our gentle sin

sisterhood

3.

LISA POV

Sunday morning meant that I was up bright and early, dad made sure of it. By 09:30 I was in the chapel and welcoming kids in for the pre-communion service. The session lasted until 10:30 and mostly consisted of teaching the children simple prayers and about important people in the Bible and encouraging them to feel at home in the Church.

My knowledge was a bit out of practice but thankfully I was only assisting not leading the session and going over the simple teachings brought a wave of nostalgia over me, which I'm sure is what my Dad wanted.

After the session came the main service, something I don't think I'd been to in maybe six months now. I met a lot of familiar faces, people who had been coming to Church for years and had practically seen me grow up.

They were all thoroughly concerned about why they hadn't seen me in a while, but were kind nonetheless.

After service, I had around one hour of free time before my next activity. I took the opportunity as an ideal time for a nap.

When I woke up, I thought I could get away with not going and almost drifted back to sleep, but unfortunately, my Dad was there to make sure that didn't happen. Bright sun rays hit my eyelids as he pulled the blinds open.

"Come on, wake up! The one you've been most excited for, time with the Sisters!"

"Noooo." I dragged my protest out. "Please, Dad, I've done enough today. Can't you let me ease into it?"

"Nope! Nice try though. Come on get ready."

The plan was to eat lunch with the nuns to get to know them first. Honestly, I would have rather just gotten the lectures and guidance done and out of the way so I could go back to my room, but of course, it didn't matter what I wanted.

That was why I was making my way to the hall where they ate, there wasn't even an opportunity to escape since Dad insisted on walking me there.

"Mother Superior, this is my daughter Lisa I was telling you about."

"It's nice to meet you, Lisa. Your Dad tells me you need my guidance."

"Debatable." The sarcasm rolls off my tongue before I can stop it.

Her smile faded and she looked at my Dad.

"Lalisa!" Dad exclaims, smacking me upside the head.

"Sorry, I'm just... tired. I shouldn't have spoken like that, sorry."

"It's okay, Lisa. I'm here to help you. I think you'll genuinely benefit from what I can teach you and repair your relationship with God."

I bit back another snarky comment. 'Of course, Mother Superior, is that what I should call you?'

"That's fine, Lisa. If you'll come with me, I'm sure you'll find our lunchtimes are considerably different from yours, but we want you to feel comfortable, so we'll adjust for today."

"I'll see you later, Lisa, be good."

"Bye Dad."

Dad left, and I was left with Mother Superior. She pushed the door open and motioned for me to follow her.

It felt like all eyes were on me as I stepped into the room. There were rows of women, but it was eerily quiet. I guess by different lunches she meant they ate in silence.

"Everyone, this is Lisa. She'll be spending some time with us for the foreseeable future, so please make her feel welcome."

There was a soft murmur to welcome me. I awkwardly nodded and followed Mother Superior to the front table and took a seat next to her.

There were around eight other people at the table, all different ages; one or two looked around the same age as me. They kept their heads down whilst they ate but looked up when Mother Superior started talking.

She introduced me to each person at the table. I didn't remember any of their names, but I smiled at them politely and they returned it.

Despite living and growing up in the Church, I didn't have much experience with nuns. They kept relatively isolated from others and spent most of the time in the convent. Maybe that's why I had imagined a bunch of old, frail ladies. Looking around, there were some old ladies. They were all sat at their own table, eating their food in silence.

Our table was quiet, but it was still the loudest in the room.

"Is it always this quiet?" I poked my peas around on my plate, hoping to get rid of the awkwardness that was only apparent to me.

"Whilst we eat, yes mostly, but otherwise not so much. Feel free to speak though; it's not forbidden."

Easier said than done when no one else was initiating conversation and I didn't really know anyone.

"Your Dad told me about your... ahem, situation. I want you to know that I won't judge you. I'm here to help you. So, if at any point you find yourself struggling, feel free to talk to me or even one of the other Sisters here. Sister Rosie and Sister Jennie are both around your age, if you'd feel more comfortable talking to them, then don't hesitate"

I looked up to see her gesturing to the two girls across the table. I wasn't sure which was which, but one smiled brightly at me whilst the other gave a quick, small smile then gave her attention back to the food.

Well, if I ever did plan on talking to one of them, it would be the one that actually bothered to make me feel welcome. I smiled at her back and felt better about starting a conversation.

"So, how old are you guys?"

"I'm 20 and Jennie is 18."

So, Rosie was the kind one and Jennie was the one who either didn't like me or was simply shy. Either way, I wasn't overly interested.

"Isn't that a little young to be a nun?" I ask politely.

"Technically. we're not nuns yet, I took my temporary vows when I first joined a year ago, and they are professed for at least three years, then I'll take my permanent vows." Rosie says.

"What about you?"

I knew Jennie was listening because she wasn't all that interested in her food, despite pretending to be, and she looked up when I addressed her.

"Me?" Her voice is quiet and quite meek. I nodded. "I grew up here, since I was ten. I plan on taking my permanent vows in a few months."

"Oh, that's cool, I guess."

I wanted to probe for more and ask her more about growing up with nuns, mainly why she did, but it seemed personal and I didn't want to press too hard. Not to mention she didn't seem too eager to talk to me, so the conversation pretty much died down there.

Sister Rosie was someone I could see myself getting closer to, since I had no choice in spending time here, and a friend wouldn't hurt to have whilst I did. Meanwhile, Jennie didn't seem like my type of person. I didn't want to judge her after such a short period of time, but she was really cold and standoffish, and I just couldn't see myself becoming close to her.

After lunch, everyone went into a prayer room and I said a prayer with them. I was grateful when my time there was finished and I could finally leave. I thanked them for having me, said goodbye to Mother Superior, and went straight back home.