didn’t feel like returning after a broken engagement so I could take the walk of shame. My parents kept doing their gentle nudge thing to get me to go to my assigned ward, but I hoped the Lord would be patient with me while I hid out for a while in Alpine. Since the wait for the car made me late every week, it was nice to have Courtney always save me a spot.
I shot her a quick sideways glance and wondered how I knew so little about her when we’d been sharing the same pew for months. I knew it was my fault. After breaking up with Landon, I hadn’t quit wallowing long enough to make new friends. I’d been skipping Sunday School and Relief Society since I’d been in the ward, and as for the activities? Yeah, right.
But it was a little ridiculous that this girl had gone out of her way to do something thoughtful for me for months and I knew nothing more about her than that she owned cute shoes and had a pleasant singing voice. Chastened, I dug in my scripture tote and pulled out a blank thank you card, determined to meet my goal for the day. By the time the high councilman had droned out the last of his remarks, I had composed a friendly but not stalkery note. Now to figure out the delivery. Handing it to her would be dorky, and I didn’t have a ward directory to find her address. I debated slipping it into her scriptures but imagined how awkward it would be if she saw me do it.
Gah! How could this be so hard? For my next thank you card, I would pick someone I could mail it to without all the fuss. I caught a lucky break when the closing prayer ended and the guy across the aisle jumped up and made a beeline for Courtney. She turned to talk to him, and I seized the chance to drop the card into her open purse. When I stood to scoot past her and make my escape, she smiled at me. “Good seeing you. Are you staying for Sunday School?”
It was the same thing she asked me every Sunday, and I gave her the same answer I always did. “No, I’m going to take off.” But then I surprised myself by adding, “Maybe I will next week.” And she smiled a little more.
“Cool.”
I returned the smile and headed out of the chapel. Sacrament meeting always felt good, but in a young adult ward, the following two hours required more socializing than I had in me after my breakup. But it was definitely time to make more friends. Most of mine were paired off or married, and I had avoided their happy coupledom like they had a contagious cancer of their common sense. Courtney didn’t seem to be tied down to anyone; maybe she wouldn’t mind a new friend either.
* * *
Monday night I collapsed on my bed, exhausted. I’d spent all day making sandwiches and trying to think positive thoughts about my job. One of my part-timers had called in a half hour before his shift to say he couldn’t work because he had to study for a history test. Now I lay staring at the ceiling after a double shift and eating a popcorn ball that was the only thing left of FHE when I got home. I was trying to focus on the extra cash I’d earned and not on the extra Advil I’d had to take to compensate for my tired legs. Even when I had to turn my lamp off at eight o’clock so Rosemary could sleep, I used the opportunity to hang out in my dad’s office and revise my résumé in peace and quiet.
An hour later when Mace walked by and made a smart remark about my onion smell, I decided positive thoughts were overrated and chased him around downstairs until I tripped him and sat on him. I had his arm pinned behind his back and was insisting that he say, “Pepper is spicy goodness,” when my mom found us in the hallway and, grinning, looked on.
“Mom! I want her off of me,” Mace complained.
“I want a vacation to Bora Bora, but we can’t always get what we want.” She leaned against the wall and continued to watch us, amused. “Besides, I’m sure you deserve it. Pepper?”
“He totally does.”
“That’s what I thought,” she said.
I shot her a quick sideways glance and wondered how I knew so little about her when we’d been sharing the same pew for months. I knew it was my fault. After breaking up with Landon, I hadn’t quit wallowing long enough to make new friends. I’d been skipping Sunday School and Relief Society since I’d been in the ward, and as for the activities? Yeah, right.
But it was a little ridiculous that this girl had gone out of her way to do something thoughtful for me for months and I knew nothing more about her than that she owned cute shoes and had a pleasant singing voice. Chastened, I dug in my scripture tote and pulled out a blank thank you card, determined to meet my goal for the day. By the time the high councilman had droned out the last of his remarks, I had composed a friendly but not stalkery note. Now to figure out the delivery. Handing it to her would be dorky, and I didn’t have a ward directory to find her address. I debated slipping it into her scriptures but imagined how awkward it would be if she saw me do it.
Gah! How could this be so hard? For my next thank you card, I would pick someone I could mail it to without all the fuss. I caught a lucky break when the closing prayer ended and the guy across the aisle jumped up and made a beeline for Courtney. She turned to talk to him, and I seized the chance to drop the card into her open purse. When I stood to scoot past her and make my escape, she smiled at me. “Good seeing you. Are you staying for Sunday School?”
It was the same thing she asked me every Sunday, and I gave her the same answer I always did. “No, I’m going to take off.” But then I surprised myself by adding, “Maybe I will next week.” And she smiled a little more.
“Cool.”
I returned the smile and headed out of the chapel. Sacrament meeting always felt good, but in a young adult ward, the following two hours required more socializing than I had in me after my breakup. But it was definitely time to make more friends. Most of mine were paired off or married, and I had avoided their happy coupledom like they had a contagious cancer of their common sense. Courtney didn’t seem to be tied down to anyone; maybe she wouldn’t mind a new friend either.
* * *
Monday night I collapsed on my bed, exhausted. I’d spent all day making sandwiches and trying to think positive thoughts about my job. One of my part-timers had called in a half hour before his shift to say he couldn’t work because he had to study for a history test. Now I lay staring at the ceiling after a double shift and eating a popcorn ball that was the only thing left of FHE when I got home. I was trying to focus on the extra cash I’d earned and not on the extra Advil I’d had to take to compensate for my tired legs. Even when I had to turn my lamp off at eight o’clock so Rosemary could sleep, I used the opportunity to hang out in my dad’s office and revise my résumé in peace and quiet.
An hour later when Mace walked by and made a smart remark about my onion smell, I decided positive thoughts were overrated and chased him around downstairs until I tripped him and sat on him. I had his arm pinned behind his back and was insisting that he say, “Pepper is spicy goodness,” when my mom found us in the hallway and, grinning, looked on.
“Mom! I want her off of me,” Mace complained.
“I want a vacation to Bora Bora, but we can’t always get what we want.” She leaned against the wall and continued to watch us, amused. “Besides, I’m sure you deserve it. Pepper?”
“He totally does.”
“That’s what I thought,” she said.
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