Introverted Poet's

A safe space for shy poets and story tellers to express themselves. Audio clips and links to podcast coming soon. Lead poet/ host Ilana

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Welcome to the four-night, season two, spring break event of the Introverted Poet’s Podcast. Tune in as Ilana Jade reads the sequel or, shall we say prequel of The Collector, called Summer of 1997. This event starts from tonight through Sunday, March 22nd, 2021 8 pm CST, Due to this being the first episode and a four-night event, we won’t be having Q&As or interviews. We will have our inboxes open for episode four of this season; the purpose of this is done so that the audience who have read Summer of 1997 on our Tumblr, can ask or make some comments answered by Ilana Jade. *All shows are previously recorded* Ways for submission include our Tumblr at www.theintrovertedpoetspodcast.tumblr.com Instagram: introverted poets podcast, Gmail :[email protected] and Twitter @intropoetpod Be on the lookout for a youtube channel coming soon! Check out: Thephoniexbookstore1 on Instagram Located at 1602 Victoria Street, Laredo, Texas. Lookup: Laredo Book Club on Instagram. The Introverted Poet’ Podcast is not sponsored by anyone, we believe Laredo and other small creators have amazing content and think they should be heard about. We are a safe space for the shy writer and anonymous poet. Si hablamos español envía sus narrativos y poemas. Todas nuestras entrevistas son vía zoom audio, osea no cameras! Pronto llegaremos a YouTube!

Summer of 1997 part II by The Introverted Poet's Podcast • A podcast on Anchor

Check out part two of Summer of 1997 as the boss lady, Ilana Jade narrates her story. Tune in this Friyay to find out more about this summer

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The Introverted Poet's Podcast - Summer of 1997 Part 1

Welcome to the four-night, season two, spring break event of the Introverted Poet’s Podcast. Tune in as Ilana Jade reads the sequel or, shal

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The Introverted Poet's Podcast

This podcast is a safe space for the writer that wishes to remain anonymous. Bilingual writers and storytellers welcomed! Si hablamos Espano

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Summer of 1997

Saturday

It was 9:00 am and still no sign of Casey or Lizzy. Maria and Lila were both crying sitting in the living room next to Mary Elizabeth and Mary Ann. Mary Ann was pale, the rosiness of her cheeks was gone. She nervously looked around the room.

“It’s not like them to not come home, I know in my heart of hearts something terrible has happened Mary Elizabeth” sobbed Lilia.

“Lila and Maria, I know it is very worrisome, but we must pray and not lose faith; we don’t know anything yet, let’s just call the police and file a missing persons report.” consoled Mary Elizabeth. 

Pastor Glen, Juan, Hector, Henry, Evan, Isaiah, Sara, Joanna, Hannah, Joshua, and Edward walked into Lilia and Hector’s living room. Edward noted how Pastor Glen and Mary Elizabeth acted as if nothing was wrong. Maybe Mary Ann hadn’t tattled. He nervously looked around the living room and noticed pictures of Lizzy in Kindergarten. 

“Hey, were you all able to find anything at the church?” asked Mary Elizabeth

“No, honey” answered Pastor Glen sadden “the troupe helped but unfortunately nothing, we even looked past the creek and not of sign of them,”

“We will be calling the police then,” stated Maria as she reached for the telephone on the wall. “Yes police I would like to report two missing girls, well... one is my daughter the other is her friend, yes, yes, her mother is also here. We are on 1145 Fall Avenue, New Caney near Kingwood.” she hung up the phone and made her way towards Mary Elizabeth and Lilia. 

  “I don’t have a good feeling about this Lily”

  “Ya se Maria,” answered Lilia.

  “A mother always knows,”

  “Yes, I thought the killings had stopped already,”

  “Me too Lily,”

  “Do you think, that our...,”

  “It’s best not think of such things and just pray,” emphasized Mary Elizabeth. 

  “What did the police say,” she asked?

  “They’re sending some detectives over, in the meantime let me put on some coffee,”

Lila couldn't help but stare at Edward. Tall, fair skinned and with light brown gelled back hair. Edward caught her scanning him, she quickly turned away. Edward made his way towards Lila on the couch.

“Hey, I am so sorry, we are gonna find the girls,” he assured.

“¿Quién eres tú,” asked Lila?

“Ahi, perdon, me llamo Eduardo, y estoy con el grupo PRAY,” he answered.

“How did you know my Lizzy,” asked Lila?

“Oh, well her and Casey assisted us all week long during camp and we had a good time, which is why we stayed an extra few days to find them,”

Sara walked in from behind him and hugged Lila. She then sat next to her, behind her came in Hector who was followed by two detectives.

“They’re here Lily, go tell Maria and Juan,” Hector informed.

Lilia got up and walked into the kitchen. She came back out with Juan and Maria. Lila sat on the three-seater couch with Sara and next to Hector, and Juan and Maria stood behind them.

“Good morning, I am detective Lopez and this is my partner detective Miller, I understand there are two missing girls,”

“Yes, our girls,” sobbed Maria.

“I understand this might be very difficult but we are gonna need all of you to tell us what the girls look like and what they were wearing the last time you saw them?”

“Elizabeth is short fair skinned and with straight black long hair, she is about 5’2 and weighs 110lbs, and athletic, she runs track,” described Lila.

“Any special marks, dental work, or tattoos?”

“No senor Lopez, my Lizzy is an angel and does not have such tattoos,” Lila answered.

“What was she wearing ?” asked Lopez

“I, I, don’t know, I was already gone for work by the time she left to camp with Casey and Juan,”

“Mr. Fuentes, you drove the girls to school,” asked Detective Miller?

“Yes, every morning for the past 13 years, from elementary to now,”

“So, you all have known each other for quite some time now,” asked Miller?

“Yes,”

“Can you tell us what the girls were wearing,”

“I can try,”

“Elizabeth was wearing jeans, her Templo Nuestro red polo shirt, and some tennis shoes,”

“What kind of shoes,”

“I’m not too sure, just regular sneakers, I guess.” answered Mr. Fuentes.

“What about Casey,”

“The same, she was wearing the same uniform since they're both youth leaders at our church,”

“And what church is that,” asked Lopez?

“That would be Templo Nuestro church in downtown Houston,”

“Any reason you all prefer that one over the ones here ?”

“We’re Christians not Lutherans,”

“Okay, and what does Casey look like Mr. and Mrs. Fuentes,” asked Miller?

“Well, mi Casey, is a brunette like Lizzy only with curly hair and slightly taller, she is about 5’5 and also athletic,” Maria explained.

“Is she also on the track team,” asked Lopez?

“Yes.”

“Okay, and the last place they’ve been seen is at the Templo Nuestro church near I-90 and downtown Houston,” Lopez wrote down on a notepad. “Since they are minors, 16, we will get this information to the Houston county ASAP.” 

Both detectives stepped out and left. Mary Elizabeth and Pastor Glen took their place and comforted both families.

“We will keep looking,” assured Pastor Glen?

“Where,” asked Mary Elizabeth?

“We will look again at the church,” 

“What if they took the bus and went missing,” mentioned Maria.

“Why would they take the bus,” asked Mary Elizabeth “they can get rides from us”

“Well Juan was running late from the meeting so he asked Marcela to tell them about the bus,” explained Maia

“Maybe Marcela saw them last’ figured Mary Elizabeth

“What do you mean?”

“The girls had to sign out everyday along with other youth leaders at the end of each camp day, the sign-out requires a time out as well, maybe we can look at the logs and see when they signed out,” suggested Mary Elizabeth. 

The three families hopped into their individual cars and followed Mary Elizabeth down the road. The troupe joined the caravan in their PRAY van and followed them as well. After 45 minutes on the highway, they finally reached the Templo Nuestro church. Rather than adhering to the parking lines sprayed on the floor, everyone parked whichever way and immediately made their way towards the administration building. 

Pastor Glen nervously unlocked the door and swung the glass doors wide open. Mary Elizabeth, Lilia, and Maria quickly rushed in and made their way to Marcela's office. Mary Elizabeth took keys out of her front pocket and unlocked the side entrance leading into the office. The three walked in, Lilia and Maria did not know what to look for, but Mary Elizabeth did. She pulled out a white binder and flipped through it. She flipped through it once fast, and now the second and third time, she scanned slowly. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Lila knowing too well that if the girls had signed out, their signatures would have been found already.

“They didn't sign out Friday,” whispered Mary Elizabeth.

“What?” asked Maria in disbelief.

“They only signed in Friday morning but they didn't sign out,” restated Mary Elizabeth.

“What does it mean,” asked Lilia?

Then walked in Pastor Glen.

“What did you find,” he asked hopefully?

“Nothing, just that the girls did not sign out Friday,”

“Was the office locked during the dance?’

“I don’t know”

“Where was Marcela?”

“At the dance! It shows everyone else’s signed out except them!” Mary Elizabeth explained.

“Maybe they’re still here,” stated Juan who walked in behind Pastor Glen.

Again the group took off scanning the parking lot and buildings of the Templo Nuestro Church; the troupe also joined by heading towards the fields and the creek. Mary Elizabeth picked up the phone and called the Houston police department.

“Yes, I am calling in regards to the missing girls in New Caney, yes, well I don't know if you all know this yet but here’s these girls that have gone missing since last night from here downtown Houston, mmhmm, I am calling from Templo Nuestro church,” Mary Elizabeth continued explaining, she figured if showing them he sign out binder could help, why not use it. 

The time was 12:00 noon and still no sign of the girls. The search party paused and sat for lunch. Pizza hut delivered some pizzas. They were all sitting in the assembly hall, the men and troupe ate. The three mothers didn't. 

   "You have to eat something besides coffee," pleaded Hector with Lilia. 

   "I can't Hector. I know something isn't right. The girls have never done something like this before. My intuition is telling me that something is wrong," she hypothesized. 

Marcela walked in with her husband pastor Emmanuel with a box of baked goods. 

   "I came as soon as Mary Ann called me," she stated. 

     "The radio just began announcing the girl’s disappearance," added Emmanuel. 

      "Marce, do you remember if the girls left early or were at the dance yesterday," asked Mary Elizabeth?

      "No. I was dancing with the kids and troupe." She answered.  "Manny did you," she asked while looking at him?

      "No, I was on the dance floor as well," he answered to everyone's disappointment. 

      "We wish we could help you out more," stated Isaiah but we have to hit the road to make it to San Antonio for another camp," he reasoned. 

      "Oh, it's okay," stated Pastor Glen. 

       "We really appreciate your help," added Mary Elizabeth, "here take some pizza for the road." She handed them three unopened boxes. The troupe got up and hugged Pastor Glen, Mary Elizabeth, Marcela, pastor Emmanuel, Juan, Hector, Lilia, and Maria. 

       "We will be praying for their safe return," stated Edward, was the last to give the farewell hugs to the congregation. 

The troupe walked out of the church assembly building and loaded onto the white PRAY van. They drove off never to be seen again. 

   Hours had gone by and still no sign of the girls. Once the troupe left the remaining pastors showed up and began searching the area three more times. Nothing. Pastor Gilberto and his wife Lucinda checked closets and storage bins. Hector, Juan, and Pastor Ramiro searched two miles from the church. Also, no sign all they found was brown bags of sack lunches.  Marcela searched the administration building with volunteers who had heard about the girls vanishing. Mary Elizabeth and Pastor Glen were talking to the police and news crew about the girls. Maria and Lilia waited at the church in case they girls returned. Four hours had passed. Still no sign of them. 

  Another hour passed now, 5:05pm and a handful of volunteers arrived.  A dozen people showed up. Still in shock that there was no sign of their girls Lila and Maria allowed Mary Elizabeth to handle the crowd. She broke them up into teams and they went past beyond the two miles of the creek. One team took four more miles further down. Another went north instead. The third went east and the fourth went west.  They pushed brush and mud and with sticks moved things around. Nothing. The team heading north ended up under I-90. Nothing. They began to head back. The team that ended up west found nothing. As did the remaining two. No group found any signs of them. 

   After two hours, the three families headed back home. It was 7:45 heading into New Caney, the sun was barely beginning to set. Lilia wondered why there wasn't any sign of the girls, what cruel God would allow such a horror. 

Sunday

10:00am two little boys ride their bikes alongside a golden retriever,  named Lucky. One boy, husky, fair skinned with blue eyes and buzzcut rode his black bike. Another boy, skinny with long black shaggy hair, brown eyes, fair skinned, with freckles, also rode a green and black bike. The first day of summer, school had just ended yesterday and the boys had no care in the world. Being 11 why would they anyway the. Sun was shining and the grass was illuminated and dancing with the breeze.  Both boys were heading down Irving road. They made a left on Calder and kept riding their bikes. They pass a few blocks swallowed by grass, trees, and weeds. The boys paused and looked at the abandoned oil fields. Once the boom of the Houston-Galveston area, now a ghost of such time. 

  Lucky took off barking and running. Both boys quickly peddled to keep up. 

        "What is it boy," Shouted the huskier boy?

 Then suddenly Lucky made  a sharp left onto a grassy stretch of land. The boys rode over broken glass. 

       "Careful with the tires," shouted the skinnier freckled boy. 

       "I'm trying to keep up with Lucky, Pat," the other boy shouted!

Lucky suddenly stopped at the end of the makeshift path on the grass and began whining.

      “What’s a matter boy,” asked the huskier boy who suddenly stopped in his tracks too. 

      “What did you find,” asked Patrick who finally caught up with his friend and Lucky.

Both boys and dogs stood in shock. The body of a tan, brunette with straight hair girl, wearing a tracksuit was found lifeless at the end of a grass path. Her neck had a big purple mark around it and her eyes were staring wide at the sky. Both boys dropped their bikes and ran back down the road which they came. 

Thirty Minutes Later

Within a few minutes Calder road was closed off and surrounded with squad cars, forensics van, medical examiner, onlookers, and several news reporters.

     “Here, live from Houston Fox 26, two bodies have been found on the stretch of the infamous Calder road field between Galveston and Houston, right here In League City, I’m Trisha Sanchez reporting you live and on site,” a tan woman in a red skirt suit spoke in front of the camera

  “Aqui reportandose desde Calder road, aquí entre Houston y la isla de Galveston, donde encuentran dos chicas menores de 18 anos aqui muertas,” said a short tan man with salt and pepper hair. 

A tall 6’2 tan  with black curly tight hair man, in a tan suit walked past the yellow tape.

   “Excuse me sir, we are gonna need you to,” said an officer before he was interrupted by the man’s badge. “Oh, detective, right this way.” 

Both men proceeded to where the medical examiner was taking photos of the dead body, further down another examiner in a white suit and goggles was taking more photos.

  “What do we have here,” he asked?

   “Well, two female vics found a couple feet from each other, assuming they were both killed at the same time,” informed an officer.

  “Any ID or belongings?”

  “No sir, nothing on them at all, which is strange, you know how teen girls are. What’s your name detective,”

  “Detective Joe Lopez with the New Caney Police Department and also worked for the Houston Homicide division for 15 years before moving to New Caney,” detective Lopez answered. “Now, that we are done with the dick measuring contest, what’s the cause of death?”

  “Not sure yet,” answered a female voice in the white examiner suit. “However, ligature marks around the neck show that she was strangled,  the shards of glass, show that she wasn’t murdered here, but dumped,” 

   “What else?”

  “Shards of glass are found a few feet away, assuming from a van. Time of death is about...less than 24 hours judging by the stage of decomposition,”

Lopez was writing down what the medical Examiner was saying on a notepad. He didn’t really look at the first Jane Doe.

