Dare to Be Different (26 page)

Drew couldn’t remember a time when she was so torn over a decision. She had finally gotten to the point where she just wasn’t going to go. After all, nothing good should be that difficult. Just as her thoughts had begun to swing in that direction, Trevor came jogging off the field and went in for a drink of water.

He stopped for a minute to talk to Drew and told her, “Drew, you’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” He chuckled and continued, “You completely distract me out there. I really hope you are able to come with me tonight. I just want you by my side. I like being close to you.”

His words melted her and made her tremble. No one had ever talked to her like that, and it was a heady feeling to be liked so much by the coolest boy in school. She was more confused than ever after that. Wishing she had more time to decide, she went out onto the field to lead the squad in
cheering the team on to the end of the game and another victory. After the celebratory lap around the field and the handshakes and high fives with the other team, it was her moment of truth.

The time has come for you to make your decision. Think long and hard about what you would really do if you were faced with the decision that Drew is facing. It’s easy to say that you’d make the right choice. But are you sure that you could stand up to your boyfriend and face his rejection? Once your decision is made, turn to the corresponding page in this book to see how it turns out for Drew—and for you.

Turn to page 315 if Drew is able to stand up to
Trevor by not going to the party.

Turn to page 344 if Drew is unable to avoid the
temptation and gives in to what Trevor wants her
to do
.

The next three chapters tell the story of what happened to Drew when she decided to do what she knew was right
.

Chapter 11

Drew knew what she had to do. She was going to have to tell her friends that she couldn’t lie and go to the party and that she’d be going home with her family. She knew that she was risking her reputation among her new friends and especially with Trevor. She feared that he would think she was too immature to continue dating after this, or that his feelings would be hurt.

But regardless of what happened, she couldn’t bring herself to blatantly lie to her parents, go to a party that they never would have allowed her to go to, spend time with a boy until very late into the night, and stay the night at a girl’s house whose parents were out of town. Doing those things would destroy all trust that her
parents had in her, and she knew it. She would face so much trouble that she wouldn’t be able to spend time with Trevor or her new friends anyway, and using such poor judgment would keep her from dating forever, probably.

Decision made, she went to tell Trevor. She found him talking to one of his teammates. They were slapping each other on the back and celebrating a fantastic game. Drew cleared her throat to get their attention.

Trevor turned to see her and said, “Hey, there’s my girl.” He walked over to her and gave her a little squeeze and a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Great game, Trevor. You did an awesome job out there.”

Trevor beamed with the praise. “You about ready to go? We need to stop and pick up a few things on the way to the party,” Trevor said, assuming that she was going.

“Um … I need to talk to you about that. I’m not going to be able to go,” Drew hesitantly said, biting her lip. “I just can’t do it—too many lies and the risk of too much trouble. It’s just too much.”

Trevor didn’t look happy. At first he looked disappointed, but that look quickly turned
to anger. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying? You’re telling me that after a game like this, you’re going to leave me dateless and alone at the party of the year? I need you there. You’re my girl. You’re supposed to be there with me, by my side.”

“I can’t help it, Trevor. I want to go—really, I do. But I don’t want to lie to my parents. And if I were to get caught, we’d never see each other again anyway.”

Trevor groaned. “This is what I get for dating a freshman.”

“You know, you could be a little more supportive. I’m just trying to do the right thing,” Drew tried to explain.

“No Drew, it’s you who could be more supportive.” Trevor shook his head in disgust. “So is your mind made up? Is that it? You’re not going to go no matter what I say?”

“I’m not going to go.” Drew hung her head as she said the words, knowing that she was likely sealing the deal on the end of their relationship.

“Then I guess you’d better go find your family. It’s past your bedtime, and I have to go,” Trevor answered sarcastically.

How dare he? Drew took a deep breath to
quell the sob that rose in her throat. She was devastated by his reaction but also miffed that he cared so little about her that he would be angry at her for trying to do the right thing. “Thanks for the support and understanding, Trevor. You’ve made this all about you, which tells me that you don’t really care about me anyway. You only care about how I make you look. I guess I made the right decision. Have fun.” With that, she turned and walked away with her head down, hoping he wouldn’t see the tears forming in her eyes.

She noticed her parents standing by the car, waiting like they had after the previous game. Trying to compose herself before she got to the car, she stopped and turned to say something to someone passing by. As she did so, she wiped at her eyes and tried to find her smile again. When she turned to face her parents, she looked almost normal. She knew that they could probably see right through her attempts at normalcy but hoped they wouldn’t ask about it.

“I changed my mind. I’m going to go with you guys. Is that ice cream offer still good?”

“Of course, dear. It’ll be fun. Let’s go,” Dad said with a big grin.

Mrs. Daniels looked hard at Drew, but said nothing.

The girls piled into the backseat, and Dad backed the car out of the parking space. Drew felt Dani staring at her, trying to figure out what was going on. She refused to look her in the eye, because Dani would immediately be able to see through her shaky expression of happiness and see that there was sorrow beneath it—and it would probably make Drew cry for real.

