Aurea

Mary Rose practically dragged me over to where Sari had circled up a few chairs, and plopped down in the one next to one of the girls who I recognized as Katie. She had short, straight blonde hair with gorgeous green eyes, and was pretty tall, too. Sari sat down next to Katie, and everyone else fell in. 

"Hi everyone!" Sari's smile was radiant. 

"Hi," Everyone replied in unison, like a bunch of robots. 

"I say we get started, shall we?" Sari crossed her legs in her chair and leaned back, looking though the folder of papers she was holding for what must've been an agenda. "We're just going to start with introductions for now. How about you say your name, your favorite color, and what you want to get out of this retreat." 

Mary Rose's hand instantly shot up into the air. "Can I go first?" She asked, her eyes full of hope. 

Sari laughed. "Sure, Mary Rose."

"Alright, well, I'm Mary Rose. My favorite color is blue, and for this retreat I want to be able to figure out what my purpose is." Mary Rose nodded, satisfied with her response. 

Katie went next. "Hi guys, I'm Katie!" She was a rather bubbly person. "My favorite color is yellow, and I want to be able to live comfortably in the Catholic life outside of our little Catholic bubble after this retreat." 

Sari followed Katie, her introduction was clipped short because most of the girls seemed to know her well. "Hi you guys, I'm Sari, my favorite color is dark green, and after this retreat I want to know how to help you all out in the faith better." 

A girl with very long brown hair went next. "Hello, I'm Jacey." Her blue eyes smiled when she started talking. "My favorite color is orange and after retreat I want to be able to talk to Jesus more." Jacey's voice was quite, but not in a weak way, but in a gentle way.

The last girl, with brown hair that hit just above her elbows and green eyes, began to speak. "Hey, I'm Mauria. My favorite color is red... And after this retreat I want to be able to pray the rosary at least once a week." 

Everyone's eyes turned to me, and I sighed, knowing what I had to do. "Hi, I'm Aurea, and my favorite color is black." 

Sari blinked, not sure what to say about this. "Why is your favorite color black, Aurea?" 

"Well, because it's unchangeable. Every other color you can change to something else, but anything you mix with black becomes, well, black." I explained. Sari just sat there, her eyes widening slightly. 

"Okay, well!" Sari moved on, drawing the attention back to her. "You all are lucky, since I'm on the inside of all the activities, you all will get the inside scoop." Sari winked. "But don't go telling the rest of the camp, because then it won't be as fun." There was a chorus of 'we won'ts'. "Alright! After this, we have a talk planned before lunch, and then after lunch is a round of team games. Does that sound good?" Sari waited for our opinions. The rest of the group hummed with excitement, and I nodded politely. 

Elise walked over moments later. "We should probably break to lunch." She warned Sari, tapping her watch. Sari nodded, and motioned for us to get up and move our chairs back to where we found them. 

"Hail Mary full of grace?" Elise called out to no one in particular. I looked around to see who she was trying to talk to. 

The entire room turned to face her. "Kick the devil in the face!" They chanted, and everything feel silent. 

"Thank you!" Sari smiled at the group, as if she was surprised by the silence. By the looks- or actions, rather -of this group, there was no doubt that she was. "We're about to go to lunch-" A chorus of cheers interrupted Sari. She just smiled and waited for them to be done before continuing. "But before that how about we say grace, shall we? Who wants to do it?" Despite all my expectations, at least fifteen hands shot up into the air. "Jannessa, why don't you come up?" I girl who looked to be thirteen-going-on-fourteen with freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks stood and made her way over to Sari, who was holding out her microphone. 

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Janessa started, and everyone crossed themselves before bowing their heads. I simply closed my eyes, not wanting to seem rude. "Lord, we thank you for the food that You have put on our tables by Your hands, and we ask that You please bless it so that we may be strong to be able to grow closer to you. Bless us O Lord," Everyone started to jump in, and I opened my eyes in panic. It was as if they had done this a million times. "For these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive. From thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord, amen." Everyone crossed themselves again, and Sari swiped the microphone from Janessa before things got too hectic.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sari held her hands up in the air, and a few of the upperclassmen boys that were already on the move to food to food froze and sat back down. "Thank you." Everyone laughed a little, and Sari sighed audibly before continuing. "I would like everyone to sit with their small groups as you eat. Oh, and, ladies first! Joel will take the boys outside for rosary push-ups." Joel raised his hand from off to the side, and the guys nodded in understanding. "Alright, that's it. Ready, set, go!" With clearance from Sari, everyone took off to food. I started to follow, and moments later, Mary Rose was at my side.

"So, are you excited for lunch?" Mary Rose asked like lunch was the most exciting thing on the planet. 

I nodded my head slowly, not entirely sure what I should say to this. "Yeah, I guess. What are they having." My stomach growled. I actually was pretty hungry. 

"I'm not sure, we'll know when we get there." Mary Rose said.

"Aragh!" Jacey wrapped her arms around Mary Rose's neck from behind, her long hair falling all over the place. Mary Rose screamed and proceeded to lightly punch Jacey. 

"Why'd you do that?!" Mary Rose's face was that of anger, but her voice was on the verge of laughter. 

Jacey shrugged. "Because it's hilarious?" Mary Rose rolled her eyes at this. 

