"Some thing like that."

That evening Christy overheard her mom talking to Aunt Marti on the phone. "I tell you, she's a natural. I didn't even know it was my own daughter out there when she tried out. I'm so proud of her."

Christy listened quietly in the background as her mother went on about how wonderful everything was going for their family and how blessed and happy they were. Her final comment surprised Christy. "I have to admit, Marti, you and Bob were right about talking us into moving out here to California. Norm is content at Hollandale Dairy, David's reading has improved tremendously, and Christy, well, all I can say is that we are so proud of how she's turning out."

After Mom hung up, she began to fix dinner. Christy followed her into the kitchen.

"Mom," she began without really thinking through how to phrase her thoughts, "would you love me as much if I wasn't a cheerleader? I mean, if I didn't get good grades or if I didn't make cheerleading, would you and Dad still be proud of me?"

"How can you even ask such a thing? You know we love you and are proud of you no matter what the circ.u.mstances."

"Yes, but I messed up on that whole prom thing."

"It worked out, Christy, and you learned from the situation. That's what matters."

"But what about cheerleading? I heard you talking to Aunt Marti about it and, well, what if I wasn't a cheerleader?"

Mom leaned against the counter and put down the can of green beans she was about to open. A gentle look settled on her face. "All your father and I want is for you to become what G.o.d wants you to be. If that means becoming a cheerleader or a soccer player or president of the math club..."

Christy made a face. "Math club?"

"Okay, maybe not the math club. The point is, it doesn't matter to us. As long as you're obedient to what G.o.d wants you to be."

Those were intense words coming from Christy's mom. She had never before said anything like that. Especially the part about being obedient to G.o.d.

"Why do you ask, Christy?"

She almost told her mom all that was on her heart, but the right words didn't come. "I don't know. I was just wondering."

Mom sunk the can opener into the can of green beans. "Would you make the salad for me please? There are two heads of lettuce in the refrigerator. Make sure you use up the littlest one first."

Christy pulled out the smaller head of lettuce and giggled to herself, remembering Katie's description of her corsage. Christy told her mom about it as they worked together preparing dinner. They didn't have too many open, fun times like this, so it made tonight even more special. During moments like this, Christy felt more like an adult. It was as if the two of them were getting to be more on the same level and were becoming friends.

Christy thought about how much she liked these few times of open s.p.a.ces in their relationship, when her mom spoke to her as though she were a friend rather than a child. Christy wondered if her mother treasured these times too.

The next morning Christy and her mom had another "becoming friends" moment when Mom offered to fix Christy's hair.

At first Christy said, "No, that's okay." Then she saw a look of disappointment on her mom's face and quickly said, "Well, okay. Sure."

Inwardly, she figured if it didn't turn out, she could always change it at school. It had been years since her mother had "fixed" Christy's hair, and it seemed strange that she wanted to do it today.

Mom set to work. Christy examined her hair in the mirror. "This is exactly what I saw in a magazine, and I couldn't figure out how to do it. I thought it was a brand-new style."

Mom laughed. "Funny how all the old styles come back around eventually."

Five minutes later Christy admired the results in the mirror. She carefully sprayed her hair, feeling thrilled with the way it had turned out and confident that she looked good.

"I'm coming to your a.s.sembly today," Mom said. "I'm only going to slip into the back, so you don't have to worry about looking for me or anything."

"That's okay, Mom. You don't have to come."

"I've worked everything out so I can be there. This is a big day for you. I'd like to be there to enjoy the moment of glory with you." Mom smiled into the mirror at her daughter. "I feel as if I've just placed a laurel wreath on your head."

"A what?" Christy returned the gaze, fastening tiny pearl earrings on her ears.

"Oh, I know I'm being silly. I was referring to ancient Greece at the Olympics when the winners received a crown made out of leaves as their reward."

"Oh. Guess we haven't come to that yet in our history cla.s.s."

"I'll go see if David's ready." Mom looked cheery and pleased with life. "You need to leave in about five minutes." She began to walk away.

"Um, Mom?"

She turned, her face looking soft and gentle-completely approachable.

"Remember what you said last night about how I should obey G.o.d?"

"Yes."

