[ Dallas's POV ]

7:00pm
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The drive was around 30 minutes from Edith's house to the church. The little white church was nestled in between two trees and I had to admit that it looked like something out of a painting. The leaves were all different colors and there were several scattered around on the ground, the red wreath on the door gave the church a pop of color.

Katie parked on the side of the church beside a new red Jeep Wrangler splattered with mud. Only two vehicles were in the gravel parking lot besides us so it didn't seem like a lot of people would be showing up tonight.

Katie and Layla get out first and head on inside while Edith hangs behind with me. "I hope you enjoy tonight. If you don't then I understand."

"Like I said, I'm going to sit still and look pretty." I make my way up the stone steps and open up the door. Warm air hits my face and I'm greeted by a man who looks like he's in his mid thirties.

"Hello newcomer." He smiles and extends his hand for me to shake. "My name is Josh and I'm the youth pastor here at Grove St. Church of God."

Edith walks in behind me and nudges me further into the church. "Hey Josh, this is Dallas. He's staying with my dad and I for a while which I'm sure you've heard."

"That I have. I just didn't know this was the Dallas." He sticks his hand back in the front pocket of his blue jeans.

"I'm the Dallas." I don't wait to follow Edith around so I go on and stroll down the aisle. My eyes land on the guitars they have set up by the pews up front.

A guy around my age looks up from the guitar he's strumming. He looked like the football preppy type with the broad shoulders, the long sleeve polo shirt, perfectly gelled hair, and sperry shoes. "You play?"

I touch the neck of one of the guitars that's resting on a stand. "I used to.. I haven't really had access to a guitar in a while. People always complained about the noise."

"You can play with me tonight while the girls sing." He stands up and puts his guitar in it's case. "I'm Connor by the way."

"Dallas." I reply and when he goes to shake my hand I side step a little. "And I'm not one for shaking hands." I stuff my hands into the pockets of my blue jean jacket and go sit in the middle of a front row pew.

Edith walks down the aisle and pulls two mic stands close to the guitars. "What are we singing tonight Josh?"

"Um.. how about-" Josh flips through an old hymn book. "The Old Rugged Cross? We haven't done that one in a while."

"One of my favorites." She smiles softly and puts two microphones on the stands.

"Your mom would have to agree with you on that. I can still hear her singing that song in church every Sunday morning." Josh sits a few feet down from me on the pew.

"I'll never be able to do it justice no matter how hard I try." Edith turns on the microphones and a static sound was heard throughout the small church.

Katie comes my way and grabs my hands in a way to try and pull me up onto my feet. "Come on and play second guitar."

"I don't." I shake my head and yank my hands away from hers. "No thanks."

"If you're terrible then you don't have to continue, but at least show us something you remember." Katie smiles at me before pulling me over to the guitars.

Connor lowers a music stand in front of me and puts The Old Rugged Cross hymn on it. "Just in case."

"I'm not playing." I was really not in the mood for this. Why won't these people take NO for an answer?

"Play a few strings of something you like." Josh joins the conversation. "It won't hurt ya and we'll promise not to tell a soul."

The longer I looked at the guitars the desire to play became stronger and stronger. Maybe a few strings wouldn't hurt... I picked up the cherry brown colored guitar and sat down on the green carpeted steps by the altar. I strummed a few cords that I knew from memory to get my fingers familiar again with the strings.

Pretty soon Connor was strumming softly along with me, becoming second guitar. I glance at the hymn on the stand and match my strings to the music on the paper.

I was so caught up in my own little world that I didn't even realize Edith and Katie were singing.

"So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above, to bear it to dark Calvary." Edith's voice was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard, it came naturally to her. It honestly surprised me that she could sing since I expected her to sound terrible.

I turned to watch Edith and got so caught up in her voice that I played the wrong strings which made everything go out of whack.

The girls stopped singing and Connor stopped playing his guitar. I won a smile from Edith and Katie while Josh clapped a little.

"What little bit you played sounded great." Josh stated as he stood up. "Would you consider playing here in church?"

I set the guitar back on it's stand and pass the guitar pick back to Connor. "I don't play anymore and I'm definitely not playing in a church full of people. This was a one time thing."

"Then you don't have to." Edith speaks up as she comes to stand beside me. "We're not going to make you."

"But it would be nice to have someone like you." Katie smiles at me and twirls a piece of her hair between her fingers.

Connor clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck. "And what about me? Don't kick me to the curb, Katie."

"I'm not but wouldn't it be nice to have someone like Dallas?" Katie urged but Edith shot her a look. If looks could kill then Katie would be dead.

