Alice glared at Tyler and finally said, "Bullshit."

He groaned and threw his cards down. "Dammit! I'm finished, I'm not playing this game anymore! Alice wins every single time."

Everyone began to laugh as he stood and wiped the grass from his pants.

"Tyler, it's a cardgame," Leah stated. "You shouldn't get so hyped up."

As tyler continued to yell, I only laughed and watched everything play out. Ever since Ben had brought his playing cards a couple days earlier, every day at lunch a new game would be played. Today it was B.S., and Alice was winning every time.

Actually, she won all the other games also.

"It's not my fault you suck at cards," Alice muttered as she put her hand down. Tyler gaped at her and she smirked.

"Hey." Everyone turned toward Josh. "Someone's coming."

The doors immediately opened and Emmett, Jasper and Edward came barreling through them.

I stared at Josh and wondered how the heck he knew, but once he said it he put his head back down and closed his eyes.

Jeez...

"Bella!" Emmett yelled. Everyone stared at me and Tyler smirked. "Yeesh Bella, didn't know you were tight with the bad boys."

As I walked forward I shoved Tyler and made him stumble back. I heard Leah laugh and call him a dumbass.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked. He engulfed me in a hug and spun me around. I held tight around his neck until he put me down and I stumbled.

"You need to stop doing that," I said.

"Nope."

"Right. So what do you want?" I looked at Edward, who was pointedly ignoring everyone and looking to his left, dazing out. Jasper smiled at me and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

I looked behind me at Alice who was actually not talking. Her face was down and she was staring intently at her cards, as if they would do something drastic.

"We came to ask if you were doing anything on Saturday. All of us wanna hang out near the church while the old geezers go in and pray." He laughed.

"Actually Emmett," I said, "I'm going to church on Saturday."

Everything went still and I looked around, seeing that everyone was now looking at me, including Edward.

"What?"

"You go to church?" Leah said increduously. "But...but why!?"

"Yea, it's so...boring," Tyler cringed.

"I have to agree with blondee," Emmett said. He put his hands on my shoulders and shook me. "Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine Emmett," I said, pushing him away. I was actually offended. "Where I used to live, I would always go to church. I want to see what's up with this one."

"So you're a church girl?" Jasper asked.

I shrugged. "It calms me."

"Really?"

I looked at Edward. His arms were crossed and he was looking up at me from his bangs.

"Yes. Really."

He harrumphed and looked away. I rolled my eyes and looked at Emmett.

"I'm sorry I can't," I said. "But we'll hang out some other time."

Emmett pouted but nodded, and all three delinquents walked away.

I turned around and looked at Alice.

"You know Alice," I said. "If you want to be noticed, you should probably do something instead of just sitting there."

She looked up at me, confused, but I just shrugged and looked away.

"Hey!" Angela yelled. "I found a joker!" She giggled and threw it in the pile of cards. "Should we somehow make it part of the game?"

"Hell yea!" Tyler yelled. He jumped next to Alice and fell onto the pile.

As everyone yelled and threw cards at him, I took my spot next to Josh and watched everyone fool around.

On Saturday I tried my best to wear nice jeans and find a clean, white shirt. Instead I found a light blue one and a navy blue skirt.

It will do...

I walked up the steps, watching other elderly people making their way through the double front doors. I walked inside and my mouth slightly dropped.

There was practically no one here. Only elders, and they were scattered among the pews. At most there were twenty to thirty people but...definately not as much as I expected.

I sighed and walked through the very last pew, where no one was sitting. I was the farthest from the altar, just as I wanted.

A bell suddenly rang and everyone went silent, besides someone coughing. Zues entered the room from a hidden side door and stood behind a table.

As he began his service, I looked around. All the elders were staring up at him, their eyes shining, hanging onto his every word, or at least the words they could hear. Some looked barely able to stnad, much less walk to church. My heart softened as I looked at one woman, following what Zues was saying line by line, knowing it by heart as she held onto a cross in her hand. I looked down at my folded hands and sighed.

As mass went on Zues announced a page number and a song title. I took a book that was on the pew and opened to the correct page.

A woman shakily and slowly walked up the steps to the microphone. She opened to the correct page, hummed, then began to sing.

No backround music, no piano, only her shaky voice echoing throughout the church. Her voice droned on a melody I could never catch, but I sang along under my breath anyways.

As she finished she left the microphone and sat back down.

Zues thanked her and continued the service.

As it went on and on, I realized that Sam was right. This is quite boring.