"Well, I just want to say that if sometimes it seems that I've done something that doesn't make sense to anybody else, well...maybe I've done the right thing, even if it seems weird."

Mom looked confused.

Christy tried to rephrase her statement. "I guess all I'm trying to say is that I want to obey G.o.d, and I want to do what He wants me to do, and well, I guess sometimes if I truly obey G.o.d, it will only make sense to me and not to other people. Does that make sense?"

"Sort of. Your heart is open to G.o.d, and that's what matters. Now get going. You don't want to be late."

Christy checked her appearance in the mirror and then knelt and probed through a mound of dirty clothes in the back of her closet. Her hand touched the cold Folgers coffee tin, and Pooh toppled off his guard post.

"Hi, Pooh. Sorry I left you in there so long."

Christy placed Pooh on her bed and popped the lid off the coffee can.

"Christy," her mom called, "time to go."

"Coming."

Being careful not to crush any of the precious carnation buds, Christy fished through the dry petals and retrieved her Forever bracelet.

Then scooping up her books, she rushed out the front door and bounded down the steps, under the jasmine trellis, ready for everything this bright spring day would hold.

The auditorium began to fill with students for the two o'clock a.s.sembly. Christy looked for Katie among the few people already sitting in the front rows, but she wasn't there. Slipping into the second row, Christy quietly waited.

Deep in her heart, she whispered a prayer. Father G.o.d, I want to become the person You want me to be. I want You to be pleased with me. You are- Her prayer was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Todd? Todd!" Christy jumped up and impulsively gave him a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Heard this was a big day for you." He looked excited, with his wide grin and clear eyes.

Suddenly aware that people were watching them, Christy motioned for Todd to sit next to her. He stretched his arm across the back of her chair and sat looking at her, still smiling. He clearly was proud of her.

"I like your hair," he said. "You look like an angel with a halo."

Christy felt thrilled and uncomfortable and confused all at the same time. "Thanks. But how did you know about the a.s.sembly today?"

"I was at your aunt and uncle's last night when Marti was talking to your mom. Thought I'd surprise you. Did I?" He looked almost silly he was so pleased with himself.

"Yes! I still can't believe you're here. But Todd, there's something I should tell you about the cheerleading announcement-"

This time Katie's voice interrupted her. "Christy! Todd?" Katie's face reflected her surprise.

"I know!" Christy laughed. "Kind of a surprise, huh? Do you want to sit by us?"

Katie inched her way into the empty seat on the other side of Christy as Todd pulled an envelope from his back pocket. "You want see my pictures from prom night?"

Christy's emotions plummeted. How could she say no? Especially with Katie leaning toward Todd and saying, "I want to see them. Pa.s.s 'em this way."

"Jasmine's mom took these at their apartment before the prom dinner." Todd lifted a photo out of the envelope as if it were a rare treasure and handed it to Katie.

Christy closed her eyes for an instant, then opened them and looked at the photo Katie now held in front of her. All of her jealousy fled. Christy's first thought sped to her lips, but she held back from speaking it. That's Jasmine?

The picture showed Todd standing, tall and dashing in his tux with a teal blue bow tie and matching c.u.mmerbund. He looked finer than any knight in shining armor. Jasmine wore a long blue satin gown with straight long sleeves. The skirt covered the bottom part of her wheelchair, and in her lap lay one long-stemmed white rose with a blue ribbon.

Jasmine didn't have the long, flowing blond hair of a prom queen, as Christy had imagined. Instead, her dark hair was cropped short. Her hands lay useless in her lap, with fingers frozen in a twisted grip. And although she wore makeup, she still had a plain, simple-looking face.

But her smile! Her heart shone from her face as she smiled.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Todd asked.

Katie pulled her head back so Todd couldn't see her and gave Christy a doubtful look.

Christy knew exactly what Todd meant, so she sincerely answered, "Yes, she is. She's beautiful."

Jasmine deserved to have a special prom night, and she deserved to have it with Todd.

"So," Christy asked bravely, "did you have a good time at the prom?"

"We didn't go to the dance. Just out to dinner," Todd said. "I'm not big on dressing up and stuff like that. But I heard some of Jasmine's friends say they were all going to dinner in Laguna Beach before the prom. I thought taking Jasmine would be the best present I could give her-something no one else would think about giving. That's my favorite kind of gift."

