The drive home had been quiet after Vance quit messing with her. He was content to hold Anise's hand. She was the one to shut down, concerned about them and parents in the same thought. Once there, he walked her to the door and kissed her--not one meant for the streets, but for a father who could open the door at any moment. Pa didn't disappoint, opening the door seconds after they pulled apart.

Mercifully, Vance was safe to get down and talk with her parents, taking up what little time she had left with him. After he left, she got the bright idea to talk to him while she took a long soak, leaving him grumbling about having just gotten rid of the damn thing. Not like she did anything sexy--thinking about her in the tub did it for him. She didn't think about what it did to her.

She was very quick to hang up when he got back to his room and told her that he was going to take care of it and she could either help or hang up. She didn't want to hang up. If I wasn't at home...

Given everything, she should have been restless--she sure as hell showed interest enough. But she slept like a baby, having put back on Big Bird. As it hadn't been worn by Vance, it smelled of fresh laundry, which faintly disappointed her.

...

The next morning was the rush of feeding animals and eating breakfast as close to sunrise as they could manage. She sat down with her family, still wrapped up in the bright yellow monstrosity.

Which her ma noticed. "So, are you two dating?"

"Ma, it's been six days."

"Seven."

"It's not seven until about two today."

"So you have been counting? You must like him."

John snorted. "More like counting down a jail sentence."

"It ain't like that!" Anise laughed at him. "How about you and Harley?"

"That girl? She wasn't as bad yesterday." John shrugged, showing he didn't care. He didn't understand that having an opinion was at least partial interest. "She hasn't done anything for me to get rid of her but she's not impressed me, either. So, don't deflect."

"Ok, Mensa, I won't." She held up a hand to start ticking off points, forgetting she thought Floof looked dumb doing this. "We get along. It's early. I'm going to Homecoming with him. His dad decided to come to services with him this morning so you're going to need another seat at the tables, Ma."

"Alright. We'll talk about dresses this next week, alright? He's going to need to know, in case y'all do flowers." Ma put the last tray on the table before taking her seat to fix a plate for herself.

"It's not prom, Ma."

"But he's likely to be on the Homecoming court."

Anise bit her lip, worrying that she had to do more than show up. "Damn. Didn't think about that."

"Language, girl." Pa was still deep in his paper, but his correction did show he was listening.

"You forgot one point, sis." The amusement that lit up John's face was palpable.

"What?"

"You're in love enough to wear that dumb-looking hoodie."

"Eeww!" Anise shrieked, tossing a breakfast sausage at her brother's face.

Too bad he caught and ate it, making him look impervious.

...

Church looked the same as ever with cousin Pastor Jedediah Smythe-Gould looking like Santa in Camo. His wife talked to everyone by his side, as regally as any small town's ruling Queen would. She was an unassuming woman, not even knowing that her backbone showed through her smile.

They greeted the fresh faces around them--that is, the Leightons. Father and son were both glad to escape to the same pew as the mercurial girl who was their reason for being here.

The service was typical, as Jedediah tried to make the same old story sound new to dulling ears, and the singing was more exuberant than technical. It amused Vance to find out that Anise had a sweet, soft voice. She honed it when working as she was a tad heavy on the downbeat--not that he understood this, not being able to carry a tune himself. But he knew something he wanted to do with her that would be far less dangerous than the games they'd been playing. They needed less dangerous games, for the long haul.

But the part that surprised him about it all had been the preacher closing his sermon:

"And as I say every week, we need to ask ourselves: 'What do I have to show the worth of my life when I die?' We were never meant to let life live us."

He could swear she had said that very thing to Aaron and him the day before. He hadn't thought she cared much about church since it had been her parents that had brought it up. Just what did this mean to her?

A man who looked so frail that no one would expect the rich voice that came out of him did the closing prayer, sing-songing his way through a petition for peace and understanding. Vance almost stood afterward, but Anise grabbed his hand and shook her head at him. He was a little relieved because the announcements started after that--one of which was he was in for another hour of sitting there, in "study". The older teens would be taking this class with the adults after a brief break.

After that, everyone dispersed--many of them to come and greet Mr. Leighton, blocking him in. He made no motion to move so it was doubtful he even noticed. A handful of families did leave, not staying for the second hour. Most were milling around during the break rather than running away.

"What is the next part like?" Vance leaned over to ask Anise.

"A lot more interactive and less singing. Not bad, usually. It depends on if you like learning a bit about the subject." Anise answered like she wasn't even listening while looking at the crowd around Mr. Leighton.

In years to come, Vance would wish he had pulled out his phone and recorded the class.

Not because it was great, moved him, changed his life--no, nothing like that.

It's because his perception of church folk changed--went kind of sideways:

Scarcely had I left them
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother's house,
And into the room of her who conceived me.
Song of Solomon 3:4

"Folks, I'm going to try my best to not embarrass the missus, but when a calling hits you, you must go where it does. Unfortunately for me, it's in a time when we've lost the culture war. Our kids leave us because we've added way too much of our opinions to right and wrong."

At first Anise's jaw dropped open, realizing that this was going to be a congregational sex talk. She had a draining of color from her face, then a full flush. She turned to hide her face against Vance's shoulder before she finished turning red.

"In this one verse, we see a young woman who knows that she's bringing her groom to the room of her conception. Do your children know? Mine could make an educated guess. I spoke more on Do not handle, taste, or touch, all things that perish with use as it warns in Colossians 2:20 and on, unfortunately. Yes, some things are forbidden to us, but we spend no time upholding what is good."

Pastor Jed let silence fill the auditorium for several heartbeats before he spoke again. "Nor do we explain our failures."

The topic went quite awry. Jed explained biblical characters that would terrify the innocent. He discussed how they fit into a world that held up marriage as the ideal. He begged his people to see how there was mercy given to many who failed to be perfect. All this left a trail to tell those who think they aren't good enough that they, too, can have mercy.

Anise's face never moved from his shoulder, but she did grab his hand. He could tell when she was most upset by how hard she gripped him and seemed to shrink further into his side.

Somewhere close to the end, after having dragged responses out about a third of the adults there, forcing some to read suggestive texts out loud, the regular jive of a teacher trying to involve a passive class, he found a conclusion for the sea of flushed faces...

"And now, why are our oldest with us?

"These are the ones that won't be here in a few years. We are losing them with don't handle, taste, or touch instead of telling them sex was made to be perfect. We harness our desires, to hone our daily self-sacrifice--not just for God but for our other half. The wrong in sex is mostly tied to meaninglessness, where you can't give it the whole of your heart because you decided to live without a purpose. It doesn't have to be that way.

And they need to know where we've failed, and where they will fall, as well. We need to accept that failure will happen."

Normally a class wouldn't have an altar call, but this one did. Anise finally sat up, looking around--blinking from adjusting to the light. Since it was the first time she pulled away in an hour, Vance looked her over, noticing the watery eyes and tightness of her face. He didn't understand this reaction, as it was different from mere embarrassment. God knew he had caused enough of that for this girl, already.

Vance missed seeing his father walk forward.