It was Saturday and it was a beautiful morning. I woke up at five and jogged around the complex near Argenta Hall. I rarely did it back when I was in Indonesia but here I wanted to change my habit. I wanted to stay healthy.

Kari Jobe's music filled my ears while I was jogging. God's presence filled me too. It sounded funny but really, I felt His presence. I had never felt it while jogging before, but then His presence brought me to the urgency to pray. I stopped running and sat on a bench. It was still a bit dark out and I thought it would be okay if I prayed for a while here. I nodded, closed my eyes, and prayed.

"Lord, thank you for everything. Thank you for teaching me to be a good girl. Thank you for teaching me integrity. Thank you for guiding me to keep holding on to You. Thank you for not letting me fall into temptation. Thank you, thank you, Lord. Amen," I finished praying. However, I didn't open my eyes. I let it be so while Kari Jobe's You Are For Me brought me deeper into God's presence. It was really strange but I liked it. I really needed this.

I heard a car honk in front of me. I opened my eyes and lifted my head to see who was coming.

"Cynthia, is that you?" A girl who looked familiar stepped out from her car.

I stood up. "Yes it's me." I replied while I was still recalling from my memory who she was.

"Hey, I'm Gina. How could you not remember?" She opened my eyes.

"Oh my! I didn't recognize you!" I said in wonder. "You changed your hairstyle. Now your hair's red and you cut it short! Wow. You look beautiful though the dark tries to hide it."

"Aw, you're too nice," she chuckled at my cheesy words. "What are you doing here?"

"Just jogging." I answered.

"But that's not what you were doing just now."

I shrugged. "Yeah, I felt God's presence and I felt the urgency to pray, so I prayed here. You know, being a follower of Christ is unexpected." I told her the truth.

She nodded repeatedly. "I know how it feels," she smiled. "Oh, this morning at 9 a.m. there will be a youth picnic. I almost forget to tell you about this, so would you come?"

"Yeah, why not?" I was happy hearing this news. I knew I really needed to gather with fellow Christians who could lift my faith again. "Um, Gina, do you think it will be okay if I take my roommates too? Well, actually they are from other churches."

"No restrictions for doing that." She made a singing-like tone.

"Okay." I smiled.

"Hey, are you going back to the hall now?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"Then go with me. I'm going there too."

I jumped into her car and she drove fast down to Argenta Hall.

Julie and Cassie were so excited to join my church youth picnic. They told me that they really wanted to know what Genesis was like in his church. They seemed so invigorated that when Gina parked her car in the church parking lot and they saw Genesis sitting on a wheelchair, they jumped out of the car and approached him immediately. Gina and I laughed watching them.

"Hey, how's your leg?" I greeted Gee Kay as Gina and I approached him.

"You sound more concerned with my leg than me." Said Gee Kay.

I furrowed. "Well, asking how your leg is, is just the same with asking how you are, because your leg is a part of you, right?" I spoke my mind without thinking.

Gee Kay responded with giggling.

"Is anything funny?" I asked. He made me more confused.

Gina touched my shoulder. "He was just teasing you, Cynth. You've gotta be used to that. He likes to do it." She gave information that I should have understood. Of course he was joking, why didn't I understand?

I chuckled. "Well, I think I will. Brenda asked me to wait on him until he recovers," I said. "If I don't get used to it, I will start to get like 'Yeah? Why are you laughing? Oh, I don't see anything funny,' while he's laughing."

Gina, Julie, Cassie and Gee Kay all laughed.

"Anyway, you haven't answered my question, Gee," I reminded him. "Are you used to not answering as well? Maybe I need to get used to this too."

They laughed again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gee Kay finally answered my question. "In a week I'll be able to stand and walk."

"Cool." I smiled.

At the same time as we were talking, Phillip, the youth pastor, shouted loudly, commanding everybody there to gather round. I moved to the back of Gee Kay's wheelchair to help him, but Cassie said she wanted to so I let her do it. We walked towards Phillip together and everybody made a big circle.

"We're about to depart now because the bus is ready," said Phillip, making everyone cheer, "But before we leave, let's pray."

