Love, Loathing, and Limelight

Chapter Four

Here's my stance on church: it's fine if you choose not to complicate things. Megan made me go to church when I was a kid because it already looked bad that I lived with her. I guess she just thought that church would keep people from asking questions, but I think it did the opposite. Nobody at church takes me seriously because they think I must be just like Megan, but I don't care.

I walked into the sanctuary where I usually sit. I sat down at the end of the row, and nobody talked to me. It's not that the people are rude. It's just that I don't have any interest in talking to them. I go to church for one reason: to hear whatever the pastor has to say. Even if you don't believe in God, I think there's always something you can learn from the Bible about being a better person. I don't go to Sunday School. I don't go to Wednesday nights, and I don't go to events because I don't go to socialize. It also doesn't help that the teens who go to church are the biggest hypocrites I've ever met. I'd rather not be associated with them.

As I took my usual seat, church conversation circles formed throughout the sanctuary. I got out my phone to pretend like I was texting someone so that nobody would talk to me, and for the first time, it didn't work. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and looked up to see a guy my age. He was wearing sunglasses, a hat, and a red hoodie from a brand I don't care about.

"Hi," he said lightly.

"Hi?" I said. I was confused, but I didn't want to be rude.

"Is anybody sitting there?" he asked as he pointed to the seat next to me. There were many empty seats around me, but he picked the one next to me, so he must have had a reason to sit with me. The thing that made it weird was that I didn't recognize him.

"Uh, no, go ahead," I said as I moved my legs so he could get by.

"Cool," he said as he got past me and settled into his seat. It was strange. Of all the empty seats he could have picked, he picked the one next to me. More than that, he didn't seem interested in talking to me. It was as if he wanted to be near me but didn't have anything to say. For the few minutes of awkward silence, he was staring at his phone or looking around the room, paranoid. As the pastor walked on stage to give opening announcements, I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening. I had a suspicion as to who it was, and as the pastor kept talking, I looked at him, just once and very briefly, to try to see if I was right.

He was pale and had light-ish brown hair that was short yet thick and full, and his nose was long and defined. I could only look at the part of his face that wasn't covered, but I noticed that he was quite handsome for a brief moment, which caught me off guard. He took off his sunglasses once he was settled in his seat. Then as I focused a little more on his foggy green eyes, I recognized him. I knew those eyes. I had seen them the day before. When I saw them the first time, they looked scared and frantic. Then it hit me. This Noah-whatever literally followed me to church. This Noah-whatever is absolutely crazy.

"Oh my god," I said under my breath. He turned and looked at me to say, "what is it?". My eyes widened as more realizations came to mind. "Oh my god!" I half yelled, but quietly. Church was still happening. I stood up and, causing a little bit of a scene, practically crawled over him to get out of the row of chairs. I walked quickly up the aisle, looking back to ensure he wasn't following me; he was.

I was walking quickly, but not running, out of the church. I decided to establish my thoughts about him then and there. I borderline hated him. I never wanted to see him again. That was that. My mind is hard to change once it's made up. As I ran down the steps to the entrance, I heard him calling out to me.

"Hey, wait!" I was ignoring him. I had my eyes locked on where my bike was. "Excuse me!" He was getting closer.

"What do you want?!" I half screamed. "Do you even know how weird this is?"