before the pain | luke (JATP)

XLVIII

The chalk made a horrible sound as Mr. Abello wrote the sentence of that day's lesson on the board. The room was awfully quiet, more than usual as Mr. Abello turned around with a smile on his face.

"So class, last time we talked about homosexuality in religion" The old man placed himself on the desk as he looked at the classroom with a warm smile. "Someone who has read the homework, meaning not you Miss Lagon, who is clearly too focused on your makeup than the words of God" Lillian Lagon hurried putting away the makeup as she bit her lip with an awkward smile.

"Mr. Abello, I did actually do the homework" She tried, however, Mr. Abello just smiled as he looked at Mila. "Well that's good, Miss Garcia, will you explain what the homework stated?" Mila looked up from her notebook surprised to be picked.

"Well uhm... it stated that it can be a wrong translation, that God would love his kids no matter their sexuality" Mila stated, as Mr. Abello nodded. "Yes, and this is important why?" Mila shrugged not knowing the answer, which no one in the class seemed to do either.

"Because this is where we see God's words is important, but what is written in the bible is not, don't get me wrong, the bible does say amazing and beautiful things, but it was written by a human, meaning it is not God words at all"

Mila thought of Alex, Luke, Aera, Caroline, and Daliah, people in her life who were beautifully created by God and still loved their own genders. Mr. Abello talked for the rest of the class and right before the class was about to end he wrote down a date, being a couple of days after Christmas break.

"Now, we are done with this religion, so I want you guys to do an assignment, I want you to write around 1000 words about what God means to you, which you will hand in on the 12th of January"

Mila walked out of religion class as she sighed: 'what does God mean to me?'¨she thought to herself, however, this train of thoughts was interrupted by the banging of drumsticks against a locker, as she looked down the hallway, seeing her friends singing and making music, which annoyed everyone in the hallway beside her.

As she walked closer she giggled by Luke's singing now or never, she clapped as she stood beside them. "Wow, you guys are really ready for the Orpheum huh?" She asked as she crossed her arms with a smile on her face.

The boys nodded excited to see her, Luke putting an arm around her waist. "We will when you see us rock that stage" He kissed her cheek, which caused her already big butterflies to only grow. Alex laughed. "We're gonna sound tight"

"Who says tight?" Bobby asked as he laughed. "We do" Reggie answered as he high-fived Alex" Mila shook her head as she laughed. "But first we have the dance, your performance, and Christmas... plus we have that history test on Friday" Mila sighed as she looked at Alex, he bit his lip nodding. "I know... I haven't read any homework since I moved into the garage... I feel completely lost" He answered truthfully.

Bobby thought for a second before coming up with a good idea. "How about we all instead of practicing today, we could study?" Luke didn't seem happy about the idea but nodded. "Okay... whose house are we at?" Reggie asked as he looked at his four friends, who eventually looked at Mila.

"... Why can't we be at somebody else's place than mine? " Mila asked as she crossed her arms. "Because your mom makes the best cookies" Bobby winked before the bell rang and everyone began heading to class. Leaving Luke and Mila still placed by Reggie's locker.

"I can ask my mom if we can stay at my place" Luke suggested, but Mila shook her head. "No, it's okay... I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind it" Luke scrunched his nose. "You sure?" She nodded slowly and leaned up kissing his lips, causing him to smile.