Breathe

Chapter Nine - Why Me?

Nearly a week passed and it was time for Opal to go back to meet with the Youth group at her church. Tonight, she would be leading the song Your Spirit with Ashtyn, and she couldn't be more nervous. The only other person she had ever sang with was her mother and sometimes James. As she sat in the car with James, he played the song for her on the ride there. He suggested she sung the lower part that Kierra Sheard sang during the harmony between her and Tasha Cobbs. Opal agreed but didn't mean she was completely sold on doing this just yet.

As they arrived at the church, Opal let out a heavy sigh. Before she could open the door, James grabbed her arm. "Opal?" He said softly, making her look at him. "For me...can you at least act like you're enjoying yourself." His eyes seemed to almost beg her. She sighed softly and nodded. "Okay, James. I will."

Once in the church and in the fellowship hall, Opal put on a smile as everyone looked over at her and James. Everyone seem to have already formed the circle of chairs. "Hi." Opal said softly as she grabbed a chair and joined the circle of people. Everyone greeted her with smiles. She was ready to go already, but she pushed past the feeling.

"So, did you practice any?" Ashtyn asked her.

"A little." Opal admitted. James played both songs she volunteered for nonstop. He even would play Indescribable by Kierra Sheard right after Free, so sometimes she subconsciously practiced that too. Most times, she couldn't get it out of her head.

"Okay, so who is going to pray us in today?" James asked as he sat down.

"I will." Isaac said in his usual soft tone.

"Alright, go ahead." James nodded as everyone joined hands. Isaac thanked God for the day and for getting everyone there safely. He also prayed for a successful practice. "Amen." Everyone said when he was finished.

"Okay, so we said we would practice Your Spirit and Free tonight last week. Ashtyn and Opal, you two ready?" James asked the girls.

"Yes, sir." Ashtyn said excitedly with a nod before looking at Opal.

Opal gave as good of a smile as she could before simply nodding. She then pulled the song up on her phone. Ashtyn started off the song. The song had a lot of harmonizing in the beginning of it. As the song progressed, Opal did stand out on a bit of the song. Hearing the girls harmonizing together, just them two, was amazing for the whole room to hear. As she sung, Opal felt  strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that seemed to surge throughout her body as she sung. "What is that...?" She thought as she sung. The more she sung, the stronger it got.

Earlier that day, she used an app on her phone to merge the two tracks together so that Your Spirit would fade to Free. She took a deep breath as she began to sing by herself. In the parts of the song where the original singer mainly talked, Opal harmonized. She didn't know what to say or whether to just say what the singer said, so she just harmonized and sung with everyone else. Once the song was over, she looked around the room. Everyone looked a mixture of shocked and elated.

"Wow..." Was all James could say. "So...I had been meditating on something since last week." He said to the group. "And I know that Free leads right into Indescribable by Kierra, so I was wondering if you all wanted to add that song to the list." He looked around at everyone who all were nodding their heads. "And Opal, if you don't want to lead that song because it's too much, that's fine."

"I've been practicing that too anyway. I may as well." She said before she could even stop herself. "What in the world was that? That couldn't have been me that said that." She thought in her head.

"Oh...awesome." I wide smile spread across James' face. "You want to practice that tonight or do you think your voice needs a break."

"Um...I think I need a break for tonight." Opal said softly.

"You sounded great though." Ashtyn said to Opal.

"Yeah, you were great!" Angelica agreed.

After a few more minutes, it was time to go home. "Angelica, why don't you pray us out?" James asked.

"Oh, sure!" She said with a smile as everyone joined hands again. Angelica said a short prayer and soon everyone was on their way out the door.

Once in the car, Opal put on her seatbelt and looked at James. "I have a question." She said as he started driving.

"I have an answer. Shoot." James said.

"This is going to make me sound crazy but...while I was singing...I had got this weird feeling in my stomach that seemed to go throughout my body. And like...the feeling kept getting stronger and stronger and bigger and bigger. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't." Opal explained, wondering if something may actually be wrong with her, that is until James started laughing.

"Well, that feeling...some call it the Spirit, some call it the Holy Ghost, all I know is that means that God was moving through you as you sung." James answered.

"And I thought I was going to sound crazy." She said.

James couldn't help but laugh. "I know it sounds silly, but that's honestly what it is. When God comes in the room, whether you're singing, worshiping, or He just decides to show up, you feel it. It's tangible. That's the only explanation I got for you, little cousin. Unless it's the tacos you made me stop for before we got here." He joked.

Opal didn't respond. If that was God, which was a big if for her, why her? She wasn't even a Christian in her books. Yeah, she was singing Gospel, but she wasn't religious, so why was God moving through her? This question stayed in her head well into the night, even as she went to sleep. "Why me?"
.

.

.

.

.

.

Okay, so...I'm back!!! After my hiatus, I am back, hopefully to stay. I hope you guys have missed me! I have soooo many ideas to bring to the table for this story. This is going to be a long one because the climax hasn't even hit yet. I hope that you guys who actually read my stories like it. If I take another break, just know I'm thinking of something to bring into the story. I'm also playing with a story idea in my head (shhhh...it's a secret). Also, I was wondering if I should link the songs at the end of the stories I make. It's mainly the music that inspires these stories and then the next thing I know, it's here on this app. So, if you think I should link the songs, comment here or dm me. I don't mind at all. Well, that is all. If there's any questions you guys have at all, feel free to dm me at any time and I will definitely answer you eventually. Love you guys! Stay Blessed! See you in the next chapter!

-RoyalThaGoddess
P.S. How y'all like the name change?