Jesus Freaks: The Prodigal (Jesus Freaks #2)(100)



Oh, the Today Show, right.

Well, apparently Jahara—Roland’s assistant—forgot to tell Roland she’d set up an interview with us and them at the family conference thing we were going to in Georgia. Only, Jonah, Matt, and I never made it to the conference. Roland and Buck excused us from it given all the “excitement” from the day before, and when they ran into Dean Baker, as expected, they simply told him we got food poisoning from the Chinese dinner we’d had a day and a half earlier. Still, that left the matter of the Today Show hanging in the air. I flat out refused to go on camera until school was back in session. I needed to chill out after all the emotions of the break, and the last thing I needed was a national camera up my a—butt. Alas, here we are, a couple of weeks into my second semester at CU, with another national interview on deck.

While Mom isn’t by my side for this one, I did get to see her at the end of break, as planned, at Roland’s house. I waited until then to tell her about what had happened with Matt. Casting a wide-eyed glance to Roland, she quickly looked back at me and said, “You did the right thing. I’m proud of you.” That was it. Things are still a little weird for us, but I think that’s just kind of part of growing up. Sure, there are different challenges in our way than a normal mother-daughter relationship, but we’ve never been particularly normal as it is.

“Lift your chin,” a nameless makeup artist says softly.

I comply and take a deep breath.

“You look so pretty,” Eden says, fussing with my hair and smiling at me in the mirror.

“Lucky!” Bridgette fake-whines of all the attention I’m receiving.

Nameless makeup artist grins and looks up. “I’ll do you girls once she’s on camera.”

They squeal in unison and the artist winks before painting tinted gloss on my lips.

On the drive back from Georgia, Jonah and I had a long talk about telling Eden what went down at The Pink Pony. I said I had to talk with her about it. That I needed her not only as a friend, but a prayer confidant. Sure, I told Mollie and we talked about all the depression and sadness of the whole thing, but Eden would understand at a different level, I argued. I knew that it would be asking a lot of Jonah to be that kind of vulnerable with Eden when talking about what happened, but he wants to be friends with her still anyway, so we agreed to talk with her together.

I didn’t tell Bridgette, though, and I don’t plan to. Not yet, anyway, and Eden gets it. She won’t tell, either. None of us can control who Matt will tell, if anyone, but we figure he’s not likely to talk.

Because not only is he not talking to me, he’s not really talking to Jonah, either. Jonah’s been able to get a few words out of him, but they’re mostly in grunt-form. I’m getting the brunt of Matt’s silent treatment, I’m guessing, because I’m the one that involved our dads, which brought everything to a whole other level.

“You’re ready,” the makeup artist says, assessing me from a few feet back.

“Whatever you say,” I mumble with a grin before sliding from my chair and walking into Roland’s living room.

It’s just me and Greg Mauer today. Roland’s teaching some seminar this morning, and I just need to get this “in-depth” interview over with. Jahara is supervising the whole affair, but I’ve been so damn busy since getting back to school that I’ve had little time to fret over this interview. I’m still working my shifts at Word, have a full course load, attending Bible study, and trying to be an active participant around campus. Also there’s the bit about grieving over losing my best friend and trying not to let him go, but other than that …

“Kennedy,” Greg starts the interview with a warm smile. Out of the corner of my eye I see Bridgette fawning over herself in the mirror as the makeup artist works her magic. “It’s great to see you again.”

I nod, offering a professional, closed-mouth smile. “Likewise, Greg. Likewise.”

“Let’s get right into it. It’s a new semester,” he leads. I nod. “Have you had contact with Joy Martinez? Is she back to school.”

It would be unprofessional to roll my eyes on camera, but I do it anyway. I throw a smile on top of it to lessen the sting. “I believe so, but we haven’t had a chance to get together yet.”

I know so. Joy’s repeating all of her classes from last semester, though, so we don’t see each other during the day. Also, she’s moved to another dorm, and since she wasn’t friends with any of us anyway, no one really knows where she is. I’ve seen her at the dining hall and once or twice in passing to classes, but that’s it.

Greg’s eyes widen like he’s looking at prey. “Really? After all she put you through, you’d go almost a month into the new semester without speaking to each other to try to reach some sort of understanding?”

Little does he know, I’ve got fangs of my own. I look to the camera, then back at Greg. “Forgiveness doesn’t come from what we do down here, Greg. It’s not about our relationships with each other. It’s about our relationship with God. I forgave Joy months ago for what happened. I was given the grace to forgive her.”

“By God.”

“Yes. And, under that grace, I don’t really find it necessary to rehash a story that’s three months old. I’m moving forward with my life, and I trust Joy is too, and I know that when the time is right we’ll be able to sit down, face-to-face, and talk with each other respectfully, like the strong women of God each of us are.”

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