Part 9 (1/2)

”If it's before ten, could you ask her to call me? Thanks.”

Christy hung up the phone and was about to head for the kitchen to find something to eat when the phone rang.

”h.e.l.lo?”

”Hey, how's it going?”

”Todd, hi. I wish you were here.”

”Yeah? What's up?”

”Katie didn't show up at church today. I called her all afternoon, and she wasn't home. I just talked to her brother, and he doesn't know when she'll be back. She's out with Michael; I'm sure of it. This is not a good thing.”

Christy could hear Todd chuckling on the other end of the line.

”What? You think this is funny? She's serious about this guy. What's so funny about that?”

”It's not funny, but you are,” Todd said in his matter-of-fact way.

”So you think I'm funny?”

”You sound like a mother, not a best friend.”

”Todd, I can't believe you're making fun of me and treating this relations.h.i.+p between Michael and Katie like it's nothing!” Christy let her irritation show. ”He's not a Christian; she's falling in love with him. It's obvious. She's going to get hurt, Todd, or worse. And excuse me, but I happen to care about what happens to my friends!”

”Then stick with her,” Todd answered calmly.

”It's kind of hard to stick with her when she's out with him!”

There was only silence on the other end of the phone.

”What should I do, Todd? I am her best friend!” Christy didn't realize how loud her voice was until Mom poked her head around the corner and peered at Christy.

More silence on the other end.

”Todd, are you even interested in partic.i.p.ating in this conversation? I feel like it's awfully one-sided.” Christy had lowered her voice, but she was aware the intensity of her tone had not diminished.

”I'm here, Christy.”

”Well. I wish you'd tell me what to do about all this. It's not something to laugh about, and it's not something to ignore. Katie is headed for big trouble if we don't do something. Tell me what to do!”

Todd paused before saying, ”I don't know what to tell you other than to keep with her. Keep loving her. Pray.”

Now Christy felt really mad. Todd prayed all the time about everything, and Christy tried to, too. But right now her best friend was about to make the biggest mistake of her life! Todd's answer, obviously, was too simple.

”It's not that easy.” Christy argued.

”Sure it is. You're the one who's making it so hard.”

”I am not!” Christy's voice came out wobbly with emotion. ”I can't believe you are being so insensitive, Todd Spencer. I don't want to talk to you anymore!” Before she knew what she was doing, Christy slammed down the receiver.

What have I done? I've never had an argument with Todd like that. I've never hung up on him. He must think I'm awful! I can't believe I did that.

Christy immediately dialed Todd's number, but the answering machine came on with his dad's voice saying, ”We're not able to come to the phone right now. but if you'd like to leave a message, wait for the beep.”

Christy waited for the beep and in halting words left her message. ”I-I'm sorry. Todd. If you're there, please call me back. I'd like to talk to you about this some more. Thanks. Oh, it's Christy. Bye.”

That has to be the dumbest message in the world. What if his dad listens to it? Is Todd there and not answering, or did he call from somewhere else?

Christy thought of how sometimes Todd drove down to see her and didn't call until he was in town, only a few blocks from her house. He would call to see if it was a good time to come over. What if he was calling her from downtown? It was an hour and a half back to his house, so it was no small thing for Todd to come see her. She felt awful.

For the next hour Christy waited for the phone to ring. She tried watching TV, eating ice cream, and doing her nails. She went out in the garage and gave Hershey a carrot and stroked his soft fur for a while. She felt terrible.

At 9:15 the phone rang, and Christy sprang from the couch to answer it. It was a wrong number-the person didn't even speak English. Finally at ten Christy forced herself into bed, but she lay awake in the stillness for a long time, blaming herself for hanging up on Todd and worrying about Katie. It was not a good night.

She tried to call Todd again at 7:45 the next morning, but she only got the answering machine again. She knew his dad left early for work and Todd had cla.s.ses on Monday mornings, but she had hoped to catch him before he left. The thought of spending the day at school without having apologized to Todd depressed her. It almost diminished her concern for Katie. Until she saw Katie at lunchtime, that is.

Michael hadn't arrived at their lunch spot yet. Katie was sitting by herself under the tree, so Christy rushed to get to Katie before Michael showed up.

”Katie,” Christy began breathlessly, ”why weren't you at church yesterday? You left me with a whole bunch of rug rats all by myself. Where were you?”

”Michael and I went to the beach.”

”All day? I called you all afternoon, and your brother didn't know where you were.”

”I don't have to check in and out with him. And what's with you?”

Christy decided to get right to the point. ”You've got to end this thing with Michael. You're going to get hurt; I just know it. He's not a Christian, is he?”

Katie looked incredulously at Christy. ”I don't know. It's different in Northern Ireland than it is here. With the Protestants and Catholics there it's more of a political thing. Michael believes in G.o.d.”

”Oh, great! He believes in G.o.d. That's terrific! Do you realize what you're doing, Katie? You're going back on every standard you ever set. Don't you remember in Sunday school when you were Katie Christian' up on the chair and Peter Pagan' pulled you down? It's happening with Michael.”

Katie laughed. ”You crack me up, Christy! You should see your face right now.” Katie imitated her with a wild, bug-eyed look, shaking her finger in Christy's face. Katie laughed again. ”Relax, will you? I'm not doing anything wrong.”

”You're dating a non-Christian. Don't you think that's wrong?”

Katie thought a minute. ”When you went to Disneyland with Todd a couple years ago, would you say that you were a Christian then?”

”Well, no, I wasn't a Christian yet, but that's different.”

”How is that different? If Todd hadn't spent so much time with you, do you still think you would have become a Christian when you did?” Katie challenged.

”I, well, it's not the same, Katie. That was years ago. Todd and I weren't really dating, and I wasn't falling in love with him the way I see you falling in love with Michael.”

”You're daft!” Katie boldly used Michael's word as if it was hers. ”You and Todd were dating, and you did fall in love with him. Only he was the Christian and you weren't.”

Just then Michael walked up. Christy turned on her heel, refusing to make eye contact with him. ”I'll talk to you later, Katie.”

”What's with her?” Christy heard Michael ask Katie.