Rolling in the deep {Tiffany}

[CASPER GRESHAM]

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Casper stood at the front of the small congregation, his hands placed protectively in his pockets. He looked out into the sea of eyes, trying to find some of his friends; who were giving him thumbs up behind the heads of older ladies and their even older husbands. He had been giving these small talks at the end of the main service for anyone who wanted to listen. It was usually the time the 'fair weather' Christians went to get their tea and go home to their Sunday afternoon television. Casper didn't mind, as long as there was a couple of people to listen.

He smiled slightly as he flicked open his notebook and finally too his hands out of his pockets, leaning slightly against the wooden stand that held all of the previous talks. Hello everybody, he said, in a very boring voice which immediately got the attention of the younger people, who were expecting someone lively and upbeat. I'm just gonna talk to you in this monotone voice because I was told last week that the intermittent change of accent was quite annoying; so I'm just going to talk in one monotone voice.

He grinned slightly as the smallest children at the front began to whine that they wanted the funny voices back and Casper could only mimic them for a short while before they realised he was joking. Dun' wurry, I wull do ma bess he said, turning over the first page in his notebook.

SO! this talk is called 'always read the label'. So I wanna talk a little bit about labels tonight, you know, we can make quick decisions; we can look at something and we'll stick a label on it. We stick labels on people! In our minds we asses them and put them into a category. I don't know if you've ever seen, like, packages with funny labels on them - like in the supermarket on a bag of peanuts it says 'warning: may contain nuts.' Like...duh! of course it is. And, er, I bought a household iron the other day - thought I might try this whole 'laundry' thing'. And it said, on the box, 'do not iron clothes while being worn'. Okay, I won't. On a toilet brush it said 'do not use for personal hygiene'. Finally - the last one - this is my favourite; on a kids pushchair, it says 'remove child before folding!!' What a wonderful idea, can you imagine that? 'WHOA! Mom, I'm still in here!'

He flicked over a couple of pages and found his spot, making sure that none of his audience were falling asleep. His talk went on for just ten minutes and he felt like he had covered all he wanted to say. So basically, you're all free to go now and have whatever drinks we have - I think there's some lemonade left over from the youth club yesterday! Umm, yeah, me and the other guys will be around if you wanna chat about stuff or just pray - so have a good week and I'll see some of you on Wednesday! He closed his book and jumped off the small stage as a round of applause was muffled by everyone getting to their seats and joining the line for tea and coffee.

Leaning back against one of the walls, Casper packed away his guitar and his notebook, checking around to see if anyone needed any help. But before long most of the people in the church had left, except for a couple of people chatting in one corner. Casper sat down in the nearest chair and brushed some of his hair out of his face. Not expecting anyone to come to him to talk - not everyone wanted to talk to someone who was so young; and he respected that, at least they had been kind enough to listen to him talk.

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[TIFFANY BELLE]

Tiffany really couldn't stop herself from laughing at the jokes that Casper made this week after the regular sermon. It always cheered her up after being crammed with homework all week. As Casper finished up, Tiffany closed her Bible, tucking it under her arm and headed over to the refreshment table. She grabbed two little Dixies cups filled with lemonade when the line finally dwindled down. She looked around for Casper and spotted him sitting by his guitar. Tiffany grinned and swiftly walked over to him and plopped in the seat next to him, making sure that he noticed that someone was next to him.

"Well, hello there, Cas!" Tiffany folded her leg underneath her, facing Casper, handing him the small cup. She placed her Bible in her lap, sipping her lemonade. "I really liked what you said today. With us putting labels on people." Tiffany gestured to the podium, flipping her Bible open to a page that had been marked several times over. "I have a verse that you really brought to my attention. Would you like to hear it?" Tiffany looked up to Casper, hopeful.

notes:[/b] I didn't know if you wanted them to know each other before this, so I did it anyway (:
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[CASPER GRESHAM]

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Casper had been so engrossed in his guitar and his Bible notes that he had almost forgotten that he had offered prayers or someone to talk to. So he couldn't help but jump a little when Tiffany sat down in front of him and handed him a cup of lemonade. He smiled at her and took the cup, thanking her quickly before putting away his book so he could listen fully to her.

