A Bolder Version of Me (The Destiny Clark Saga Book 3)

by Cindy Ray Hale

  When I turned into the parking lot of Destiny’s church, anxiety churned in my stomach A voice in the back of my head kept warning me I was headed down the slippery slope Dad was always talking about. I ignored it. I was just here to impress Destiny’s parents.

  I looked around for the Clarks’ Suburban but didn’t see it. Reaching into my glove compartment, I gave myself a spritz of my cologne. I double-checked my hair in the rearview mirror and exhaled. Enough stalling. I climbed from the truck, straightened my green-striped tie, and clicked the key fob to lock up. A quick check to my watch revealed that I was fifteen minutes early. Maybe Destiny hadn’t arrived, yet. I opened the glass doors and stepped into the building.

  “Isaac?” I swung my head to see who’d called my name. Preston sat on a floral couch next to the entrance. I clenched a fist. He stood up and approached me, smiling. He decided to be nice to me now?

  “How’s it going?” he asked.

  “Good,” I said.

  “I have to admit, I’m surprised to see you here,” Preston said.

  I shrugged. “Eh. You know. I’m just trying to get to know Destiny better.”

  A stormy look crossed his features for a half-second before he composed himself again.

  “Isaac, you made it.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. “Oh Destiny, there you are.” She looked pretty in a dark green dress with her hair long and straight. “I’m sorry about last night,” I whispered.

  “It was horrible,” she said.

  “What happened?” Preston asked.

  “Let’s just say there was drama with the family. I’m surprised you haven’t already heard all about it from Michael,” Destiny said.

  “What are you talking about?” Preston asked, looking between us with suspicion.

  Destiny shifted her eyes between me and Preston and hesitated. She let out a breath. “My family is having a difficult time dealing with… us,” she said, showing the two of us.

  “What?” Preston asked. “Are you guys together or something?”

  I gave her a slight nod. Preston deserved to know. She looked back at him. “Yes. We are.”

  He looked away with a sour, downward curve to his mouth. He ran a hand through his hair and said. “Well, I’d better get in there.” He waved a thumb at the sanctuary, which seemed to get fuller by the second.

  Destiny grabbed my arm. “Come on,” she said. “We’d better make sure my family saved a seat for you.”

  “They know I’m coming, right?”

  “Only Olivia does.”

  “Why didn’t you tell them?”

  “I didn’t know how they’d react.”

  A lot of stares followed me as we walked into the room. Some older women twisted their heads to see us better as we walked away from them. One of them leaned over to her friend and said something about “Bishop’s daughter.” Bishop was what Preston had called Mr. Clark. Did that mean he was the pastor? I knew about the deep doctrinal parts of Mormonism, but I didn’t know much of anything about bishops. I scanned the room and saw him sitting up front. What had he told Destiny last night about me? That I was bad news? That she needed to stay away?

  I followed Destiny to the end of the pew where her mom sat with Olivia, Elijah, and Brianna. Mrs. Clark waved with a welcoming smile. Destiny sat next to Olivia, and I sat on the end.

  Michael and Preston sat at the front of the room behind a counter with a white tablecloth covering several trays. They were helping with the communion table? It annoyed me to see them sitting up there looking all official.

  A family with five kids sat in the pew in front of us. There were three daughters and blond-haired identical twin boys who looked to be about eight or nine. I smiled at the boys wrestling over a stuffed lion. The oldest daughter, who had light brown hair, saw me and stared with shocked recognition. She nudged her little sister, a thin girl with blonde hair who looked to be around middle-school age. The blonde sister took one look at me with Destiny, and her eyes got huge. She whirled back around, and the two girls sat with their heads touching, whispering.

  The dad, a guy with brown hair combed to the side and a slight cleft in his chin, turned around. He smiled and extended a hand over the pew. “Hi there. I’m Brother Nelson.”

  I shook his hand. “Isaac.”

  “So are you here visiting with Destiny?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Is this your first time to visit an LDS church?”

  “Uh… yes.”

  “Well, it’s great to have you.”