   “And the other body?” he asked while still writing down the information

  “Go ask Helen over there,” she directed, she went back to taking more photos of the victim. 

  “And your name?” he asked her

  “Rachel Wood,” lead medical examiner of League City Texas, here’s my card in case you need to call me detective,” she stated while handing him a card. 

  “Thank you Ms. Wood,” he said while walking away.

Joe took a few more steps back towards the direction he came, close to the street sign of Irving and Calder road, he met up with the second medical examiner Helen.

   “What have you got here?”

   “What we have here is an unidentified female who appeared to have been strangled, she was found face down, and also has a bruise on her lower back. I  am willing to bet cause of death was strangulation; the mark of a buckle is right on the center of her neck”

   “Anything else?”

   “We also found shards of glass all over her hands, and some DNA on her fingerprints; we will need to take the swabs down to the lab and find out if they match anyone on the database. Assuming by the way she was found, she tried escaping her attacker.”

    “Any ID on her?”

    “No, nothing detective, whoever did this thought about it thoroughly,”

     “How long before we get the results on the swabs?”

     “About 72 hours to a week, we got other homicides too in Houston,”

“Alright, can you turn the body around for me,”

“You heard ‘em boys,” instructed Helen

Two big officers came and flipped Jane Doe two over, and just then it hit Detective Lopez, he had seen these Jane Does before. 

  “What’s wrong, detective?” asked Helen.

Lopez walked away from the crime scene while pulling his black Nokia 3110, he began dialing frantically. The phone rang twice and a man picked up the phone.

  “Miller, here,” the voice answered.

  “We got on the lead!”

                                         The End

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The Introverted Poet's Podcast - Letters to the Wolfman

Join Rachel and Ilana on this special episode; as they sit down and read a series of poems dedicated to Ilana's husband.   Ways for submissi

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White Little Lies

Another poem written by luna.y.amor on Instagram airing spring 2021

4/10/2021

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Empty

Airing Soon

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Begin Again

Airing on the podcast soon

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Summer of 1997

Thursday

The girls were once again waiting in the lounge for the day to start

“Remember, do not be bad mouthing the head of the church’s daughter Casey, ”reminded Lizzy.

“Whatever, I don’t start fights, I end them,”

“Uh, technically you did,” reminded Lizzy!

Marcela walked in with a box of baked goods from her bakery on Telephone Road. 

“Good morning girls” she cheered.

“Good morning Marcela”

“I brought you all some goodies, even though one of you doesn't deserve it,” she jokingly stated.

“Ha, ha, ha to forgive is to be Christian,”

“Oh, how right you are Casey, here girls, have some Pastor Emmanuel and I made them fresh at 5:00am this morning,”

“You were up that early!” exclaimed Casey.

“Oh, yes we get a rush at 6:00am-9:30 am during the week.”

The girls reached in and grabbed the sweet bread in the box. They got the regalos and conchas before anyone else showed up.

“Is there coffee?” asked Lizzy.

“Why yes, mija, in my office. I didn’t know you liked coffee Lizzy,” remarked Marcela.

“I didn’t sleep so well last night,” she explained.

Lizzy stepped out and went into the office and grabbed a cup for her coffee. Truth is, she stayed up all night thinking about what she witnessed. She didn’t know how she could tell her best friend, since childhood, she saw Edward’s manhood. If she couldn’t figure a way to tell her about Evan, how could she ever mention Edward and Sara sinning. Well Edward since Sara wasn’t even there. Lizzy walked out of the office and back into the hallway to head back towards the lounge when she ran into Edward alone. 

“Good morning Lizzy,” he nervously whispered with a toothy grin.

“Hi,” she replied while avoiding eye contact.

“Lizzy, in order for us to keep our little secret, you’re gonna have to act like everything is fine,” he demanded.

“I’m the wallflower anyway don’t worry,”

“Yea, but now every time you see me you get so red, it’s like you saw my privates, you didn't? Not that I  mind because it’s normal,”

“No, no I didn’t,” she said while quickly walking away.

 Edward quickly ran from behind her and grabbed her by the wrist before she could get into the lounge.

“Lizzy!” he sternly whispered. She looked at him. “You need to start acting right, you’re 17 years old, grow up! There’s going to come a point in your life as a woman where you will have to fulfill your womanly duties to your husband. But until then, we both have a reputation to maintain so act normal or people are going to assume you and I did something, and Sara won’t take kindly to that and I don’t think Casey would either.”

“Casey,” she whispered.

“Yes, Casey!”

“How did you know,”

“It’s obvious, she throws herself at me with her eager eyes, look I won't ever say a word, I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine and Sara’s okay?” he stated.

 Lizzy shook her head in agreement, not noticing the spilled coffee on her white shoes.

“Shit!” she whispered.

“Watch your language,'' Edward stated before going into the lounge before her. 

Lizzy walked back to Marcela’s office and made herself another cup of coffee. This time she remained inside Marcela’s office and drank it.  She hoped this cup of coffee never ended because aside from not wanting to be near Mary Ann or her family, now she wanted to avoid Edward. She looked at the time and saw it was 9:00am. The thirty minutes went by quickly. The door opened and in came Mary Elizabeth.

“Lizzy, what are you doing here in the dark?”

“Praying” she quickly answered.

“Oh, well don’t mind me dear, I am gonna get me a cup of coffee too you keep praying.” 

Mary Elizabeth grabbed a tray and placed four cups of coffee on it. She walked out as quickly as she walked in. Being the head of the church Mary Elizabeth's hosting skills were phenomenal. Anytime a party was to be thrown for Templo Nuestro everyone always wanted Mary Elizabeth to be in charge of it all. Or, if Mary Elizabeth was to host a party, everyone wanted to go!  

Lizzy looked at the clock once more and saw it was 9:15am. She got up and walked back towards the lounge despite every thought in her head shouting no. She opened the door and walked in with her normal facing the ground entrance. While avoiding Edward, Lizzy walked to where Casey had been sitting. Across the room was Mary Ann, Katheryn, Marcela, and Mary Elizabeth. 

“Where have you been?” asked Casey.

“I was praying.”

“Praying?”

“Yeah for some strength since I couldn’t sleep so well last night,”

“Why not?”

“I was just thinking about college admissions,” fretted Lizzy.

“Lizzy, it’s barely June, calm down, we got plenty of time.” assured Casey.

Pastor Glenn walked in along with the other 5 members of the Pray Troupe. 

“Ahh, there you are Edward,'' he shouted, hearing his name made Lizzy shudder.

“My man,” yelled Edward!

“Your Spurs got lucky last night” teased Pastor Glen.

“Nah man ,they’re just awesome!” insisted Edward

“Alright, anyway back to business,” stated Pastor Glen in a serious tone, “today is the second to last day of the camp and tomorrow we say goodbye to our pals from PRAY here.”

“Awww,” every woman in the lounge except Lizzy groaned.

“Now, now we have their mailing address so we may send letters to them,” comforted Pastor Glen.

“Indeed!” boasted Mary Ann while looking at Casey and Lizzy.

“Now, Isaiah I believe you have the floor, we have to go finish with breakfast and be ready for morning prayer, and you guessed it another game of Bible trivia except this time it will be like family feud!” Pastor Glen, walked out.

“Okay liaison, today we will be needing your help with some skits,” he stated.

“Ooh, “ they all shouted. 

“Yes we will be needing a girl and boy to do some acting. Today we will be talking about abstinence,” stated Isaiah. The lounge suddenly quiet. “So I  need a girl to pretend to not want to and mention a Purity Ring to her boyfriend, all pretend of course, because aside from talking about abstinence and STDs, we are going to be taking pledges to our Lord about saving ourselves for marriage.”

Hearing those words escape Isaiah’s mouth made Lizzy wince. She wondered if Edward and Sara were wearing purity rings. She looked at Sara's finger and saw one. Edward was sitting behind her and Casey, she would have to wait for that. However, knowing that Sara is wearing one and Edward is begging her to stay mum about what she knows, she imagines he too took the pledge which is why he wants Lizzy quiet. 

“After the abstinence lesson, Edward will take the stage and do a comedy routine for an hour. Now who wants to be my Betty, the name of the girl in the play we wrote” asked Isaiah enthusiastically.

Mary Ann, Katheryn, and Casey quickly shot their hands up. 

“Why not have Mary Ann and Julio do it,” suggested Mary Elizabeth “they are the head of the youth bible group!”

“Very, well then, Mary Ann and Julio,” winced Isaiah. “Come here so we can begin rehearsing your lines and let’s find Julio.” 

Isaiah and Mary Ann left the lounge in search of Julio who was at the breakfast line helping Pastor Gilbert, Pastor Emmanuel, and the custodians. 

“Now, the rest of you will be helping us with, you guessed it, props and the pledges,” instructed Hannah. “We are gonna need someone to organize the purity rings, someone to laminate the purity ring pledges, someone to get the black markers ready, and someone to make a backdrop of starry night.” 

Lizzy and Casey volunteered to be the ones to draw the starry night backdrop since they were familiar with backdrops. Katheryn was in charge of going to the office to laminate the pledges. Edward and Sara organized the purity rings, Joshua and Marcela gathered the black markers, and Hannah made goodie bags for the Q&A portion of the abstinence lecture. 

“Are you gonna wait until marriage Lizzy,” asked Casey

“I don’t know,”

“You don’t know!”

“Shh, Casey shut up!”

“Sorry,”

“No, I don’t know. I mean I want to but what if I meet my husband and we you know before marriage,”

“You mean you’ll wait until your engaged,”

“I don’t know, I never thought about it honestly, I just know it has to be special,”

“Prom?”

“No!”

“Just, I don’t know it’s a big commitment, I mean what if I take the ring and then sin,”

“What do you mean Lizzy”

“All I’m saying no one is perfect,”

“That's exactly right Lizzy” said an all too familiar voice from behind them. 

Both girls faced Edward. 

             "Hi Eddie" excitedly greeted Casey. 

              "Hi" quietly added Lizzy. 

              "What are you girls talking about, " he asked.

              "About the pledge,"

             "Oh okay, okay, okay, I see. You know, I'm studying to get a degree in pastoral counseling, if you all need advice I'm your man," Edward informed.. 

       "Really," asked Casey disappointedly?

       "Yeah, yeah yeah, I took the pledge and,  still going strong. Look at my awesome  purity ring," he stated whole shoving the ring in both Lizzy and Casey faces. Gold trim, with a white background hosting green crosses all over. "Take it, it's the best deal you can make with God!"

He walked away and began rehearsing his comedy routine in front of the other four members of the troupe. 

    "Why did you sound so down all of the sudden Casey, is he no longer your husband to be," Asked Lizzy? 

      "Oh, knowing that he wants to be a pastor and is kind of not hot,"

       "What?"

       "Well pastors are...you know Pastor Glen, Pastor Emmanuel, Pastor Gilberto and Pastor Lucinda. They're not hot."

      "Ummm….I guess."

       "And purity rings are for nerds,"

       "You're only saying that because of Jason,"

        "Jason is dreamy,"

      "And a jerk, remember he told everyone about it,"

        "No he didn't, it was Mary Ann being jealous as always,"

       "Oh really, according to whom?"

      "Jason!"

   "Of course," stated Lizzy. "Focus and help me add the stars and the moon. " 

Both girls quietly painted the stars into the dark night and then added the crescent moon on the corner of the backdrop. 

“Okay, that should do it,” Casey stated.

“Hmm, should we add city buildings or a grassy hill,” asked Lizzy?

“What, why?”

“Well, like in one act the background helps set the story,” reasoned Lizzy.

“OH, okay, but where is the play even gonna take place?” asked Casey.

“They’ll be taking place out on a lovers lane,” said Edward from behind the girls once more. Hearing he had not permanently gone, made both girls jump.

“How long have you been back there?” asked Casey.

“Just got here, I was rehearing my jokes for the comedy special,” he explained.

Mary Elizabeth stood in the middle of the room.

“Alright y ’all, it’s about 10:30AM, We need to go help the other pastors get ready for Bible Trivia, Hannah, have you finished the 5 goodie bags for the winners, sug,” she asked?

“Yes ma’am,” responded Hannah.

“Good bless you hun,” exclaimed Mary Elizabeth!

“Now, Lizzy and Casey have you finished the backdrops?”

“Yes, Mary Elizabeth,” they both responded.

“Excellent girls! Katheryn are you done cutting the laminated pledges?”

“Yes Mary Elizabeth,” she responded.

“Are the rest of you ready,” she asked referring to the troupe?

“Always,” replied Isaiah.

“Okay, now let’s go out there and have some fun in the name of our Lord and Savior y ’all!” Mary Elizabeth shouted. She walked out of the lounge and everyone else followed in suit. Casey and Lizzy purposely stayed behind to chat.

“What do you think a person studying to be pastor laughs about,” queried Casey.

“I don’t know who turned water to win with the pope’s ring,” jested Lizzy.

“Those are Catholics Lizzy!''

 Both girls began laughing as they made their way into the assembly hall. Once backstage, the tranquil mood changed to a more upbeat one. Backstage were the remaining youth leaders. Mary Ann and Julio were sitting on two folding chairs rehearsing lines. Julio was pretending to be driving a car. Jason, Mario, Marcus, Michael, Evan, and Henry were all surrounding Pastor Ramiro and Pastor Gilberto laughing. Not knowing what to do, the girls stood looking around the backstage. 

“Wow, not like the lounge,” awed Casey, "No, was it like this yesterday?”

“Not even close,” Lizzy answered. 

“What do we do?”

“Nothing, just wait until you are needed like good little liaisons,” Edward once more said from behind the girls.

“Yo, Eddie, you move a little too quietly there,” joked Casey.

“Ha, ha, really?” he gushed

“Yeah, we are gonna need to put a bell around you,” added Lizzy, who normally didn’t let anything slip. Both Edward and Casey looked shocked.

“Ha, ha, ha, kidding,” Lizzy nervously laughed. 

“Well, I got to go, it’s almost time to handout prizes,” he said while walking away towards the stage where pastor Glen and Lucinda were at.

“If only he was a prize,” whispered Casey.

“Girl, I thought you didn't like him anymore,”

“Well, after right now, I do again,” declared Casey.

“Ahí, Casey quien te entiende,” Lizzy jokingly stated.

“That’s correct,” shouted Edward over the speakers. He ran out into the crowd and handed a goodie bag to a little girl who was standing up next to Marcela. The time was now for lunch. 

“Girls, if you could help out with handing out the sack lunches that’d be great,” ordered Mary Elizabeth. Both Casey and Lizzy went outside towards the parking lot where the crates of milks and brown bags had been placed. 

“Just the two of us for nearly 600 kids,” asked Casey?

“I’m sure they’ll send someone to help us,” assured Lizzy.

“Did you do this yesterday?”

“No, but if four pastors and four students could handle it, I am sure it will be fine,” Lizzy reassured.

Just then, the door of the assembly halls opened and out came Edward, Isaiah, Sara, Joanna, Hannah, Joshua, Evan, Henry, Julio, Marcus, Mario, and everyone else who was backstage to help the girls hand out the lunches and the milks. Edward got in the crate next to Lizzy and Sara stood next to Edward. From time to time Lizzy would catch Edward shooting glances at her, almost as if he was trying to make sure Lizzy never breathed a word to Casey about the day before. 

“Okay, that was a successful lunch y ’all,” thanked Mary Elizabeth, “ thank the heavens for you all may you forever stay blessed.”