But I sat through it anyway and closed my eyes, listening to Zues's voice and letting it sink in.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

As everyone left the church I walked up to Zues. "That was good," I said as I gave him a hug. He sighed deeply and held onto me for a moment before letting go. He smiled at me meekly before nodding. "I guess."

"I've never heard that song before," I said. He nodded.

"Someone gave the song to the church to use. That was when everyone still went to church, though. Every Saturday we sing it." He shrugged. "It's a tradition."

I nodded and looked down at the book I still held in my hands.

"Can you teach it to me?"

Zues stopped what he was doing and blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Can you teach it ot me," I repeated. "So that on a Saturday I can sing it."

"Next Saturday?"

I smiled. "Maybe not that soon, but...soon."

He gaped at me until his mouth turned into a full on smile that forced his face to glow. "That would be wonderful!" He reached forward and pulled me into a hug. "Thank you!"

His hug took me by surprise and I slowly hugged him back. "Ok," was all I said.

"Come over tomorrow," he said. "Can you? I'll look for the tune and try practicing it tonight."

I laughed at his excitedness and nodded. "Sure."

He smiled again and I couldn't help but smile back.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I hadn't seen Grandpa since the first time we met, which was more than a couple days ago. So imagine my surprise that as I was walking home from church, he was watering the dead grass in the front yard.

"Grandpa," I said loudly. He jumped slightly and turned around smiling.

"Why Bella," he said just as loudly. "Lovely to see you this fine Saturday. Where are you coming from?"

"Church," I replied, finding his optimistic mood slightly odd.

This man was supposed to be harsh, right?

He nodded and stared me up and down. "I like your outfit," he said. "Did you know there's a mall near here?" He looked up. "Well...sort of near." He dropped the hose from his hand and began to walk shakily toward the knob. I realized he wasn't holding his cane.

"I'll get it," I said, running past him and turning the water off. He laughed.

"Young legs," he mused. "Seems so long ago." He shook his head. "You know, the first time I met your grandmother, we were both running."

I looked up at him and he was smiling at me. "Grandma?"

"Yes," he nodded and sighed. He looked down. "She was beautiful." He closed his eyes.

I frowned and looked around for his cane. It was leaning against the fence. I walked quickly to it, grabbed it, then walked to him and tapped his shoulder.

He looked up at me and I smiled. "Here," and I put the cane into his hands. "Can you tell me more?"

We both sat on the steps as he told me the story of when they first met.

"I was a runner when I was young," he began. "You see the forest near our house? Of course you do, it's hard to miss. You can even see it from your window. I used to go jogging in that same forest. I invented my own trail and followed it every other day, runnning the same invisible trail each time. Every time it would lead to a cliff that..." he shook his head. "Anyway, one day I was jogging and I suddenly see a girl, my age, sprinting past the trees near mine. Her hair was down and she was wearing a yellow sundress with heels.

"I remember thinking how idiotic she must be running in heels, but then I really looked at her and saw how beautiul she was. I began to ran faster, completely ignoring my own trail and following hers. Her dark hair, which I found was a very dark brown, flew past her in beautiful waves..." He laughed suddenly and looked at me. "I loved her legs," he said, and winked. I laughed and he looked ahead again, smiling.

"After a minute or two of following her, she finally noticed me. She looked surprised at first, then gave me a look as if asking what in the world I was doing! But then...then she smiled. And from then on, she had me hooked." He sighed deeply. "I never left her alone after that. She let me keep running with her, then after we would always keep seeing each other. I took every chance I could to be with her, and one day, she began to do the same until finally we were always together." He looked dreamily at the sky and I couldn't help staring at his face as he told the story.

"She was a free spirit, she was. Always going where she felt she had to be." He frowned and squinted at the sky. "Always."

There was a silence until I asked, "Why was she running in the forest?"

He stopped squinting and looked at me.

"She said, 'I just had to run through the forest. That's it.'"

He smiled as I laughed.

OMG LOOK I UPDATED!!!!! HOW WEIRD IS THAT!??!?!?!?!?!

i know, its very odd, and i apologize XD BLERG!

please review ill love it and cherish it and keep it in a folder in my email :)))))))))))))))))))))))
KEEP EATING COOOKIES JUST CUZ THEYRE SO FREAKING GOOD!!!!!!!
and when you fly, dont jump off ur rook. cuz thats just stupid.
INSTEAD, jump off your friends roof so they can watch you :D

luv ya alls!!!! -Micsel