8
THE NEXT MORNING, DJ WOKE UP later than usual, but at least she had the room to herself because it looked like Casey had already gotten up. DJ had just finished her shower when she noticed something strange in the bathroom trash can. It looked like blue feathers. She peered closer to see that it was hair. And there on the bathroom counter was a pair of scissors. DJ picked up the scissors and, feeling like a detective, used them to push the strange-colored hair clippings aside in the trash can to reveal what looked like a used bottle of black hair dye beneath the blue hair. And there on the bottom of the trash can were a couple of safety pins. Casey was trying!
DJ hurried to dress and was about to go downstairs when she heard Casey’s voice coming from Rhiannon and Taylor’s room. The door was cracked open, and DJ decided to see what was going on. “What’s up?” she asked.
“Come in,” called Rhiannon. “It’s just me and Casey.”
DJ went in and blinked in surprise when she saw Casey dressed in a striped skirt that was topped with a T-shirt and beaded denim jacket along with her army boots. “You look great,” said DJ as she reached down to touch the rather interesting skirt. “Is this made out of ties?”
“That’s right,” said Rhiannon. “Men’s ties. I made it myself.”
“And she beaded and embroidered this jacket,” said Casey. “She’s letting me borrow these for today, and then she’s going to teach me how to do some of this stuff for myself.”
“Cool.” DJ looked at Casey’s hair which was all cut short now and all black. “I like your hair too.”
“Better?”
“Way.”
“And no safety pins,” pointed out Rhiannon.
“Yeah, I noticed.” DJ almost pointed out that Casey had lightened up on the eyeliner too, but she didn’t want to make her feel too self-conscious. “You really look great, Casey. How does it feel?”
Casey shrugged as she checked herself out in the mirror. “In a way, I guess it feels more like me…like who I really do want to be.”
“Cool.”
When they came to the breakfast table, DJ could tell that all eyes, including Mrs. Carter’s, were on Casey.
“Looking good, Casey,” said Eliza with approval.
“I like that jacket,” said Kriti.
Casey explained that it was on loan. “Rhiannon did the beading and embroidery,” she said again. “And she made the skirt too.”
Mrs. Carter looked more closely at the clothes. “Rhiannon may have a good career ahead of her in clothing design.”
Rhiannon beamed as she sat down, and DJ was certain that was the first real compliment that her grandmother had given to her.
Once again, Mrs. Carter did not seem wholly pleased to give the girls a ride to school, but when Taylor offered to use her Vespa and take one girl with her so that the others could ride with Eliza, Mrs. Carter put her foot down. “Perhaps you’re not aware that we have helmet laws in Connecticut,” she pointed out.
Taylor tossed DJ a look of accusation. “Yeah, I’m aware.”
“Then I suggest you heed them, Taylor. Unless you’d like your scooter impounded.”
The second day of school passed much more uneventfully than the first. This was a relief to DJ, and she suspected that Casey was breathing a little easier too. After volleyball practice, Conner gave her a ride home. When he pulled up in front of Carter House, she turned to him. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
He looked slightly off guard but just nodded. “Go for it.”
“Are you a Christian?”
He considered this. “Yeah, I guess.”
“You guess? Meaning you don’t know for sure?”
“Well, I believe in God, and I go to church with my parents sometimes. Not regularly, although we used to go more when we were kids, but the church my parents went to kind of dissolved. Since then, it’s been pretty random.”
“How does a church dissolve?”
“The pastor sort of had a problem…”
“What kind of problem?”
“Well, I was kind of young at the time so I didn’t really get it. But, a couple years ago, I overhead my parents talking about it. It seems the pastor had an affair with one of the women in the church.”
“Oh.” DJ frowned. “I didn’t think Christians were supposed to do things like that. Particularly pastors.”
“Apparently, they’re not.” He grinned. “That’s why he got kicked out, and then the church sort of fell apart.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Yeah…it was. So, why are you asking?”
Then DJ told him about how she had become a Christian. “It’s still all pretty new to me. But tonight I’m going to youth group with Rhiannon.”
“At Crescent Cove Community?” he asked.
DJ blinked. “I actually have no idea.”
“Well, that’s where Rhiannon goes,” he said.
“How do you know?”
“Because Bradford goes there too. He’s invited me before.”
“Have you ever gone?”
Conner shook his head. “I thought about it, but I never did.”
“Want to go tonight?”
“Sure,” he said without even pausing to think about it.
“Cool.”
“How are you guys getting there?”
“I don’t know for sure…probably Bradford.”
“So, should I meet you there?” He frowned.
She considered this. “Why don’t you swing by here a little before seven? Maybe I can ride with you, and we can just follow them there.”
“It’s a date.”
“A date?”
“You know. It’s a deal. I’ll be here.”
“Cool.”
Then DJ went inside and looked for Rhiannon. She found her in the library doing homework. When she explained the plan about Conner picking her up, Rhiannon just nodded. “Okay.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No…”
“What?” asked DJ. She could tell that Rhiannon was troubled about something.
“Nothing, really.”
“Come on,” urged DJ.
Rhiannon pushed her notebook aside. “Actually, it’s probably something good.”
“What?”
“Taylor is coming with us tonight.”
DJ blinked. “Taylor?
“Yes.”
“As in Taylor Mitchell, spawn of the devil Taylor?” Even as she said this, DJ felt guilty.
“DJ,” said Rhiannon in a scolding tone. “That’s not very loving.”
“Sorry. But it’s kind of shocking.”
“Yeah. Bradford invited her after school today, and she said she’d love to come.”
“No way.”
Rhiannon nodded. “Way.”
“That is so weird.”
Rhiannon smiled now. “Maybe not, DJ. Maybe God is working on her. I know that I’ve been praying for her—and you should too. Really, we should be happy she wants to come.”
“But what if she’s up to something?”
“Oh, you shouldn’t be so suspicious. Really, we should be thanking God. And remember what she said last night about how her friend died at boot camp?”
“Yeah, Casey actually looked it up and it was true.”
“Well, maybe that was Taylor’s way of getting real with us. Maybe she really wants to change.”
“I guess that’s possible…”
“With God, all things are possible.”
DJ considered this. “Really?”
“Yeah, it’s in the Bible. Speaking of Bibles, did you get one yet?”
DJ looked slightly sheepish. “I didn’t really have time.”
Rhiannon pointed to a section of the bookshelf. “Look over there.”