Dare to Be Different (5 page)

“Oh, it was fun. We stayed up kind of late and talked and played some games.”

“What kind of games did you play?” Mrs. Martin pressed uncharacteristically.

“Oh, nothing really, just some different games and one that Sam made up.” Lindsay wondered what her mom was getting at—this line of questioning seemed a little out of the ordinary.

“Well, I got a call from Mrs. Lowell, Sam’s mom. It seems that she got up this morning and
went to make some breakfast. She was surprised to find something in the freezer. What do you suppose she found there, Linds?”

“It was just a dare that Kelly had to do. She … um … well, you probably already know what she had to do,” Lindsay stammered, trying not to laugh.

“Yes, it appears that she put Scott Lowell’s baseball shoes in a pot of water and froze them,” her mom said sternly.

Even from her spot in the backseat, Lindsay could see that her dad was trying very hard not to laugh—and he was losing the battle.

“Whatever possessed you girls to do that?” Mrs. Martin asked.

“Oh, come on,” Lindsay’s dad jumped in. “It’s just a harmless prank. We all did things like that. It’s a pretty clever one, too, if you ask me.”

Relieved that she had her dad on her side, Lindsay looked back at her mom, who was carefully choosing her next words.

“Lindsay, I just want you to be aware that harmless pranks can still be costly to people and cause harm. Also, one harmless prank often leads to another until, before you know it, you’re
trapped into doing something that never would have happened if you hadn’t gone down that road to begin with. Do you know what I’m saying, sweetie?”

“Yeah, Mom, I get it. I’ll be careful. I promise.”

“Just keep in mind what I said. Damage can be done even when you think it’s perfectly harmless.”

As soon as the car pulled into the church parking lot, Lindsay jumped out and ran ahead to join her youth group friends on the lawn, before another word could be said about the sleepover.

“Would you all please stand for the reading of God’s Word?” Pastor Tim paused to wait for the congregation to rise to their feet. “Today’s reading will be taken from the book of First Thessalonians, chapter 5.” He read to them from the Bible, and then everyone sat down for the sermon.

In his sermon, Pastor Tim showed how the Bible warned Christians to avoid even the appearance of evil. “Think about what that means and why we would need a warning like that. I mean, sin is sin, right? Appearing to sin isn’t
the same thing as actually doing it, is it? So why would we be warned in scripture to avoid even looking like we are involved in evil things? I’ll tell you why. It’s because God asks us to be His ambassadors. He calls us to bring the light of His love to this dying world. How can we possibly do that if we are involved in things that appear to be evil or sinful? Whether we’re guilty or not doesn’t matter at that point. All that matters is that when a Christian seems to be doing wrong, he is assumed to be a hypocrite, and Christianity suffers. Satan just waits for Christians to make mistakes—or, in the case of what we’re talking about today, to even appear to make mistakes. Then he can capitalize on those mistakes and use them against the cause of Christ.

“So take care not to find yourself in questionable situations. One way to do this is to really think and pray about the people you consider to be your friends. As my mother always told me, ‘You are known by the company you keep.’ That means that what your friends are known for, you will be known for, too. If your friends are known for questionable behavior, it will be assumed that you condone and participate in it.

“Also, we are all susceptible to the effects of temptation. Sin creeps in slowly and grabs hold of us before we even realize it. Your intentions can be completely pure, but over time the line between what is right and what is wrong becomes fuzzy. Eventually, if you allow yourself to be exposed to sinful behavior, it won’t seem so bad and you’ll forget your resolve, giving in to temptation and peer pressure. Think of it like a dark mist that slowly engulfs you. At first, you barely see the mist, but eventually you can barely see anything else because of it.”

Pastor Tim’s words made a lot of sense. Lindsay was grateful for her friends and that they were good girls. But being in eighth grade and knowing that high school was right around the corner, Lindsay promised herself it was advice that she would follow.

Pastor Tim closed the service, and everyone stood up to leave. On their way out, Lindsay’s mom and dad stopped to talk to several friends. Knowing that it would take them a long time to make their way to the car, Lindsay went to see if she could find any of her youth group
buddies. She headed over to the new addition to the church that was still under construction. Pulling back the plastic that hung as a divider between the current church and the new building, she stepped in among the dust and tools to see if anyone was hanging out in there. It had become the typical place for teens to go during the church service to hang out when they didn’t want to actually sit through the service.

“Hey, you guys! What’s up?” Lindsay asked the three teens she found back there.

Scott, Tanner, and Christy had seen someone coming and were scurrying to hide something. When they saw that it was Lindsay, they relaxed a little bit.

“What are you guys doing back here?” Lindsay asked.

“Oh, we’re just hanging out, chatting, you know,” Tanner answered.

“Okay, fine, don’t tell me what’s really going on.” Lindsay laughed, knowing that there was more to the story.

“Lindsay, if you promise not to say anything, I’ll show you.” Christy pulled out a pack of
cigarettes and a lighter from behind her back. “Want one?”

