Beth placed her turtle mocha on the table and sat down. Outside, the rain that had been pouring all day was beginning to slow to a drizzle. So much for the picture-perfect weather that had been promised, she thought to herself. Besides the rain, it had been freezing cold, which was just as well. It suited her none-too-sunny mood.

Her friend Maitay Littman sat down in the chair across from her. Always perceptive, she looked understandingly at Beth. “Okay,” Maitay said. “What did Jon have to say?”

Jon DeVore was a guy Beth had met a couple weeks ago through her friend Ryan. The two of them had only known each other by sight prior to that. Upon meeting, they had exchanged email and phone numbers and had talked almost every day since then. Her friend, Missy, knew Jon casually and had spoken with him a few times since then as well. One time in conversation he had asked her if Beth was single. “He really likes you, Beth!” Missy had informed her.

“I like him, too,” Beth had admitted. It had been going well—until recently, as Beth now filled Maitay in on the details.

“He said that there wasn’t any ‘spark’ between us and that there wasn’t any point in going any further. Whatever. Guys suck!” Her voice escalated with each word.

“Calm down Beth. You don’t need everyone in Caribou overhearing the details.”

“And do you know whose fault it is?” Beth continued, more softly, but with a distinct edge to her voice.

“Whose?”

“Jamie’s.” Jamie Holden lived across the street from Beth and was a close friend of her younger brother, Bobby. The two had known each other for years.

“Jamie’s? Come on, Beth—”

“No, it’s true. Listen.” Beth repeated the story she had heard from Missy. There had been a party over the weekend. Missy had been there. So had Jamie and Jon. After the drinking had started, Jamie had started running his mouth off, and had ended up telling Jon that Beth was a lesbian who would drop her drawers for any chick, especially if there was a guy around to watch. How he had come up with a story like that, Beth didn’t know and didn’t want to know. Of course, in a way it didn’t really matter. Jamie could come up with the most off-the-wall ideas. But why did he have to come up with one the one time it did matter? “So,” she concluded, “if Jamie hadn’t gotten drunk and opened up his mouth, none of this would ever have happened.”

Maitay’s brown eyes were thoughtful as she stirred her latte. She was quiet for a moment before she responded. “Listen, Beth, this Jon guy sounds like a player to me. Hear me out,” she continued as Beth began to protest. “First of all, everyone knows that nobody listens to Jamie when he’s been drinking. Nobody listens to anybody who’s been drinking, unless they are a comeplete and total idiot. That whole lesbian story is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Who in their right mind would actually believe that? If this Jon guy cared anything at all about you, he would have beaten the crap out of Jamie for saying that. And,” Maitay concluded, “honestly, it just seems like he’s looking for excuses. You know how guys are at times. They’re idiots.”

Beth didn’t want to admit it, but Maitay was probably right. Maitay was one of her best friends, had been for years, and one of the best things about her was her honesty. She would tell it like it was and would hit the nail on the head. Knowing that did nothing to ease the hurt or the anger, though.

Maitay stood up. “Are you finished yet? Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

“I can walk.”

“It’s cold and rainy. I’m ready whenever you are.”

***

A few days later, the weather cleared up and it was beautiful. Autumn was one of Beth’s favorite seasons, and now it was setting in. Outside in the sunshine and the cool breeze, she was able to think things over more clearly. Jon. The two of them hadn’t seen each other or spoken since the day she’d met Mai at Caribou. Missy had told her that he was now going after a girl named Amy Collins, who was a bitch, but was always partying and was a model. I never thought Jon went after the arm candy, Beth mused. Or maybe I just didn’t want to see it!

And Jamie. He was just….Jamie, and there wasn’t really any other way to describe him, She had gotten over the humiliation she had felt upon hearing about his comment. He hadn’t known what he was saying, she realized. The two had known each other forever, since Beth’s family had moved into their house, which was across the street from Jamie’s. The two families were fairly close to each other, and Jamie was a close friend of Beth’s younger brother, Bobby. It was silly to let a stupid incident like this get in the way of all that. Besides, nobody listened to Jamie when he’d been drinking. One time he and his friend Tom had had a Loudmouth Contest in which the both of them had shouted out weird stories about the other to anyone in hearing range. They’d ended up in a fight.

Sometime during the night, Beth woke out of a deep sleep. What time was it? She blinked her eyes a couple of times. 3:30 AM. Trying to clear her head, she sat up. Something inside of her was telling her to pray—for Jamie. Was there a reason for it? It wasn’t like anything she had ever felt before—not scared or panicky or worried. But Jamie needed her to pray for him. She knew it. Taking a deep breath and a moment to gather her thoughts, she began to pray, Lord, please bless Jamie and keep him in your hands right now. I don’t know why, but I know he needs it. I’m hurt by what he was saying about me, and because of the whole Jon thing, but please help me to get past that. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me. Please bless him and take care of him, and help me to help him in some way. Thank you Lord.

Comforted and reassured, she fell back asleep.

***

The next day was Monday, and it went as Mondays usually go. Beth worked until 8 that evening, and when she got home, her mom was on the phone. Julia was saying, “I’m so glad everything turned out ok, Cheryl. That’s just amazing! ...You too. Talk to you later.”

Cheryl was Jamie’s mom. “What’s up?” Beth asked.

Julia told her. Jamie had been about to turn onto the freeway earlier that day when another car going much too fast hit the tail end of his car. The force had dented it, and it was a narrow miss. Julia finished up, “Three seconds earlier and he would have been completely broadsided. He was very lucky.”

Beth nodded. “When was this?”

“About 10:30 or 11 this morning.”

Beth nodded again. The rumor that had gotten her so upset was now pushed out of her thoughts. Things could have been so much worse! God, she thought, thank You for protecting Jamie and for being there with him this morning.

***

“So,” Beth concluded the story Julia had told her a few days later, “what do you think? Has anything like that ever happened to you?”

Maitay nodded. “A couple of years ago—it was just after I had gotten my driver’s license—I stopped at the grocery store, and on the way home I took the wrong side street. You remember my cousin Katie? She and her family had just moved into that neighborhood and so I decided to stop in for a minute and say hey. Katie was the only one home at the time and she started to have a panic attack. She was just praying for someone to help her through it when I walked in. Some things are just meant to happen.”

“I haven’t told anyone else about it yet—I was afraid they would think I was crazy. At first I felt really bad about it, like it was because of me that it all happened, but mostly I was just glad that I prayed for him when I did.”

Beth thought again about the events that had gone on during the past couple of weeks. Earlier it had seemed so important to blame Jamie for the issues between her and Jon. Now it hardly mattered to her. In the grand scheme of things, what was really important?

Maitay spoke up. “There’s another thing, Beth. When I was talking to Missy the other day, she told me to tell you something. That girl Amy that Jon was dating—you know what happened? She’s using him to make her ex jealous, and he’s doing the same thing to her. I guess that’s the only reason Jon talks to any girl now.”

“So they were playing each other? Glad I didn’t get involved in that,” Beth remarked.

Then a thought struck her. If Jamie and Jon hadn’t talked at the party, she would have gotten involved with Jon. It was turning out to be a good thing. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew there was a plan, and Someone who knew what He was doing was seeing it through. The best was yet to come.

February 19th, 2004

Dedicated to God, who knows what He is doing, and to all my friends.....

Copyright 2004 Elizabeth Costello. You must contact me if you would like to use this or any of my work. Thank you!

[This message has been edited by skyshine (02-23-2004 12:08 AM).]

Thank you very much Merlyn!! That was really nice to hear

~sky

Hold on, if you feel like letting go
Hold on, it gets better than you know....
~Good Charlotte