  “Thanks. You have a nice family,” I said.

  “Well, this is most of them. Our son Preston is sitting with Michael.” My brow arched. His face did kind of look like Preston’s.

  “Isaac and Preston have played paintball before,” Mrs. Clark said, leaning toward us to join in the conversation.

  “Oh, is that so? That’s great. I didn’t realize you guys were friends.” I wouldn’t put it that way.

  “We’ve known Isaac for years,” she said. “He and Michael were friends way back when they were babies in the church nursery at Bethel.”

  “If you stick around, you’ll see more of me. I’m the Young Men’s President. That means I’m in charge of the boys from twelve to eighteen.”

  “I have a question,” I said.

  “Sure.” He hung his elbow over the back of the pew.

  “What are Preston and Michael doing up at the front?”

  “In our church, the young men have the responsibility of blessing and passing the sacrament. They start at twelve with passing the bread and water to the congregation. When they’re fourteen and fifteen, they prepare the bread and water and clean up afterward. Once they turn sixteen, they break the bread and bless the bread and water.”

  “Interesting.”

  The oldest daughter turned around and said, “You’re Hannah’s cousin, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “She’s so cool. We were in the choir at Acorn Creek last year.”

  “You must be Megan.”

  She looked a little surprised. “Yeah. How did you know?”

  “I’ve heard about you.”

  Her mouth twitched. “I’ve heard about you, too.” She smiled to herself like she’d just said something hilarious.

  I kept expecting Mr. Clark to come over to me and say “Hi,” but every time I caught his eye, he scowled at me. Getting him to like me would be much harder than I thought.

  Three hours later, I stood outside the bathroom waiting for Destiny. Two women with toddlers passed me and went into the ladies’ room. I smiled and nodded, but neither of them would meet my eye.

  Preston’s sister Megan walked up to me with a shy smile and a wave. “Hey, how are you?”

  I shrugged. “I’m okay, I guess.”

  “Is this weird for you?” she asked.

  “A little.” There were some differences, like the twelve-year-old boys passing out the bread and water. That was weird. But overall, it was a lot more normal than I’d expected. The way Dad talked, you’d think they still performed animal sacrifices here.

  Voices from the bathroom carried out to the hall. “Did you see that guy the Bishop’s daughter brought with her?”

  “I heard from Sister Brown that he’s her boyfriend from the Baptist school. Can you believe it?”

  “She’s the last girl I’d expect to date a nonmember.”

  “Well, that, too, but I was referring to how good-looking he was. I mean, attractive. You don’t just see guys like that walking around often.”

  “Keri! You’re a married woman, and you’re twice his age.”

  “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I’m blind.”

  I glanced back at Megan. She covered a laugh with her hand.

  Those ladies had made my day. It was a little gross, but still flattering. They walked out, chatting until they saw me standing there, leaning against the wall. They both averted their eyes and shuffled down the hall.

  Destiny came out then, he
r face ashen. “Are you okay?” Megan asked. “We heard what they said.”

  She put on a brave smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  8

  Destiny

  After facing my family and not backing down, and then surviving Isaac sitting with me in church in front of the whole congregation, I decided I could face the school about our relationship. People would talk. It was pretty much unavoidable. Like the ladies in the bathroom.

  I met Isaac in the parking lot that morning. “Good morning, beautiful. Hand it off,” he said with a gorgeous smile.

  “Huh?” I wasn’t sure I could ever get used to the idea that Isaac found me beautiful. It seemed so strange.

  “Give me your bag. I won’t be seen in school letting my girlfriend carry her own books.”

  I laughed and passed him my backpack. He swung it over his shoulder and put his free arm around me. Aspen’s Mustang pulled into her usual spot, and she glared at us as we passed.

  Getting evil looks from Aspen seemed to be a reoccurring incident.

  Later that day, Isaac snuck a kiss behind my locker door, even though we weren’t allowed to kiss at school. Aspen walked by, and I heard her loud gasp.

