Dare to Be Different

by Nicole O'Dell

  “Do you find yourself in a situation where you know that what you are doing is wrong, yet you turn off the inner voice that cries out to your spirit? Do you ignore God because you are so dead set on doing whatever it is that you want

  to do?”

  Dani and Drew sat next to each other; they looked like almost the same person. However, they had completely different postures as they listened to the preacher. Dani sat with her head down, thinking. She was hoping that her sister was listening; and she was deeply worried that Drew wouldn’t hear the preacher’s message, a message that she obviously needed to hear. Dani worried that Drew was so eager to experience this new life that she wanted so badly that she’d ignore the Holy Spirit and get herself into trouble.

  Drew, on the other hand, was sitting quietly, looking at her fingernails, digging in her purse for a piece of gum, staying busy rather than truly listening to the words of the pastor. She had heard enough and, even though she knew that he was technically correct, it wasn’t a message that she wanted to hear or was willing to do anything about at that moment.

  “Sit up and listen, Drew.” Mrs. Daniels nudged her, trying to get her to take interest in the sermon. “Stop fidgeting so much,” she whispered to her daughter.

  Drew was very happy when the sermon was over and the congregation rose to their feet to sing a closing chorus. On the way out, they shook the hands of the people they passed; and as they approached the pastor, they paused to say hello. Mr. Daniels shook his hand and said, “Great sermon today, Pastor. You really hit home with this one.”

  “I’m very glad you got something out of it. How about you, young lady?” Pastor Michaels asked Drew.

  She wondered if he had noticed her inattention. “I thought you did a good job, too.” Drew didn’t quite know what to say.

  “Oh, I’m not looking for compliments on my speaking ability. I was wondering if the message reached you in any way.”

  “Sure, it did. It’s important to do what God wants us to do and not only what we want to do,” Drew answered, glad that she had heard at least part of the sermon but frustrated to be put on the spot like that.

  “It sounds like you did hear something after all. Just be sure that you take it seriously, young lady. They are nice words, but the truth behind them is what’s powerful.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.” Drew couldn’t wait to escape the scrutiny.

  “Man, I feel like I just got into trouble,” Drew complained as they walked to the car.

  “Drew, it was clear that you weren’t paying any attention. I was even a bit embarrassed. Perhaps the pastor sensed that it was a message you needed to hear,” Drew’s mom suggested.

  “I don’t know why. I was just bored.”

  “You still need to respect Pastor Michaels enough that you pay attention and don’t become a distraction.”

  Realizing that she wasn’t helping herself at all with her current attitude, Drew relented. “You’re right, Mom. Sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay, sweetie. Just make sure you don’t do that again. Now where should we go eat?” Mom asked, changing the subject.

  “I vote for Shakey’s,” Dani jumped in, suggesting the pizza buffet.

  “Sounds good to me,” Drew agreed.

  “I’ll go for that, too,” Dad said.

  “Sounds like it’s unanimous. Shakey’s it is.”

  They arrived at their favorite restaurant, and, as starved as they were, they were thrilled that it was a buffet so they didn’t have to wait for their food to be cooked and brought to their table. As they were being seated, they passed two students from school who were there with their families. They both said hello to Drew but ignored Dani.

  Pretending not to notice or care, Dani slid into the booth first, followed by Drew and their parents on the other side. They made several trips to the buffet and enjoyed a leisurely lunch.

  “I have news,” Dani said.

  “News? We’ve been together all weekend. How could you have something new to tell us that we haven’t heard already?” Drew laughed.

  “Well, I guess it’s more of an announcement than news, so far anyway.”

  “The suspense is killing me. What is it?” Drew prodded.

  “I have decided to try out for the debate team,” Dani announced, then sat back in her seat to wait for the comments. She was visibly happy with herself for coming to that decision.

  “That’s great, sweetheart. When did you decide?” Mom asked.

  “Ever since we talked about it the other day, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I just think it’s something I would be good at and I would enjoy. Plus, like Dad said, it will only help my college transcripts.”

  “I’m all for it,” Dad encouraged. “And I do think you’ll be terrific at it.”

  “That’s awesome, sis. I think it definitely is your thing. When are tryouts? Can we be there?”

  “Aw, thanks for even wanting to be …,” Dani began but was interrupted by Drew.

  “Of course we want to support you. I can’t wait to come watch you argue with people. It’ll be awesome.” Drew laughed.

  “They’re Tuesday after school. I almost missed them, so it’s a really good thing that we discussed it when we did. I had to dig up the calendar of events that we got when school started. Now I just have to practice as much as possible before then. Do you guys want to help me practice, maybe?”

  “Definitely. How do you practice for that, though?” Drew wondered.

  “I looked online at the types of categories and contests that are part of a typical debate-team event. The one that sounds the most interesting to me are debates where you have to blindly select a controversial category, like legalizing drugs, for example, and begin to argue one side of the debate. Then, when the bell rings, you have to flip and argue the other side—all with no preparation. Then you’re scored for how persuasive you were on both sides of the argument. Talk about thinking on your feet.” Dani laughed. “So maybe you guys could pick some topics and then help me figure out how to formulate arguments for the multiple sides of the debate. What do you think?”