Christy felt the cool metal of her Forever bracelet and realized how carefully Todd planned the gifts he gave. Her bracelet meant more to her at that moment than it ever had before. She was so glad she'd run back that morning and fished it from the coffee can.

"You didn't go to the prom, then?" Christy realized that neither she nor Rick nor Todd had gone. She had ridden a colossal emotional roller coaster for nothing. "You guys didn't go to the dance part of the prom?"

Todd looked at Christy as if he didn't understand her question. "No. Dances aren't exactly my idea of a good time."

"Tell me about it," Katie muttered.

"Jasmine and I had a great time with her friends at dinner, and that's the part that really mattered to both of us."

Christy remembered when she and Todd and the rest of her beach friends had gone ice-skating last Christmas, and Todd had turned out to be a klutz on the ice. She wondered if maybe he wasn't really comfortable with dances for some of the same coordination reasons. The thought made her smile. There were so many things she didn't know about Todd. She was glad things were back to normal so she could keep getting to know this one-of-a-kind guy.

Todd slipped Jasmine's treasured photo back into the envelope. "I can't wait for you to meet Jasmine," he told Christy. "I told her that you and I would fix breakfast on the beach for her one morning. Only this time the birds wouldn't get to the food. I told Jasmine her job would be to keep the seagulls away."

"You told her about our breakfast on the beach last Christmas?" Christy asked.

"Of course. She said she's anxious to meet you. You know, she asked if you were upset that I took her to the prom dinner instead of you, and I told her you weren't like other girls."

Christy felt awful. She was about to argue the point and tell Todd that she really failed more than succeeded and that she'd worked herself into a jealous rage over his taking Jasmine to the prom when the curtain began to go up in the noisy, packed auditorium.

A girl slid into the seat directly in front of Christy and turned around. "Hi! Hope you didn't think I was going to miss this!" It was Teri.

"Hi!" Christy greeted her and quickly introduced Todd.

The football coach began to introduce next year's lineup, and soon the stage bulged with proud young men roaring with school spirit and slapping each other on the back.

"And now," the coach bellowed into the microphone, "Kelley High's best all-around athlete from this year will introduce next year's cheerleaders! I present to you Rick Doyle!"

Rick jogged onto the stage in his letterman's jacket, his half grin showing how much he loved the wild applause that filled the auditorium.

Will Rick see me sitting here with Todd? Will he even notice? Do I even care? Then Christy began to feel nervous. Up until then she had been fine. In the garden of her heart, she knew the right seeds had been planted, but now that the moment had come for everyone to see the harvest, she felt her stomach jumble. What will everyone think of me? And do I even care?

Rick stepped up to the microphone, seemingly quite at home in front of an audience, and waved his hands for the applause to die down. It reminded Christy of when Rick had announced her name as Christina in front of the youth group the first Sunday she visited his church with Katie.

That time he had embarra.s.sed her and made her feel nervous to be noticed by him. Now she felt strong and unafraid of him. And not just because Todd was beside her. It was because she knew that she was becoming who she was meant to be, as her mom had said. And she could rest in that confidence. Not Rick or anyone else could shake the strange confidence she felt in the midst of her nervousness.

"Okay! I have the list here." Rick held up an envelope. "As I announce the cheerleaders by name, come on up and stand in front of these men that you're going to be cheering on to victory next fall."

Rick tore open the envelope and scanned the list before saying, "Renee Duvalt."

Renee sprang from her seat and, with mock surprise, swished onto stage, giving Rick a perky little hug. With a halfhearted response to Renee, Rick kept looking at the list. Christy saw him turn it over and check the back.

Rick called the rest of the names loudly and clearly. Then he paused on the very last name.

Katie reached over, squeezed Christy's arm, and whispered, "Get ready! This is it!"

"And our final cheerleader is...Teri Moreno!"

Christy felt like the whole world was looking at her, gasping its surprise.

"Teri!" Katie snapped.

Teri turned around, stunned.

"But Christy..." she stammered.

"Go on, Teri! They called your name."

"But why?" Teri slowly rose from her chair, searching Christy's face for the answer.