CHAPTER 4: REALIZATION

VENICE’S POV

After Monica and I had changed our clothes, we went directly to their backyard. When we arrived, I immediately noticed more than ten young girls happily talking to each other while sitting on the grass. After a while, they seemed to finally notice as they waved their hands at us. Monica and I went closer to where they were sitting.

“ Hello, sister Monica. Hello to you too, sister. “ The girl wearing eyeglasses cheerfully greeted us.

“ Hello. “ I greeted them shyly.

“ Hi, Venice! How are you? “ Grace asked me.

“ I am fine. I am just tired because of school. “ I gently replied to her.

“ Where is Anya? “ Monica suddenly asked.

“ Sister Monica, Anya is sick. She said that she cannot come with us tonight, but she said she informed you through text message. “ the girl with curly hair answered.

Monica nodded to the other girls as well. Okay? I feel out of place here already.

“ Oh, by the way, Venice, I will introduce you to them. “ Monica said after she saw me with an unrecognizable expression.

Monica introduced me to the girls one by one. The girl wearing eyeglasses is Charm, while the girl with curly hair is Ivy. I am really amazed because they are so beautiful, like an angel. After a while, the cell group had already started. Monica was the one who led the singing, which explains why she did not want to be late. Her voice is really one of a kind; I wish I had that too. After Monica ended the song, Grace started talking. And it seems like fate is playing around because our topic is purity.

“ Did you know that if you stay in red flag, you will be held back. That is why sister with Crist, leave that situation now. “ Grace said with an emphasis which made me swallow my saliva.

“ Ignoring red flag is like ignoring stop light. It will cause you harm and damage. Remember this one, a girl must be waited, not a pursuer of men. We are too young for a relationship. We are still in the process of molding, so learn to wait and avoid the hurt. “ Grace said, which made me swallow again. This girl’s message seems rooted in something I do not know.

I almost forgot to move from my seat because of the topic delivered by Grace. It seemed like I was the only one she was talking with. My mind is also in chaos because I really want to trust Jeremy, but I also want to know the truth.

“ Amen! “

I came back to my senses when I heard everyone shout, “ Amen. “ Oh my, it is embarrassing. I am caught up with my deep thoughts.

“ I will just get our food, then when I came back, we will start our sharing. “ Monica said.

“ All right, “ everyone said in unison. Wait, did they have some sort of telepathy?

“ I will help you, Mon. “ I volunteered.

Monica just nodded as a response, so we both stood up and walked our way towards the back door. The book door suddenly opened, and the mother of Monica came in with Bryan. Monica immediately went closer to her mother, so I followed her.

“ Mom, you should not bother yourself. I can get it from the kitchen. “ Monica worriedly remarked.

“ This young lady is unbelievable. I am happy that our house became a place of God’s kingdom expansion, so let me help. “ Monica’s mother replied.

“ I will bring that from here, Mom. “ Monica politely took the plate containing sandwiches from her mother’s hand.

I faked a coughed before I turned my gaze to Bryan. I want to get the pitcher containing juice from his hand.

“ I will bring that too, Bryan. “ I said while smiling.

“ It is okay. I will just bring it there since it is near already. “ Bryan replied to me with a smile.

“ Oh, okay! If that is what you want, “ I remarked before I went back to the other girls. I have this attitude that I will not be insisting on someone.

Bryan went closer to us and put down the pitcher he was holding on the table. Unlike before, his face seems to be straightforward. Did this guy have a mood swing?

“ Thanks, brother Bryan. “ Ivy said while giggling, which made my eyebrow raise.

“ You are welcome. I should leave you guys alone. “ Bryan said and then walked his way towards the door and went inside the house.

“ Brother Bryan is really too handsome, “ Charm remarked out of nowhere.

“ You are right. He is talented, too. “ Ivy added while giggling.

“ Ahem! “ Grace cut the conversation of two young ladies.

“ As far as I remember, I just told you, girls, to take care of your purity. “ Grace rebuked them while scrubbing the back of her head.”

“ But sister, brother Bryan was not a red flag. Actually, he is a walking green flag. “ Tasha tried to defend themselves, to which other girls agreed.

“ However, not all Christian you knew is destined for you. “ Monica remarked.

“ Okay, “ the other girls agreed in unison while displaying a face you can see to someone who lost in the lottery, which made me laugh in silence.

“ Do not worry about it too much. The right person will arrive in your life, soon. “ I commented, trying to comfort them.

“ Wow! Big word, Venice. “ Monica said in amusement and tried to hide her laughter.

“ It is actually what I really learned tonight. “ I replied. Monica gave me a meaningful look which made me sigh.

“ But who knows, sister Venice. Maybe you and brother Bryan is destined to each other. “ Joy remarked while giggling. I massaged my forehead because of what she said. I am not yet done with my problem with Jeremy; here she is shipping me for another man.

“ Stop that conversation already. Those are meant for adults only. “ Grace remarked calmly but with emphasis.

Everyone became silent after Grace’s remark. After a while, other girls started sharing what they had learned. Then, suddenly my phone rang. I checked who could be the caller, and I froze when I saw the name Jeremy on my phone screen. How playful can fate be?

“ Excuse me, “ I interrupted them first and pointed my finger to my phone. They just nodded in response, so I walked out of that place and stayed near a motorcycle. I answered the call.

“ Hello? “ I greeted.

( Are you at home already? ) Jeremy asked with a husky voice.

“ Are you drunk? “ I irritably asked.

( Just a few drinks ) He answered. This guy is really unbelievable.

“ Ahh, “ that is the only response I could tell him.

( You still did not answer my question ) he reminded me.

“ Not yet. I am still here at Monica’s house. I am thinking if I would stay here over night or asked someone to accompany me home. “ I answered.

( Who could it be? ) he asked once again

“ Maybe Monica. But I will still check, maybe it is best if I just sleep here. “ I answered him back.

( Okay, just send me a text message for your final decision ) he instructed.

“ Alright, bye. “ I said.

( See you tomorrow. I love you. ) he said.

“ See you, “ I said without paying attention to what he said at the end. I immediately ended the call.

A sigh came out of my mouth before I returned to the other girls. As I sat down, the sharing of insights about the topic delivered by Grace continued. After some time, the sharing had already ended, so we decided to call the night end and went home because it was getting late.

“ We should be going, Venice, Monica. “ Grace remarked.

“ Sure, Grace. I could not accompany you outside because I still need to clean this up. “ Monica said.

“ I will be the one accompanying them. “ I volunteered while smiling.

They just nodded to show that they agreed with what I said. We started walking, and when we passed by the kitchen, we saw its back of Bryan. Maybe because of the noise created by our footsteps, Bryan immediately noticed us.

“ Are you going home? “ Bryan asked.

“ Yes, brother Bryan. Sister Monica cannot accompany us because she still needs to clean our mess on the backyard. But Sister Venice volunteered to accompany us. “ Joy answered while smiling.

Bryan just nodded, and then he said, “ Okay, take care, all of you. “

“ Bryan, we should be going now. “ Grace said shyly.

Hmm, something smells fishy about that. Grace was so serious a while back, but when she talked to Bryan, she became a tame ship. What if? I stopped that thought when the other girls started walking towards the door.

“ Hey, Venice. We should be going. “ Grace said. See, that is how fast her mood swing.

“ All right, take care, all of you. “ I said while smiling.

Everyone just nodded, and they went outside the gate. They continued walking their way to their home. I just waved at them until I could not see them already. I closed the gate and went back to the backdoor to help Monica clean.

TO BE CONTINUED!