The Sketchpad

Youth Group

Alex tried to look nonchalant as she stepped through the door to youth group. She surveyed the group of teens sitting in a circle on the floor. 

"Hey! It's Alexander!" A voice called out.

A thin, tan girl with a few freckles and thick, dirty blonde hair jumped up from the circle. She jogged ten feet until she reached Alex.

Alex smiled widely. "Hey, Isaiah." The girl, whose real name was Isabelle but went by Izzy, gave Alex a huge hug, then pulled away and put her hand up by her mouth. She leaned in and secretively whispered to Alex, shielding her mouth from the prying eyes of the others with her hand. ""Support group is just as boring today as yesterday. And the day before. And the day before." 

Alex giggled and rolled her eyes. "Sure."

Izzy laughed, then quieted. "Oh, I forgot. It's never boring for you. Because you always look forward to spending and hour and a half with-"

"SSSHHH!" Alex hushed her best friend, then looked around to make sure nobody heard. "Remember? You know nothing! As in, don't say anything about it in public!" 

Izzy nodded. "Your 'infatuation' is safe with me." Both girls started laughing hysterically, and they made their way over to the circle.

Eight pairs of eyes peered up at them. Alex greeted them all. "Hey Sherrie, how are you? Dustin, nice weather for skateboarding. Oh, hey Hannah. Leah, how's the throat? Good, good. Shaun, good to see you. Vern, good vacation? I'll bet it's good to be back! Jessie, nice to see you." Alex's eyes traveled to the last person in the circle. His brown eyes met hers from behind longer brown hair, and when he smiled, dimples showed on his tan cheeks. "Eli. Um... hi!" Alex stuttered.

He grinned wider. "Hey Alex." Eli scooted left so that there was a space between he and Jessie. He gestured for Alex to sit next to him.

Alex's eyes widened. She looked at the Eli, then the floor, then Izzy (who made a kissy face and laughed), then back to Eli. He nodded encouragingly, and Alex dropped her notebook and pencil in front of her. 

She tried to gracefully sink into a criss-cross position, but her heeled boot caught on the thin carpet and she fell forward, stopping herself from faceplanting by putting her hands down, one of which got stabbed by her mechanical pencil.

"Ow!" She yelped, sitting back and examining her palm. 

"Are you alright?" Eli said, looking concerned.

Alex looked up in surprise, realizing that she was sitting next to her crush. "Oh! Pff, yeah. Just a scratch. See?" She awkwardly held up her hand, letting Eli see the lead stuck in it.

"Oh. Erm... yeah. Right." Eli nodded in mock understanding. "So..."

Alex took her hand down. "Yeah. Um..." The two teens stared at each other, the awkward silence spreading like a chasm between them. Luckily, at that moment an older man strode into the room.

"Hello, TVC Youth Group! It's a great day to be a Christian!" The man boomed, taking a seat in a rolling chair at the head of the circle. Alex and Izzy made eye contact and both rolled their eyes at the ridiculous slogan. 

And so the meeting began.