Before she could decide which one to "suds," Doug slid his hand under hers and pushed the whole mound into her face. Some of it went up her nose.

Christy let out a squeal and wiped the suds from her eyes in time to see Doug and Todd giving each other a snap of their towels over her head. Just as their towels came down, so did Mr. Gizmoa"right on the top of Christy's head.

They all started laughing, and Todd grabbed the toy out of her hair.

Just then someone knocked on the door. As Christy blew bubbles out of her nose, seven college students entered the apartment and greeted everyone. Christy reached for the towel in Doug's hand and finished mopping up, feeling embarra.s.sed.

"You okay?" Doug asked, pulling her over to the corner of the kitchen.

"I think so," Christy said, looking up at him. "Did I get it all?"

"Here." Doug took the towel and gently wiped under the corner of her right eye. He then smoothed down the top of her hair where Mr. Gizmo had landed.

"Good as new," he announced. Taking her by the hand, he said, "Don't be shy. Come meet the rest of the G.o.d-Lovers."

Christy smiled and greeted the three girls and four guys who had just arrived. She tried to think of a way to remember all their names.

There was another knock on the door, and two more girls entered. One of them was really outgoing as well as gorgeous. She went right to Rick and asked about his bandaged wrist. She soon made up for the lack of sympathy Rick had received from the rest of them.

Everyone found a seat on the floor or by pulling over one of the kitchen chairs. No one said it was time to start. They all sort of fell into place as if this was a familiar habit for all of them. Christy noticed that Todd had disappeared, and she wasn't sure where to sit. Katie was right next to Rick on the couch with the blonde on his other side and her friend next to her. Doug seemed to be in charge. Stephanie was on the floor talking with one of the guys.

Christy slipped into an open spot by the wall near the front. A lifetime of familiar "left out" feelings joined her in the corner and kept her company. As long as she was wrapped up in those feelings, she couldn't make the effort to start chatting with anyone. She was the visitor. They should greet her. No one did.

Todd came back in with his guitar and Doug's. The two of them sat on chairs in front of the TV and took a few minutes to tune their instruments.

Three more girls showed up, and one of them wedged in next to Christy.

"Hi, I'm Beth," she said.

"I'm Christy."

"Nice to meet you. Are you visiting?"

"Yes," was all Christy could explain before Doug spoke up.

"I'm glad you guys are all here tonight," he said. "As you. know, most of the G.o.d-Lovers have taken off for the summer. This is our last time together until next fall. I thought it would be good if we spent some time thanking G.o.d for the awesome stuff He's done in our lives this past year."

Todd started to play his guitar, and Doug joined him in strumming Rich Mullins's song "Our G.o.d Is an Awesome G.o.d." Somehow Christy knew that would be Doug's favorite song since awesome was his favorite word.

She knew the song and sang along with the others, feeling a little amazed that so many college students were sitting there, openly singing their hearts out to G.o.d. One guy toward the front had his eyes closed and both arms slightly lifted in a gesture of praise to G.o.d.

Christy couldn't explain it, but somehow after that first song and then listening to Todd open in prayer, she felt all her defenses dissolve. The people in this room were Christians. All of them seemed to be there to worship G.o.d. These college students were some of her brothers and sisters in Christ. Even if she never saw them again, she would spend eternity with them in heaven. She felt included in G.o.d's family.

Doug started to strum the next song, which Christy didn't know. Instead of feeling left out, she quietly closed her eyes and bowed her head to listen while everyone else sang.

Eyes have not seen. Ears have not heard.

Neither has it entered into the heart of man The things G.o.d has planned For those who love Him.

For two hours they sang and prayed and talked about what was going on in their lives. Then Doug read some Bible verses and talked about waiting on G.o.d and trusting Him for the future. Everyone seemed to get into what he had to say, especially since most of them were taking off in different directions the next week. Not many of them knew what the future held.

After Todd closed in prayer, everyone started to visit with each other. Christy, feeling warmed by the sweet spirit of the group, walked around and met everyone she hadn't been introduced to before. She had never been this outgoing, and to her surprise, it wasn't that hard.

"Do you want to come out to coffee with us?" Beth asked. "A bunch of us are going. Your friend Katie said she would come, and I'm sure Stephanie is coming."

All Christy's warm feelings disappeared. One of her agreements with her parents for this trip was that she wouldn't go out after dark. It seemed like such a silly rule now. If her parents had been there, they would have seen how responsible all these people were.

Still, if she went without asking, she would be breaking her agreement. Maybe she could call and explain the situation, and they would understand and give her permission to go.