We prayed and when we finished praying, everybody brought their stuff and got onto the bus. Some guys helped Gee Kay get on the bus and bent his wheelchair before placing it inside the baggage area. He sat in the first row of the bus near the door, where there was more space for him to keep his legs safe and for him to get off the bus easily later on.

I got on the bus as well after Gee Kay was settled. I walked over to sit next to Julie, but before I could, Gee Kay caught my hand and told me to sit next to him so I did as he requested.

Everybody got settled and the driver started the bus. We departed and as the bus started to move, Philip informed us that we were going to a youth campsite that was located about an hour away from the church.

The first fifteen minutes after we'd departed, there was no conversation between me and Gee Kay. We remained silent all the way there. I felt uncomfortable with this. I felt the urgency to break the ice at that very moment.

I moved a little to my right so I could see Gee Kay. "So, why did you want me to sit here? Is there anything you want to talk about?" I asked.

He tilted his head and looked at me. "No reason." He answered briefly.

"Is this one of your jokes again?" I snapped at him a little.

"Whoa, lady, don't be angry," He was aware of my tone. "I just feel comfortable with you. Is that wrong?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I just wanted to sit next to my friend over there because we were going to talk about something important." I told him.

"So I think, maybe I did something wrong?" He grinned and seemed to feel guilty.

I shrugged. "Yeah, you could say that," I said. Then I made a serious face. "And I hate it."

"You're joking, aren't you?" His face looked like he was starting to feel really guilty.

I chuckled. Seeing his guilty face was amusing. "I gotcha." I covered my face to hold back my laughter.

"Oh, it was Cynthia's revenge." He imitated the style of a superhero.

I couldn't stop. I was still laughing until Phillip, who was sitting across from us, asked why I was laughing. I couldn't answer him right away until I could manage to stop laughing and catch my breath.

"It's Gee Kay," I said and pointed at the guy sitting next to me. "Now, I'm just trying to stop laughing." I laughed a little then held my breath for a while before releasing it. I did this several times until I'd finished laughing. It was always like that. Once I laughed because of a really funny thing, it would be so difficult for me to stop laughing. Gee Kay was shaking his head watching me laugh over and over again. I just couldn't explain anything when he asked me why I laughed for such a long time but only said that it came naturally.

Suddenly, I heard the song my sister usually sang, Hillsong's Alive. It was my phone ringing. I took my little pocket bag and took out my cellphone.

"Sally?" It was my sister calling. I answered. "Hey, how are you?" I greeted her.

Sally told me that she was about to go to the UK. She'd gotten a scholarship just like I did for here. She said the following day was her departure and she was so glad because her dream had come true. Listening to her stories, my heart jumped and was on fire. As if without permission, tears ran down my cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Gee Kay mimed when I glanced over at him, and I nodded.

Sally kept telling me everything she had planned when she arrived in the UK. She also told me about meeting a guy there. I chuckled in response. I just couldn't say anything. She reminded me of myself, getting my dream come true by being here. Only, there was a little gravel on my path at the moment.

"Just be careful, ask God for guidance in all your ways. You'll be surprised at first because of the cultural shock but I believe you'll be okay, Sally," I told her. "Yeah, cool. See you on Skype. Just text me via Whatsapp when you want to call me, okay? Ah, yeah. Bye. God bless you." Then I ended the call. I wiped my remaining tears as I put my cellphone back into my pocket bag.

"I guess that was your sister?" said Gee Kay.

I looked at him and nodded.

"What happened?" He asked. "If you don't mind telling me." He added so as to avoid getting into something private.

"She got her dream come true, Gee. She's studying abroad," I told him smiling. "Just like me, only she's going to the UK."

His blue eyes widened. "You girls have great dreams and you're awesome!" he complimented. "I've never had any dream to go abroad only to study."

"Sure. There are so many great facilities to study here with the best teachers and lecturers," I said. "It's not like in Indonesia - well, there are great places to study, but it's been my dream to study and live in the US." I corrected myself.

"I believe you can be the best here, you know," said Gee Kay. "I don't know. I can feel it. You're gonna be a great person in the future."

"Amen to that, and thanks," I smiled. Then suddenly I remembered to tell my sister to teach my parents to use Skype. "Um, would you mind letting me go for a while? I need to text my family. I need to tell them something."