As they pulled away from the school, Drew looked out the window and saw Trevor and a bunch of his teammates and some cheerleaders at the end of the parking lot horsing around. It looked like they were getting ready to pack up some cars and head out. They were laughing and having a great time. Trevor sure didn’t look sad at all.

Then she saw the unthinkable. Trevor put his arm across the shoulders of one of the varsity cheerleaders. Drew couldn’t see who it was exactly, because she was looking at the girl’s back, and, in her cheerleading uniform, she looked just like every other cheerleader from the back. Trevor gave her a quick squeeze and
started jogging back over to the sports office, presumably to get his things. He sure looked happy, like he didn’t have a care in the world. No one would have ever guessed that he was a guy who had supposedly been crushed by a girlfriend he had proclaimed to like so very much that same evening. She felt sorry for the unsuspecting cheerleader who was just happy to have his attention—like Drew had been.

Drew realized that the car was too quiet, and if she didn’t do something, they were going to start questioning her. She was in no mood or state of mind to answer questions about the evening. “So, where are we going? We haven’t been out for ice cream in forever.” She tried to sound energetic and positive.

“I was just wondering about that,” Dad said. “Should we go somewhere that we can get a burger before we have ice cream? I think everyone is hungry.”

“Sounds good to me,” Dani spoke up from the backseat.

“Me, too.” Drew tried to sound enthusiastic.

After the Danielses were seated and the waitress took their order for burgers, fries, and chocolate milkshakes all around, Mom looked at
Drew and asked, “Okay, what gives? Something happened tonight. You look so sad and disappointed.” She waited for Drew to protest that everything was fine, but instead, she could see that Drew was really considering her words carefully.

Finally, Drew couldn’t hold back any longer. She let the tears flow and spilled her emotions and the entire story onto the table. She told her family every detail, even the part about sneaking a ride home with Trevor and the kiss in the bleachers. She spared no detail. Not only was she tired of living what she felt was a lie and being so distant from her family, but she also didn’t think it really mattered if she got grounded or into some kind of trouble, because she really had nowhere to go now anyway. Plus, it was time for her to get back to being the person she really was deep down.

Finishing the story by recounting the vision of Trevor with his arm around another girl on the way out of the parking lot that night, Drew dried her eyes with resolve not to cry over him anymore. He didn’t care about her needs and wants and was willing to pressure her to do things that made her very uncomfortable. Drew
knew that she was better off without him, but dreams die hard, and her mom knew that.

Just as Drew was finishing her story, the waitress brought the food. Drew dived into her burger with a vengeance, feeding her body and nursing her broken heart. Everyone at the table took a few moments to begin to eat and also to let Drew’s words sink in.

Dani remained quiet, afraid to break the moment and wanting Drew to continue to come to her new realizations. She was so very happy that Drew had made the right decision, and it really sounded like she had grown through the experience. She hoped that her parents wouldn’t be too hard on her.

“Drew … there are a lot of things I’d like to say. Are you ready for me to respond, or do you need more time?” Mom asked.

“Go ahead, Mom. But I pretty much already know what you’re going to say.”

“Oh? Try me. What am I about to say?”

“You’re going to tell me how mad you are at me about the after-game thing last week. You’re going to tell me that I’m way too young to have a boyfriend, and that I proved it by not telling you
all about it. You’re going to tell me that I shouldn’t have kissed him. I’m going to be punished for sneaking around and for doing things that I knew you wouldn’t approve of like the makeup and the clothes. Basically, you’re going to tell me how disappointed you are in me. Right?”

“Well, sweetie, I’m speaking for myself, and your dad may feel much differently, but that is about the exact opposite of what I want to say to you.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I have never, ever been more proud of you, Drew. You faced some very grown-up things in a few short weeks. And you were tempted by the glitter and sparkle of adult life and you made some decisions that I wouldn’t have approved of, that’s for sure. But Drew, look at the result. You have surprised me by the fact that when push came to shove, you gave up all of the things that you wanted so badly and chose what was right. You lost a lot tonight, by your own choice. But by doing that, you gained even more.”

“I think that your mom is trying to say that you’ve grown through this,” Dad explained. “And you’ve shown us clearly what type of young lady
you really are. We really like what we see.”

Drew was in tears again—this time, tears of relief. She was so blown away by her parents’ reaction that she didn’t know what to say. She thought of Pastor Michaels’s words. “Remember last week when Pastor Michaels talked about how when we impose our own will over God’s plan, that it’s like saying, ‘I’ve got everything under control’? And that is a pride issue … you know … to think that we know more than God.” At her parents’ nod, she continued. “Well, I said those words several times this week: ‘I’ve got it all under control.’ Turns out, I didn’t. Pastor Michaels was right. And you guys, my parents, kind of act as a stand-in for God. So, your rules—or what you want for me and from me—are just an extension of God’s will. Right?”

Flabbergasted, Mom said, “You’re very right.”

“Well, I guess what I want is to live for God and walk according to His will. That means I don’t have everything under control … you guys do. I’m not saying I’ll be perfect, but I guess I just want something different—I want to do it right. Does that make sense?”