  At lunch, when Isaac touched my hair, she walked past, and her mouth dropped open. She headed over to Will and sat, staring at us from their table. Isaac followed my gaze and murmured into my ear. “You don’t need to worry about her.”

  I wanted to believe him, but dread filled the pit of my stomach every time I saw her watching us.

  During Primus, Isaac made Josh switch seats with him so he could sit next to me. He put his arm around me and I snuggled into him, but then I looked up to see Aspen giving me another death stare from across the room. I said nothing to Isaac and this time he didn’t seem to notice.

  Michael was on the stage most of the time performing his Jean Valjean parts with Will as Javert. While they were duking it out onstage, Isaac and I spent most of the class period hanging out backstage flirting and joking around, dodging the dirty looks that Aspen kept shooting in our direction.

  “Marius, isn’t it a little rotten to cheat on Cosette with Éponine?” Jessie Larsen asked.

  Isaac rolled his eyes at her. “You’re making this musical too literal.”

  I studied the carpet beneath my feet with a smile. I didn’t know anything about taking the musical too seriously.

  “Mr. Byrd was the one who made it too literal. Just look at how he cast everyone. Will is Javert the self-righteous jerk; Aspen is Cosette, the spoiled brat; Destiny is Éponine the dirty street rat; Sydney’s the raunchy hotel owner’s wife; Hudson is Enjolras, the sexy rebel; Michael is Jean Valjean, the misunderstood convict; and Isaac is Marius, the sought-after hot guy. Oh, and don’t forget Hannah, who’s Fantine the prostitute.”

  “Is that necessary, Jessie?” Isaac asked.

  “Jessie, you’re just bitter you don’t have a part,” Sydney Carter said.

  Jessie pretended she didn’t hear and moved on to another group to complain.

  “She makes me crazy,” I said.

  “I know,” Isaac said. “Don’t think about her. Let’s plan the next time I can see you outside of school instead.”

  For the next two weeks, whenever Isaac didn’t have football, we met at Hannah’s house after school. Isaac kept serenading me with his guitar. Every time he came over, he had a new song written for me.

  Since Mrs. Miller thought I was Baptist, she was supportive of our relationship. Lucas knew everything, including the drama around our religions, but he was as supportive as Hannah and kept our secret. During those blissful two weeks, the five us of became close. We consumed more Pop-Tarts than was recommended, avoided our homework, and sang Les Mis until Mrs. Miller suggested we try singing songs from another musical. Lucas turned out to be an excellent singer. It wasn’t surprising, considering how musical his family was. Being Isaac’s girlfriend was everything I’d hoped and dreamed it would be. He was tender and kind, the perfect gentleman.

  That blissful period couldn’t last though. The breaking point happened on a Tuesday evening. We were sitting on the leather sectional in Hannah’s family room. Hannah and Evan were sitting in the kitchen pouring over her geometry homework, and Lucas was in his room. Mrs. Miller had just run to the store to pick up a few last-minute items for dinner. Isaac lounged with his head on a throw pillow in my lap, his laptop propped between his knees and chest. He filled out college applications while I ran my fingers through his beautiful, dark hair. He looked up at me and sighed. “That feels amazing, you know that, right?”

  Before I could answer, the doorbell rang. Isaac wiggled to get up, but I said, “I’ll get it. You keep working on your applications.” I opened the massive mahogany door, and my mouth dropped open. On the front porch, stood the same two missionaries my family had just had over for dinner the night before.

  “Destiny? We weren’t expecting to see you here.”

  “Hey, I was about to say the same thing to you.” Did Isaac call them? Hannah?

  “We’re just out tracting, knocking on doors… you know, the usual missionary stuff,” Elder Benson said. He was an All-American-looking guy, with bright blue eyes, and close-cropped blond hair. I knew from talking to him last night he’d only been on his mission since June, which meant he was only a few months older than Isaac.

  Isaac appeared behind me. “Who are your friends, Destiny?”

  Elder Benson showed off his genuine smile and extended a hand to Isaac. “Hey there. I’m Elder Benson, and this is Elder Whitefield. We’re missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

  He shook their hands and grinned. “Elder, huh?”