The youth leaders, PRAY troupe, and pastors all headed back to the assembly hall for the talk on abstinence. Lizzy and Casey stood on the wings of the stage and watched as Isaiah took center stage, while the remaining five stood behind him.

“Boy, that was an amazing lunch wasn’t it, I don't know about you all but, I love me a good submarine sandwich with mustard mmm,” Isaiah greeted, which made all the children laugh.

“Now boys and girls today we are going to talk about something serious,”

“Is it about saying no to drugs again,” a random voice shouted from the crowd.

“No, no, good answer though, but today we are going to be talking about abstinence, can anyone tell me what abstinence is?” he paused and waited for the crowd to answer, no one responded. 

“Okay, well abstinence is when you take a pledge to refrain from premarital sex,”

“Oooooooh,” the children all shouted and laughed.

“I know, I know ‘sex’ is a funny word, but what premarital sex means is having sex before you are married, now can anyone tell me why that’s bad?” he asked

“Oh, oh, oh, because it is against God’s law,” answered a little boy from the crowd.

“Very good!” shouted Isaiah, “Hannah, toss him a PRAY shirt.” Hannah tossed the shirt to the little boy.

“Now, besides it being against God’s will, why is having premarital sex bad?”

“B-b-b-b-ecause you can get pregnant,” shouted a teenage girl in the crowd.

“That’s exactly right, we don’t want any teenage pregnancies! Go ahead and toss her a shirt.”

 Edward tossed the shirt towards the teenager.

“Now can anyone find another reason as to why premarital sex is bad?” Isaiah asked once more, yet this time no one answered. “Okay, another reason why premarital sex is bad is because of the dangers of catching STDs ,” he explained. “Does anyone know what STDs stand for?”

“Noooo,” they all shouted.

“Well, STDs stand for sinfully transmitted diseases,” he said jokingly, to which the crowd laughed, “ just kidding, it stands for sexually transmitted diseases.”

“Most of the time when people are having premarital sex, they’re not using protection or prayer and therefore end up getting pregnant or catching STDs,” Isaiah further explained.

“Ooooooh” they once more stated.

“Yeah, so today I will be explaining about the STDs, dangers of premarital sex, teen pregnancy, and what you could do to stay safe from the wrath of God and STDs.”

Isaiah went on explaining the various infectious diseases one can get via sex such as: ghonerra, chlamydia, herpes, genital warts, syphilis, etc. He even talked about peer pressure and how temptation will try to mess with the best of them.

“Now, boys and girls, we are gonna show you  skit about peer pressure,” he announced.

Onto the stage ran Mary Ann and Julio holding their folding chairs. Then Joshua and Edward quickly dragged the lover’s lane backdrop onto the stage.  Julio began pretending to drive, with his arms extended as if there truly was a driver’s wheel.

“Hey, babe it’s a nice night,” he said.

“Thank the Lord it is,” responded Mary Ann in a fake voice.

“Look at beautiful night sky, almost as beautiful as you babe,”

Julio and Mary Ann pretended to make out on stage. 

“Oooh” erupted from the crowd.

“You ready to go all the way babe?”

“ I don’t know, I did promise God I’d save myself for marriage,”

“Come on babe, all the other guys on the football team are doing it with the cheerleaders, why not you know us too,”

“PAUSE! Shouted Isaiah. “Boys and girls what Julio is doing is called what?”

“PEER PRESSURE!” they all shouted in unison.

“Now, what is Mary Ann referring to?”

“Abstinence,” again they shouted!

“Now, if you were Mary Ann and Julio what would you do,” he posed?

“Pray instead,” one shouted

“Leave the car,” another joked.

“Ha, those are good answers but what Mary Ann should do is not only set the limits because girls, it’s your duty, but remind Julio of S, T, D, s!” he shouted,

“Now a way to protect themselves from STDs and the Lord's wrath, Julio and Mary Ann are going to do something, now watch and pay attention, boy and girls!”

Julio and Mary Ann resumed their acting. 

“Well, I know but they didn’t take the pledge I did at Templo Nuestro Christian Church, and I don’t want to upset God, Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

“ I know that, but a pledge? Upset God how? I don’t want to upset God either,”

“Yeah, I signed this paper and promised God, I would refrain from having sex and save myself for marriage,”

“Oh, how do I take a pledge, I don’t want to burn in Hell,”

“You sign right here, and once you sign it, you wear this ring here too,”

“A ring?” asked a perplexed Julio.

“Yeah, a symbol of purity, they’re called Purity Ring, when the team sees you wearing this, they too will want to abstain from premarital sex and take the pledge too,”

“Wow, Mary Ann, I am so glad you told me about abstinence and purity rings, I would’ve never known, from now on I’m going to be right with the Lord,” exclaimed Julio.

“And cut!” shouted Isaiah. “Let’s give a big hand to our actors who were pretending right now.”

All the children clapped and Mary Ann and Julio stood up and took a bow. 

“Now boys and girls, your pastors and youth leaders are going to be handing out pledges and markers. You are going to sign the Purity Pledge that states ‘I blank’ and you are going to put your name on there not mine, ‘I blank commit to a pure life from this day forward and abstain from premarital sex until marriage. I do so for the following reasons to obey God, honor my parents, honor my future spouse, be free of unwanted pregnancy, to be free of STDs or HIV, and to be free of sin’, and you put the date on the bottom. Once you are done taking the pledge you will be wearing your Purity Ring,” Isaiah instructed. 

The assembly hall was packed with noise of children and youth leaders alike taking the  pledge and putting their rings on. Lizzy couldn’t help but feel a sinking pit in her stomach. 

“The hypocrisy of it all, to wear a purity ring and to soil by having premarital sex. They were adults anyway so why weren’t Sara and Edward married,” she thought, “being an adult is complicated.”

"Okay boys and girls are we done with our pledges?" Asked Pastor Glen. 

"Yes! "they shouted.

"Okay good, now we have a special treat for your all, we have a comedy routine by Edward, now please help me welcome him onto the stage with a big round of applause," instructed Pastor Glen. 

The children applauded and cheered as Edward made his way onto the stage while simultaneously clapping and dancing robotically to music. The music cut. 

       "Hello, hello, good afternoon Templo Nuestro Christain Church, home of the Houston Rockets and awesome Space Cadets, can I get a 'woop, woop'." He shouted into the microphone. 

       "Woop! Woop!" They all shouted. 

       "Today I'm going to be telling jokes because aside from being a part of this wonderful PRAY group, I'm also a world traveling motivational speaker. So I go around place to place and say jokes in many different languages, and talk to kids like you,"

        "Ooooh"

      "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can speak 7 different languages," he stated to the already amazed crowd. 

The routine went on for an hour. By the time Edward was done it was time to load the buses once more. The children moved faster and faster and the process became easier with each passing day. The good thing is that tomorrow, Friday was their last day. 

   "Thank the Lord we are done for today," sighed Casey. 

    "Amen to that," replied Lizzy. 

Both girls walked back to the administration building and waited for Casey's dad to come for them once more. It had been 4:15pm and still no sign of Mr. Fuentes. A door opened and out came Marcela. 

    "Casey, your dad got held up at a meeting, he said for you girls to take the bus back home." Marcela informed. 

    "We've never taken the bus before," added Lizzy 

    "It'll do you some good, you'll get to see the city," 

 "How do we get home using the bus?" Asked Casey. 

  "You're gonna take the bus here and ask for a transfer at the station to New Caney, you'll get to see downtown Houston, only 50 cents too," Marcela claimed.. 

  "Wow you know a lot about buses Marcela," exclaimed Casey. 

  "Rode them all the time to Galveston and back when I was your age, heck I even jogged on the beach,”

  "You ran track too?"

  "Oh no, no, I just wanted to look good like Farrah Faucet," gushed Marcela.

  "Who," they asked

   "Never mind girls, take the 115 in 20 minutes. Go wait at the bus stop," she ordered while handing Lizzy a dollar in quarters. "See you tomorrow sí dios quiere!"

 Both girls took off towards the bus stop. Twenty minutes in and the 115 sure did show up. Both girls boarded the bus, handing the 50 cents into the coin collector. They saw the last seat of the bus empty and made their way towards it. They sat down and began moving. Looking at the city skyline off of I-45 heading towards downtown Houston. 

   "Wow, so many cars," awed Casey. 

   "Yeah, nothing like the toll roads our fathers take,"

   " a lot more traffic,"

    "Think about it as an adventure," reasoned Lizzy. 

It was a good three hours before the girls headed back home. They had to wait 45 minutes for the 137 to New Caney but it had a flat so they had to wait an hour for it to be repaired. It was 7:00pm. 

    "Mija where have you been," asked Maria? 

   "Nowhere mami, just the bus took forever,"

    "Ay diosito santo, thank God you're okay, are you going to go out running still tonight?"

    "Claro que si mami,"

Casey ran upstairs and got dressed for running. She waited outside for Lizzy. Lizzy came out and they both took off running, once more making their way towards the estate. 

    "What's the plan for tonight now Case?"

  "The same one as Tuesday."

   "He has a girlfriend!"

  " and they can break up you know,"

  'I don't think so," 

  "What makes you say that, and furthermore what were you doing with him in the back on Wednesday," begrudgingly asked Casey. 

   "Uh, nothing, we were just talking about how he and Sara are a thing,"

    "How did you find out he and Sara are a thing," Casey asked in a shocked tone!

  "Okay, I didn't want to tell you this but I figure since tomorrow is the last day they'll be here, I might as well tell you," explained Lizzy. 

    "Tell me what,"

  "There's this creek behind the church that I love to go to,"

   "Why?"

  "To pray!"

  "Pray for what,"

 "Focus Casey, after the skits on Wednesday I didn't know where you were so I decided to ditch bus loading,"

 "What a rebel!"

 "Shh, I was going back there and I saw Edward and….".

 "And Sara doing it,” shouted Casey!

  "Keep your voice down, we are almost there and he could be out running, but, no, not exactly."

 "Then what did you see?"

"Edward with, with,"

 “Sara?"

"No, but this is super embarrassing,"

"Just spit it out Lizzy!"

"He had his pants down and...,"

"Oh my god, did, did, did,  you see his thingy" Casey stuttered

"Lower your voice. I don't want anyone knowing, but yes and it wasn't a thingy but a THING!" Lizzy emphasized. 

"Oh wow! I wanna see,"

"Not the point, Casey,"

"Well what did you do, what did he say, remember I saw him first, is this why you don't want to take the purity pledge earlier"

"Just listen and let me finish telling you the story. Look nothing happened. I panicked and screamed and he got scared too. We both shouted and he quickly picked up his pants. When I asked why he was there he said he was waiting for Sara."

"...but didn't we just sign a "

"Yeah, yeah I know"

"...And don't they wear the ring,"

"Mmhmm, so it isn't that I did something with him, it's just that... if he and Sara can wear the ring, still be sexually active, and be in a position of power, why can't the rest of us," pondered Lizzy? 

"Well, it's just a paper Lizzy, if you pray to God for forgiveness, he'll forgive," said an all too familiar voice from behind the girls. 

Both girls turned and saw Edward standing there. Only it was night time, and the part of Winter Lane they were on didn't have a streetlight. 

   "I thought you could keep a secret" growled Edward. 

  "I uh-uh-uh..."

 "It's not her fault, I was asking, the way Sara follows you around," quickly reasoned Casey. 

  "Uh huh, just like you and Jason sneaking around the church," Edward stated. 

    "How did you...,"

  "I'll keep your secrets if you keep mine and Sara's," he haggled.

  "But why are you hiding it," questioned Casey?

  "Because we aren't ready for marriage and if the pastors were to find out they'd make us break up or get married. And we...,"

   "We understand," lamented Lizzy. 

  "Look, I'll give you girls whatever you want, just don't tell anyone, we can go jogging wherever you want tomorrow since I don't leave until Saturday and I'll even buy you girls a pizza; please, don't tell anyone, or it will break Sara," Edward pleaded. 

 Both girls nodded in agreement. 

     "Okay, cool, cool, cool, tomorrow after camp we will go to the beach and run together, pack your tracksuits," he commanded before sprinting off.  

     "Do you think we did the right thing," asked Lizzy. 

   "Ch, yeah," answered Casey who was smiling in the darkness. 

      Friday 

Casey was eagerly packing a track outfit into her backpack before heading downstairs for breakfast,  she could smell the pancakes her mom was making. 

   "Ya mero Casey,”  Maria shouted from downstairs! 

    "Ya mami!"

 Casey ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where her father was reading the Houston Chronicle and sipped his coffee. 

     "Here are your hotcakes mija with the syrup."

   "Gracias mami" she cheerfully stated. 

Casey was smiling ear to ear while pouring syrup on her pancakes. She was happy that by the end of the day, she would be jogging beachside with her crush. Even though he had a girlfriend. The fact that he didn't take his vows to abstain seriously meant he probably wasn't taking Sara seriously either. The same excuse he gave for not wanting to marry Sara, was the same one Jason Von Holtz gave her about being boyfriend and girlfriend. After all, all boys are the same deep down. She was going to attempt to sneak a kiss from Edward. She hoped by kissing him on the beach, he'd fall in love with her and wait for her to graduate. She was a good kisser after all, ask Jason! 

   "Why are you smiling so much mija is it because of the dance today after camp," Juan asked?

   "Yes, papi," she lied. 

    "Well I hope you and Lizzy take your Purity Pledge seriously."

    "Daddy!"

    "Juan!"

  "What, I'm just saying I remember the dances and..., "

    "Are you saying you don't trust our bebita," angrily asked Maria? 

    "No, mi amor, I'm just saying I remember being a teenage boy, therefore I don't trust them,”' he explained. 

Casey finished her breakfast; Juan stood up and kissed his wife goodbye. Casey went up and hugged her mom goodbye. 

    "Let's hope I don't get caught up in another meeting today, it's Friday," Juan hoped. 

   "Lo que dios quiera amor," stated Maria. "Have a good day at camp mija. "

Juan and Casey went out to the LeSaber, Lizzy was already waiting by the car. 

    “Buenos días Mr. Fuentes,"

   "Morning Lizzy, ready for your final day of camp?"

   "Amen," she responded. 

They all got into the car and took off. It was bright and sunny, the sun was still rising, the weather felt beautiful, it was right before that dreaded humidity set. Lucky for the girls, today's adventure included a refresher at the beach. Jogging at the beach sounded relaxing for Lizzy, who wanted a change in scenery. They arrived to camp and waited in the lounge as per usual.

“Last day,” mentioned Lizzy

“More like the best day,” corrected Casey.

“We shall see,”

“Ah ye of little faith,” Casey retorted.

Both girls giggled as Pastor Glen walked in with Mary Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Marcela, and Pastor Emmanuel with boxes of what looked like Marcela’s baked goods. 

“Good morning liaisons, we brought you all a yummy batch of kolaches as a ‘thank you’ for helping us and doing a super fantastic job!” greeted Pastor Glen.

“God Bless you,” shouted Casey!

“Thank you,” greeted Lizzy.

“Lizzy, the coffee is being made in case you need any this morning,” noted Marcela.

“Oh, no, thank you Marce, I won’t be needing it this time!”

“Well, just in case you want some mija, it will be there!” she assured her. 

The girls grabbed  kolaches while they waited for the remainder of the youth leaders. It was only 8:45a.m buses arrived at 9:00am breakfast was handed out to the children as soon as they stepped off the bus. 

“Are you excited or the dance” asked Casey?

“Oh, snap, I had forgotten about that,” mentioned Lizzy.

“Yeah, it’s going to be after lunch,”

“Well, will we be dancing with your boyfriend” teased Lizzy.