  Everyone agreed that it sounded like fun and even kind of fascinating. They all agreed to help that evening and Monday night, as well.

  “This is going to be a fun year for us,” Mom said to her husband. “These girls are going to keep us busy with their activities, but at least they are both so very interesting.”

  “Oh, I completely agree. It’s going to be a great year. We should learn a lot from these two.”

  Chapter 7

  FAMOUS LAST WORDS

  “Drew, phone for you,” Dad called up the stairs. “Who’s calling, please?”

  “My name is Trevor, sir. I go to school with Drew.”

  “Hello, Trevor. Have we met?”

  “No, sir, but I look forward to meeting you,” Trevor said politely just as they heard a click on the other end of the phone line.

  “Dad, I’m on the phone now. You can hang up,” Drew impatiently said from the upstairs phone. Once her dad had hung up the receiver, Drew excitedly said, “Trevor, it’s great to hear from you. What’s going on?”

  “Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking about how much fun we had the other night, and I thought I’d give you a call to see if you were thinking the same thing.” Trevor sounded shy.

  “Yeah, to be honest, I haven’t thought about much else since.”

  “Me, too.” Drew wasn’t used to being so open and vulnerable and, though it felt good and very grown-up, it was a little awkward.

  “So what have you been doing today, Drew?”

  “I went to church with my family and then out to eat lunch. Just now Dani and I were in our room working on homework. How about you?”

  “I slept in until about eleven, and I’ve been playing video games since I got up. Just kind of a lazy day.”

  “Sometimes those are the best kind of days, especially after a night like Friday.”

  “I agree, and at le
ast I didn’t have to get up to go to church. Do you have to go every Sunday?”

  “Yeah, believe it or not, we go every Sunday morning and every Wednesday night, too. But Wednesday night is for youth group, which is fun. You should come sometime.”

  “Man, I don’t know if I could take that much church. I’m lucky that my parents don’t make us go. Do you hate it?”

  “No, I wouldn’t say I hate it. I sure would have preferred to sleep in this morning, though.” Drew laughed and then felt a little guilty for not standing up for her family’s values and supporting her church rather than almost mocking it with her comments. She wasn’t sure what to say next to repair her previous statements. She decided a change in subjects was a good idea. “So, do you have any brothers or sisters, Trevor?”

  “I have two little brothers and one little sister. My sister is almost two years old, and the boys are in between.”

  “That’s a lot of kids.” Drew laughed. “Do you like having little kids around or is it a pain?”

  “It’s not so bad … sometimes. It definitely has its moments. You’ll have to meet them someday soon.”

  “I’d love to meet them.” Drew wasn’t very practiced in these types of conversations, so another slightly awkward silence followed. She twisted the phone cord between her fingers until Trevor spoke up again.

  “So, you have a twin sister, huh?” When Drew said yes, he went on. “Is that weird? I mean, what’s it like to have someone who looks just like you?”

  “It’s pretty cool. I mean, my sister will always be my best friend. But even though we look alike, we have different personalities and interests. We’re just now starting to figure that out and do some things separately. Before, we did everything exactly the same.”

  “Do people ever get you mixed up?”

  “Yeah, that used to happen a lot. It doesn’t happen as much since I changed my hair, and I think that we just act differently lately.”

  “Did you ever try to mix people up?”

  “Oh, yeah. We’ve had lots of fun with that. We used to go to each other’s classes and try to mix up the teachers. It almost always worked. Once in a while we’d slip up and get caught. It was always funny, though.” Drew laughed at the memory. “One time, at summer Bible camp, we spent the whole week messing people up just for fun. We would switch beds and change our clothes midday. It was definitely a diversion in what had been kind of a boring week other than that.”

  “Well, at the risk of you two doing that to me, I’ll take my chances and ask if you want to go on a real date with me on Saturday night,” Trevor asked with a nervous tremor.

  Drew laughed out loud. “Oh don’t worry, I wouldn’t trick you like that, and I don’t think it would work anymore, anyway. But of course, I’d love to go out with you on Saturday,” Drew answered, not telling him that she wouldn’t be allowed to go on a date. She was determined to find a way to get permission. “I’ll let you know in school tomorrow, just so I can make sure that my family doesn’t have any other plans. Otherwise, it would be perfect.”

  “Great. I have to run for now, though,” Trevor said. “So, I’ll see you in school tomorrow?”

  “You bet. Thanks for calling.”

  Drew hung up the phone and sat quietly for a moment, contemplating the conversation she just had. The cutest and most popular boy in school had just called her and asked her out on a date. But her parents would never let her go, she realized with a sinking feeling.

  Drew considered all of her options. Maybe they would let her go if it were a group of kids—no, she quickly dismissed that idea. Even the idea of a group date would be quickly rejected by her parents. Maybe if she were honest with Trevor and invited him over to her house, they would get to have their “date” and her parents would get a chance to get to know him—no, that wouldn’t work, either. Then she would have to admit to Trevor that she wasn’t allowed to date. Drew wondered how she could ever avoid him knowing that. She needed some more time to ease into this and get her parents on her side, so she hoped that they had plans for Saturday night. Friday night would be game night and Sunday night was a school night; so if she could just get out of her “date” with Trevor for Saturday night, then she’d have a whole week before next weekend to work something out—which she fully intended to do.