Christy glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall: 9:45-She knew her parents were probably in bed. Her dad worked at a dairy and had to be up early every morning. He usually went to bed before she did. It would not be good to call and wake him to ask a favor like this. Still, if she didn't aska "Come on, Christy. We're going to the Blue Parachute," Katie said enthusiastically. "Grab your purse and let's go."

Todd was talking to some people in the kitchen. It would help if she knew whether or not he was going.

"Ready?" Doug asked, coming alongside her. "We're all going. You want to ride with Todd or me?"

"IaI'm not sure," Christy said. She hated having to make decisions like this. Especially when she knew that either way she would come up the loser. Which was the worse to lose? Her friends' approval or her parents' trust?

Christy regretted her impulsive words the minute she said them.

My parents will never know. I won't tell them. We're only going to a restaurant. What could happen? They would understand if they met these guys.

"I have room," Todd called out to Doug and Christy, "if you both want to ride with me. Stephanie is going with me."

Christy numbly followed the rest of the group down to the parking lot and watched Katie laugh and joke with Rick on their way to his cla.s.sic red Mustang. She was one of three girls riding with Rick.

Todd opened the side door of his old Volkswagen bus called Gus. Glancing at Christy, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Sure," she answered quickly, certain her guilt showed all over her face. She never had been good at sneaking around. She was especially bad at lying.

Doug moved in for a closer look into Christy's eyes. "No, you're not," he said. "Something's wrong. What is it, Christy?"

"It's just that I had an agreement with my parents that I wouldn't go out after dark once Katie and I got here. I know if they were here, it would be different. They would let me go.

"But they're not here," Todd said, sliding shut the van's door.

"We'll stay too," Doug said.

"I have stuff to make banana splits," Stephanie said. "Not enough for the whole group, but it should be enough for the four of us."

"You guys don't have to stay," Christy said. "I'll stay, and you guys go."

"Why would we?" Todd asked.

"Don't worry about it, Christy," Stephanie said. "These guys don't care where they go as long as food is involved. It'll give us a chance to talk, and that will be nice."

Todd flagged down Rick, who was about to peel out of the parking lot. He jogged over to Rick's window and, bending down, explained the situation to Rick. Christy could feel Rick's gaze as he looked past Todd at her.

She was sure he was remembering all the rules her parents had laid down for her when they were dating.

That's right, everyone gawk at me, she thought. Here I am: Christy Miller, the biggest baby in the world!

Katie's lighthearted laughter rippled into the air. Todd patted the side of the car three times, the way a cowboy pats his horse's side. With a squeal of tires, Rick peeled out, hurrying to catch up with the other cars that had already left.

As the four of them headed back for Stephanie's apartment, Christy felt an overwhelming urge to keep apologizing. "I'm really sorry, you guys. Thanks for doing this for me."

Doug slipped his arm around Christy, "What kind of G.o.d-Lovers would we be if we didn't support you when you have an opportunity to honor your parents?"

"I still feel bad for holding you guys back. Really, if you want to go, that's fine. I could stay here by myself."

"Christy," Todd said, "shake it off." He shook both his hands in front of her for emphasis. "You're the only one making a big deal of this."

She might have felt reprimanded or embarra.s.sed by such a comment from someone else. Not from Todd. She could take it from him, and when she did, something inside her calmed down.

Stephanie welcomed them all back into her kitchen, where they set to work creating masterpiece banana splits, topped off with a whipped cream fight.

Stephanie started to talk about how she was going back to San Francisco next week to spend the summer working at her father's computer store.

"Her parents came over from China," Doug explained to Christy. "It's an awesome story. Her dad was handed a Chinese Bible by some guy who smuggled it into the country. It was the first time he had ever heard of the Bible. He read it and gave his heart to the Lord and then found some other Christians who were meeting in an underground church. That's where he met Stephanie's mom."

Stephanie jumped in. "Actually, they had met at the university, but neither of them knew the other was a believer."

"That's amazing," Christy said, licking the chocolate sauce off the back of her spoon. "How did they end up in San Francisco?"

Stephanie launched into the story of all the hardships her parents endured trying to get out of China. "They were extra motivated when my mom was pregnant with me. They had to leave before the pregnancy became obvious."

Todd leaned over and explained to Christy, "Mandatory abortion. It's China's way of population control. They already had one kid, and that's the allotment per family."

Christy's eyes grew wide. "You mean you would have been aborted if your parents had stayed there?"

Stephanie nodded.

Christy had heard vague stories before of how hard life was in other countries, but she had never met anyone who had "escaped" and come to America.

"So obviously your parents made it out of the country," Christy said.

"I was born four months after they arrived at my uncle's in San Francisco, so all I know are the dramatic stories. The hard part now is that here we are in a country where we're free to worship G.o.d, and one of my younger brothers wants nothing to do with Christianity. I think that's been harder on my parents than anything else they've been through."