“No, that’s later,” replied Casey sneakily.

“What are you up to now,” asked Lizzy?

“Nothing, just, going to try to sneak a kiss from Edward,”

“Casey! You ought to be ashamed, he has a girlfriend,”

“And he also wears a purity ring,”

“You’re point being,”

“If he wears a purity ring and then does it with her, yet refuses to marry her you think he won’t cheat on her?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, the whole not being ready thing is an excuse for them to not make anything official, it’s what Jason did to me, and I read it in a magazine my older sister reads.” Casey explained.

“Did that magazine also have bible verses about messing with taken men?”

“Oh my God Lizzy,”

“Language, and Ephesians 5:3 - But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;”

“Lizzy please! They’re not even married so they’re going to burn anyway, `Casey reasoned. 

“Didn’t you take the pledge?”

“Well, like Edward said, if we ask God for forgiveness afterwards he forgives!”

Jason and his gang walked out of the lounge to help the pastors with breakfast and unloading of the buses. Mary Elizabeth, Marcela, Katheryn, and Mary Ann Stayed behind. It was 9:00am, at 9:01am, the troupe walked in.

“Hello, hello,” greeted Isaiah

“Good morning,” they all greeted.

“What’s on the agenda for today,” asked Isaiah?

“Oh, the kids are gonna have a free day and watch a movie, then after lunch we have our annual youth summer dance; it lasts until the buses get here, the kids leave and that’s the end of the camp,” detailed Mary Elizabeth.

“Wow, this week went by so fast,” exclaimed Edward!

“It sure did,” Mary Elizabeth responded. 

Without anything to do, the troupe and other girls sat around the lounge just talking. In came Pastor Glen, Pastor Gilberto, Pastor Emmanuel, and Pastor Ramiro. Lucinda and the other youth leaders were in the assembly hall watching the children play and talk. 

“Good morning everyone,” greeted pastor Glen

“Good morning,” the room responded.

“Well, as you may know today is our last day, it’s bittersweet but unfortunately camp is only a week and not the whole summer,” he stated. “So for today, relax and then after lunch have some fun and dance. Hey, hey! That rhymed!  Right now, the kiddos are playing and are about to watch a movie at 10:00am. Enjoy your free time, you've all earned it for being amazing liaisons.”

Pastor Glen and the other pastors left the room. Mary Elizabeth walked out behind them. Marcela, the Pray Troupe, Casey, Lizzy, Katheryn, and Mary Ann remained. The time was 9:55am. Casey and Lizzy were sitting together when suddenly, Katheryn and Mary Ann approached them.

“Hey,” greeted Mary Ann.

“Hi,” answered Casey.

“I just wanted to say, I’m sorry about the other day, it wasn’t right what I did and, being that we have known each other forever and go to the same school, I thought maybe we could try and be friends, not just you and me but, with my girls too, I mean we all are seniors,” Mary Ann proposed.

Looking stunned, Casey and Lizzy exchanged glances.

“I mean, I understand if you don't want to, I haven’t always been the nicest,” Mary Ann added.

“Mary, what kind of Christians would we be if we didn't forgive,” stated Lizzy.

“Yeah,” chimed Casey.

“We’ll be glad to be your friends if you want to be ours,” Lizzy stated.

“Okay, amazing,” smiled Mary Ann.

The girls sat down and shared their hopes and dreams for their upcoming senior year. Mary Ann wanted the homecoming nomination from cheer squad and Lizzy from track. Katheryn wanted to win cheer nationals, and Casey wanted to run the fastest at the meets. Amongst them talking, time went by even fast. By the time lunch came by, the girls were tired of  being cooped up inside. They wanted to have their lunch elsewhere, it was their last day.

“Hey, I know a spot where we could go eat,” mentioned Lizzy.

“Where,” asked Katheryn who walked besides Mary Ann?

“Back here,” Lizzy instructed as she led the group towards the creek she loved.

“Oh, wow, there’s a creek back here," marveled Mary Ann!

“Yeah,” added Casey.

“How long have you known about this,” asked Mary Ann?

“We didn’t Lizzy did,” added Casey.

“Oh,” responded Mary Ann. 

They sat down and began eating their sack lunches. Mary Ann snuck out some kolaches to add with their sandwiches and apples.  It was a nice windy day in Houston and the girls enjoyed their lunch a bit more with the pleasant scenery and breeze. When suddenly, their tranquil lunch was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes behind them. All scared, they jumped up. Mary Ann, Casey, and Katheryn stood behind Lizzy. They heard twigs snapping. Then some more rustling from the bushes before Edward and Sara emerged from them. 

“Oh, fuck” he shouted!

“What, what, “ Sara asked as she was pulling her shirt down still looking down. Once her shirt was down she looked up and saw the four girls.

 “Oh, no,”

“Now, now, girls you can’t say anything,” panicked Edward.

“What was going on,” asked Casey?

“It’s not, what it looks likes,” added Sara

“Then explain yourselves” added Mary Ann

“We were just,” explained Edward.

“Stop, Eddie,” said Sara. “Look girls, being that it is the last day of camp, how about we forget this ever happened; besides, I don’t think you all are even allowed to leave the church,” she reminded.

The four of them stood looking at Edward and Sara. They knew that if they told Pastor Glen that they’d be in trouble for leaving the premises instead of helping with the lunch lines. 

“So, how about you all go back and forget it ever happened,” she ordered.

The girls all ran back to the assembly hall as fast as they could leaving their sack lunches behind at the creek. The music from the dance was blasting and they all ran into the crowd of children. Once embedded enough into the crowd Mary Ann turned to Casey and Lizzy and asked

“What was that,”

“We don’t know” they both answered in a panic.

“Well, I’m telling my mom,”

“Mary Ann, you can’t do that, you heard what Sara said,” reminded Lizzy.

“Yeah, we will get in trouble for leaving the church,” added Casey.

“I don’t care, my mom is married to the head of the church and these people are leaving tomorrow anyway,” Mary Ann reasoned, “my mom wont get mad at us for having a picnic.”

Mary Ann and Katheryn walked out of the dance and went to find Mary Elizabeth. 

“Lizzy, we have to warn Edward!”

“What, why?”

“Because if not he will think WE told and, then he won't want to run with us anymore,”

“But Casey, what he and Sara were doing is wrong,” reasoned Lizzy.

“Mary Ann can’t sabotage my chance with him,” whined Casey.

“What chance, he is with Sara!”

“What about our community service hours, surely, we will get in trouble and not her or Katheryn.”

Lizzy listened to the sound logic Casey stated.

“Fine,” Lizzy stated.

Both girls ran out of the assembly building and went back towards the creek, halfway through the parking lot, they ran into Edward, alone.

“Hey,” he said flagging them down.

“Edward,” Casey shouted.

“What’s going on?”

“Mary Ann is gonna go tell her mom that you and Sara were...”

“Oh, no, no,” he said.

“Yeah,” Casey said.

Lizzy shaking her head in agreement. 

“Don’t worry girls, I’ll handle it at dinner later, but for now, do you still wanna go running at the beach?” he offered.

“sure,” Casey exclaimed!

“Okay, well let’s get going to beat traffic to Galveston.”

“I’ve never been there before,” said Casey.

“Well come on, let’s go,” he ordered.

The girls went into the lounge and grabbed their bags. They quickly followed Edward into his black mustang. 

“Buckled up” he asked?

“Yeah,” they replied.

“Okay let’s go,”

Edward took the I-10 merging to I-45 towards Galveston, the drive was a fifty-two minute drive; the scenery was beautiful. They passed the NASA Space Center, which was  something Lizzy and Casey hadn’t seen. The highway, surrounded by blue green emeralds. The Gulf on both sides. Once they arrived at Galveston, the time was 2:15 p.m. They wondered if anyone noticed they were gone. Hopefully, they weren’t in trouble for leaving. Casey would say her father picked them up early during the dance. Edward found an empty parking space right by the beach.

“Okay girls, we got to change in the car like surfers,”

“Woah, the beach is beautiful,” exclaimed Casey while looking out the window, ignoring the fact that Edward was undressing right next to her.

 Once he was dressed, he got out of the car and allowed the girls time to change into their running gear. He was kept guard making sure no passerby looked into the car. Once the girls were done dressing, they stepped out of the car.

“Okay, put your bags in the trunk so no one breaks in,” he ordered.

“Okay,” Casey said. Both girls put their gym bags in the trunk. Edward locked it and beeped the alarm.

“Alright ladies, let’s begin with a nice stretch,” he ordered

Lizzy looked out and saw a pier in the distance.

“What’s that,” she asked?

“Ahh, the pier, it’s called Pleasure Pier,” he informed them.

“Oh,” Casey cooed, while winking at Edward. Edward ignored her and turned around facing the waves. 

“I love the sound of that,” he said.

They quietly jogged on the sand listening to the crashing of the waves and seagulls. Lizzy and Casey enjoyed the ocean breeze caressing their hair. Edward ran ahead of the girls, occasionally turning around to motivate them. It was good forty-five minutes before reaching Pleasure Pier. Out of breath all three of them walked back to the car, this time taking an hour since they were chatting and enjoying the shore.

 Once in the car, they headed for the Pizza Hut on the island. It was 5:00 pm by the time the girls decided they wanted to head back home.

“Oh, you all don’t want to wait out traffic and get an ice cream instead?” suggested Edward. “I mean, the Houston to New Caney traffic doesn’t die down until about 7 and well diner isn’t until 8... by then it’s only forty-five minutes to get there. The ice cream shop is right around the corner,”

“Oh, okay” both girls agreed. 

They left the restaurant and once again hopped into the mustang. They drove around for a bit and found an ice cream shop. They sat down and began talking about how they wanted to achieve their goals by age twenty-five. The time was now 5:45pm. 

“Okay, girls I think it's time for us to head back,” he ordered.

“Okay,” Casey agreed. 

They dumped their cones in the  trash bin as they left the ice cream parlor. They loaded the ‘stang and made their way back towards I-45. They were thirty minutes on the highway when Edward pulled off into League City. 

    "Why are we here," asked Casey? 

   "Oh, I need to put gas in the ‘stang," he stated. 

     "Oh okay,"  answered Casey. 

He made a right on Brockport Dr followed by a left onto Big League Dreams Parkway, further down he turned onto Calder road; slowly he parked his car on the side of an empty field. 

   "There's no gas station here," noted Lizzy.  

   "Why are we stopping,'' asked Casey. 

Edward didn't answer, he stared out into the stretch of fields. On the corner of Calder and Irving. 

“Why couldn’t you all keep your mouths shut,” he asked in a monotone voice.

“What?”

“You heard me, Lizzy,” he shouted as he locked the car doors.

“Are you trying to scare her,” shouted Casey!

“I am asking Lizzy a question, Casey, I want to know why she felt the need to tell you my business with Sara!”

“We are best friends, we tell each other everything, you can’t be that mad, and , and ,and ,and ,and...”

“And do you know the damage you’ve caused?”

“Damage,” asked Lizzy between sobs.

“I could get kicked out of my pastoral program, PRAY, and Sara dumped me!” he shouted

“We’re sorry”

“Not yet ya aren't” he grabbed Lizzy who was sitting in the backseat by the back of the neck and began applying pressure.

  “Tell me why you told Casey, why did you take Mary Ann and Katheryn back there, did you wanna see what makes a man a man?” he asked through clenched teeth. 

 Due to the pressure in her neck, Lizzy couldn’t answer. Casey desperately tried to open the car door. It was locked from the outside. 

“Stop it, let us go,” pleaded Casey, “you're hurting her!”

“Did you all ever think about how much gossip hurts others?” he retorted. 

“What about your dinner at Pastor Glen’s house,” she desperately reminded.

“There is no dinner with Pastor Glen, I lied,” he stated.

With one final squeeze Lizzy’s body gave and slumped over onto the seat. Casey looked at Edward. Eyes wide. 

“No, no, no, what have you done to Lizzy,” she cried!

“Don’t worry, you’ll be with her soon enough,”

“Why are you doing this over a ring?”

“It’s not over a ring,” he shouted as he pulled Casey in closer to him, “it’s over girls like you ruining my lives,” he placed his hands around her neck, Casey slapped his face.

“Ow” he shouted, he once more tried wrapping his hands around her neck. Casey poked him in the eye. “You little bitch!” he shouted.

Casey kicked the window open, stuck her hand outside the hole, and pulled the door handle. She was able to open it and quickly run out towards the fields. She figured by getting lost in the fields, he’d give up and leave; but what would she tell Lizzy’s parents. She made a right, then a left, and then another right. She was out of breath and decided to squat down. She figured by staying still she’d be able to hear if Edward was coming towards her. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She felt it pulsating in her throat. Hidden between the tall stalks of grass and brush, Casey began praying to God that’ by some miracle, Lizzy would get up and run for help. However, deep down in the pit of her stomach, she knew she hadn’t seen a gas station nearby nor a home. She waited; nothing. Five painful minutes passed, she didn’t hear a thing. What felt like an hour was only a few minutes, but to a frightened Casey, it was eternity. 

She stayed sitting on the ground hoping Edward would go away. She waited a few more minutes and once more she heard nothing. Just the echo of  rushing cars riding the Gulf way Highway. She turned around and saw the highway. Miles away, if she screamed who would hear her, if she ran, who would help her? She didn’t know where she would run to, this was her first time visiting Galveston and League City.  Hearing the cars rushing by made her make a break for it. She stood up from where she was crouching and made a run towards the highway. As she began sprinting past the mustang, she noticed that Edward wasn’t there anymore, the car was empty.  She continued running and was trying to get towards Brockport Dr, when suddenly she tripped over something and landed face down. 

“Ahh!”

“Got you!” Edward suddenly shouted.

“No, no, no,” she cried

“Yes, yes, yes you are floozy anyway,” he stood up from where he was lying down, and unbuckled his pants and took off his belt. He had one knee on Casey’s lower back and the other on the grass. Casey was still trying to move but was overpowered, the pizza and ice cream came back up.

“Gross,” remarked Edward.

He then placed his thick belt strap around Casey’s neck and pulled tightly. 

“Noooo,” she yelled before gurgling on her vomit.

“Whores like you have to go, Jason told me what you allowed him to do, did you honestly think you’d be good enough for me,” he whispered.

He tightened the belt harder and Casey's neck snapped.  Her body slumped over and went limp. Edward placed it on the grass and pulled his pants back up. He looped his belt back on and walked back towards his car.  He opened the passenger door and slid it to the front. He grabbed Lizzy’s stiff body and dragged it across the field. He threw her onto the grass near where Casey had hidden, prior to being tripped by his leg; Edward had hidden, he reasoned by hiding, Casey would run towards the highway. He carefully stuck his foot out and waited. Sure enough, like a moth to a flame, Casey ran straight for the highway. 

 He drove with both windows down and made it in twenty minutes from League City, towards Houston, he then got on the I-90 north and kept on driving as the sun set over downtown Houston. The time was now 7:15p.m.

[theintrovertedpoetspodcast]

Summer of 1997

Tuesday

June 10th, 6:00AM. 

The alarm clock went off again. Only this time instead of the hustle and bustle of Casey's house, Lizzy quietly awoke in her bedroom, this time it was her father’s turn to drop the girls off. It was his day to go into the bank; what he did, Lizzy didn’t know, all she knew was he needed to make all of his clients happy and above all else, richer. Lizzy stepped out of her bed and ran into her bathroom. Lizzy had no siblings. It was just her and her two parents. She ran the shower and thought about her last failed crush. 

