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Wil looked at the cashier's check in his hand and then passed a glance over his shoulder at the crisp white of his Thunderbird. Newly sold. A part of his past forever behind him. Wil sighed and pushed back the memories of him and Bruce as they had worked on that car. Putting it together piece by piece. Their first project car. Certainly not his last. He looked down at the check again and started forward with another sigh. It was almost too much for him. Time to start over in more ways than one. Time to start another car, this time more challenging, and time to start another life. One dedicated to searching for Jesus.

His new Savior.

He shut the door to his dad's truck and gave him a smile. Jerry Davis gave him a pat him on the back and then started down the road. One of his friends had the body of a 1967 Chevelle SS for sale, and one of his dad's friends from the hobby store had an engine for a good price. Wil could rebuild them both more powerful than they had been before. It would be his newest project, but this time he would build it by himself. A way to get closer to God as he worked alone. Spending quiet time with a deity he still didn't quite understand. The time would do both of them some good, and it would give him a chance to work out what he was going to say to Vicki.

He hadn't seen her since that day he had nearly taken Richard Stone's head off for the second time. It had been two weeks. Two weeks without a phone call. Two weeks of avoiding her at school. Two weeks of simply spending time with his sister as she rested in her room. Spending time talking about his new faith and what it was going to mean. What the changes were going to be. And next weekend was Thanksgiving.

"What ever happened to that Vicki person who was hanging around you so much?" Jerry's gentle baritone was mildly probing as he sent the question Wil's way. "I certainly hope you haven't gotten over her, Wil. I liked her."

Wil smiled and tucked the check into his wallet. I liked her, too, he thought to himself. His smile faded and he cleared his throat. "I know you liked her, Dad, but I've kind of been avoiding her."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know how to tell her that... You know. That I'm a Christian. Finally."

"I wouldn't think that would be so hard. Just let it out. How hard can it be? She's been trying to convert you for the whole school semester."

"Almost. Not quite, Dad."

"Close enough, Wil. She deserves to know."

Wil let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his curly brown hair. He, of all people in the world, knew that she had a right to know. She'd played a big part in his decision. "I know, Dad, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to call her."

"Why not?"

Wil shrugged. "I don't know. Every time I dialed her number I just hung up. Or when I saw her in the hall with one of the Phillips twins I turned the closest corner and hid."

Jerry was silent for a moment and slipped on his sunglasses as some mid-November sunshine broke through the clouds. "Wil, this isn't like you. She's the one who helped you, not me. It was her persistence. Her weird ability to see exactly what you were feeling. Her coming by---" Jerry cut off suddenly and sent Wil a look as he squirmed in his seat. "I'm surprised. I thought you two were friends. Actually, I thought you were more than friends. What with the way she always looked at you and everything."

Wil spoke up suddenly. "How could I look her in the face when she was the one person who really had seen what kind of jerk I had been all my life?"

Jerry frowned. "Wil, don't you know what kind of person she is yet? I've known her all of a few weeks and I know that she would have forgotten about that."

"I'm not so sure," Wil muttered.

"So why won't you let her prove it? She'll be able to help you through these--"

"Cory can help me."

"Cora has her own battles to fight, Wil."

"Yeah, I'm sure of that." The truck came to a stop, and Wil looked out the window with a strangled shout. "Dad! What are we doing here?"

"You are going to talk to Vicki whether you thought you were going to do it today or tomorrow. Get up there and apologize for being an unfeeling bone-head."

Wil swallowed hard and slowly climbed out of the truck, making his way up the cement walk as if his legs were made out of stone. He couldn't believe he was letting his father make him do this. His finger went out to the doorbell and he froze.

"I can't do this, Lord," he muttered under his breath. "I know. I'm a chicken, but I've never had to admit to anyone that they were right about me. I don't know what to expect."

Wil's hand dropped to his side, and he lowered his head as he closed his eyes. Then he punched the doorbell a couple of times and took in a deep breath as his head raised when he heard the door unlock. It opened slowly and he hesitantly smiled into Vicki's face, her eyes wide with shock.

He lifted a hand. "Hi." Feeling much the idiot, he nearly rolled his eyes. "Um..." He cleared his throat. "Can I come in?"

"Oh. S-Sure." Vicki moved aside to let him pass. He proceeded toward the den and froze mid-step as he stared into the shocked faces of six girls seated in the center of the room. When his eyes scanned the room, he saw the decorations, cake, balloons, and 'Happy Birthday' sign hanging on one of the walls. He swallowed hard. Why didn't she tell me it was her birthday! A voice popped into his head. 'Probably because you've been avoiding her,' it said.

All the girls stopped their talking and giggling as he walked into the room, staring at him until Vicki came in. Then they stared at her. Vicki looked around the room and motioned to Wil with a hand.

"I guess everybody knows Wil." The girls all nodded. Vicki cleared her throat and gave a nervous giggle. "These are some of my friends from church. That's Nicole, Amber, Rachel, Hannah, and Amanda." Vicki motioned to the couch behind the circle of girls. "Please sit down."

He made his way through the line of smiles and sat, catching sight of Vicki crossing her arms.

"This was originally going to be an all girl's slumber party, but since you're here..."

Wil heard the hint in her voice as he looked around the room and cleared his throat. For the first time in his life he didn't like being the center of attention. God, he prayed, this isn't going very good. "Uh, actually I wanted to talk to you alone, Vicki," he said.

