God and Girl–Chapter 7

God and Girl is my first novel, written in 2015. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.

I finally read my Biology assignment on Saturday afternoon.

I would need to reread it before class on Monday, but I sure got the feeling that religion and evolution were like oil and water.  They were incompatible.

I couldn’t help but feel like I had been living under a rock my entire life. I felt overly protected, especially by my Dad and the church. It seemed odd but quite interesting, even a little exciting, to think that anyone could say there was another viewpoint on the origins of life and that religion was a myth. My religion? My Christianity? A myth?

The Introduction and Chapter One was, unsurprisingly, about evolution.  The author’s understanding and related beliefs got me to thinking that maybe the Bible isn’t all I thought it was, maybe not all I had forever been told it was.  If life, plants, animals, fish, birds, bacteria, have a common ancestor that originated billions of years ago, then it seems rather clear that there could be no Adam and Eve, or any other life forms spoken into creation by God as the Bible describes.

This all makes me wonder what, if anything at all, in the Bible is true, truly happened.

Dad would die if he knew what I was thinking.

As often is the case on Saturday night, Lisa, Sarah, and I hang out at Ryan’s house. Mrs. Grantham met me at the front door and said she liked my hair pulled back and then said everyone was already in the rec room.  She told me to head on down since she knows I already know my way around.  

“Hey there wonder girl.” Ryan said as I walked into the rec room.

“Back at you wonder boy, here’s some chips, dip, and a case of Evian natural spring water. You know I gotta have my mountain minerals.”

“The gang is out on the patio with a potential recruit. Let’s head out.” Ryan said.

As we walked out the sliding glass doors onto the patio I seemed to freeze. There, once again, was Ellen, the drop-dead gorgeous Ellen. At Nina’s, I had some way missed her curly black hair, maybe I recall she was wearing a baseball cap. But, I had not missed her oceanic eyes, deep blue, dazzling, penetrating my heart. Or, it seemed. And, something else I had missed, she was much more developed than me. Baggy clothes like she had on at Nina’s had hidden her figure. Now, she had on shorts and a sleeveless blouse, a little lower cut than my mom would let me wear, even to family dinners with only family present. She was smiling at me. That same mysterious smile I remembered when we were parting at Nina’s, when she said she looked forward to seeing me again.

“Ellen, I doubt if you have met Ruthie.” Ryan said.

“Are you always behind with your facts, Mr. Ryan? Ruthie and I met days ago. That’s when I learned you two were lovers.” Ellen said.

Ryan was so embarrassed, he is naturally shy, and now he had been so directly besmirched. It seems Ellen was quick on her feet and quite open with her thoughts.

“Ryan, have you been two-timing me?” Lisa just had to throw in.

“Okay, enough, enough. Ellen, you are too much.” Ryan countered.

“Well, Mr. Hotshot, love is a multifaceted thing. You and Lisa quickly jumped to the wrong but natural conclusion. Couldn’t it be true that you love Ruthie and that Ruthie loves you. You guys are friends aren’t you, and long-time friends at that from what Sarah tells me? So, don’t you two love each other, at least in a just-friend’s kind of way?” Ellen said.

“Well, I guess you could say that.” Ryan added.

“Just when I was beginning to think my dreams had come true. Just when I had believed that Ryan was my favorite of all my many lovers.” I added.

“Oh, so you are funny and quick yourself?” Ellen asked.

“Not really, just finally getting a chance to tell Ryan how I feel, how I’ve been feeling about him for a long, long time.” I said, giggling along with Ellen and Lisa.

“Okay, again, enough.” Ryan holding up his hands as though he was warning us to stand put, to shut our mouths. His face was just turning from red hot to warm pink when Sarah walked up with Sam, Ryan’s golden retriever.

“Hi Ruthie. Ryan, your creek is just about dried up. You need to buy more water, so we will have our natural soul music when we build our fire.” Sarah said.

Ryan and his family live out in the country. Their place has a back yard that backs up to a big creek that usually has quite a bit of water flowing through. Unfortunately, it hasn’t rained much this summer and the creek has about dried up. The creek is lined with big oak trees at the back of Ryan’s yard.  We built a fire ring out of big rocks we pulled from the creek.  We love sitting around the fire away from the world, down by the creek, out under the stars.  It is one of our favorite pastimes.  We do it every week, or at least every Saturday night that we can.

“I know, I know we need water. I’m praying for rain but still waiting.” Ryan said.

“So, when it rains, will you believe it was because of your praying?” Ellen asked Ryan.

“Wow, what a question. Are you making fun of my praying, of my religion?” Ryan asked.