Julio was his name and he was the star quarterback of the New Caney High football team. She did everything she could to get him to notice her, but he was too busy chasing Mary Elizabeth’s daughter, Mary Ann. Rumor had it she was fast and that’s what quarterbacks like Julio wanted. Everyone in school knew Lizzy to be shy, quiet, timid, and a stickler for rules. Though she was a star track runner, she never broke the rules like other jocks in her school. She stepped out of the shower and quickly ran to get dressed into her Templo Nuestro polo and jeans. Once dressed, she ran downstairs to the smell of the coffee.

“Hey kiddo,” greeted Hector Castro.

“Hey daddy,”

“Do you think Casey is ready so we can get some McDonalds for breakfast, my treat?”

“I don’t know daddy, let’s find out.”

Lizzy picked up the cordless phone and dialed Casey’s house number.

“Buneos dias Maria, do you think Casey is ready, my papi wants to take us to McDonalds, okay, okay, we will be waiting.”

  Casey was brushing her teeth thinking about ways to approach Edward without making it too obvious that she was crushing on him. There was a knock on the door. 

“Mija,”

“Mande, mami,”

“Are you ready, Mr. Castro is going to take you girls to McDonald’s for breakfast, I made you breakfast and packed it up still in case you girls need a snack,” Maria stated.

“Gracias mami, and mmm hashbrowns,”

“Orale mamita, get a move on.”

Casey grabbed her backpack by door and the lunch bag her mom had left. 

“Bye mami, la miro al rato” she shouted! She quickly made her way across the street towards the Castro's driveway. Lizzy and Hector were waiting in his Acura Integra.

“Buenos días Mr. Castro,” Casey greeted.

“Buenos dias Casey, buckle up and let’s get some Mickey D’s,” he cheerfully stated.

Mr. Castro pulled out of the driveway and made his way towards the McDonald’s near highway 59 before heading towards the long forty-five minute commute. It was 6:55am. 

“We are making  good time,” Mr. Castro said.

“Only because Casey was miraculously ready today,” teased Lizzy. Both girls giggled as Mr. Castro began ordering the egg McMuffins and drinks.  

Once arriving at Templo Nuestro, the girls had finished eating their breakfast and joyfully made their way towards the lounge. They got there an hour earlier than usual, 8:25am to be exact. 

“Good thing we have time to kill,” said Casey.

“Do you think your boyfriend is here yet,” wondered Lizzy?

“He’s not my boyfriend yet,” hoped Casey.

The door opened and in walked Mary Elizabeth and her daughter Mary Ann. 

“Good morning girls,” loudly stated Mary Elizabeth.

“Good Morning Mary Elizabeth,” they both greeted.

“You all know my precious daughter, Mary Ann, you all go to school together in New Caney,”

“Yes Mary Elizabeth," both girls responded.

“Well, today she will be joining you all in helping with our guest speakers, in a while with other peers your age will be joining. Mary Ann and I will meet back with you all in a few.” They both walked out. Once the door closed both Lizzy and Casey looked at each other.

“Ughh, she better not try talking to Edward,” Casey angrily whispered.

“Wow, isn't that a bit much Case,”

“YOU KNOW how she is, she took Julio from you,” Lizzy winced at hearing Casey say that out loud. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend you, but you know she is loose.”

“You think she got in trouble and that's why she’s here, ”Lizzy asked?

“Why else would she be here, she makes us church girls look bad,” commented Casey.

“Okay, you need to chill out, we all know if Mary Ann is here then Julio and his friends will be here, because where every Mary goes the lamb is sure to follow,” sang Lizzy to the tune of Mary had a Little Lamb.

 Both girls began bursting out into laughter when Isaiah and the rest of his troop walked in.

    “Good morning Lizzy and Casey, the superstar liaisons!”

   “Good morning Isaiah!” the girls greeted. 

    “I’m hoping the good Lord woke you all up blessed,” inquired Hannah?

“Every day awake above ground is a blessed day,” responded Lizzy.

“Amen to that,” added Edward who was walking in giggling next to Sara and Joanna. Josh slowly came in behind the trio. Both Casey and Lizzy stood next to each other passing quick glances at one another.

“So I hear today we will be having more teen youth leaders helping us out today,” Isaiah stated.

“Oh, yes,” answered Casey.

“Will they also be our liaisons,” asked Joshua?

“We don’t know, maybe Mary Elizabeth or Marcela know,” suggested Lizzy.

“Who is Mary Elizabeth,” asked Sara?

“Oh, Pastor Glen’s wife,” answered Casey.

“Oh, right, right, right, silly me forgetting that,” she mentioned with a smile on her face.  

Once more Mary Elizabeth walked in this time with more than just Mary Ann, she brought in her two sons Evan and Henry, along with Mary Ann’s friends who also happened to be in the cheer squad; Katheryn Wheeler 5’5, skinny with pink braces, Lynne Marie Marquart also 5’5 but with no braces, with a curvy build, Lesly Windsor 5’0 the shortest of the group of girls and Peggy Lace, the tallest a 5’10 with long wavy hair. Mary Ann and her friends all looked alike, light blonde hair, always wore lip-gloss and other makeup, and the innest clothing. Being cheerleaders, they had to be the trendsetters of New Caney High. However, being the leader of the group, Mary Ann stood out by adding pink highlights to her hair. 

  Behind them was Julio the tall, tan, Latino star quarterback and his fellow friends. Jason Von Holtz, 6’3 with long dirty blond hair, the linebacker, Marcus DeWare the safety, 6’3, dark, and with a buzzcut, Mario Benavidez the kicker, 5’6, tan with a gel to spike his hair, and Michael Smith, 5’10, blond and fair skinned the center, he wasn’t as blonde as Jason but blonde nonetheless. A jock for every cheerleader it seemed, much to Casey’s relief, this meant Edward was all hers for the taking.

“Good morning Isaiah and troupe,” Mary Elizabeth greeted.

“Good morning Mrs. Glen,”

“Ho, ho, please call me Mary Elizabeth like everyone else darling,” she commanded.

“What’s on the itinerary today,” he asked?

“Well, today you are going to have these eight lovely assistants along with Casey and Lizzy to help you all with morning prayers, bible trivia, lunch, your skits, and all the other activities for the week,” she cheerfully instructed.

“Oh, wow, you know about our skits,” Isaiah asked?

“Why, yes Edward told us all about it last night when we had him over for dinner.” 

The air left Casey when she heard Mary Elizabeth say that. She quickly shot a quick glance at Lizzy and Lizzy in return raised her eyebrows to confirm she indeed heard!

“Anyway, I’ll be needing four of you to find Pastor Glen to assist with the breakfast line, two to help me unload the stuff, and the other two can stay here with Lizzy and Casey,” Mary Elizabeth added, while looking at the group of eight. “Alright, Mary Ann and Katheryn you stay with Lizzy and Casey, you four,” she pointed to Julio and his friends “go help Pastor Glen.” “And the rest of you follow me.”

She turned and walked out with the remaining. Katheryn and Mary Ann stayed staring at Casey and Lizzy scanning them up and down.

“Good morning girls,” greeted Lizzy.

“Hey nerds,” accosted Mary Ann while Katheryn was snickering behind her.

“Nerds,” repeated Lizzy?

“What are you all doing or what?” demanded Mary Ann.

“WE are helping PRAY with whatever they need,” replied Casey.

“Oh, so like their slaves?” asked Katheryn

“No, not like that, we are liaiso…”

“More like leeaaaammeeoooos,” Mary Ann teased causing Katheryn to giggle once more.

“Well, at least some of us are here because we genuinely care about getting right with the Lord instead of boys,” added Lizzy sternly.  

To which wiped the smirk off of both Mary Ann’s and Katheryn’s faces. Mary Ann took a step closer towards Lizzy.

“Look, nerd, don’t think I don’t know that you have a thing for my boyfriend Julio, the way you get all gaga eyed for him when he would walk into 5th period gym last year,” she menacingly whispered.

“Yeah,” sneered Katheryn.

“And remember ‘Lizzy’ or whatever the hell your name is, I am the queen of this church and cheer squad, and I can make your life a living Hell this senior year,” threatened Mary Ann.

“You don’t scare us floozy,” added Casey, quickly interfering and creating space between Lizzy and Mary Ann. 

Just then, Edward and Joshua approached the four girls.

“Hey girls what’s all the fuss about,” Edward nervously asked?

“Oh, nothing Eddie, just talking about how fun and scrumptious dinner was last night,” cheerfully responded Mary Ann.

“Oh, yeah it was, you and your mom make the best pies ever,” he exclaimed!

“Anytime Eddie, what do you need our help with,” she asked while making her way towards him?

“Oh, well Joanna, Hannah, and Sara are gonna need you to help them make the cue cards for bible trivia,” he recommended. 

He then walked Mary Ann towards the back table where the three PRAY girls were at quietly writing.

“Can, I help,” shouted Katheryn as she ran behind Edward and Mary Ann.

“Well, you girls can help make the prize bags for the winners of trivia,” instructed Josh.

“Okay,” agreed Casey.

 The three walked to the opposite side of the lounge and began making prize bags with movie passes to Blockbuster and popcorn. Josh stood up and walked out leaving Casey and Lizzy alone, while the other members were across the lounge quietly working.

“Ugh, that bitch,” whispered Casey.

“Language,” reminded Lizzy.

“I can’t help it, she is making it seem like her and Edward are a thing while rubbing Julio in your face, ughh,” declared Casey!

“Calm down, one if Julio liked me back he would’ve asked me out instead of the answers for the algebra quizzes, and Edward is too old for us,” explained Lizzy.

“You don’t know that. For all we know she is a witch and is doing brujeria on them,” theorized Casey.

“Mary Ann, as in the pastor's daughter, head of the cheerleading squad? No way! She’s a lot of things but not a bruja” Lizzy stated.

“More like head of giving head,” jested Casey.

“CASEY,”  Lizzy unknowingly shouted!

The PRAY members and two bullies all turned around and looked at Lizzy and Casey’s direction. 

“Uh-huh, sorry,” blurted Lizzy.

 Everyone turned around and quietly went back to working on the things they were instructed to do before morning prayer and bible trivia.  The girls took fifteen minutes max to make the three prize bags. Once they were done, Isaiah approached them once more.

“Hey, what are my two liaisons doing,” he inquired?

“Just finished the prize bags for bible trivia,” answered Lizzy.

“Okay, now if you don’t mind, can one of you get  me some markers, these expos have dried up,’ he politely asked?

“Of course, I’ll get them,” volunteered Casey.

 Casey stood up and walked out of the lounge and into Marcela’s office. She always had the office supplies locked up in her office closet. You couldn't get any new supplies without Marcela knowing about it. While Casey was gone, Lizzy sat at the table observing the room. At the far end of the room , Mary Ann and Katheryn were chatting away while organizing the index cards with the women from PRAY. Josh had still not returned and Isaiah was erasing the dry erase board from the day before. She was quietly thinking about what the rest of the summer was going to hold for her, she was startled by the movement of the chair next to her. She let out a gasp.

“Oh, goodness me, I didn’t mean to scare you Lizzy,” apologized Edward.

“Mercy, me, no, don’t worry about it,” she assured him.

“What are you thinking about, I hope it’s the psalms we are gonna sing once it’s 10AM,” he teased.

“Oh, no, no,” she responded.

“Then about what?” 

“About summer,”

“I take it you and the other youth leaders are all seniors in high school?”

“Yeah, that’s the only we can be youth leaders,”

“Oh, wow,”

“That and good grades and being good,” added Lizzy.

“Right, right. I remember when I was a senior a very long time ago,”Edward joked.

“How long ago was that,” pried Lizzy?

“Three years ago,” he replied.

“How old are you?”. 

“I’m super old, I’m 21”

“21 is not old, that’s the dream age,” replied Lizzy.

“Dream? How come,” he wondered?

“Well you can buy alcohol and go out dancing.” explained Lizzy.

“True, but, you don’t have to be any age to pray to the Lord,” he reminded

“Fair point,” she agreed.

The door to the lounge flung open and in came Casey with the expo markers for Isaiah. She quickly spotted Edward sitting next to Lizzy and immediately smiled.

“Why do they call you Lizzy,” he asked?

“To avoid confusion between her and Mary Elizabeth,” interjected Casey.

“Oh,” answered Edward.

“Yeah,” confirmed Lizzy.

“So, have you girls attended this church all your lives?” 

“Yes, since we can remember,” responded Casey.

“We moved into the same neighborhood as Casey’s back when we were in diapers,” added Lizzy.

“Oh, oh, okay,” he remarked.

“Yeah, and my parents befriended Lizzy’s parents, and the rest is history,” detailed Casey. 

“I see, so you both are in the same grade, I imagine,”

“Yes, both of us seniors and both of us track runners.”

“That’s amazing! I did track back in my day,” he boasted.

“Really,” Casey cheerfully asked?

“Yes, if you girls need any pointers on nutrition and increasing miles let me know,” he offered.

“Oh, yes, we most definitely will ask,” coyly responded Casey.

“I’ll be glad to help,” he exclaimed! 

In walked Mary Elizabeth with Pastor Glen and Joshua.

“Okay, ladies and gents, it’s time to go in and begin Morning Prayer,” instructed Pastor Glen.

“That’s right y’all’ let’s all line up and get ready to be filled with The Spirit,” chimed Mary Elizabeth with a big white smile.

“Are we ready,” asked Joshua to the troupe?

“Just about, I still need to finish with this white board,” explained Isaiah.

“Oh, well have someone stay behind and do it,” mentioned Joshua.

“That’s a terrific idea” chimed Mary Elizabeth, “I know how about Mary Ann, Kat, and Eddie stay and finish the categories and the rest of you line up and follow us.”

Once more Casey felt her blood boil hearing how Mary Elizabeth was desperate to throw Mary Ann at HER Edward. 

“Keep a lid on it. Case, we need her to sign our community service hours, that’s 300 hours and another cord for our graduation,” reminded Lizzy. 

“Ugh, but they’re both so awful,” complained Casey.

“I doubt they even know a thing, I doubt your husband even knows,” giggled Lizzy.

 Both girls giggled as they walked behind the troupe and church elders. 

Morning prayers went off without a hitch. Isaiah, Joanna, Sara, Hannah, and Joshua assisted the pastors in getting the kids to pray and sing the psalms and hymns with them. They even played a Jeopardy style game but with prayer. The children had to answer “What is the Book of John” as opposed to “What is Mt, Rushmore?” Rather than having a real buzzer, the members of the troupe took turns on being the winning bell and losing buzzer. These activities are 45 minutes long. By the time it was 11:15 in the morning, the pastors and troupe made the children exercise. They let out basketballs, volleyball nets, and rackets. The children had 45 minutes to play before lunch time. While the children were playing, Casey and Lizzy were sitting besides the stage talking.

“So, you found out how old he is,” Casey excitedly asked?

“Yeah,” confirmed Lizzy.

“How,” begged Casey.

“Don’t you wanna know how old he is,” argued Lizzy.

“Yeah, but youre a wallflower, how did you begin talking to him,” wondered Casey.

“I didn’t, he just sat down next to me and began talking,” explained Lizzy.

“Okay, and more details please…,” Casey pleaded.

“Well, that he was also a track runner in high school and he is 21,”

“Twenty-one and a track runner. This is too perfect,” Casey beamed.

“Calm down, he is still too old for us,” insisted Lizzy.

“No, the age of consent is 17,” informed Casey.

“Which we’re not, yet!” reminded Lizzy.

