Gabriel's Rule by Unknown

little-”
    “Bowling’s
not a sport,” Gabe pointed out.
    “Whatever.
I just want to try it but I don’t want to go by myself. Please Gabe?” She was
practically bouncing. Was he actually considering going bowling at 9 o’ clock
on a Monday night with a girl that only two nights ago he’d watched come apart
in his arms on his living room couch?
    Bowling
was something friends did and he remembered what Shane had pointed out – she
hadn’t had time to make any friends yet. It was a bad idea but there was no way
he could turn her down. She seemed to sense when he’d given in because before
he could even say yes, she threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly on
the cheek.
    With
a quick “I’ll go get my purse” she was out the door and within twenty minutes
he was watching her awkwardly toss the lightest bowling ball the place had down
the lane. For the fourth time in a row it went into the gutter, but she just
turned around and smiled at him. They were surrounded by everything from drunks
to big groups of teens to competitive players just practicing, but all he saw
was her and the big grin she gave him every time she managed to get the ball
down the lane.
    A
warm feeling settled in his stomach – this had been easier then he thought,
being friends with her. And everything about her was so natural. She didn’t
primp and preen after she threw the ball, as if worried that somehow the act of
tossing an eight pound ball down on wood flooring would mess up her makeup or
cause her hair to be out of place. She didn’t complain about a possible chipped
nail on her perfect manicure, which she didn’t actually have, or worry if she
looked silly in the neon green and purple bowling shoes. And her laugh – it was
a big, real laugh that came from inside.
    After
he took his turn, he waited for her to join him and then helped her position
herself. He explained how to keep her wrist straight and to keep her eyes on
the pins and on her next turn she managed to take out three pins total. She may
as well have won the lottery. The rest of the night went that way – they bowled
two more games and shared an order of fries.
    “That
was so much fun. Thanks for coming with me Gabe,” she said as he helped her
into the truck two hours later. As he pulled out into traffic, he couldn’t stop
glancing over at her. She hadn’t stopped smiling.
    “How
come your parents never let you play sports?”
    At
the mention of her parents, her smile waned a little but he was glad when she answered
him. “I guess I was kind of like window dressing to them. They had an image
they wanted to portray to their followers and I was a part of that.” She leaned
her arm against the door of the truck and propped her head on her hand. “There
were so many things I wanted to try – dancing, horseback riding, soccer. But I
had to be a good little girl and go to bible school and I had to sit in the
front row of the church in my little white dress during every sermon. They even
brought in someone to teach me the right way to sit and smile when the TV
cameras were on me.”
    “Didn’t
you ever tell them just to go screw themselves?” he asked, angry on her behalf.
    She
laughed. “No, definitely not. I didn’t want to make God mad because then I’d
burn in hell forever. What a messed up thing to tell a little kid, you know?”
    “They
told you you’d go to hell if you disobeyed them? How old were you?”
    “Not
sure – it was just always that way. Most kids get threats of being on Santa’s
naughty list, I got eternal damnation and the fires of hell.”
    Gabe
shook his head in disbelief. “Your parents sound like fanatics.”
    ‘They’re
hippocrates.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “I
told you they were really conservative, right?” At his nod she continued. “So
no gays, marriage before sex, no adultery, no birth control, women stay home,
men rule the roost – that’s their message every Sunday morning. But by dinner
time, my mom is