“Can you just leave?” Jalyssa yelled, slamming her fist down onto her desk.

“Oh please,” Janessa, her twin, retorted. “You’re just mad because you know I’m right.”

Jalyssa scowled as Janessa continued with a smug look on her face. “Like I was saying, all you ever do these days is text Dimitri, Facetime Dimitri, go out with Dimitri, talk about Dimitri, and on and on and on. When was the last time you talked to him about God? Have you ever talked to him about God? And why- WHY- are you dating him? He’s lazy, he’s rude to me, he flirts with every girl except you, he-

Jalyssa cut her off. “First of all, he’s actually very nice to me. PLUS, he’s harmless! Why should I start preaching to him when he’s perfectly fine?’

“Lyssa,” Janessa began, “I’m not saying you should preach him a sermon! I’m trying to prove a point here.”

“Which is…?”

“Which is that ever since you’ve been hanging out with him you’ve lost your identity. I heard your friends the other day. I heard them say that they couldn’t believe that you were a Christian. One of them still thinks you’re lying about going to church every Saturday! Is this the way you want to influence others? By acting like someone you’re not?”

Jalyssa thought for a moment. “Fine, you’re right about that. But Dimitri has nothing to do with it. It’s just that ever since we got to high school, there are all these new things to try and new people to meet, and it feels like God is holding me back!”

Yeah, holding you back from making crazy decisions, Janessa thought. “Lyssa, do you remember in middle school when we used to go  to our schools’ youth group every other day? Wasn’t that awesome? Knowing that there were other kids our age who believed and served the same God we did, and still do. Why don’t you invite your new friends, and Dimitri, to our church’s youth group this Sabbath? You never know, they may like it.”

Jalyssa shrugged. “I don’t know Nessa. Dimitri always tries to change the subject whenever someone even says something about God.”

“Which brings me back to my point- how do you even like this kid? You are SO lucky I haven’t told mom, much less dad…”

Jalyssa jumped up and got into Janessa’s face. “Don’t you dare tell our parents about me and Dimitri. I only said yes to him because he’s so nice to me! As long as that doesn’t change, then everything will be alright.”

“Yeah, sure. As if anything is ever alright.”

The next day, Janessa and Jalyssa walked to school together. Though it was already early November, the sun shone brightly and not a cloud was in sight. A cool breeze whipped around the twins’ curly hair, and their light brown skin glowed in the sunlight. It was a gorgeous day. Janessa was still unnerved by their talk from the night before, but Jalyssa seemed fine. Great, actually. At the moment, she was grilling Janessa with questions about their upcoming science test. High school had proved considerably harder than middle school, so the girls decided to help each other study and do homework each night. Suddenly, Jalyssa broke out into a sprint.

“Dimitri! Dimitri, over here!” She called. Dimitri- a cute dark skinned boy and the biggest flirt of their freshman year- turned, ran over, and hugged Jalyssa. Janessa rolled her eyes as they stood, embracing, for a long and awkward two minutes. She cleared her throat, and they finally broke apart.

“So, uh…” Jalyssa and Dimitri looked over at Janessa who had began to speak. She continued. ” So… Dimitri, the other day at church we were talking about relationships and how to bring our friends and family to church, or youth group. So I- I mean, Lyssa and I- thought about bringing you and a couple others! How would you like to come to our youth group this Saturday?”

“Um,” Dimitri looked around uncomfortably. “No offense Nessa, but church and God- not my thing. It hasn’t been and it probably will never be. Sorry, but I’m sure I’ll be fine without Him. In fact, I will be fine without him. He’s let me down before, and I won’t give Him the chance to do it again.”

Janessa, stunned, looked at Jalyssa to try and think of something to say to Dimitri, but Jalyssa’s eyes were glued to the sidewalk. She seemed embarrassed, annoyed even.That’s weird, Janessa thought. Is there something I’m missing here? “Not to be nosy, or anything, but why did you say God let you down before, Dimitri?” Dimitri sighed and came to a stop.

” I- well, when I was 12…” His voice cracked so he started again. Rubbing his eyes, he whispered,” When I was 12, my mom was in a horrible accident. She was sent to the hospital, and my dad, my brothers, my sisters, and I prayed, and prayed, and prayed. But you know what? Do you know what God did to us?” He paused.” He took her away. Within  48 hours, my mom was taken out of this world.”

Jalyssa whirled around to face him as Janessa gasped.

“What?!” They both exclaimed at the same time. “Dimitri, I- I had no idea…” Janessa’s voice trailed off and she wiped a tear that slid down her cheek. Jalyssa swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around Dimitri. ” I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.” She tried to comfort him, and Janessa patted his shoulder supportively. Soon though, they heard the homeroom bell ring. Entering the school, Janessa nudged her sister. “Should we..?” She said, nodding her head toward a depressed looking Dimitri. Jalyssa understood right away.

“Dimitri, I know this is a rough time, but do you want us to pray with you?” Dimitri looked at the two hopeful sisters. He sighed, too tired and too sad to try and argue with them. “Yes, please.” What harm can one prayer do? He thought. Anything would help at this point. They moved in closer and Jalyssa, with her arms around Dimitri, began to pray.

“Dear Lord,” she began, ” Today we have come before You to ask that you send Your Spirit to comfort Dimitri. You know what he is going through, and we know You can help him cope. Help Dimitri to trust in You, Lord. In Your precious name we pray, Amen.” Both girls hugged Dimitri as he thanked them, a small smile on his face. He felt at peace, and he silently sent up his own prayer of thanks. Before he could walk away, though, the main office’s door flew open.

“Dimitri Rodriguez? Could you come in here, please?” A blonde woman quickly escorted him into the main office. “What happened? Am I in trouble?” Dimitri asked, alarmed. “Well… Dimitri, honey,” she began tentatively, “Your dad just called to let you know that he is picking you up early. A family emergency, he said. Something about your older brother driving home. Apparently, he has been in a horrible, horrible, accident. He’s at the hospital right now. Your dad should be…

Dimitri didn’t hear her finish. All he heard was accident. After that, he heard a gasp, a scream, and someone yelling his name. Then everything

                       went

                               black.