At this point, I could see the building that everyone was going into for food. I licked my lips hungrily, and my stomach growled even louder. Boy, was I excited to eat. Maybe that's why Mary Rose was so excited. I could just imagine anything that they could have in there. And when I stepped inside, my dreams came true. The menu was simple, but all kinds of comfort foods. It was chicken tenders with french fries, and other side choices included mac n' cheese, broccoli or green beans. Not to mention dessert, which was a small brownie with ice cream on top and a dollop of whipped cream.

I was so focused on the menu choices and getting to the food as quickly as possible, I didn't notice Mauria appear at my side. "Doesn't it all look so good?" Her eyes were filled with desire to have food in her mouth. 

"It really does." I nodded my head in agreement and looked down the long line.

Mauria followed my gaze down the line of people waiting patiently for their food as well. "Don't worry, the line goes fast." She assured me. 

I licked my lips in anticipation. "I hope so." She wasn't wrong, either. After about three minutes, we were to the point where we could get our trays. I smelled the air, which was filled with good scents. Once I got to the point where I could get my food, I started piling everything on. By the end I had two chicken strips, a fair sized portion of mac n' cheese, and a big pile of french fries. 

"That's real healthy!" Mary Rose quipped sarcastically as she walked up to me. I gave her a weird look before she started laughing. "I'm kidding! Hey, we're sitting over there, c'mon over once you get your drink." She pointed to a table that Katie and Sari were sitting at, already deep into their food and conversation. I nodded and proceeded to get a big glass of water before walking over to the table.

"And that's why I'll never go windsurfing with a prom dress on again!" Katie was wrapping up some weird story as I sat down, and Sari couldn't stop laughing, her cheeks red as her chest heaved up and down with chuckles.

"I just can't believe that the squirrel would do that!" Sari managed to fit in between her giggles.

"Hi, Aurea!" Mary Rose said as I settled in. 

"Oh, hello!" Sari turned her attention to me. 

"Hi," I gave a small smile and grabbed a fork from the caddy of silverware in the middle of the table. 

The table was quiet for a few moments, and everyone looked around at each other waiting for another to start a conversation. Katie, being the most extroverted, was the first one to speak up. "Let's play what would you be!" She suggested.

The rest of the table nodded vigrously, and I looked around in confusion. Sari noticed my distress and responded. "You'll get it easily, Aurea. Katie, why don't you do an example?" 

"Alright," Katie started. "What would you be if you could be a fruit?" 

"A pineapple," Jacey paused for effect. "So I could live under the sea!"

"That's a good one!" Sari agreed, nodding her head as she laughed. "I, for one, would be a strawberry." 

"I'd be a cherry." Mary Rose offered. 

"I'd be a starfruit!" Katie exclaimed. She sure was a ball of energy. 

All eyes turned to me and Mauria. "I'd be a watermelon." Mauria said as she took a bite out of the watermelon she'd gotten to eat.

Everyone turned to me next. "I'd be a lemon, I guess." I looked to the plate of lemons in the middle of the table for tea. Sari smiled, happy that I was at least participating. 

"If you could be a pasta, what kind would you be?" Jacey asked. Mauria chose cavatappi, Mary Rose picked angel hair, I went with rotoni, Jacey said penne, Katie chose egg noodles. Sari, with no other options left, went with Ramen noodles.

"The cheapest kind!" Katie joked to Sari's response.

The rest of lunch pretty much went the same way. After a bit I began to relax, but it was still tiring pretending to enjoy myself. I figured that I would at least catch some good sleep that night. After lunch was over, we all headed back to the main building and set up the chairs into rows, with an isle parting them in the middle. 

After everyone had settled in, Sari grabbed the microphone and began to speak. "Hi everyone, how was lunch?" Cheers filled the room in response. "Me too! Apparently I'm the cheap kind of noodle." Everyone cocked their heads in confusion, but my small group cracked up. I even laughed a little. "Anyhow," Sari continued. "We've got a talk from Matt coming up next!" A few cheers came from somewhere across the room, from what must've been Matt's small group. 

"Who'd like to pray over Matt?" Elise asked, jumping in. Matt's small group raised their hands, and Elise motioned for them to come over. After everyone crossed themselves (again), Matt's group laid their hands on him and everyone sitting in the audience extended a hand. I did as well. 

A boy with short brown hair took the microphone first. "Lord, we thank you for the gift of Matt. He's been here with us for years to teach us Your word, and we ask that You renew his strength so that we may learn something from him even greater again today." 

The boy passed the microphone on to another, who was particularly tall with long, blonde hair. "Dear God, please give Matt the courage he needs to convey your message to us, and to teach us your ways." The blonde looked around to the rest of his group, and when no one took the mic, he wrapped up the prayer. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen." After everyone had crossed themselves, Matt's talk began. 

Hello! New cover? New cover. :) Man, that was a long chapter! Did you all like it? Should I make ones in the future this length, or shorter. This book, along with my Wattys entry Finding Broken Pieces, are going to be undergoing some editing these next few weeks. The beginning chapters tend to be shorter, followed by longer ones like this, so I'm going to try and fix that. This one should only take an hour or two to fix, but Finding Broken Pieces is going to have a major plot point changed, so if you're reading that, make sure you read the A/N at the end of the next chapter.

Anyhow, here's today's Soul Study! :

What methods does your youth group use to get to know each other, if any? How have they impacted your youth group experience? Do you try to get to know people? Do you want to? 

Also, this chapter is dedicated to ArielMasters because she is next on my dedications list! Thanks so much for reading this book love!

xoxo

~bcruzy_02