Christy thought about Stephanie's words later that night as she lay on the floor in her sleeping bag. Katie and the others hadn't returned yet, and Christy couldn't sleep. She felt like she had grown up more that night than she had during her entire junior year of high school. The conversation with Stephanie had sobered her and caused her to realize how easy it was for her to be a Christian. She had never been challenged to do anything dangerous because of her faith.

Another part of the grown-up feeling came from being on her own, around college students. It made her feel independent, even though she hadn't been free to go out with everyone. Still, she was away from home, making new friends, and making good decisions. This was one night when growing up seemed like an honorable, wonderful experience.

Just then the front door to Stephanie's apartment opened. Through the half-open bedroom door, Christy could see Katie's silhouette standing there, whispering to Rick.

As Christy watched, Rick braced his good arm against the door frame and bent his head to be eye-level with Katie. Christy knew the move well. He had a.s.sumed the same stance with her more than once, right before he had kissed her. His hovering position had the effect of making the girl feel sheltered and yet vulnerable at the same time. She wasn't sure she could watch what would happen next.

But she did.

Rick kissed Katie. Instead of just receiving it, Katie looped her arms around Rick's neck and kissed him back. He pulled away slightly, and Katie removed her arms. Christy could hear m.u.f.fled whispers, and then she saw Rick back up and wave good-bye.

"See you in the morning," Katie said softly.

She closed the door, and Christy could hear her humming.

Oh, Katie, I don't want Rick to break your heart!

Christy pretended to be asleep when Katie stepped into the room. She was sure it was well after midnight, and this would not be the time to have a heart-to-heart talk with her best friend.

I'll wait to see how things go between them tomorrow at the zoo. I haven't said one discouraging word to her about him jet But if he treats her badly tomorrow, that's it. I'll do everything I can to break them up!

The next day, it took Christy more than an hour of walking around the zoo before she began to relax and quit working so hard at being super-sleuth.

Relaxing was difficult for several reasons. Rick appeared to be ignoring Katie or, at best, treating her like she was an annoying little kid. Katie didn't seem to notice. She came off as exceptionally loud and flirty. Twice Christy noticed Katie linking her arm with Rick's, but he didn't allow the connection to remain for long.

Plus Christy felt strained because there were five of them. Stephanie had to work, so Christy, Katie, Rick, Doug, and Todd went on the zoo adventure. A group of five was a lot harder to maneuver than four or even six.

By the flamingo lagoon at the main entrance, the group decided to ride the tram. Katie slid in next to Rick, Christy sat across from them, and Doug scooted in next to her. With no room for Todd, he had to sit on another seat next to some tourists who spoke only j.a.panese.

They disembarked and headed for the giraffe exhibit, the five of them mixed in with all the other tourists. It didn't feel like they were their own group at all.

Katie reached the exhibit first, "Look at the baby giraffe! Isn't he cute?"

Doug stepped next to Christy, slipped his arm around her, and pointed to the grove of tall eucalyptus trees. "Look at that one giraffe twisting his neck around the tree. Doesn't he look like he's trying to play hide-and-seek but the tree isn't quite thick enough?"

Christy laughed with Doug, but at the same time she was aware that Todd was walking off to the side by himself. Katie had again grasped Rick's arm and was stretching her neck, trying to entertain Rick with her giraffe impression.

Rick didn't look impressed.

Christy felt uneasy, as though it were up to her to make sure everyone was getting along and having a good time.

Stop it, she finally scolded herself in front of the koala exhibit as she watched a baby koala clinging to its mother. You're not everyone's mother here, Christy. Relax and enjoy the day.

"I want to see the elephants," Todd said. "Anybody have an idea which way we go?"

Doug pulled a folded zoo map from his back pocket and began to give directions. Rick pulled away from Katie and joined Doug, bending over the map.

"Do they still have the sea lion show?" Rick asked. "That was my favorite when I was a kid."

The three guys huddled around the map, and Christy cautiously sidled up next to Katie. "I didn't get to ask you how everything went last night," she said in her best light-hearted voice. "Did you and Rick have a good time?"

Katie looked cross, but she answered calmly, 'Yeah, it was great. We all had a good time."

Christy decided to venture a more direct statement. "You and Rick seem to be getting along okay."

Katie grabbed Christy by the arm and jerked her several yards away from the guys. She had tears in her eyes. "He doesn't like me, does he? Last night I thought something might be starting up between us, but all morning he's been pulling away from me and looking at me like I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot, Katie."

"I feel like one. Why did I ever want to start up a relationship with him? Why is it so important for me to get him to like me?" Now she was crying.