He shrugged. "Yeah, no problem." He said.

I took out my cellphone again and texted my sister. It only took a little time to give a simple explanation of how to use Skype so that it would be easier for her to explain it to my parents.

I glanced at Gee Kay as I put my cellphone back into my pocket bag. He looked really busy with his IPad. I guessed he was doing something related to his Instagram. I leaned back against my chair a bit to peek at what Gee Kay was doing. I was right. He was posting someone on his Instagram.

"Who's it now?" I asked him.

Gee Kay turned his head to me. "This?" He pointed at his IPad.

I nodded.

"Oh, it's your friend. Julie." He whispered.

My eyes widened as an idea popped into my head. Julie must've had a problem I didn't know about, so I thought maybe I could do something. "Hey Gee, would you mind if I..." I hesitated.

Will it be okay? It's Gee Kay's Instagram. It's his life. It's what he always does. I can't ask him to let me write something for Julie on his Instagram. She knows that I already know Gee Kay is Genesis. What if she finds out the caption written in Gee Kay's Instagram is from me? I got so lost in thought thinking about it over and over again so much that I didn't hear Gee Kay calling my name until he poked me.

"Aw." I rubbed my right arm where he poked.

"What did you want to ask from me?" he asked.

I sighed. I talked in a low voice so that Julie wouldn't hear me. "Well, actually the reason why I wanted to sit next to her was because I think she's having a problem. She's becoming a little bit quiet than she used to, so..." I paused.

"You want to do something for her through my Instagram?" It was as if he could read my mind.

I snapped my fingers. "That's right," I admitted. "But--"

He thrust his IPad to me.

"You don't mind?"

He shook his head. "I know you're not some crazy girl so I trust you." He teased me.

I crossed my arms. "Gee-Kay." I raised my tone a little as if I was angry.

"I'm kidding," he chuckled. "Just use it."

I took his IPad and grinned. "Thank you." I said.

I wished that Julie could share what she was dealing with. I just believed that if she shared her burden a little to me or Cassie, at least she would not feel alone in bearing the problem that she had. Asking God for wisdom, I typed what I got in my mind. "Two are always better than one. There's always somebody for you to confide in to lift your spirit and faith." I pushed the arrow button and made her photo published. Then I gave the IPad back to its owner.

"Again, thank you so much." I said.

"You're always welcome," Gee Kay replied. "By the way, good words. Not too obvious, but clear enough to let her know what it means."

"You peeked at what I wrote."

"Now or later I would've known."

I chuckled. "Kidding." I stopped chuckling in order to not laugh like I'd done earlier. "And it was God. He gave me wisdom."

We arrived at the youth campsite. An hour, that's what Phillip said before and he was right. It had only taken an hour to get there. Everybody got off the bus.

The weather was so nice. It was fall and it was a good day to have a picnic. Phillip said that we would have an outdoor activity to do. Everything had been set up by the committees before we came. Everyone but Gee Kay, who was supposed to be able to join but got injured, was divided into groups. I got assigned to a group with three people I didn't know.

My teammates introduced themselves, and I did too. Their names were Gerry, Viona and Larry. It seemed perfect, two boys and two girls. Then Phillip as the leader directed us to make a circle and cast a lot. My group got the second turn.

There were five spots we had to go to play games. We did two games related to Bible verses in which we needed great memory to memorize a long verse, we crossed a valley using flying fox to get to the third spot where we arranged jumbled words, we got soaking wet as punishment because Viona couldn't answer a question asked about King David, and we drank a glass of poison, which was actually only a glass of Coke, until we finished. It took about an hour for everybody to finish up their games. It was really fun and I was feeling elated.

Then all of us gathered around to enjoy some food. People were standing around and sitting on the tree roots which grew above the soil. We also joked around with each other. There I got to know everyone I didn't know before. Making friends was always something I liked.

"It's now talent show time," Phillip announced, using a portable microphone and speaker. He got everyone's attention. "So, who wants to show his or her talent now?"

I looked around and saw everybody was pointing at each other. I chuckled to myself seeing this phenomenon. It happened everywhere. Back in Indonesia, people were always reminded of how to stop pointing at others and start pointing at themselves.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Gee Kay said, who was unpredictably sitting on his wheel chair next to me and surprised me.