The girls looked over at each other and hid their laughs. Wil saw Vicki's eyes roll and groaned inwardly. Talk at her church would never stop. Wil stood quickly and motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen. He saw her sigh, but she still followed. He let the swinging door come closed behind him and shuffled his feet. How was he going to start?

"I just need to tell you something really quick, then I'll get out of your hair. Okay?"

"You're not in-- oh never mind. Go on."

Wil rubbed his scalp. "I don't know how I'm supposed to say this to someone. It's not like I've ever had any experience with this kind of thing."

Vicki sat at the kitchen table and motioned for him to do the same. "Just say it."

"Well, first I wanted to say I'm sorry for being such a jerk when all you were trying to do was help." He saw Vicki raise an eyebrow out of the corner of his eye and just stared at the seat in front of him. Why couldn't he sit down? Vicki cleared her throat, and he looked up sharply. "Oh, yeah. Um..." He pulled a little book out of his back pocket and handed it to her with a shaky hand. Vicki took it and looked down at it with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey," she said slowly, "this is the Bible I gave you. Why don't you keep it?"

Wil licked his suddenly dry lips and shuffled his feet again. "Yeah, I've been kind of using it, and I thought that maybe it meant something to you... Or something. So, I thought I'd give it back."

"Thank you, but you could have kept it."

She flipped through the pages of it absently until she got to the back. She read it slowly at first, then brought it up to her face sharply, her eyes widening. She looked up at Wil and one corner of his mouth lifted as her lips moved without making a sound.

"Man, I can't believe it." He laughed suddenly. "I got you speechless!"

Vicki stood out of her chair suddenly and sped toward him to envelop him in a hug. His eyes widened in shock as his arms went hesitantly around her.

"This is definitely not what I expected," he said softly, almost to himself. "I thought I would get a handshake, a smile, or something like that."

He heard a laugh and then he was pushed back gently to look down into the tear stained face of his best friend.

"Whoa," he said quietly. "This is powerfully important stuff, I guess." Vicki nodded with a sniff and pulled him into another hug. "I've definitely got a lot to learn about this," Wil said with a touch of awe.

Vicki pulled back again and wiped the tears off her face. "This is so great. When? When did it happen? Why didn't you tell me? Was it hard? Was Cora there to help you?"

Wil laughed, putting his hands out in front of him to stop her oncoming questions. "Slow down, Vicki. I can only handle one question at a time."

She flushed and sat at the kitchen table again. "Sorry. It's just you're the first person who's, you know, decided to follow Jesus because of stuff I've said."

He sat beside her and took her hand. "Thank you, Vicki. I'm never going to be able to say that enough. You never gave up on me, even when I walked away from you and your friendship. It's the first time I've had a friend like that."

"What about Bruce," Vicki asked as she continued to look at their clasped hands. "I thought he was your 'friend like that'?"

"He is, but with you it's different. I don't know how to explain it."

"Has he ever turned his back on you before," Vicki asked quietly.

Wil squeezed her hand with a slight nod. "Once."

"It hurt, didn't it?"

He nodded. "I don't even remember what the whole thing was about."

"It doesn't matter, Wil. I will never turn my back on you, and neither will Cory. And neither will God. No matter what anyone will tell you, He is always just a step away."

"I wish I had known that before--"

There was a slight knock on the kitchen door, and they turned as a dark haired girl pushed through with a hesitant smile on her face. Wil gave her a smile, and raised an eyebrow when her green eyed gaze fell away after barely a smile in his direction.

"What's the matter, Hannah?" Vicki asked.

"It's so stupid, Vicki," the girl named Hanna said in a soft voice. "They kept pestering me until I said I would come in here and see what you were doing. You know how they all are."

Vicki nodded with a smile and released Wil's hand to stand and make her way to Hannah's side. "Hannah, this is one of my best friends, Wil Davis. You haven't met him before because you go to that other high school."

"Hi," Hannah said with a small wave as her eyes barely focused on his before they moved to Vicki's face. "They've told me all about him, Vicki," she admitted with an uncomfortable laugh.

Wil hesitated and watched her as she self consciously put some dark brown hair behind an ear. "How are you, Hannah?" he asked as he put out a hand.

She took it hesitantly, and quickly pulled back to put her hand in the pocket of her jeans. "I'm okay." Hannah flashed him a smile and then pat Vicki on the arm. "I'm going to go back out there and make sure they're not tearing the place apart. Glad to have a fellow sixteen year old at this party, Vicki."

Vicki watched her go and then shook her head with a sigh. "She's so sweet, but she's always under control. I have this bad feeling that one of these days it'll crack. I hope she comes to me when she needs help."

"She will. I can tell by the way she looks at you, Vicki. You're a really good friend."

Vicki nodded and then hugged herself with a shiver, then gave Wil a smile. "I'm so glad for you, Wil. Now my birthday is complete."

Wil smiled and came to stand beside her. "Happy sixteenth, Vicki. What do you want as a present?"

Vicki returned his easy smile. "You being a Christian is all I ever wanted. You being all right, and I don't mean only skin deep, either. I mean all the way to your heart."

Wil let a smile pull his lips all the way up, then he released a laugh as he pulled her into another hug. He had his life back better than ever and it had been simply for the love of three people. Vicki, Cora, and a God he had never known but always wanted.

The End

Don't miss the continuing adventures of Vicki, Wil,
and the whole gang in book 3: When Life Hands You Lemons.