Read Online A Chance at Love by T. K. Chapin - Free Book Online Page A

soul and caused me to stop and dwell. Proverbs 16: 3.
    “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
    Praying over it, I lifted my head and read it quietly to myself. This is a promise, I reminded myself. This isn’t just something that sounds nice; this is the Creator of the universe making a promise to me. A quiet peace came rushing through me. God’s truly going to take care of me. A smile grew as I lifted my eyes to the ceiling. “Thank you, Lord.”
    Finding peace and being satisfied with my reading, I took a loose piece of paper and marked the spot in Proverbs, then returned to playing video games.
    My mind began to drift to Emily. Every five minutes, I’d think about her and pick up my phone to text her, but then I’d decide against it and toss my phone back to the floor a few feet away from me. I didn’t want to come off as clingy with her, but without hearing from her last night, I felt worried that something could be wrong. What kept me from texting her was the fact that there was no set in stone schedule on when we’d talk.
    I’m just going to call her , I thought to myself as I took off my headset and set down my controller. Picking up my phone, I went over and sat on my bed to dial her, but I was startled when a knock came from my bedroom door, followed by an open. It was Joanie.
    “Jeez! What’s the point of knocking if you just walk in?” I snapped at her as I set my phone down beside me on the bed.
    She smiled wryly and replied, “What’s the point of living here if you don’t even tell me you’re home?”
    “What?” I asked. “I thought you were in school today.”
    “I had a doctor’s appointment this morning so Mom let me skip. You would know that if we ever talked anymore.” She came and sat down next to me on the bed. “You got home yesterday and left immediately. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
    “Okay, let’s talk now,” I replied, looking over at her.
    She fell backward onto the bed and brought her hands to her forehead. “You know I wouldn’t come to you about this if we weren’t close, Kyle.”
    “Okay . . . I know that.”
    She sat back up on the bed and jumped up. “Forget it. I can’t talk about this with you.”
    “Wait, Joanie!” I said. Leaping from the bed, I grabbed the door before she could leave. “Spill it.”
    Her lip tightened as her eyes watered. Coming back into the room, she walked past me and sat down on the bed. My heart ached as I saw the tears welling in her eyes. “I tried talking to Christina and Ella about this, but they don’t get it. They think I should just get with the times and be normal . But if that’s normal, I don’t want—”
    “What are we talking about?” I asked, returning to the bed to sit beside her.
    The tears that were welling in her eyes began to escape, trickling down her cheeks. “You know that Tony guy I’ve been dating?”
    I nodded.
    “He keeps hinting at wanting to take things to the next level or whatever, but I don’t want that.” She shook her head as more tears came running down her cheeks. “I just want to be loved.”
    I put my arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug. “You are loved, Joanie. You have a family that loves you, and Tony probably loves you too. Maybe he’s just not thinking clearly. Have you talked to him?”
    She shook her head and looked at the floor. “No . . . I don’t know how.”
    “Just tell him that you really like him—”
    “I love him.”
    “Okay. Tell him you really love him and that you want to be together, but that’s not going to happen until later.”
    “I want to wait for marriage.”
    My eyebrows rose. “I thought you weren’t into God?”
    She furrowed her eyebrows and pressed her hand against her chest. “I want this for me, Kyle. Not God.”
    I raised my hands, “Okay, okay. He needs to respect your wishes.”
    “What if he gets upset and dumps me?”
    I shrugged. “Was he worth it if that’s all that