Faith

Chapter Twenty-Five

Proverbs 18:24 (CEB) -- There are persons for companionship, but then there are friends who are more loyal than family.

"So," Ryan said, after she took a sip of her fruit punch. "You are going to church this Sunday because you want to try and get Sam's forgiveness for your awful actions."

I rolled my eyes and nudged Ryan, but it wasn't hard enough to make her spill her drink. "My actions weren't super awful."

"They were to Sam."

"Stop," I whined. "You don't need to remind me." Ryan laughed and took another sip.

Ryan and I had nothing to do after school, so instead of sitting at home and being bored, we decided to hang out for a little while. First, we went to visit my dad in the hospital. (He is doing fine and expects to be out soon.) After that, we headed to the mall. We stopped at a new juice bar, which was the best decision we have made at that mall for a long time.

"You know, I really like this strawberry kiwi smoothie," I stated as I took a long sip of the delicious drink. Because I did this, my speech was mumbled and it came out sounding, "Yuh now, eh rul like dis saw bury k-we soothie."

Ryan burst out laughing with a huge snort and spit her drink all over the table. A spray of fruit punch sprinkled over my face and I squealed with disgust. My smoothie squirted out onto Ryan and the table.

"Ew!!" Ryan screamed and frantically grabbed for the napkins. She took a whole handful and started dabbing her shirt and face. "I'm covered in spit and kiwi!" Ryan wailed as she wiped her face.

I laughed at her disgust, then grabbed my own napkins to wipe off the fruit punch. "Your face!" I sputtered out. Ryan's face was twisted into a nasty grimace, one I have never seen before. I kept laughing harder and harder.

"Shut up, Kaitlyn!" she growled. She slammed the napkins down on the table and pulled out her phone. She used the reflection of the screen to check her face. Once she was satisfied, she focused her attention on me. "You are just lucky you are my best friend, or else I would be pounding you into the ground with my new combat boots."

I snorted. "Yeah, right. You would be too afraid that you would scuff the toes."

Ryan stuck her tongue out at me, but didn't say anything back. I laughed. "Looks like I got you!" I teased. Ryan slouched in her seat and pouted, arms crossed. "Ah, Ryan, don't be mad," I cooed. "It was just a little bit of spit."

Ryan growled quietly and threw the wad of napkins at my face. I batted them away easily and the napkins harmlessly fell to the floor. "God, I hate you."

I smiled at my best friend. "I hate you too."

Ryan dropped the fake-mad act and gave me a dazzling smile. "I'm going to miss you a lot, Kaitlyn."

"You won't miss me. People miss each other when they don't see each other, but we will always find time to spend together," I reassured.

"Until track season," Ryan spoke softly. "Then you will be busy training all of the time, and we won't be able to do stuff after school."

"Oh, Ryan, we also have all summer to hang out! Softball doesn't take up all of your time, and I'll come watch you play with the new school!" I spoke, excitement lacing my voice. "We can stay best friends, and we will stay in contact. We are too close to let our friendship fade because of a long distance."

Ryan laughed. "We can make this long-distance relationship work."

"Hell yes," I uttered with a small fist pump.

"Why are we talking about me leaving?" Ryan asked with a shake of her head. "I want to talk to you about your hunky southern boy."

I giggled, thinking about Sam. But I slapped my hands over my mouth. "I can't believe I just giggled. But you should know its weird to call Sam southern. He rarely has an accent, and he isn't a hillbilly. I just view him as a normal male."