He turned to face me again and I felt my cheeks catch fire. I looked out the window so he couldn’t see. A soft, manly chuckle sounded from his side of the car, letting me know he didn’t miss my embarrassing blushing. The rest of the ride was uncomfortable. Every now and again I’d give him directions, but other than that we stayed quiet.

“Please be extra quiet,” I said as we pulled up to my house.

He chuckled again and I gave him the evil eye as he snuck the car up to my house and put it in park. He turned in his seat and silently watched me as I twiddled my fingers in my lap. When his eyes were on me, I felt breathless. It was if he had some sort of freaky spell over me.

I needed to get away from him and get some sleep. The night had taught me one valuable lesson: I had no business sneaking out of my house or hanging around people who were nothing like me.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and popped my door open. I was about to thank him for the ride when the porch light turned on. It was only then that I noticed the living room lights.

Time stopped when my father stepped out on the front porch in his pajamas and then, with quick, angry strides, made his way over to Finn and me.

“Oh shit,” Finn said.

I didn’t bother correcting his language since I’d secretly been thinking the same exact thing. One night out and I was already having impure thoughts.

My dad took one look at me and Finn and his face transformed into something angry and red. His eyes looked at risk of popping out and the vein in the side of his neck ticked. The way he looked at me made me feel dirty, as if I’d been out all night doing the many things that Amanda had disgustingly told me about.

“Faith, I want you to go inside so I can have a talk with our friend Finn.” He spoke calmly, but I knew what calm meant. Calm meant there was a storm coming.

It wasn’t right for Finn to get in trouble simply for being a gentleman and making sure I got home safely.

“Daddy, Finn was just—”

He held up his hand to stop me. “That’s enough, Faith. Please go inside with your mother. I’ll be in there to deal with you in just a moment.”

Deal with me. I didn’t even want to think about how he was going to deal with me. I clutched my cross in preparation for the night’s lesson. It was going to be a bad one.

“Pastor Warren, this is my fault,” Finn said boldly. “I wanted to surprise Sister Francis with some special flowers in her flower bed and I talked Faith into helping me. You know how much she loves Sister Francis. There was no way I could’ve gotten it done before church Wednesday if she didn’t help me.”

As soon as the lie left his mouth, I turned and looked at him like he was crazy. First of all, there were no flowers planted yet, and my dad would know that the minute he stopped by the church for paperwork the following day. Secondly, I was amazed at how quickly and easily he was able to lie. I’d never seen anything like it and I was secretly jealous of his fabulous talent. I could’ve saved myself from the belt a few times if I were capable of such a thing.

“Is that true, Faith?” my father asked.

I didn’t want to lie to him, but I really didn’t want to get in trouble and I really didn’t want Finn to get in trouble either. Regardless of what we were doing, I was still out past a decent time when I wasn’t supposed to be. I was still going to hear it, but somehow saying I was planting flowers for Sister Francis sounded so much better than I was at a party with a bunch of stoners and band boys.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the lie wouldn’t come out. Instead, I shook my head yes and silently prayed for forgiveness.

I felt sick doing it. I hadn’t lied to my father since I was a little girl. My throat felt tight and cold chills wracked my body, causing me to wrap my arms around myself.

“You should’ve asked first and you’re still going to be on restriction for sneaking out past your bedtime,” my dad said adamantly. “As for you, Finn, I don’t want Faith falling into your sinner ways. I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from my daughter outside of church.”

My dad grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the front door. His fingernails dug in, pinching the soft skin. I looked over my shoulder at Finn and caught him glaring at my dad’s back. Before I stepped inside the front door, I looked back again as he pulled away.

I got the worst beating ever that night. For the first time, Daddy lost control and his belt hit other places on my body instead of just my legs. When I went to bed, my back ached and my arms and legs stung. I barely made it into bed before the tears came. I never cried during the beating—I’d never give him that satisfaction—but I’d almost given in to the pain.