I turned to him. "It's just everybody's pointing at each other. That makes me laugh. It happens all around the world, I think." I told him.

A smile appeared on the edge of his lips. "So, will you show your talent?" He brought me back to what Phillip said.

"My talent?" I furrowed. I sighed and gazed at another direction. "My talent."

"Yeah, so what is your talent?" He asked.

"Well, I can sing a little?"

"Hey, Phillip!" Gee Kay called to him, and Phillip and everyone else turned their faces toward him. "Cynthia wants to sing." Then they turned their gaze upon me.

I was startled. "Gee, I didn't--"

"Oh, wow. Sure! Come here, Cynthia." Phillip said, waving at me.

I tilted my head and looked at Gee Kay. "You," I hissed then left him. I walked toward Phillip hesitatingly. Phillip gave me the microphone and left me standing in front of everybody alone. "Well, actually I sing a little, so yeah, well, um, I will sing." I chuckled knowing I was nervous. It always happened though it was not the first time or rather I often stood in front of people. "Does somebody have a guitar?"

A boy standing not too far from me brought over a guitar. I took it and sat in the chair Cassie, who apparently was nearby, brought to me.

"If you know this song, and want to sing with me, just sing along," I said. Then I started to play the guitar.

I sang Bless the Lord by Matt Redman from beginning to end. No one sang louder than I did. I guessed they wanted to hear me sing. Everyone clapped as I finished the song.

"Thank you," I said then walked back to the place I was before. I stood beside Gee Kay's wheel chair.

"That was beautiful, Cynthia," Phillip said. "If you don't mind, would you sing in the Christmas service?"

I shrugged. "Yeah." I smiled.

Phillip gave me a thumb up, then he turned toward everyone. "Anyone else?" he asked.

I turned to Gee Kay. "You." I squinted my eyes while looking at him.

"No need to thank me." Gee Kay replied as he chuckled.

However, I didn't care for his chuckling since I felt so nervous and self-conscious but I was thankful that I made it through my performance.

The talent show continued. There were some more people who performed their talents. They sang, danced, did some tricks which involved changing leaves into money, and also played a very beautiful and complicated song with guitar. Everything was really fun and made my day wonderful. By the time dawn was about to break, we got back to Reno.

The three of us, Julie, Cassie and I, had nearly gone to sleep when we got to our room. We felt really tired and were too lazy to say anything to each other but just slept until morning came.946Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zgMe2AviD

---

That Sunday morning, Julie and Cassie went to their churches to have morning service, and so did I. Gina was with me. She had promised to take me to church every Sunday. I was grateful for her kindness.

The service went the same as usual. Nevertheless, there was one thing that was unusual. When I was on my way back to the service room from the restroom, I passed by someone whom I had least expected to be present in that church. It was the redhead, Meredith. I didn't know she attended that church before, but as far as I was concerned, I had never seen her around whether it was at service or any other event.

"So, you're here? Why haven't I seen you before?" I let her know what was on my mind. I tried to sound as nice as I could, trying hard to smile bigger.

"Do you mind?" She said it bitterly.

I shook my head in denial. "I would never do that," I said. "Have you come to seek God?"

"Don't talk about Him!" She snapped at me before I could finish my utterance.

I frowned. "But why?"

"Stop!" She blustered. "I have nothing to do with this "God" you worship. Let me just tell you, I've come to ruin everything. Especially Genesis." Her eyes blazed with fury.

I didn't respond to what she'd said. I really couldn't, because I believed whatever I'd say she would never listen to.

Meredith glared at me. "Why don't you say anything? Why don't you defend your Genesis just like you did before? Are you afraid now?" She tried to threaten me by raising her voice. "Are you now moving over to my side?"

I sighed. "This is church. Finish your business outside." I told her.

"I won't," she refused. "This is my purpose, to ruin Genesis in front of the congregation."

"Hey Meredith. What you're going to do isn't going to ruin Genesis, only yourself." I put my hand on her shoulder but she swept it aside.

"I've been ruined!" her anger flamed. "I don't have family to support me. I don't have any friends to tell my problems. I don't have love. I only have hatred. And it's all because Genesis left me!" She shouted right to my face.

