Chapter Six, Part Two

           “Liz?”

            Liz jumped slightly, jerked out of her thoughts, and turned to look at who was addressing her.  She found herself looking up at Derek, whom she hadn’t ever seen outside of Children of the Rose functions.  Ever.  And yet, here he was, standing on the sidewalk, staring down at where she was sitting on the grass under a tree.

            For a moment, she couldn’t think of what to say.  She hadn’t often found herself speechless around guys, but for some reason she found herself unable to think clearly when Derek was around.

            “Hey.”

            Derek cocked his head to one side.  “What are you doing here?”

Chapter Six, Part One

        Liz slumped into Sandra’s car, followed closely by Morgan.  Delia and Sandra, as usual, took the front seats.  Rubbing her eyes, Liz glanced at the clock.  Two in the morning.  The group had just been released from another seminar.  This seminar was about the proper dress of the Children, led by Pastor Jeffrey because Pastor Simon was at another colony this week.

            “We are a humble group,” Pastor Jeffrey had explained, “thus we dress humbly.  People should be attracted to our path to God because of what we portray from our hearts, not what we portray from our clothing.  Women wear long skirts to keep the men from the temptation of their bodies.  Remember the words of Matthew, chapter five, verse twenty-eight: ‘But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.’”

            The older members had nodded their agreement, like they always did during seminars.  The newly baptized members had merely stared blankly ahead of them, nodding slightly with the others.