Thinking back to Pastor Tim’s sermon, Lindsay realized that if someone happened upon them at just that moment, Lindsay would immediately appear just as guilty as the others. She hadn’t smoked the cigarettes, and she didn’t even think it was okay that the others had. But still, it would be assumed that she was involved in it or at least condoned the behavior just because she was hanging out with them. She knew that her best bet was to get out of there right away.

“Uh, no thanks. I really need to get going.” Lindsay left immediately and went to find her parents, grateful she hadn’t been forced to learn this lesson the hard way.

Lindsay could hear her computer chirping for her the instant they entered the house after having lunch with some of her parents’ friends after church. She was getting instant messages, and lots of them. Rushing to her room, she saw her messenger program lit up like a Christmas tree. Sam, Kelly, and Macy were all online and
trying to get her to show up for a chat session. Knowing that these chat sessions could take hours, Lindsay ran to get a can of soda before she settled in and let them know she was there.

“Linds,” her mom called, hearing her in the kitchen, “if you’re planning to get on the computer, you only have about thirty minutes before we head over to your grandma’s—don’t forget.”

“No problem, Mom,” Lindsay replied, not letting her mom know that she had, in fact, forgotten about the visit.

Rushing back to her room, Lindsay plopped down into her chair and typed a message to the group.
I’m here!

Macy:
Hi, stranger!

Kelly:
Where’ve u been?

Lindsay:
Church, just got home, and I have to leave in 30. So what’s up?

Sam:
Kelly has a plan. She’s just getting ready to tell us
.

Lindsay:
Cool! What is it?

Kelly:
The other night was a blast, right?

Lindsay:
Oh yeah!

Macy:
Total blast!
Sam:
Definitely!

Kelly:
So let’s make it a tradition. Let’s have a sleepover every Friday at a different house
. Macy:
I’m in!

Sam:
Me, too, probably. I’ll have to ask my mom; she’s still kind of mad about the shoes. I guess my brother thinks he should get new shoes out of the deal
.

Macy:
lol

Kelly:
LOL! Just give her some time. She’ll be ready by the time it’s your turn again. What do you say, Linds?

Lindsay:
Oh sure, count me in!

Sam:
So whose house is next, then?

Macy:
I’ll go next. My dad’s going to be out of town this weekend, so my mom won’t mind having us there
.

Lindsay:
Sounds good to me
.

Kelly:
Okay, then I’ll go next
.

Sam:
Great!

Lindsay:
After Kelly is my turn
. Kelly:
Perfect! And we can play our game every time. It will be our tradition
.

Lindsay:
Didn’t we cause enough trouble last time?

Macy:
Yeah! I still can’t look Tyler Turner in the eye!

Sam:
And my mom was really mad about the shoes
.

Kelly:
That’s part of the game. It’s a risk. That’s what makes it fun. We can make a rule that nothing we do can be destructiveto anyone’s property. How about that?

Lindsay:
I think that def. should be the rule!

Sam:
I agree
.

Macy:
Definitely!

Lindsay:
Sounds like a plan. I have to run!

Macy:
C U later!

Kelly:
C U guys tomorrow!

Sam:
Bye!

After signing off her instant messenger program, Lindsay paused for a moment and considered the message of Pastor Tim’s sermon this morning: Sin is slow; it creeps in like a dark mist, and you don’t realize it until it engulfs you and everything around you until you can’t see anything clearly.
I hope that doesn’t ever happen
to me
. But why worry? Everything was great. There was nothing to be concerned about.

Chapter 6

“What time should we be at your house tonight, Macy?” Lindsay asked, referring to the sleepover party they had planned for that night.

“Oh, anytime after five would be fine, I think. My dad is leaving for his trip this morning, and Mom likes to be home when I have friends over, as you all already know,” Macy replied, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, my parents are like that, too,” Lindsay replied just as the bell rang, which signified that class was about to begin.

“Good morning, boys and girls,” Mrs. Portney began the class. “Go ahead and get your projects out of your bins.” One student from each group shuffled toward the bank of yellow bins in the
cupboards on the wall where they had stored their project materials, notes, and scraps between classes. The bin for each group was clearly labeled with the names of each group and what they had chosen to make—except for Lindsay, Kelly, Sam, and Macy’s bin. On theirs, it only said their names because of the special permission to keep their project a secret until it was finished.

The big yellow bins were placed on the tables in front of the group members, and the students awaited further instructions.

“Class,” Mrs. Portney said, “I’d like for you to take a moment to make notes in your project notebook of what supplies and materials you’ve used and exactly how much you think you will use to complete the project. Then estimate the total cost of materials for your project. You can designate a group secretary for note-taking and then go ahead and get started. There is a supply list in the notebook on the front table if you need to consult it for names and prices of goods that have been provided to you. If there is something you have brought from home and you don’t know the price, make an estimate and then write a question mark next to it so that we will know
later on that it was only an estimate.”