“But we will be,” refuted Casey. 

“And how are you gonna go about keeping in contact with him after Friday? Remember, they are just visiting for the camp,” asked Lizzy.

“I don’t know, I'll think of something,” plotted Casey.

“Well you got three more days unless you wanna befriend Mary Ann,” implied Lizzy.

“Hell no!” bellowed Casey. 

“Casey! But, she and Mary Elizabeth are providing room and board for him,” reminded Lizzy.

“Don’ they live close by the house,” questioned Casey?

“No, no, no, no, no” Lizzy stammered!

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes” refuted Casey.

“What now Casey,” asked Lizzy?

“Look, just hear me out, we go jogging by their house on our run, and they will see us and...”

“Edward will run out and propose to you like those books your mom reads?” sarcastically interrupted  Lizzy.

“Well, hopefully,” raved Casey.

“Casey estas pero bien loca,”noted Lizzy.

“Is that a yes?” 

“Yeah, only because I’m getting bored running in the same place.” agreed Lizzy.

“Deal!”

Later that Day

 3:00 pm came and the buses that took the children to Houston and its surrounding cities were back. Casey, Lizzy, Mary Ann, Katheryn, Lynne, Lesly, Peggy, Julio, Jason, Mario, Marcus, Evan, Henry and Michael all helped the pastors load the children onto their buses. With more youth leaders to help and with Pastor Glenn’s two sons, made the process faster. The children remembered their buddies and bus numbers. By 3:55pm the last bus had left. 

“Phew,” sighed Casey.

“Let’s go inside, it’s so humid,” commanded Lizzy.

“Houston for you,”blurted Casey.

“No kidding,” added Lizzy.

Both girls walked into the administration building and sat in the lobby waiting for Casey’s dad once again. Even though both fathers alternated as to who dropped the girls off in the morning for camp or school, when it came time for pick up, Casey’s dad was usually the one to do the chauffeuring. Casey’s dad LeSaber pulled up. Again, Casey informed Marcela that she was to be leaving along with Lizzy as per usual. Both girls made their way towards the car until they heard giggling. They turned to their right as they were about to open the car doors. It was Mary Ann and Katheryn giggling while talking to Edward. 

“Remember the plan,” mentioned Casey as she got into the front passenger seat.

‘Hola girls, como les fue hoy,” inquired Juan

“Bien papi,”

“Fine Mr. Fuentes.”

“Lizzy, you are part of my family, you can call me Juan,”

“Oh no, my mother and father wouldn't allow me to be disrespectful,” reasoned Lizzy.

“It’s not disrespectful, you all are family,” reiterated Juan.

Once home, the girls again changed into their tracksuits with a little more vigor, this time they had a mission to accomplish. They needed to get Edward to notice Casey more than Mary Ann.  Both girls began jogging out of their cul de sac, and past Autumn Lane, this time instead of making a right onto Autumn Oak Lane, they made a left onto Winter Lane.

“Do you know where this little whatever rhymes with witch lives,” inquired Casey?

“Yeah,” blurted Lizzy.

“How,” questioned Casey?

“When I came cruising with my dad once,” answered Lizzy.

“Cool,” exclaimed Casey.

Truth is Lizzy had been there because unbeknownst to Casey, she and Evan had a secret fling going on. No one knew of course. Lizzy had been quietly sneaking out and meeting Evan at the end of Winter Lane. He would park his car and wait for Lizzy to arrive. Once Lizzy arrived she’d strap herself and he’d drive to his house and sneak her into the outhouse. The outhouse had a pool table, bar, a big screen TV for the men to watch the Texans play. However, past 12:00pm when everyone was asleep during the school year, it was Evan and Lizzy’s lovenest.

“Now up this corner,” instructed Lizzy. 

The girls made another left onto Fall Avenue. The houses were all gated with the latest luxury car 1997 could have. Both girls felt outranked the closer they got to Pastor Glenn’s house. Of course being head of the church his house wasn't a house but an estate. It took up an entire block and of course was gated with the tallest fences.

“Not very Christian like ey” jested Casey.

“Don’t start Casey,” barked Lizzy.

“Now, where do you think they’d be,” pondered Casey aloud.

“I don’t know but keep up pace or else we will look suspicious, we have to act as if we are just prepping for track,” commanded Lizzy.

“Wow, Lizzy, for the quiet one you seem to be pretty in your element here,” noted Casey.

“Shush,” hissed Lizzy.

The girls continued jogging, they went past the estate and onto a neighboring street, Spring Time Lane.  Not only did it increase their miles, it killed time since it appeared no one was home at the estate. They passed another two streets before they decided to run back towards the estate and head home.

“Okay,” huffed Casey, “let’s slowly make our way back so I don’t look too bad when we see Edward.”

“Alrighty,” responded Lizzy.

As they were turning around making their way back towards the second street they passed, they heard a rustling in the bushes. Both girls turned and saw Edward sprinting towards them.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” panicked Casey.

“Language,” hissed Lizzy.

Edward finally caught up to the girls and stopped. Covered in sweat, running shorts, and no shirt.

“Liaison,” he breathed.

“Hi Eddie,” greeted Casey.

“Hi Edward,” peeped Lizzy.

“What are you girls doing here,” he inquired?

“We are upping our mileage for track,” Casey confidentiality answered.

“Oh, okay,” he breathily answered. 

“I also live close by here, well we live close by,” answered Casey emphatically.

“Ohh okay, neighbors right,” he asked? “I remember you all telling me.”

“Yes,” Lizzy sheepily stated.

“You girls heading back home?” 

“Yes, we are,” answered Lizzy.

“Would you like to join us on our run back, it's not too far from here,” suggested Casey.

“Naahh, maybe some other time, it’s almost supper time at Pastor Glenn's. I don’t want to be rude, I gotta go wash up,” he informed.

“Oh, okay,” Casey disappointedly answered.

“Well, I gotta go, bye girls,” Edward sprinted off to the direction of the estate. 

“Not exactly as you planned it, ey,” Lizzy asked?

“Oh, shut up, he didn’t say no, just maybe,”

“Maybe, it's as good as a no,” cautioned Lizzy.

“Stop it, let's get back home,” ordered Casey.

“Race you there,” asked Lizzy?

“Alright, but don’t be upset when I win,” mentioned Casey.

“One of these days you won’t always win,” warned Lizzy.

“Well, until then,” commented Casey.

“Ready, set, go,” shouted Lizzy!

And both girls took off sprinting back towards their homes on Autumn Lane. This time Casey only beat Lizzy by five seconds.

“Nice try Lizzy,” Casey breathed.

“I’m telling you, I’ll be getting there soon,” threatened Lizzy.

“No, kidding, well see you tomorrow in the morning for camp,” departed Casey.

Both girls parted ways. Lizzy crossed the street and Casey went indoors. It was dusk and time for the girls to wash up for bed and prep for their third day of camp.

[theintrovertedpoetspodcast]

[theintrovertedpoetspodcast]

Summer of 1997

Monday June 9th; 

It was a hot, muggy day. The day began at 6:00AM. A mother yelled out

“Girls, get up, camp is today!”

“Mmmm…,”groaned one.

“Come on, let’s get going before your mom gets mad Casey,” Elizabeth, her friend of sixteen years stated.

The girls were upstairs sleeping in Casey’s room, Elizabeth had spent the night like she had done many times before. Both girls had slept on the floor on a makeshift bed made of six to five old comforters. It was the first day of summer, and the first day of camp. This meant the girls would get dressed, eat breakfast, and hitch a ride towards the inner Houston area. Elizabeth stood up and turned on the light. Casey, not being a morning person, rolled onto her other side. 

“I’m going to shower and get ready first then. Unlike you, I don’t want to look ugly around the cute boys,” teased Elizabeth. 

“Mmmm…be quiet,” groaned Casey.

Elizabeth walked out of the room with a towel in her hand. Shortly, after Casey’s mom walked in and saw Casey still sleeping.

“En serio Casey!”

“MMMMMMM!!!”

“Casey, get up and get ready, what will our pastors think if you show up to camp looking bad.  Andale, get up and eat breakfast meanwhile Lizzy gets ready,” she ordered while uncovering Casey. 

Begrudgingly, Casey got up, her front half of her hair flat and the back part a bird’s nest. Her curls had gotten tangled and created tunnels while she had slept. She went downstairs and sat at the kitchen table still half asleep, her eyes half-closed. Her mother Maria was making tortillas on the comal, had frijoles in the pot, and coffee brewing. 

“Mija, are you going to want huevo with your frijoles or do I make you barritas for your frijoles?”

“No, mami, just a barrita,”

“Are you sure, it is the first day of youth camp, a big breakfast would do you good,”

“Okay, mami.”

Maria then proceeded to crack two eggs and placed them on the frying pan. Casey’s father Juan walked into the kitchen and began pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Good morning mi amor,” he greeted Maria.

“Buenos dia,” she kissed him.

He farther then walked past her mother and sat down at the kitchen table with her. 

“Mija, buenos días!”

“Buenos días, daddy!”

“Are you excited for your first day of youth camp today?”

“Yes papi, hopefully this year we are youth leaders!”

“¡Si Dios quiere mija!”

“Claro, si dios quiere,” Maria chimed in while placing a plate of frijoles caldudos, two strips of bacon, two eggs over-easy, and two flour tortillas down onto her husband’s part of the table. 

“Ahorita, te garó los tuyos mija”

“No te preocupes mami, right now I will eat when Lizzy comes down.”

“Oyes, you won’t have time mija, eat now and then go get ready while she eats.”

“But mama,”

“Casey!”

“Okay”

Maria placed a similar looking plate down in front of Casey. Casey without hesitation began eating her breakfast. As she was eating, she began to think about what this summer was going to bring her. It was the summer right before her senior year of high school; it was an exciting time. She felt as if the world was in the palm of her hand barely unfurling. Being that she and Elizabeth were in the track team, meant they got to go on exciting field trips and meets only seniors got the privilege to attend; along with homecoming, prom, and graduation. The events the future held, filled her with optimism; this was going to be their year! Not long in though, Elizabeth came down the stairs and sat down at the kitchen table. Elizabeth was wearing jeans, a yellow t-shirt, yellow converse, and white headband pulling her long straight hair back. 

“Buenos dias!”

“Buenos días Lizzy,” greeted Juan

“Good morning mija,” greeted Maria, “Sit down, here is your breakfast, eat now before you run out of time, what do you want, juice or coffee like Casey?”

“Ahi, I don’t like cafe, I’ll have juice.”

“Casey go shower mija.”

Casey finished her bacon and ran upstairs to shower. She saw the time was 6:55 and quickly panicked. She and Lizzy needed to be out of the house by 7:15 to beat the traffic driving into Houston. Being that they were in the northern part of the city meant they had to get going even earlier than most, traffic was always a guarantee. However, living in New Caney provided scenic running locations. Once ready, Casey was wearing her jeans similar to Lizzy’s, a red t-shirt, and her white tennis shoes. The time was already 7:12 AM.

“CASEY! HURRY UP YOUR FATHER IS GETTING READY TO LEAVE WITHOUT YOU,” shouted her mother.

Luckily, both Casey and Elizabeth were smart enough to pack their camp bags the night before, if not, they would have definitely been late. Casey quickly ran down the stairs with both bags in hand and flew out of the door.

“Bye mami,” she shouted.

“Bye!”

Casey ran towards the passenger door and sat in the front seat quickly putting her seatbelt on. Elizabeth was already sitting in the backseat ready to go. Casey’s dad drove into the city traffic. The camp began at 9:00 AM, the drive usually took 90 minutes to get anywhere in the larger Houston area. The drive always provided the girls with quiet time to think, chat, and listen to music. Casey’s dad usually chauffeured the girls to their practices, schools, and camps since they became friends during early childhood.

 It began when Elizabeth and her family moved into the neighborhood in the early-eighties. Casey's dad was watering the grass out in the lawn when he noticed a U-Haul and a second vehicle pull up behind it. Out came Elizabeth’s dad Hector and behind him in the other vehicle his wife Lilia, and baby Lizzy. Hector made his way across the street to introduce himself to Casey’s dad and the rest is history.

 Still staring out the window Casey was excited, this was going to be their senior year. This meant they got to be the leaders for the youth camps at their church as well! Throughout their friendships and childhoods, Casey and Lizzy shared common interests, they both loved their church, running, and one-act play. 

Pulling into the parking lot of their church Templo Nuestro Church, “ A House of Christian Worship'' read the sign beneath it. The parking lot was filled with different types of buses and cars. All from different cities and school districts surrounding the Houston area. Both girls exited Juan’s 1997 Buick LeSaber.

“Okay, girls don’t forget I’ll be picking you up at 5:00,” ordered Juan.

“We won’t Papi,” answered Casey.

“See you for dinner!”

“Buy, Mr. Fuentes,” shouted Elizabeth!

Both girls stood in the front of the church and watched as Juan drove off. 

“Alright, here we go, our first day as youth leaders,” whispered Casey excitedly to Lizzy as others passed by.

 Both girls turned around and began making their way to their church’s main office. They walked between the megaplex’s buildings. One on the right facing the I-45 highway and the other facing the greater downtown Houston area. In the middle of both buildings was the main office. Once in the main office, the girls walked into the secretary in a window to the right. 

“Good morning Lizzy and Casey, Pastor Glen is waiting for you all in the lounge,” she instructed calmly. 

 Marcela had been the secretary for the church for as long as the girls could remember; now much older, Marcela had streaks of gray and blonde in her once long black curly hair. The girls walked past her desk and into the lounge of the pastors.  Once in the lounge, there was lots of noise and clamoring around. The church pastors and youth leaders were all scrambling, some with clipboards, others with boxes. 

“Woah, I am not used to seeing so many people,” exclaimed Casey.

“I know right, it’s like all of Houston is in here,” replied Elizabeth.

“Oh, come on girls, don’t exaggerate the Lord can hear,” said a familiar voice.

The girls turned around and saw the church’s head pastor Glen Diaz. Standing at about 5’10, tan, slim, and with pepper hair.

“Good morning, Pastor Glen,” they greeted.

“How are my two new youth leaders feeling on their first day of camp,” he inquired?

“Excited,” shouted Casey! 

“A  bit nervous,” shyly added Elizabeth.

“Don’t be nervous Lizzy, the Lord is our shepherd and he will guide us through this magnificent camp! Now, here are your youth leaders shirts that we ordered two weeks ago, and here are your clipboards. Now, we will be having some visitors, you two girls will be the lesions to our visiting speakers. Now, go meet with Marcela so she can help you make the goodie bags for the children and our speakers.”

 Pastor Glen handed the girls their items and went off on his way. Both Lizzy and Casey looked at each other for a moment.

“Wow, a lot of responsibility for camp leaders huh,” mentioned Casey.

“Yeah, but remember, it will look good on our resumes when we apply for colleges,” reminded Lizzy positively.

“You’re right Lizzy, and it’s not like we have to deal with the kids directly, we get to do the behind the scenes stuff,” 

“Exactly! Now let's find Marcela so we can make the bags and see who is going to be our guest speakers.”

“You’re actually excited for the guest speaker?”

“You’re not?”

“It’s just I don’t know, Pastor Glen brings those’ stay away from drugs people’ every summer and they always do the same thing!”

“Well, this year I heard that it was going to be different and with multiple speakers,”

“Hey, maybe that band P.O.D. will come,”

“Keep dreaming Casey!”

The girls walked to a table in the back of the lounge and found Marcela. Marcela was wearing a red polo with the Templo Nuestro cross sewed in on top left side of the shirt. Her blonde hair shining off of the reflection of the fluorescent lighting. 

