"What do you mean?" Christy was more concerned about how she could get off restriction and how she was going to find a job. Rick seemed like the least of her worries. In two weeks, they could pick up where they had left off, and Christy had already imagined that they'd only appreciate each other more for the separation.

"Are you going to break up with him?" Alissa asked.

"Why would I want to break up with him?"

"Why are you going out with him?"

"Well, because we've been friends for a long time, and now that I can date, this is the next step in our relationship. Besides, this is what I've always wanted-a boyfriend. And Rick is a great guy. He really cares about me. I'd be crazy to break it off and give up all that for nothing."

"Christy," Alissa said gently, "I know exactly what you're saying about how good it feels to have a boyfriend and to be adored and desired and everything. But listen to me. It's not going to fill your heart."

"I'm not trying to fill my heart. I'm having a normal teenage dating relationship with a really great guy. That's all."

"Okay." Alissa readjusted her posture. "Then can I ask you to promise me something?"

"What?" Christy thought Alissa looked almost comical. She was so intense as she reached over and grasped Christy's right hand.

"Promise me you won't do any more than kissing-and I mean light kissing-with Rick or any other guy you go out with. Promise me that."

"Alissa, that's not even an issue. I don't plan to ever get really physical with any guy until I'm married."

"And last Friday afternoon you didn't plan on going steady with Rick, did you?"

"Well, no," Christy said.

"But you let Rick talk you into something you weren't ready for, and it sounds as though you felt pressured to say yes."

"Maybe a little pressure, but Alissa, going steady isn't the same as getting physically involved."

"It's the first step. And if you said yes to going steady when it was completely Rick's idea, you could give in to Rick's ideas on how far you guys go physically. You have to draw a line, Christy.

"I have good reason to feel so strongly about all this, and you know it," Alissa said. "My biggest concern for you is that you're looking for a guy to fill your heart-first Todd and now Rick. A guy will never be able to meet all your needs. You have to want G.o.d with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. As long as there's somebody else there to fill your heart or mind, you won't really fall in love with Jesus the way you would if He was all you wanted."

Now Christy felt angry. Why are you, of all people, lecturing me like this? Wasn't I the one who led you to the Lord only a month ago? How come you're instantly so spiritually mature?

Instead of voicing her feelings, Christy forced a smile. "I can see you've sure been doing some soul-searching this past month."

"Actually, I've been reading. I finished the New Testament, and I'm starting on the Old Testament."

"You read the whole New Testament?"

"Sure, haven't you?"

"Yeah, well, I mean, parts of it. And parts of the Old Testament too."

When Alissa left two hours later, Christy hugged her and said, "Thanks for all the advice."

She meant it. Even though Alissa's directness was hard to take, Christy knew she spoke from her heart. But as Christy tried to make sense of the whole jumbled weekend, all she got for her efforts was a headache. When she slipped into bed that night, she hoped for a calm week to work through all her thoughts and feelings. Of course it would be calm, she reminded herself. She was on restriction.

"Here it is Christy!" Katie said, waving a newspaper in her hand. Her red hair swung back and forth as she marched over to the school lunch table where Christy had just settled herself.

Katie plopped down across from Christy and thrust the newspaper under her nose. "I hoped I'd find you here in our old spot. How's your first day back treating you?"

"All right. What's with the paper?"

"I found a job for you. You said at church that your parents were making you find a job, and here's the perfect one. At the mall even."

Christy silently read the ad Katie had circled. Looking up, she said, "At the pet store?"

"Yes! Don't you see? It says, 'Experience with animals.' You did grow up on the kind of farm that had animals, didn't you?"

"Most Wisconsin dairy farms come equipped with animals, yes," Christy answered.

"See? You're a natural! Call them after school. I bet they'll hire you over the phone." Katie opened her sack lunch, examined its contents, and said, "Did you get anything more exciting than peanut b.u.t.ter and jelly?"

"You can have my apple," Christy offered.