“No, not at all. I just was trying to learn a little more about how you think. Maybe I was just warning you a little, tossing you a softball. Warning you that my Mom in Biology class will be trying to teach us critical thinking. She has this policy that nothing is too fragile, too off-limits, to talk about if it could be relevant to the current issue.” Ellen said.

“Okay, thanks for the tip.” Ryan said looking at me as though he was about to faint, as though he needed a wall to lean against.

“I’m starved. Let’s eat.” Lisa said with perfect timing.

“I brought Smoky Q’s famous chicken wings. You guys can thank my mom later.” Sarah said as we all came back inside the rec room from the patio.

After we all made our plates and sat down at the big round table Sarah asked Ellen if she missed Chicago.

“In a way, I do. It was a great place if you like living with a million-other people and like always having something fun and interesting to do. But, so far, I like Boaz. It is such a simple place, a laidback place, a place that I feel I will be able to get to know myself much better. Also, it’s a great place to meet new friends.  Thank you, guys, for inviting me and including me tonight in your special group.” Ellen said.

“How was school in Chicago?” Lisa said.

“I went to a private school in my sixth, seventh, and eighty grade years. A lot of private schools are religious schools. This was not. It was a private secular school. Now, don’t think it was therefore atheist. It was a great school with great teachers. It was all about education. You were treated with respect and expected to contribute.” Ellen said.

After we ate, Ryan’s mom asked him if he would go pick up his sister across town at a friend’s house. He asked Lisa if she wanted to ride with him. She did. Sarah, Ellen and I started cleaning things up.

“You two go on down to the fire. I’ll finish up here and be down in a little while. I have a call I need to make.” Sarah said.

Ellen and I walked down to the fire. Ryan, an Eagle scout, loved fire. He always built the fire before we arrived. He said that none of us knew how and that a good fire takes time and needs to settle in.

“It’s a little warm for a fire, don’t you think?” Ellen said as we pulled our chairs back a little.

“You won’t get any argument here.” But, it makes good light and it makes for good conversation. There is just something unifying about sitting around a fire.” I said.

“I don’t know much about sitting around an outside fire, but I suspect it could also be quite romantic with the right person.” Ellen said.

“I suspect you are right. Darn, I know you are. I guess it is every girl’s dream to meet just the right person and start a journey to love.” I said.

“I like that, journey to love. I might use that in a poem or some other writing.” Ellen said.

“Do you like poetry?” I asked.

“Yes, it is my anchor. It is what gets me through the rough spots in life. Maybe it will be my way to love. Maybe I will soon start a journey to love.”  Ellen said.

“Wow. I love poetry too. I’m taking poetry class this year, with Mr. Johnson.” I said.

“Awesome. Me too. I chose it and art as my two electives. Of course, you know already about me being in art class.” Ellen said.

“Seems like we have quite a bit in common.” I said.

“Yes. Maybe we will start our own journey to love in poetry class. Funny me. I guess I was trying to say, you could start your journey to love with someone, and I could start my journey with someone else.” Ellen said.

“Or, you could have been saying that we could start our journey to love together.” I said, surprised that I would have said something so bold, especially to someone I barely knew. 

I was shocked that I had said this. It just came rolling off my tongue. Just like I had known Ellen forever, and that we were mighty pals or mates and could say anything and everything to each other. But, something deep inside me was thrilled that I had said this. It was like there was a something deep inside me that was trying to connect with Ellen. It felt like that something that appeared at Nina’s, the first time I laid eyes on the gorgeous Ellen.

“Oh, I think you might have some reasoning ability. I sense you are a thinker. Please note that I didn’t say you were wrong in your conclusion.” Ellen said. 

“You guys want to roast some marshmallows?” Sarah asked, suddenly appearing from nowhere.

“I’m just fine with right now. I have food to eat you know not of.” Ellen said.

“I sense a little poetry brewing.” I added.

“Maybe, these words will brew up, start up, a wonderful journey.”

I looked at Ellen and saw the fire reflected in her eyes for a split second. Then she turned a little more towards me and looked and smiled maintaining her gaze a long time. I could see the brightness of her baby blues. Journey to love is all my heart would say.

Sarah, Ellen, and I sat around and tried telling ghost stories for another 30 minutes or so, and then Ryan and Lisa joined us. 

The next two hours went by in a blur. It was like I was in a fog. Great for me, Ellen was in that fog with me. Many times, during these two hours, we caught each other’s eyes. I felt, seriously, confidently, that we had stepped together on a path. I hoped it was for real.