  “Dani, we need to talk. I need your help,” Drew announced as she walked back into their bedroom and flopped on her own bed across the room from her sister.

  Dani looked up from the book that she was reading and raised her eyebrows in question.

  “What’s up?”

  “Trevor asked me to go out on a date with him on Saturday night.”

  “I don’t know how I can help with that.” Dani frowned as she put her book down. “You know it’s not going to happen. Besides, we have plans for Saturday night. It’s Grandma’s birthday, remember?”

  “It is?” Drew practically shouted in relief. “That’s great!”

  “How is that great? I thought you were happy he asked you out.”

  “Oh, I’m happy, that’s for sure. But I think I need more time to figure out how to get permission.”

  “Drew …” Dani leaned forward and lowered her voice in seriousness. “What’s the big deal? Why do you want to rush it so much? Why not just leave it alone?”

  “You just don’t understand. Trevor is the cutest boy in school, probably the most popular, too. Going out with him would really help me make a name for myself.”

  “You don’t need him to make a name for yourself … whatever that means. You’re awesome all by yourself.”

  “I want more, Dani. You just don’t understand.”

  “I get that you think you want something ‘more,’ but I just don’t understand what that means. More of what?”

  “I want to be popular. I want to have tons of friends. I want recognition and for people to know my name. I want to be prom queen one day. This is all part of making those plans a reality.”

  “So, poor Trevor is just a way for you to get the popularity you want? Is that fair to him?”

  “It’s not like that. I really do like him. Have you seen how cute he is? He is totally fun and has a great sense of humor, too. Plus, I like the way it feels when he holds my hand.”

  “What? He held your hand?” Dani was shocked her sister would have let things go so far with a boy she hardly knew. “Oh, Drew, this is going so fast. You really need to think about what you’re doing.”

  “I have everything under control. Don’t worry about me.” Drew patted Dani on her leg as she got up to leave the room. Dani just wasn’t ready for the changes that Drew was experiencing.

  “Famous last words, Drew. Famous last words.”

  Chapter 8

  PEP RALLY

  “Oh, how cute you look.” Mom grinned when she saw Drew dressed for school on Monday morning. It was Pep-Rally Monday—a tradition for the third week of school. It was a way to recognize the football team and cheerleaders and build school spirit and team support. As part of the event, it was an unspoken understanding that the players and cheerleaders would wear their home-game uniforms to school for the day.

  Drew was so excited about it, which was obvious by her big grin as she bounced into the kitchen. She was wearing her short-sleeved, tight, white cheerleading top that said Panthers down the right side with a gold and red chevron on the chest. The little cheerleading skirt was the shortest skirt Drew had ever worn. Brick red with gold cording around the hem, it flounced around her upper thighs as she swayed through the room. Her clean, white sneakers and white ankle socks finished off the outfit. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and secured with a gold ribbon, and she was wearing the extra makeup that her parents agreed she could wear for cheering events, unaware that she wore it every day, anyway. Drew was the perfect picture of a wholesome athlete, and her smile proved her happiness.

  “This is going to be such a fun day. You’re still going to come, right, Mom?”

  “Of course, honey.
I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll be at the school by one thirty to get a good seat. Now, you’d better eat something and get ready to go before you’re late. Where’s your sister?”

  “Dani says she doesn’t feel good. She’s dressed, but she says she isn’t going to school.”

  “What? Really? I’d better go check on her.” Mom left in a hurry to check on her daughter. She was sure that illness wasn’t really Dani’s problem.

  A few minutes later, Dani and her mom were walking into the kitchen, smiling. Whatever had been ailing Dani must have passed, because she looked just fine to Drew. “You ready, sis? Big day today. We need to go.” Drew was so excited she could hardly contain her energy.

  Drew spent a few minutes talking with Trevor in the hallway before first period. But just as quickly as they had started chatting, the bell rang, signaling that they had two minutes to be in their seats for their first class. “Oops, better run. I’ll catch you at the pep rally later.”

  “You bet,” Drew said. “See you then.” They turned and ran off in separate directions to their classes. They didn’t share any classes because they were two years apart. They did luck out and get the same lunch hour, though. But Drew wouldn’t see Trevor for lunch that day because the football team was having a pre-rally meeting. So she was on her own until later. Racing through the hall to get to her class, Drew could tell that the other girls were looking at her with envy, and the boys were looking her up and down, checking out how she looked in her cheerleading uniform. This had to be the best day ever.

  “Hey, Drew. How’s it going?” Sam, one of the varsity cheerleaders she met at The Grill last Friday night, slid into the seat next to her just before the bell rang. They had their homeroom class first, which was the perfect time to finish up homework from the day before, study for any tests or quizzes that would be given that day, or to quietly chitchat with a neighbor. But that day, Drew was too riled up to settle down to school-work, so she welcomed Sam’s company.