Read Online Faith Wish by James Bennett - Free Book Online

with his mouth, his deep, doe-brown eyes didn’t change. Even though she didn’t know him very well, suddenly, Anne-Marie remembered his liquid brown eyes vividly, as if she had actually made a past practice of scanning them.
    â€œYou were at the prayer circle this morning,” said Chris.
    â€œYeah, I was.”
    â€œFirst time?”
    â€œYep, first time.”
    â€œHow’d you like it?” he asked.
    â€œIt was fine. I was touched and moved. It wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it might be.”
    Chris leaned back in his chair, his eyes as deep as pools, but neutral. Anne-Marie thought how good he must be at masking his true feelings, but wondered if it came naturally. Maybe it came with lots of practice. From her talks with Brooke she knew the real pain in his heart was about being gay. “So what clothes did your brother want to borrow?” she asked him.
    â€œIt’s not what he wanted to borrow, it’s what he did borrow. Actually, stealing might be a better word than borrowing, because if you borrow something it means you’ve asked for permission.”
    â€œWhat clothes?”
    â€œSweaters mostly.”
    â€œBut you’re so tall, Chris. How would they fit your smaller brother?”
    â€œThey don’t fit. He just likes them, and the looser the better.”
    â€œI never had the problem,” said Anne-Marie. “My sister, Eleanor, was six years older. I couldn’t have worn her clothes even if I’d wanted to. But when she moved away from home for college and grad school, she left a lot of her finest behind. It practically doubled my wardrobe.” Anne-Marie wasn’t thinking about clothes, though. She was thinking about Chris.
    He might have felt a little guilty about leaving his younger brother at home without a ride to school, but she knew that wasn’t his core suffering. Anne-Marie had the sudden urge to ask him about it, but she didn’t know him well enough. That doesn’t make sense , she thought; when we’re connected in the Fellowship, we’re bonded more tightly than any mere friendship, even a very close one .
    â€œWe get stronger when we’re joined together with the Fellowship of believers,” he said.
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œYou said joining the circle around the flagpole wasn’t nearly as scary as you thought it might be. I’m just telling you why I think that is. There’s strength in numbers.”
    â€œOh, right. You’re right. It’s the togetherness.” She stopped talking long enough to tighten her black scrunchie. “I’ve been reading my Bible a lot, too,” she told him. “When we were holding hands, I repeated the verse, ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ It’s from Romans.”
    â€œIt’s the perfect passage,” said Chris, nodding his head swiftly. “Romans eight, verse thirty-one.”
    â€œYou know that by heart?” She was amazed.
    â€œIt’s a familiar passage,” he replied. “I repeat it often myself.” He leaned forward again and propped his elbows on the table.
    â€œYou never told me why you’re here,” Anne-Marie reminded him. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
    He smiled again. “No, no trouble. I’ve just been working with Mrs. Kaplan on a scholarship application to Northwestern.”
    â€œWith your high grades, why would you have any trouble getting in?”
    â€œHow do you know about my grades?”
    â€œYou’re in the National Honor Society,” Anne-Marie answered immediately.
    â€œI’m not worried about being accepted, I have been already. But I need scholarship money, or my family can’t afford to send me there.”
    His academic problems couldn’t possibly be any more different than mine. He’s choosing from prestigious colleges and I’m probably not even going to graduate .
    Then he asked her, “Why are