Page 13 of Love and Other Chances

“Oh, Lana! I forgot to mention this—you’d be proud to know that Sofia is following in your footsteps,” I say. “She told me at Bible studythis week that she’s volunteering at The Hangout like you did with her. We’re switching our group to Monday nights so that she can be at The Hangout on Tuesdays!”

Lana grins. “I love that girl so much! Please give her an extra squeezy hug from me next time you see her!”

I scout’s honor promise, and then Lana has to sign off to study for a big test. Her window closes from the video call, but Amaya stops me from hanging up. “I know you’re enjoying making friends at your church small group, but it doesn’t sound like you’ve cut back on your work schedule at all.”

Winding a strand of hair around my finger, I shrug and avoid eye contact.

“Teeg . . .”

“I don’t know what to cut back on, though!” I exclaim. “I can’t exactly cut out the Thursday nights or staff meetings. And the four Bible study groups I’m leading are already set in stone for the semester. If I’m going to get one-on-one mentoring time with girls, it has to be during the weekdays. And I won’t have close relationships with any of the girls if I don’t spend social time hanging out with them in the sororities or wherever. What do you expect me to do?”

“At least start taking your weekends off!” Amaya chides. “You’ve temporarily avoided the flaming burnout you were headed toward at the start of the semester. But you still need to find more ways to fill up your cup if you’re going to keep pouring out so much.”

“Right, like you take all your weekends off,” I retort with an exaggerated glare.

“Ilikeworking,” Amaya huffs.

“Well, maybe I like working too,” I scoff.

“I wasn’t the one hiding in the kitchen a few weeks ago,” Amaya replies, eyebrow raised.

“Touché,” I concede. “I promise I’ll take time to myself on the weekends. I’ll try to find a hobby that I get excited about that doesn’t involve Arrow students.”

Amaya gives a nod of approval. “Speaking of weekends to yourself, I wanted to tell you about an event going on here in KC next weekendthat I think you’d enjoy,” she says. “There’s going to be a silent disco in the Power and Light District downtown.”

“You have my full attention,” I say, sitting up straighter.

Amaya laughs. “I knew you’d be intrigued. I thought of you as soon as I saw the info. It’s Saturday night—I’m going to be in Wichita for my mom’s birthday, but maybe you could convince some of your new church friends to come with you. It sounds exactly up your alley.”

“It sounds like an alley that I would create. In fact, maybe I should look into planning a similar event for an Arrow social sometime!” I say.

“Don’t turn this into a work thing,” Amaya chides with an eye roll. “Just come and havefun, Teeg.”

“You’re right. Not that you ever need to be told that you’re right.” Amaya raises a smug eyebrow. “Text me the info for Saturday!”

As soon as we hang up, Amaya sends me the event page, which I promptly forward to my small group chat.

Hey everyone! One of my best friends who lives in KC told me about this silent disco happening next weekend. You can click the link to see all the info. Would anyone be up for a road trip?? It would be so fun to go together!

I wait, staring at my phone, hoping that other people will want to join.

BROOKS

I’m totally in. Sounds like a blast!

My heart skips a beat at Brooks being the first to respond. And so enthusiastically.Don’t make a big deal out of it, Teegan. That’s simply Brooks’ personality.

NATALIE

I work that night or I totally would!

SARAH

Count me in!

WILL

Sounds like fun—I’ll let you know later this week if I can make it.

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