“Okay, girls here we are going to start making the goodie bags for the guest speakers and other visitors; we are going to put a Templo Nuestro sweat towel, water bottle, pencils, stress ball, and a notepad with psalms on them! They are all going into this big,  green City of Houston Tote ,” Marcela instructed excitedly. 

“Do they have to be made in any particular order,” asked Casey

“No, no, just make sure for right now that they are not left over items. Now girls make sure they’re done before our first guests arrive in two hours, I’ll be back, I’m  going to get the prize bags ready for the children,” responded Marcela while she walked away from the table she was at.

The girls looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was 9:15 a.m., they had to get moving. Casey and Elizabeth quickly sat down and began making the totes bags for the guest speakers as per Marcela’s orders. As the girls quietly assembled the bags, the noise in the pastor’s lounge began to slowly die down. This was due to the pastors organizing other youth leaders and leaving to the convention buildings. One by one all the pastors and their respected youth leaders left to go get the camp started. 

Unlike Casey and Elizabeth, other youth leaders their age were going to be in charge of overlooking the younger children who are attending the camp. Every summer the format stayed the same. The members of Templo Nuestro, who were seniors in high school, were to become youth leaders and assist fellow pastors in camps and sermons. The youth leaders assisted the pastors in helping entertain the children during camp by making sure they paid attention, substituted for the pastors in bible study if needed, helped with food drive, etc. Due to Casey and Elizabeth being members since childhood, the girls had a special pick and chose to work behind the scenes this summer as opposed to participating with the children directly. 

Since the lounge had fallen quiet, the girls were able to quickly finish the bags in less than two hours. Just as they were finishing Marcela came  back in with a group of six people; three men and three women. Both girls looked up at them.

“Girls, I want you to meet the group who will be assisting our pastors throughout the week. They're an improv group called Pray!”

 The girls looked at the members. One was a tall, light skinned man with black gelled hair, with blue jeans and a flannel shirt. The second was a bit taller than the first male, with light brown hair, also gelled back, with a red and white baseball tee and blue jeans. The third male was short, tan, husky, with black curly hair, blue jeans, and a black t-shirt. The first female was blonde, with curly short hair, fair skinned, with and about 5’6; she was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a cross on it. The second female was a brunette, with straight long hair, fair skinned, also wearing jeans and a red t-shirt. The third female was taller than the girls and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt as well, her hair was in a pixie cut. Casey and Elizabeth were of course, more into their male counterparts, of course. 

“Hi,” said the first male, “I am Isaiah.”

“I’m Edward,” said the second male.

“And, I’m Joshua,” said the third male.

“I am Sara,” said the first female.

“I am Joanna,” said the second female.

“I am Hannah”. Said the third female.

“Hi, I am Casey and this is Elizabeth,” she stuttered.

“The girls will be your  liasions and will assist you with anything you all need, and they also have something to give you,” Marcela said, while motioning for the girls to hand over bags to each of the members. 

Casey and Elizabeth quickly got a bag for each of the members and handed them one. 

“Here you go,” said Elizabeth while handing bags to Isaiah and Edward, while Casey handed the bags to Joshua and Joanna, and Marcela handed bags to Sara and Hannah.

“Oh, wow, God bless you all,” gushed Edward.

“Oh, cool a notepad,” exclaimed Joanna!

“Alrighty, here is the itinerary for today and the week,” Marcela said handing the clipboard to Isaiah, “Anything else you might need feel free to ask Lizzy and Casey, I will be assisting the pastors in assembly.”

 Marcela closed the door to the lounge. The girls were left alone with the troupe. 

“Alrighty, we will be speaking to the kids after lunch, remember our prep work group,” Isaiah instructed.

“Yes,” the remainder agreed. The troupe then turned to face the girls.

“It is only barely going to be noon, when does lunch end” asked Edward. 

His smile was bright and inviting. His hazel eyes made Lizzy and Casey feel an awakening in their stomachs.

“Uh, in an hour,” Lizzy quietly whispered.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that,” said Edward who walked closer to Lizzy and leaned in inches away from her face, all while maintaining a smile.

“Umm…..”Lizzy stuttered.

“Lunch ends at one, with all the children from our parishioners and the ones from other cities, we give them an hour to form a line, get their sack lunches and just relax. Then at one o’ clock, is when the guest speakers goes on and teaches the kids the word of our Lord,” answered Casey sternly.

 Edward then straightened himself and smiled at Casey.

“Why, thank you for sharing,” he gleefully exclaimed!

“No problem,” replied Casey.

Lizzy looked at Casey and gave a quick look with her eyes. Casey then gave Lizzy a quick glance back.

“Alrighty,” said Isaiah, “First thing on the agenda is the ice breakers, girls we’d love to get your help on this one,” he said while walking towards where Edward, Casey, and Elizabeth were standing.

“Ice breakers,” Lizzy asked?

“Yes, it’s super fun and really easy,” exclaimed Sara!

“Look, we will show you so that you can help us,” assured Hannah while walking up to Sara with a bag of candy in her hand.

“Each color represents a different question; for example, red means ‘tell us something you did yesterday or about yesterday’ then Sara or whoever gets this color answers the question,” she explained. 

“The yellow one means something about your childhood,” added Sara.

“orange means things you do well, and is my favorite color,” chimed Edward.

“Brown is something you can’t live without,” added Joanna.

“Green means  favorite movie,” noted Joshua.

“And blue is something you learned last week,” added Isaiah. “The reason why we ask you girls to join us is so you can be an added icebreaker to the icebreaker! By seeing you join, their senior youth leaders, the children will also want to join.”

The excitement in Isaiah’s tone and the warm smiles on his troupe’s face’s made it easy for the girls to help. 

“Sure, aside from going first in the icebreaker, what else can we assist you all with,” asked Lizzy nervously?

“I’m glad you asked, you can help us by writing what each color of candy means on the board, I would but my handwriting is bad and the girls are getting the lesson after the icebreaker ready,” said Edward while handing markers to the girls.

 The girls took a bucket full of dry erase markers in multiple colors. Joshua then wheeled in a dry-erase board where the girls could write the key to watch each color of chocolate represented. While eating their sack-lunches the girls quietly worked on their task.  

“Psst!”

“What, Casey,”

“Edward is a cutie, no?”

“Yeah,”

“I saw him first” Casey declared

“Hush, he’s too old for us,” noted Lizzy

“No way, he looks like he’d be 19,” stated Casey.

“Be quiet Casey, here he comes,” warned Lizzy.

Edward walked near the girls. 

“Hey, how is everything coming along over here,” he asked?

“Pretty, good, almost finished,” replied Casey.

“Good, good,” he noted while staring at Lizzy drawing borders around the words and board. “Wow, that’s really pretty, girls are just better than guys at decorating, you’re doing an amazing job, Elisa is it?”

Lizzy got nervous as she heard him call her by the wrong name.

“…I guess,” she nervously responded.

“It’s Lizzy, short for Elizabeth,” corrected Casey.

“Oh, okay, okay, “said Edward while nodding his head in agreement with a toothy grin. “Sorry, I called you Elisa, Elizabeth or Lizzy?”

“You may call me Elizabeth or Lizzy, whichever is easier for you,”

“Liz and you can call me Eddie,”

“And you can call me Casey, for Casey,” interrupted Casey.

“Cool, cool, call me Eddie too Casey,” he added.

“Hey, EDDIE come over here and help us with these prayer packets,” shouted Joshua from the other room.

“Gotta, go help Josh, after this, come and sit with us girls! We got another thirty minutes!”

He quietly walked away to the other side of the lounge where Josh and Isaiah were sitting stapling the prayer packets. The three girls were eating lunch and sitting in a circle talking amongst themselves. 

“Oh my gosh, Lizzy why did you freeze like that,” whispered Casey.

“I don’t know,”

“Is it because he is so dreamy”

“Yeah, he kind of looks like DiCaprio,”

“Jack!” Casey whispered dramatically like Kate Winslet

“Oh, hush Casey,” giggled Lizzy.

“ I can’ wait for that movie to come out!”

“Same, we are so gonna go see it!” declared Casey

The door opened and in came Marcela with the other Templo Nuestro Pastors, Pastor Glen, his wife Mary Elizabeth also a pastor, Pastor Emmanuel, Pastor Gilberto, and Pastor Ramiro.  

Mary Elizabeth, Pastor Glen’s wife, was about 5’6 tan, with a curvy build, bleached blonde hair with her roots showing, bangs, and wore gold shrimp looking earrings. Anywhere Pastor Glen was, Mary Elizabeth was sure to be. If Pastor Glen held bible study for the men, Mary Elizabeth held it separately for the ladies of Templo Nuestro Christan Church. She was the first lady of Templo Nuestro and made sure everyone knew. 

Pastor Emmanuel Sanchez was in his mid forties and married to Marcela, he was about 5’8, had short black handlebar mustache, was tan, and loved his carpentry business. Like Jesus, he felt that carpentry was important for the soul. Aside from assisting the visitors in the church, Marcela enjoyed baking outside of her church duties and ran a small bakery off of Telephone Road.

Pastor Gilberto Juarez was plump, athletic, 5’9 and fair skinned. Married to the church choir leader Lucinda. Both were in charge of the substance abuse counseling after church on Sundays and of the premarital classes as well. All the girls knew that it was for the people getting married. They didn't understand why a marriage would have problems before the actual wedding itself. Aside from assisting in the church, both Mr. and Mrs. Juarez enjoyed running their private counseling practice.

Pastor Ramiro Villarreal, was the youngest of the pastors and the only one to not have a wife at Templo Nuestro. Unlike the other pastors, he was in his mid thirties as opposed to forties. He was 5’10, tan, slim, brown eyes, brown short hair, and the church comedian. All the girls at Templo Nuestro fawned over him and the children in kiddie church camp, referred to him as commander Ramiro. Aside from doing comedy for the church benefit fundraisers, he holds mass for the children under 12 while the adults attend mass in the main assembly hall. Aside from these duties, he also participates in mission work leading him to travel often during the Holidays

“Alright, lunch is just about over,” chimed Mary Elizabeth.

“That's right honey, which means the kids will be ready to see what's. next on the agenda,” added Pastor Glen.  

“We are ready to go!” shouted Isaiah!

“Okay, so the ladies will lead you out into the main hall where we have Sunday English mass and then the floor will be all yours for the next two hours,” instructed Pastor Glen. With that, all the pastors including Marcela walked out. Elizabeth and Casey stood up from where they were sitting and walked towards the door.

“So we follow you girlies” asked Hannah?

“Yes ma’am” replied Elizabeth.

The girls began walking with the troupe behind them. Down the corridor and out towards the glass doors. Behind them they could hear the six rehearsing and warming up. As they were walking towards the main hall on the right side of the administrative offices, they could feel the adrenaline beginning to rise. It was just then the girls realized what they had agreed to earlier. They had just agreed to performing in front of 600+ Christian youth. As this thought entered their minds, they finally made it into the backstage area of the main hall. 

“Oh my goodness, Casey, what did we get into,” Lizzy anxiously whispered.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure we will be fine,” Casey assured.

“This isn’t like a track, we have to talk” panicked Lizzy!

“Are you girls ready for your on stage debut, pastor Gilberto told me you all prefer to be behind the scenes,” an excited voice stated behind them. 

They turned around and saw it was Eddie. Both girls looked at him in shock, not one of them saying a word.

“Oh, no, no, don’t be nervous, I will guide you through it; just make sure to sit somewhere we can see you, go sit with the audience, we don’t do icebreakers right away anyway,” he assured them. 

Both girls walked out onto the crowd and sat in the front row.

“Are you sure about this Casey; it is not too late to run,” suggested Lizzy.

“Oh, Lizzy, we need to be able to confront our public speaking fears one day, besides we are seniors in high school now, you  know what that means….”reminded Casey

“College time,” added Lizzy

“Yeah and if we can’t talk to a church, or a boy like Edward, how are we gonna be able to talk to the cute boys who aren’t in this congregation or from Houston when we go to San Marcos,” Casey rebutted. 

“You’re right Casey,” agreed Lizzy.

The curtains came down and the lights went out. Then the PA went off

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen, boys, and girls, Christians gathered here at Templo Nuestro Christian Church’s Annual Youth Summer Camp! Not only will we be getting closer to our Lord and learning about what it means to be a Christian in this ever changing world, but also we will be having FUUUUUUUUN,” the music began playing. It was the kind of music you would hear at a Houston Rockets game. But the song instead said “Pray, pray it up, while you feeling holy, and the spirit is going through you, pray it up!” 

The spotlight went to the left hand side of the stage and out came Isaiah walking and clapping.

“Ooooh, oooh, oooh, oooh” he shouted into his headset microphone

Then another spotlight hit the right hand side of the stage and out came Hannah skipping onto the stage while simultaneously clapping. Then the spotlight went behind the audience, everyone turned around and in came Joanna running from the audience towards the stage, she jumped onto the stage and proceeded to do two cartwheels and two backflips. The crowd went wild, instantly cheering and stomping their feet.  

Then from the left hand side of the stage came Edward, he dropped onto the floor and began doing the worm until he reached center stage. Once there, he proceeded to do some head-spins and break dancing moves. The girls all screamed and cheered.  A fifth spotlight came out from center stage and moonwalking in came Joshua. Then from underneath the stage came in Sara. 

Once all six finally made their entrance and were on stage, the music stopped and the lights turned back on. With the lights on, the crowd could see the headset microphones each of the six had. All in their baseball t-s and jeans.  Isaiah the troupe’s leader took centerstage.

“Good afternoon Templo Neustro Christain Church!”

To which the children in the crowd all cheered and yelled back “Good Afternoon!”

“Ahh, come on, this is Houston, home of the mighty Rockets and NASA Space Center, I think you all can do better than that. How about one more time? Good Afternoon Temple Nuestro Christian Church, HOME OF THE HOUSTON ROCKETS AND ASTRONAUTS,” he repeated. This time ten times louder than the first response, all in unison, the 600 plus children and other church members shouted.

“GOOD AFTERNOON!”

“That’s much better!” replied Isaiah. “Now, let me introduce myself. I am Isaiah, here on my right is Hannah, she skipped on in.

“Hello boys and girls” she cheered!

“Over here on my left is Joanna”

“HI JOANNA” the children all shouted!

“Hi kids” she softly sang.

“She is the cheerleader of the group!”

“I love cheering for Jesus” she shouted!

“Don’t we all” asked Isaiah?

“YES” the children all shouted!

“Now, over here next to Joanna  is Edward, he is the comedian of the group!”

“Hello kiddos” he said in a weird deep voice!

“Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,” the children all giggled.

“And next to Edward is Joshua, a big Michael Jackson fan!”

“I love to pray to JEEESUUUS” he said in a Michael Jackson sounding way.

“And last but not least, Sara,”

“Hi kiddos!”

“Hi Sara!”

“Sara is our theater leader, she is an amazing actress.”

“Now, together, all six of us combined make  up the super, Jesus, loving, power, Christian group, known as PRAY!” stated Isaiah

“Has anyone ever heard of PRAY before?”

“No!”

“Okay, well, that is why your pastors, such as pastor Glen, Pastor Ramiro, and all the other good folks here asked us to come and talk to you all!” stated Joanna.

“We are a fun group, whose mission is to spread the word of God,” added Edward.

“And spread awareness against the dangers of strangers,” informed Joshua.

“And the dangers of drugs and alcohol,” chimed Hannah. 