Thanks Tiffany! I'm glad you liked it, I hadn't really had time to make it special - loads of work from my education class kept me up last night, still, it could have been worse. he said in his normal voice, although it was a struggle to stop talking in all the different accents.

He had heard from the chat room the things Tiffany had been going through and he hoped that coming to Church with him had helped her a little. Contrary to popular belief, Casper had had a few girlfriends in the past, but never felt a real connection with them - but something told him that Tiffany and Abraham, that was different, and he would try his best to help her in any way he could.

Because there was no need to choose between God and a boyfriend. They should work just fine side by side.

Of course, I'd love to hear it! Casper said with a grin, leaning forward slightly to show he really was interested in what she had to say.

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[TIFFANY BELLE]

"Oh, pfff. It's no problem. You were great!" Tiffany said with a wave of her hand. She grinned when Casper accepted her offer to hear the verse. Tiffany took a deep breath, preparing herself to read the verses.

"Okay, well. I was reading in James last night and it's like so ironic that you would talk about it today! God continuously blows my mind with even the simplest thing, you know?" Tiffany looked up at Cas, knowing that he must feel the same way at times. She looked down at her Bible again, finding the verse and reading it out loud using her index finger to lead herself. "In chapter four, verse 12, it says 'There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you- who are you to judge your neighbor?" Tiffany looked up at Casper again, pushing a fallen piece of hair back behind her ear.

"Like, my opinion or my, I dunno, analysis of this verse is that it's saying that God is the only person who can judge you, so if you're judging someone, that's putting yourself in God's place, which is pretty dumb." Tiffany chuckled once, continuing on with what she was saying. "And, also like, if you don't want people to judge you, then wouldn't it be wise not to judge other people?" Tiffany smiled at Cas again, crossing her leg over the other. "Anyway, that's how I see it." She said, closing her Bible and allowed herself to take another sip of her lemonade.

[CASPER GRESHAM]

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Casper's smile grew as she read the verse, it was one he recognised well and her analogy was perfect. He nodded encouragingly as she talked about how people shouldn't judge, it was exactly what he had been trying to convey in his talk. You should think about joining me up there, he indicated to the stage with a smile, you're probably better at it than I am!.

Taking a sip of his lemonade he gathered up the last of his papers into a pile and looked at her for a moment. So aside from doing my job better than me, he began, teasing her slightly, How is everything? I heard about what happened with Simon - you shouldn't let it get to you. Because, lets face it, we're humans, we screw up a lot. But that doesn't mean God - or anyone else, for that matter - should love us any less. he said, hoping he wasn't poking his nose where it didn't belong. But Tiffany was one of his best friends, and he didn't like seeing her hurting. Not when he was sure the problem could be fixed.

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[TIFFANY BELLE]

Tiffany raised her eyebrow at Casper's suggestion with a tint of pink high in her cheeks and merely shook her head as laughter racked her body. "Oh, no. I couldn't." She said, using her hand as if to shake away the thought of preaching a sermon. "I get stage fright... Hey, no! Don't give me that look. Okay, okay. Nooo. The last time I tried to preach, I threw up all over the podium and I had to get a new Bible." She admitted weakly. Those were some bad memories.

Listening to Casper's questions, she downed the rest of her lemonade and decided to chew on the ice nervously. "Ugh, hasn't everybody heard about it by now?", she groaned deciding that the ice in her Dixie cup was far more interesting than looking Casper in the eye while talking about Simon. "Of course, Cas. I completely agree. It's just that--I don't know..", she said exasperated, crossing her legs. "It just hit me really hard and opened my eyes to a lot of new things. Like that everybody I meet isn't going to be the nicest person alive. It's let me see the real world, y'know? I can't hide behind my Bible every time something bad happens to me. I just have to let God guide me through it. And I've done that." Tiffany finally blurted out, relieved that she got it off her chest.