  “Oh, it’s just a title we get when we’re on our mission,” Elder Whitefield explained. He was dark-haired, tall, and had hazel eyes. He’d been over to my house many times before since he’d been assigned to my area for the past three months.

  “So you guys are missionaries from Destiny’s church?”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Elder Whitefield answered.

  Hannah and Evan came in from the kitchen. “Who’s at the door?”

  The elders introduced themselves, and she beamed.

  “Whose house is this?” Elder Whitefield asked.

  “It’s mine. I’m Hannah. This is my boyfriend, Evan, and my cousin Isaac who is dating Destiny.”

  Oh, she just had to add that part in, didn’t she?

  “Are your parents home?”

  “No, my mom’s out grocery shopping, but she should be back soon.”

  “All right. We just wanted to share a message about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with you and your parents. When’s a good time for us to come back to talk to them?” Elder Benson asked.

  “Well, I don’t know…” Hannah said.

  “That’s okay. No pressure. Here’s our number if you decide you’d like to set up an appointment with us.” He handed her a pass-along card with a picture with Jesus on one side and their phone number written on the other side.

  “Before you guys go,” Isaac said. “I have some questions. I’ve studied your beliefs for years, but I’d like to hear more about it from you.”

  The elders nodded, but I sensed uneasiness in Elder Benson’s eyes.

  “Isaac’s been to church with me once,” I said.

  “Oh, really?” Elder Whitefield said. He relaxed. “Okay.” He stood on the porch, gripping the straps of his backpack as he explained the basics of our beliefs starting with God and an overview of the events in the Bible. It was all the same stuff they had taught me at Bethel, and Isaac nodded in understanding. Then they explained that the fullness of the Gospel was taken from the earth.

  “What do you mean by ‘fullness of the Gospel’?” Isaac asked.

  “They mean the power to baptize and to bless the bread and water for the sacrament,” I explained.

  He nodded, and they continued. They explained how the restoration of the fullness of the Gospel came about with Joseph Sm
ith and the translation of the Book of Mormon in the early 1800s.

  I studied Isaac’s face. He was respectful to the missionaries, and he seemed intrigued by what they had to say. But when they asked him if he’d like a copy of the Book of Mormon, he shook his head. “I can borrow one from Destiny.”

  “I’ll take one,” Hannah said. My head snapped up. She would? Why had I never given her one? Man, I was such a bad missionary.

  Isaac’s brow furrowed. Elder Benson unzipped his backpack, pulled out a new copy of the Book of Mormon, and handed it to Hannah. She flipped through the pages. “This is awesome! Now I have my own!”

  “Hannah, will you commit to read the Book of Mormon and pray to see if it’s true?” Elder Benson asked.

  A muscle twitched in Isaac’s jaw as he watched her clutching it.

  She nodded. “I probably won’t read all of it, but I can read some and pray about it.”

  “Hannah…” Isaac started.

  A car pulled into the driveway. Hannah’s mom stepped out of her car with a Louis Vuitton purse slung over her shoulder. “Oh, I didn’t realize we had guests! Hi. I’m Bethany Miller.” She walked up the sidewalk and shook Elder Whitefield’s outstretched hand. As her eyes lit on his name tag, she dropped her hand. “What’s going on here?” She looked around in confusion. I just imagined her thinking, Who invited the Mormons? Her eyes fell on her daughter clutching her brand-new copy of the Book of Mormon, and her face twisted in shock and revulsion. You’d think she’d caught Hannah posing for a porn magazine the way she was looking at her.

  “Why is my daughter holding that book?”

  Silence hung in the air.

  “Someone needs to explain what’s going on, or I will call parents.” Great.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. If we’d realized…” Elder Whitefield started.

  “You boys had better go home,” she snapped. She walked to Hannah and ripped the book from her hands as Elder Benson walked past. “And you might as well take this book with you, too. We don’t keep this kind of garbage in our house.” Elder Benson slipped it back into his bag with a solemn expression on his face.