The right time did not present itself that afternoon, though.
As soon as their little brother, Ben, got home, Justin withdrew from the world. This happened whenever she was around Ben and their parents. She just felt so inferior to them. Her brother was a goody two-shoes, her mother a successful real estate agent, and her father an accomplished lawyer. Megan outshone her too, but she also had a way of making her feel a bit better about herself.
About an hour later, Justin’s parents got home within a few minutes of each other. Soon, they were all sitting down to dinner. All except Justin.
“Justin!” her dad called. “Dinner!”
“I’ll get her,” offered Megan.
She came back a minute later with Justin in tow. They sat down.
“Let’s say grace,” her dad began. “Father, we thank You for this food. Please bless it to the nourishment of our bodies. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Justin sort of listened as she went through the motions of dinner. Get the food. Eat the food. Don’t listen to the conversation. But then something unexpected happened. “What have you been learning in Sunday School lately, Justin?” This was from her dad.
“I don’t know. Stuff,” she mumbled, without looking up from behind her hair. She knew what was coming and she didn’t like it. Sometimes she could come up with a satisfactory answer quickly enough to quiet his questioning, but tonight would not be one of those lucky nights.
“Why don’t you know?”
“Just ‘cause.”
“Do you mean because you haven’t been paying attention? At all?”
“I guess.”
"Why Justin? I thought we had talked about this before. You promised to pay more attention. You promised.”
Justin was silent.
“What else can we do to get you to pay good attention?”
She shrugged. Now for the promise.
“I want you to promise me you’ll start paying better attention and be respectful to the teacher.”
“I promise.” They both knew that the promise would not be acted upon. She was the only one of her friends that had to go to church. So she made up for it by texting Charlotte all through Sunday School, but there was nothing she could do during service under her dad’s watchful eye.
She tried to be even more invisible through the rest of dinner and excused herself as soon as she was done eating. She went straight to her room and lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
That’s where Megan found her 20 minutes later.
“Want to start back in with English?”
“Sure. I guess. But it’s hopeless. I’ll never understand it like you or even Ben. Why should I try?”
“Because you can. I know you have it in you. Just give it a shot. For me?”
“I said sure. May as well get good grades so Dad can’t get at me for that too.”
“Okay. Let’s get started.” It was a beginning at least. Maybe Megan could talk about Justin’s “friends” later.
After about an hour of English, Megan decided it was time. “Hey, let’s take a break. You’ve been working hard.”
“Okay. And do what?”
“Well, there’s something that I’d like to talk about.”
“Alright.” Megan looked determined. It must be something important.
“Your friends. Who do you hang out with?”
“Marty and the gang. Why?”
“Well, I think you should probably stop hanging around with them. They’re not a good influence.”
“I know that. But they’re the only friends I’ve got. I can’t stop hanging out with them! Anyway, Marty would kill me on the spot if I told him that. And he would have three helpers.”
“You don’t have to tell him. Just find some new friends.”
“It’s not that easy, Megan. You don’t just walk up to some kid and say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I laughed all those times Marty shoved you down since sixth grade. Can we be friends now?’ ”
“Look, I know that. But I have an idea. Dress neater. Pay attention in class. Work hard. And don’t hang out with Marty!”
“And how am I supposed to do that?”
“Wear jeans without holes in the knees for starters. And brush out your hair - like this.” Megan grabbed a brush and started pulling at Justin’s tangled mass of hair. Soon enough she had it smooth and shining. She parted it on the right. Megan sat back proudly. Justin looked like a new girl already. “Try being on time for class too.”
“Why should I do all this?”
“I honestly think things will turn out better for you if you just give it a shot. Please?”
“Just a trial run?”
“Just a trial run. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Great. Let’s find you a nice, neat outfit to wear to school tomorrow.” They proceeded to do so. Soon the whole day was planned out nice and neat, just like her clothes.
-Kira
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