“But we do this all while singing and having fun,” cheered Sara!

“Now from today through Friday we will be hosting afternoon assemblies and having loads of activities, but first things, first, let’s get to know each other a little bit better,” shouted Isaiah with enthusiasm!

“How are we gonna do that,” asked Hannah as if she were in an infomercial.

“I’m glad you asked Hannah, we are going to play a game called icebreakers, like the Mentos candies, only we don’t have the candy, it's a game!” instructed Isaiah. “And we are not doing with Mentos but with m&m’s! Each color represents a different question to be answered by the person who draws it .” as Isaiah described the activity Joshua and Sara rolled out the board both Casey and Lizzy had worked on in the morning. 

“Oh my god, this is it Casey!”

“Shh, Lizzy don’t take the Lord's name in vain!”

“I’m sorry, I am just really nervous,” Lizzy whispered.

“Okay, so Hannah got a red candy, red means ‘something you did yesterday’ so boys and girls, Hannah will tell me something she did yesterday,” explained Isaiah.

“Well, yesterday I went hiking before taking the drive here to Rocket’s Country Wooohooo!”

“WOOOOOHOO,” the children cheered back!

“Now, my turn,” Isaiah stuck his hand in the m&m bag and took out a blue candy. “Well, now blue means ‘something I learned last week’ well, I learned how to fish last week.” 

“Now to make this a little more exciting, I’m gonna need two volunteers from the crowd,” started Edward. 

 He looked out into the group and quickly spotted Casey and Lizzy sitting in the third row. 

“How about you two girls,” he said pointing at them. 

The spotlight was then on them. In a flash they were asked to walk onto the stage. Both Casey and Lizzy sheepishly walked onto the stage.

“Come on, come on don’t be shy,” he reinforced.

Both girls walked up through the left hand side of the stage and slowly made their ways towards the center where the troupe was standing. Casey stood next to Hannah and Joanne and Lizzy stood next to Isaiah and Sara. 

“Okay, here we have these two lovely volunteers, what are your names?” Sara handed a mic to Casey and Edward pointed a mic towards Elizabeth.

“I’m Casey Fuentes,” Casey confidently said, they all turned and looked towards Lizzy now. 

“And...I’m...L-l--Lizzy,” she meekly stated. 

With a big enthusiastic smile, and pearly whites all showing, Edward turned to the crowd and shouted into the mic,

 “Well, boys and girls, ladies and gents of Templo Nuestro in Houston, Texas, HOME OF THE ROCKETS! Let’s give a BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE SO LOUD THE ANGELS CAN HEAR US IN HEAVEN, FOR CASEY AND LIZZY!”

The children all shouted  and applauded in unison, the applause all sounded as if one giant robot was clapping for the troupe and two girls.  Once the applause and cheers died down, Edward stepped aside from center stage and let Isaiah take lead. Isaiah walked up to the girls

“First off, thank you two young ladies for volunteering for this icebreaker. Now, the purpose of the icebreaker is so that we all get to know each other better, I want you all to do this with your neighbor sitting next to you towards your right, if not your right then your left, and if not your left, well someone you do not know, haha,” he instructed.

“So, you two said your names are Casey and Lizzy?”

“Yes,” answered both girls.

“Okay, now Joanna and Hannah here are providing you a bowl where you can stick your hands in,” Joanna and Hannah held a bowl of the colorful milk chocolate pieces. Casey stepped towards Joanna and Lizzy towards Hannah. Lizzy took out a green candy and Casey an orange one. 

“Wow! Green for Lizzy” shouted Hannah enthusiastically!

“Okay, so green means your favorite movie, what is your favorite movie Lizzy,” asked Hannah?

“Umm….my, my favorite movie is Grease,” Lizzy nervously answered.

“Now, what color did Casey get Joanna,” asked Joshua?

“Casey got an orange one, orange means one thing you do well. Casey, what is one thing you’re extremely good at,” asked Joanna?

“I am really good at running,” she answered confidently.

“Oh, really,” asked Isaiah?

“Yeah, both Lizzy and I are senior track runners this year at our high school, we can’t wait to go to all the meets this upcoming season,” Casey reiterated.

“That’s awesome, I bet you win all the track meets for the church,” stated Isaiah, and the crowd of children and senior youth leaders cheers and applauded.

 It was true, both girls were star athletes not only at their high school in New Caney but at their church as well.

“Now boys and girls your youth leaders and pastors will be passing one jar filled with colored candies one per row, so please share and get to know each other when they’re being passed out. These activities are meant to be fun and also for us to know each other better,” emphasized excitedly Isaiah. 

After that, the troupe turned off their mics and huddled up in a circle, leaving the two girls standing in the middle of the stage. All the pastors of Templo Nuestro began forming groups of 20 and handling buckets around. 

“We should help with these icebreakers Casey,” mentioned Lizzy.

“Yeah, just wow, I didn’t know our auditorium could fit this many people,” stated Casey,

“No kidding Lizzy,”

“Hey, girls” a loud voice shouted from behind them. They turned around and saw Edward coming up to them.

“You all did great! I just wanted to say on behalf of all of us from PRAY we are all proud of you!”

“Thanks Eddie,” said Casey.

“Thank you Edward,” said Lizzy.

“Oh, come on you don’t have to call me Edward Lizzy, I don’t call you Elizabeth, it’s okay, call me Eddie!” 

“Alright, if you insist,” replied Lizzy.

“Okay, well I am gonna go help out your pastors with these icebreakers,” Edward hopped off the stage and made his way towards pastor Ramiro. The girls both followed suit but instead made their way towards Marcela. 

“Girls!,” she stated “Glad you are here, how about you two make a group of 20 students for the two of you and you all do the icebreakers.”

“You mean we lead a group of 20 together or separately?”

“Separately, Lizzy, come on now, you’re going to be a senior, you need to get out of your shell mija si no vas estar lista para el colegio! Now is the time to start practicing your leadership skills. So, here are the buckets now you get these twenty and Casey gets these other twenty.”

Both girls began to walk towards an open space in the auditorium.

“Oh, and one more thing girls,”

“Yes, Marcela,” they both replied.

“Separate! I don’t want forty students all bunched up together, Casey to the left side of the auditorium and Lizzy to the far right, chop, chop!”

As always, the girls did what they were told. Lizzy went to the far right and Casey to the left. Both girls made their sets of twenty line up into two rows of ten. Lizzy introduced herself and handed the bucket filled with the candies around down the line.

“Take one down and pass it around, and so on and so forth, when the last one gets it let me know,” she calmly instructed.

 It was always easier for her to talk to small groups of children then it was when it came to boys she thought looked handsome. This was easier, due to the children being members of the church, therefore children she has watched over with pastor Ramiro whenever he needed assistance at kiddie church. 

Over on the far left, Casey gave out similar instructions. Casey being the extroverted of the two never had a hard time publicly speaking in front of a crowd or a small group of people. She certainly didn't find it difficult to keep up with her peers or boys she found handsome. As Casey was instructing her twenty to look at the overhead and figure out what each color of candy represented, she noticed someone was looking at her from afar. It was Edward, he was talking with pastor Ramiro and the children in a circle but kept locking eyes with Casey. Casey smiled and winked at him. Edward didn’t respond, he just stared at her blankly before giving her his back. 

An hour had passed and the auditorium was still filled with the echoes of chatter. Once the icebreaker activity had ended, the PRAY troupe began gathering the buckets and storing them away into the closets of the auditorium. 

“Okay boys and girls, now that we are done with the icebreakers, we will be returning to our seats to begin afternoon worship and prayer before we head home for the day,” stated Pastor Glen.

“AWWWWWW MAN,” shouted the children!

“Now, boys and girls, is that anyway to act towards our Lord and salvation?” asked Mary Elizabeth. 

“NO,” they again, all shouted!

“Now, let’s all calmly return to our seats and begin worship and prayer,” she reiterated.

“Because we looove Jessuuuusssss,” Pastor Ramiro sang over the mic. 

The lights turned off and the spotlights on stage were now on Pastor Glen, Mary Elizabeth, Edward, Joshua, Isaiah, Joanna, Sara, Hannah, and Marcela all began to sing together. The children and other youth leaders now at their seats all joined hands and sang along.

After Worship and Prayer were finished, the girls helped their pastors line up the children and load them up onto their buses. The first day of camp had ended and the girls were both exhausted. It was 3:00pm when camp had ended. By the time the last bus had left it was 4:45pm. Both girls walked back into the main office and patiently waited indoors for Casey’s dad to pick them up. 

“Are you sure we can’t just take the bus, we still have to get some running in today,” asked Lizzy?

“It’s really hot outside right now Lizzy, you wanna get a heat stroke?”

“We live in Houston, it’s always hot outside.”

The girls were sitting on the chairs in the lobby right under the vent. Lizzy threw her head back and was about to close her eyes when she heard the lounge’s door swing open. The loud noise startled her and she sat straight back up on her seat.  All six of the PRAY troupe were making their way towards the exit. 

“Bye girls we will be seeing you bright and early tomorrow,” said Isaiah.

“Bye,” they both responded.

After Isaiah, was Sara, then Joanna, Joshua, Hannah, and last but not least, Edward. The first five walked out the door fast and disappeared into the parking lot of Templo Nuestro. Edward stayed behind and was singing out at the front desk with Marcela. 

“Everything was wonderful,” he emphatically stated. “Can’t wait to be back tomorrow, you all are awesome, I feel right at home and it’s all thanks to the lovely liaisons you have assisted us, God Bless you so much.”

 He finished singing out and walked past the girls. Before he made it towards the glass doors, he stopped and turned right back around and made his way towards the girls. 

“Hey ladies, I just wanted to say thank you again, for being such great sports and terrific all around. Stay blessed and hope to see you tomorrow, bye!” he walked out and also disappeared in the parking lot.

“Oh my goodness, he is just so dreamy,” gushed Casey.

“I know, looks like Leo Decap” added Lizzy.

The girls waited five more minutes before Casey’s father Juan showed up in the Buick. Before leaving the girls approached Marcela.

“Hey, Marce, my dad is already here for us,” informed Casey

“Okay, girls, thank you for all of your help today, see you bright and early tomorrow,” Marcela responded.

Both girls walked out of the office building and out towards the LeSaber. Once in the car, another long ride ahead, however, due to rush hour traffic, the 45 minute drive will now be an hour and a half. Good ol’ Houston traffic from 3:00pm-8:00pm.

“How was camp girls,” asked Juan?

“Good, papi,” replied Casey.

“Did you learn any new psalms or prayers today?”

“No, we just helped with getting our guest speakers ready for performance,”

“A performance,” he asked?

“Well, not a performance but they did have some fun activities to get the kids interested in camp,”

“Like what,”

“Well, for one they made a big deal when they were first introducing themselves. One of them even backflipped onto stage.”

“Oh, wow, that sounds exciting mija, was Lizzy the one backflipping,” all three began chuckling.

“No, Lizzy got super shy around our guest speakers and was nervous on stage,” teased Casey

“There were too many people,” rebutted Lizzy.

“On stage, did you all perform as well,” asked Mr. Fuentes?

“No, no, we just helped the group with their icebreaker activities,”

“Ah, my boss is making us do those in the seminars lately,” Juan mentioned.

“Really, Mr. Fuentes, adults have to do weird things like that too,” asked Lizzy?

“Yes, Lizzy, there are a ton of different icebreakers to play when first meeting new people, which one did you all play,” he asked?

“Well we had to stick our hands in a jar filled with colorful milk chocolates, and each color represents a different question,” replied Casey.

“Ahh, that’s a new one, I’ll bring it up to my boss,”

“Papi, get your own idea don’t be stealing PRAY’s”

“PRAY?”

“That’s the name of the guest speakers’ group PRAY,”

“Oh, okay!”

Both Lizzy and Casey stayed staring out the window the remainder of the drive from Houston to New Caney. 

By the time they arrived home, it was already close to 6:30pm. Both girls got dressed in their tracksuits and headed out for a run. They ran down their neighborhood street passing Lizzy’s house. Lizzy’s parents were outside watering the grass and waved back at the girls as they ran. They made a left on the stop sign and headed out of their street and onto another beautiful suburb in New Caney. The girls were passing Autumn Leaf Lane. The houses were always still and quiet during sunset. Clashes of red and yellow making a power pink to a soft lavender, the best time to run. No cars, since all the dads and moms who work in the inner Houston area were finally home and indoors with their families. Running in silence had been a favorite pastime for the girls. It helped with clearing their minds and relaxing them, especially after busy days, such as today; track and field always provided an escape for them. It had been a good hour of them running for 4 miles. The girls were cooling down now as they walked down a steep hill back home.

“That Edward is really cute, ey,” asked Casey?

“Oh, stop, you’re obsessed with him, that’s like the billionth time you bring it up today,” teased Lizzy.

“Oh come on, you know you’re thinking it too,”

“Yeah,”

“Besides, I got chisme girl,”

“Oh, de que?”

“Of Eddie of course!”

“What do you mean,” asked Lizzy?

“Well, you know after Marcela told us to separate so we can help with the icebreakers?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, Edward was helping Pastor Ramiro and he was standing near me and my group,”

“Okay, and?”

“And, he wouldn't stop staring at me?”

“So, what is that supposed to mean, and for how long was he staring,” Lizzy asked?

“Well, he wasn’t smiling, but he was indeed staring at me, I even turned around to see if anyone was behind me,”

“Oh, but I wonder why he wasn’t smiling,”

“Maybe he got so hypnotized by my looks,”

“Ahi, Casey, vanity is a sin!”

“I kid, I kid, but how old do you think he is?”

“Too old for us,” Lizzy sternly replied.

“No, way, he looks super young,” reiterates Casey.

“I don’t know maybe you should ask him,” suggested Lizzy jokingly.

“Maybe we should on the last day!”

“We! What do you mean ‘WE’, I don’t even like him that much,”

“Come on Lizzy, you know I don't like asking guys out alone,” begged Casey.

“Casey you know I don’t like talking to guys I don’t know period, especially at church!”

“Like Marcela said, we need to work on our public speaking skills,”

“Oh, Casey please! How is talking to the church cutie a public speaking skill,”

“All, I’m saying is that it’s good practice for college and getting out of our shells, well more like your shell,” reminded Casey.

“Hmm,” Lizzy thought “And what are we going to say to him ‘Hey Eddie how old are you’ that seems rude,” noted Lizzy.

“Well, that’s why we have these next four days to slowly work our way up to it, I mean we are his liaisons,”

“You mean the group's liaisons,” corrected Lizzy.

“You know what, I meant; I meant that as we help them out we can fish for answers about Eddie,” Casey gleaned and began pacing ahead of Lizzy. 

“If only you were this clever about miles and school,” whispered Lizzy.

“I heard that!” Casey shouted.

[geniuss-loci-deactivated2021052]

Burning Wings

[scriptedsilence-deactivated2025]

* collision *

no eggs shells

let’s remove masks tonight

breathe without heaviness

let the chains fall

allow the butterflies to be

released

I ache for your bare soul

I want to feel your depth

I want to taste your intellect

finger my mind

cover my body with the dripping

of your tongue

look me in the eyes

unleash your hidden passions

bust down every barrier

sear my soul with your words

don’t stop until,

the moon and sun collide

©ScriptedSilence. All rights reserved

Pic credit - unknown.

[theintrovertedpoetspodcast]

[vomitingwords]

Happy Valentine's Day sweeties!

I hope you're all doing fine. 💓

[theintrovertedpoetspodcast]

Psst! Coming soon!