"We're not forcing him to do anything and that's final." Edith argued and squared her shoulders up to face Katie. "Got it? He'll do it on his own free will."

"Okay kids, settle down now. Shall we get to the lesson?" Josh looks at his watch. "It's almost 7:18 and it doesn't look like we'll have anymore teens tonight."

"What do you have planned for us tonight?" Layla speaks up, her soft voice barely above a whisper.

"Are you saved, Dallas?" Josh focuses all his attention on me.

"What does that mean exactly?" Yes I went to church when I was younger but I couldn't seem to remember what being 'saved' meant. Nothing was ringing a bell.

"Being saved is when you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Are you saved?" Josh asks the question again.

I push myself up off the step and straighten out my blue jean jacket. "Nope."

"I've found my lesson." Josh mutters to himself and writes something down on a notepad he picked up. "Everyone grab your bibles and let's sit in a circle in front of the pews."

Edith gets in her bag and pulls out a worn dark purple bible. She gets out another one and hands it to me. "I brought an extra just in case."

I rub my thumbs over the cracked black cover and notice Travis' name engraved in gold cursive letters at the top. I open it and there's a note written on the back of the cover in beautifully written penmanship.

'My dearest Travis,
I'm blessed that God has given us a wonderful four years of marriage together. I'm gifting you this Bible because of how upset you were when the pages started falling out of your old one. We serve a mighty God and I'm truly thankful He's given me an Ephesians 5 man to love and cherish.
- Love, Georgia Anne'

"Georgia Anne was my mother." Edith was leaning close to me as she sat down, her eyes scanning the note written by her mother. "She was probably one of the best Christians I knew. She's actually the one who told my dad about Jesus when they were sixteen years old and then he decided he wanted to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour when he was eighteen. They got married in the spring at twenty years old." Her eyes lit up as she talked about her parents when they were young.

"Then how come he's so harsh with me?" I close the Bible and set it in her lap.

"I think he lashes out because he misses her. When he looks at me he sees his precious Georgia Anne and that's probably why he's so protective.. he's afraid of losing me." She ties her hair back into a low bun at the nape of her neck.

I lean back on my hands and stretch my legs straight out in front of me. "Losing you to what?"

"A car accident would be the first thing on his list." She rests her back against the bottom step and opens her Bible, focusing on what Josh has to say.

Josh sits in the middle of the small group and opens his Bible. "Tonight's lesson is going to be on how much God loves and cares for us. Let's start at the beginning with Genesis 1:1."

"Can I read it?" Layla requested, her open Bible held in her hands.

"Go ahead." Josh responded.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Layla read smoothly.

"Now let's turn to Ephesians chapter 1. Edith I want you to read verses 5 to 7." He told her as he flipped through the pages in his Bible.

Edith flips through her Bible to Ephesians. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"

"Now read verse 11 please." Josh says.

Edith begins reading verse 11 without missing a beat. "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"

"I'm sure everyone knows what predestinated means, right?" Josh asks and everyone nods, except me. "This is the part that's so amazing so I want you to listen closely." His smile grows as he speaks. "Before God created heaven and earth He already had you in mind, He knew exactly when to put you here on earth. You see, God has a plan for every single one of us. He knew you before your parents were born, even before your grandparents were born. The more you draw closer to him He'll reveal the plan He has for you.Whenever you feel lonely or unwanted just read these verses, okay?"

Edith scribbles something down on a scrap piece of paper that was in her Bible. "I really needed that.. sometimes I feel like I fail miserably and it makes me feel like I don't have a purpose."

"I've even felt like that, Edith. But I can promise you that every person in this room has a job to fulfill for God even if they don't know it yet." Josh says to reassure her.

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7:42 pm
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About more than halfway through I had to sneak out the side door to get away from it. I hid a lighter and two cigarettes in one of my pockets just in case I needed a smoke break, and boy did I need one right now.

It was still foreign to me and nothing made sense. Even though Josh was trying to explain it to help me out, it wasn't working.
Everyone in that church may understand but I don't and it looks like I never will.

You know you want to be like them... you want the peace that lives inside them.

Yes I want peace but I don't want to do the whole church thing.

God has a plan for you even though you don't see it right now. 

Enough with this stuff!

I puff out a ring of smoke and lean against the side of the church. I look down at my watch and take a long drag from my cigarette.

Eighteen more minutes before I could get out of here...

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I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter!
Who's rooting for Dallas to change and fall in love with Edith? :)

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~ Xoxo Madison Grace