"No thanks. I don't touch food unless it's from one of my four basic food groups-sugars, fats, preservatives, and artificial flavorings."

Christy laughed and realized she hadn't smiled in several days. She hadn't heard from Rick since Sunday's standoff with her dad at the screen door. Being so far away from him made everything gloomy.

After running the pet shop idea past her mom, Christy called the number. The manager sounded young and in a hurry. He asked her to come in to fill out an application and then asked if she had reliable transportation and could work Friday nights. She said yes to both questions.

"Would it be possible for you to start this Friday?"

Remembering the restriction, she said, "I think so. I'll have to check and call you back."

"If you could come in around seven tonight, you could fill out the application and give me your answer then."

"Okay. Thanks." Christy hung up, and turning to Mom said, "I think they might hire me. I'm supposed to go there tonight at seven o'clock. Is that okay?"

"I suppose. We'll ask your father when he comes home. He's still quite serious about your restriction."

"I know, but he was serious about a job too. If I don't go in, they might hire somebody else."

Without much discussion, Christy's dad agreed to take her to the mall.

Before they walked into the pet store, he said, "Remember to stand up straight, speak clearly, and pretend I'm not here."

The first two instructions she could follow easily enough, but pretending Dad wasn't there would be impossible.

This is so embarra.s.sing, she thought as she stepped up to the counter. Suppose they find out he's with me? They might not hire me.

"May I help you?" asked a guy behind the counter. He looked as though he was in his late twenties and had a rugged, earthy appearance. He wore his thick black hair pulled back in a ponytail, which Christy was used to seeing on guys in California. But she was surprised that his pony-tail was fastened with the type of plain green twist-tie usually found around celery stalks in the grocery store.

"I called this afternoon about the job, and Jon told me to come in and fill out an application."

"Oh, good. I'm Jon, and you're Christy, right?" He seemed surprised at her appearance. She knew it must be the dress. Mom insisted she wear a dress to make a favorable impression. Standing beside the mynah birds, Christy felt like someone applying for a job to serve tea, not sell kitty litter.

"You can come in the back and fill out the paperwork. Do you know your social security number?" Jon led her past the tropical fish tanks to a card table in the back room.

"No, I don't think so."

"That's all right, as long as you bring it with you on your first day." He left her alone at the table with a one-page questionnaire and a pen.

Christy nervously answered the questions, remembering how Mom told her to use her best printing. Aside from her name, address, age, and phone number, she couldn't fill out much, since the other blanks related to previous job experience. The paper looked awfully empty. Christy decided to write in babysitting and left it at that.

As soon as she emerged from the back room, she saw her dad, pretending to look at the tropical fish. Hoping he wouldn't act as if he knew her, Christy walked straight to the front counter, bravely handing Jon her application.

"Babysitting, huh?" Jon scanned the paper. "And you said you lived on a farm?"

"Yes. In Wisconsin. For fourteen years."

"And you're sixteen now, I see." He then put the application down on the counter and rang up a customer's purchase on the cash register.

Christy smiled politely at the older couple, who were buying a blue jewel-studded cat collar. The couple smiled back, accepted their bag from Jon, and left.

"So, you haven't had any experience on a cash register."

Still smiling, Christy shook her head.

"Doesn't really matter. You have to know how to read and push a few b.u.t.tons. That's all. Computer does all the thinking." Jon turned the application over and wrote on the back as he verified, "You can work Fridays from four to nine, right? How about Sat.u.r.days, eleven to six?"

"Sure, that would be fine," Christy said.

"Great! I'll see you Friday at four o'clock. Oh, and you might be more comfortable wearing jeans to work. We don't tend to dress up much around here. The last girl who wore a flowered dress found the bunny rabbits nibbling on it. They thought she was a walking garden."

Christy smiled, said, "Okay, thanks," and left quickly to hide her embarra.s.sment over her dress. Dad followed her out and acted proud of her. His affirmations helped make up for the insecurities she suddenly felt when she realized she had just been hired for her first job.