"But it doesn't mean that there's no one who can give you love!" I snapped at her. Finally. I just couldn't do anything else.

"Who? Who can give me love?"

"God! He's never left you and will never leave you!" I said.

She scoffed. "Hey preacher girl, it won't work so stop it now," she intoned. "Let me do what I want." She walked away from me and toward the service room but I blocked her way.

"Don't." I urged her. "Please."

She stepped to the side, trying to pass by me, but I still tried to block her way.

"Get out of my way." I knew she'd gotten cross with me through her sharp stare.

"These people don't deserve your wrath. I will never let you do anything harmful here." I still tried to prevent her from doing something she'd regret.

As if without warning, she pushed me backward really hard until I fell onto the floor.

"Ugh!" I moaned as my right elbow hit the floor hard. I held my elbow tight.

She glared at me bitterly. "B***h!" she said and walked over me. I cringed to avoid her feet hitting my head.

Honestly, it was so painful that I couldn't hold it in. Tears almost burst out because of the pain; however, I couldn't let her plan succeed. I got up and ran after her. I hit her from the back but she didn't lose balance enough to fall.

She turned to me with rage and pulled my hair forcefully, dragging me outside the building. I tried to stop her by forcing my feet to drag against the ground while pulling her hand toward my side, but she was too strong and I was still in pain. Having no option, I gave her a sharp blow to the hand she was using to pull my hair. She let go of my hair and by that time I'd pushed her hard 'til she fell to the ground. Her head hit the edge of the pavement.

She groaned. "How dare you!" She shouted and wanted to get back up but she looked like she was in pain now.

"I.. I'm sorry but I needed to do that, Meredith," I said. I felt a bit guilty but what else could I do? "Just go now. Don't make any trouble here. Please."

I saw her forcing herself to get up. She winced in pain with her hand on her head. "Now I'm leaving, not because I'm beaten by you. We haven't finished." She gave me a dark look then turned away from me.

She left me there alone with my elbow still throbbing in pain. I felt the pain become more severe. I thought I needed medication. I didn't want my elbow to become a burden to my studies and also to everything else, because it was my right elbow. I would not have been able to lift anything or even just write, if I didn't get some medication for it quickly.

I quickly walked into the church, went to my seat, and took my pocket bag out with my left hand. I tried as best I could to not let anyone see me hurting. Without even glancing over to Gina whose seat was beside me, I walked out from the church. I headed toward the bus shelter near the church and caught a bus ride. I had nowhere to go but the hospital where Gee Kay had been hospitalized.

As I arrived at the hospital, I went to the front desk and told the woman in charge about the severe pain in my elbow. She directed me to a nurse who took me to see one of the doctors.

"You're going to be fine in a couple of weeks," an older doctor told me after checking my elbow. "I'll give you a pain killer to relieve the pain temporarily until you get your prescription filled."

I walked out of his office. I went to a pharmacy the nurse showed me and gave the prescription to the man who welcomed me there. He went somewhere behind a wall to look for the medicine written on the prescription.

Then I remembered something. Something that I should have remembered to do earlier. I didn't think about how to pay for the medicine. I didn't have any money. What I had at the moment wouldn't be enough if I should pay for it. What if it costs too much and I can't pay? I immediately regretted what I'd done. I started thinking I needed to cancel this.

The man showed up. "This is the medicine," he gave me two small bottles containing white and pink pills. "And you need to take this white--"

"Pardon me," I interrupted.

"Yes?" he tilted his head a little.

I sighed. "I think I need to cancel this," I gulped. "I'm sorry."

He looked surprised. "But why?" he asked.

"I--" I hesitated. "I'm afraid I can't pay the cost."

The man smiled. He looked so concerned.

"I'm sorry," I told him. "Thank you anyway." I turned away from him and started walking away.

I knew that I would need to bear with the pain for some time after the painkiller was gone. I had no other options at the moment. I put my trust in God that there has to be a way to make this pain go away. I need You, God, I need You.

I winced when I accidentally hit my right hand against a wall at the turn to the lobby. I rubbed it as I continued walking. I headed to the bus shelter and caught a bus ride.