your mom to ask....

The phone rang, and Christian read the message. "Well," he said, "I guess we can. We can stay for a while."

"Okay, just wait on the porch," Tyler said. "I'll go around back."

He left the car and ran down the driveway. The back door was unlocked, and he hurried in and through the house. He set his soda on a table and opened the front door. Christian and Rachel came in, and he asked, "You guys hungry? Should I cook a pizza?"

"Okay," Rachel said, and he went to the kitchen. He got out a pizza and popped it into the oven, and when he got back to the living room, Rachel was gazing at the wall. "Is that you?" she asked, and laughed. "You're so cute!"

Tyler went to look at a photo of himself, lying in a crib and smiling at the camera. In another he was wearing a diaper and holding a toy. "Yeah, that's me," he said, and Rachel laughed again while Christian looked annoyed. Just then, Marigold stepped silently down the steps, so Tyler said, "Cuteness overload." He tried to grab her, but she dashed out of sight. 

"What's her name?" Rachel asked.

"Marigold. And if she don't wanna be held, she ain't gonna be held." He sat down on the couch. "So, what do you want to watch? The Wizard of Oz?"

Christian glanced at the poster on the wall. "No," he said, "we don't watch that."

Tyler laughed. "What's wrong with it?"

"It communicates the message that witches can be good."

"Well, what do you want to watch?" 

"I don't know," Rachel said, and sat next to him, while Christian took the chair. "Do you have Disney+?" she asked, and the cat leaped up next to her. "We could watch The Simpsons."

"You can't watch The Wizard of Oz but you're fine with The Simpsons?"

"Yeah," Christian said. "'Cause they go to church. They're one of the few TV families that does."

"As long as it's not a Halloween episode," Rachel said, and Tyler found the remote. He clicked on the TV, and then went to check the pizza. He opened the oven and grabbed a dish towel, slid it out and set it on the table. He got the pizza-cutter out of a drawer, sliced into the cheese and thought, God, guys, live a little.