"What did I tell you?" Katie said the next day at school. "I knew the job was perfect for you. They don't get too many people with animal experience around here who are willing to work weekends for minimum wage."

"Oh, good! That makes me feel as if I'm the only one dumb enough to take this job," Christy said.

"I'm only kidding! You'll do great. It'll probably be a really fun job. I'll come see you, and you can sell me a dog bone or something. So when do you get off work?"

"At nine o'clock. Then I have to head straight home because of restriction," Christy said.

"Well," Katie sighed, "I hope you and Rick learn a lesson from all this. Now I guess we'll have to postpone our annual slumber party for two more weeks until your restriction is over."

"Where's it going to be?" Christy remembered the back-to-school slumber party of last year. That night the girls had toilet-papered Rick's house. Since she had been the new girl at school, she didn't have a clue who Rick was. That's how she first met him.

All the girls had left her hiding in the bushes, and when Rick came out to clean up the paper, Christy jumped out of the bushes and charged down the street with Rick running after her. The girls had returned in a motor home to pick her up, and Christy hopped into the vehicle before Rick had a chance to catch her.

"h.e.l.lo." Katie waved her hand in front of Christy's eyes. "Where did you just go?"

"Oh, I was remembering the slumber party last year. That was a wild night!"

"It sure was." Katie joined in the memory.

"Remember how Rick kept asking you who I was?" Christy said.

"I remember. He's been chasing you for a whole year. He must be pretty pleased with himself for finally catching you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Christy asked.

"Well, if you want my opinion, Rick is the ultimate compet.i.tor. Remember the awards a.s.sembly when he graduated? He won an award in almost every athletic category."

"So? He likes sports," Christy said.

"He likes a challenge. And you have been the ultimate challenge. You're about the only thing he didn't win while he was going to Kelley High."

"Oh, come on, Katie. You're exaggerating. Rick is a great guy, and I feel honored that he wants me to be his girlfriend."

Katie shook her head, and a smirk crossed her face.

"What?" Christy asked. "What are you thinking?"

The bell rang, its annoying blare ending lunch and their discussion.

Katie hopped up from the table. "You've changed, Christy. Six months ago you never would have said those words. But hey, we all change. It's okay. I'll see you after school-at your new job."

Katie hurried off in the direction of the gym, leaving Christy to ponder their conversation as she walked to cla.s.s.

We all change. We do. So what if I changed my opinion about Rick? I'm not doing anything wrong. Why can't a girl have a little fun without all her friends and relatives trying to make her feel bad? They're not giving me a chance, and they're really not giving Rick a chance.

Katie kept her word and showed up at the pet store a few minutes after Christy started work. Christy was standing at the register, and Jon was explaining how to run it. Christy didn't want to get in trouble her first day for having friends come in and distract her, so she acted as though she didn't see Katie come in.

"Pardon me," Katie said, acting out the part of a nonchalant customer. "Where do you keep your dog bones?"

Christy tightly pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

"Second aisle, toward the back," Jon answered routinely and then finished drilling Christy on the register functions.

She remembered almost everything Jon showed her and answered five of his six questions correctly.

Katie approached the counter with two dog bones in her hands. "Excuse me. We have a poodle, and I was wondering if you could tell me which one of these he would like best."

It took a tremendous amount of self-control for Christy not to blow the role-playing. Katie seemed to have no problem keeping a straight face.

"Which one would you recommend, Christy?" Jon asked, turning the scenario over to her.

She cleared her throat twice before answering, "Probably the larger one."

"Fine," Katie said brightly. "Then I'll take the smaller one." She pulled a five-dollar bill out of her pocket and handed it to Christy.

Christy looked to Jon, and he said, "Go ahead. Remember which b.u.t.ton you press first?"

Christy remembered. She tried to ignore Katie and think through each step on the cash register. It worked. The drawer opened when it was supposed to, and the screen displayed the correct amount of change due, which she handed to Katie without looking her in the eye.