Read Online Spiralling Out of the Shadow (The Spiralling Trilogy) by Michelle Dennis Evans - Free Book Online Page A

edge of a group and waved to me as soon as I walked in. She dragged me around introducing me to Linda, Penny, Ina, Mia and Juliet. Another barrage of names turned into vapour, flew into my brain, and got lost in the grey. Shelly found another group of people and introduced more names until the band played and the general flow of people traffic took us into the hall.
    More words of encouragement saturated my soul that night. I’d been chosen by a greater being. I still wasn’t sure what continued to lure me into the youth group, but whatever it was, I wasn’t fighting it. The burden, the heavy weight that Stephanie had cast onto me earlier, had lifted.
    ‘ Why don’t you pop back here on Sunday morning?’ Shelly linked her arm through mine as we left the building.
    ‘ What? Come to church?’
    ‘ Yeah, it’s pretty much the same as tonight, just with families and everyone else.’
    ‘Thanks, I’ ll think about it.’ I waved goodbye and found Mum.
    When my head hit the pillow, I blanked out until I was woken at midnight with an uneasy squirming in my stomach. I shuffled downstairs to pour a glass of milk. Visions of Stephanie invaded my mind. She appeared like she was in a dream, but I was standing in the kitchen, wide awake. Visions of her taking dark paths instead of following the light wouldn’t leave me. The images replayed for the rest of the night while I tossed and turned.
    I lay in bed on Sunday morning as slivers of light crept across my doona. Again I thought of my absent friend. Whether Stephanie decided to move back to Sydney or not, I couldn’t see us being best friends like we had been. Our relationship had morphed into more of a sisterly phase. We were taking different paths. If I thought of her as ‘sister’, my frustrations decreased. This way I could still love her and respect her crazy choices.
    I hoped my dreamy visions would never see the light of day. Stephanie would end up in an awful mess if she acted like she had done in my mind through the night. My quest now strengthened —I needed to be there for her.
    It was Sunday. Shelly had invited me to pop in to their morning service. The warm glow that filled my insides whenever I went to youth group spread through me at the thought. Clueless as to what time the church service started, I showered, dressed and headed out to catch a bus.
    A few cars were parked out the front and the church doors were still closed. I read the transfer stuck to the glass. The service didn’t start for another hour, yet music echoed out through the crack in the doorway. The door wasn’t locked so I pushed it open and meandered inside to find the band doing a sound check.
    When I couldn ’t find any familiar faces, I sat in the back row and listened to their beautiful music. It was similar, though the volume was a little softer than on Friday nights. This could very well be my home away from home. Or had I come home?
    ‘ Hey, you’re here early.’ Priscilla plonked herself down in the chair beside me.
    ‘I wasn’ t sure of the start time.’
    ‘Don’ t sit all the way back here. Let’s grab a coffee and then sit a bit closer.’
    The auditorium soon filled up with an overwhelmingly large crowd. My heart thudded in my chest. Danny sat two rows in front of me. I stared at the back of his head while I listened to the preacher speak of grace and favour. I didn’t see Danny as I was leaving. Not that I was looking for him.
    That afternoon, Steph anie interrupted my study time when she rang.
    ‘ Everything’s okay. Jason’s okay with not doing it again.’
    ‘ That’s great, Steph.’ Everything in me wanted to say, don’t believe him .
    ‘ Are you still annoyed with me?’ Stephanie’s voice was almost a whimper. ‘Do you think that God is angry with me?’
    ‘ Are you sorry?’ I asked.
    ‘ Yeah, you bet I am.’
    ‘ He’s a forgiving God.’ I repeated what the pastor had said that morning.
    Steph sighed.
    ‘Hey, you know that youth group I