Homeschooler's in High School

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I'm sure you're still welcome, Abby. Did you read the setup?

About the setting: yes, a city near the coast seems more likely to have a Filipino neighborhood. (Abby, my character is a Filipino boy; he's got a hopeless crush on Kim's character and he doesn't even know it yet.)
 
PROLOGUE:


In a medium-sized town in eastern Virginia, a family of five started their Sunday morning walk to church. Eric Havens, a dentist, walked carrying Melody, his seven-year-old adopted Chinese daughter. (She just LIKED being carried by her Daddy.) Beside him walked his wife Cecilia, who had shared in his former adventures as a World Vision medical missionary in the Philippines...and who was now carrying in her body what MIGHT be their first successfully-carried biological child, who had two miscarried siblings looking down from Heaven. The eldest of the adopted children--though actually WITH them for less time than Melody--was Filipino-born Alipang, a boy now sixteen years old. Alipang was carrying his four-year-old Chinese sister Harmony.

Falling in step with them on the way were Rafael and Carmen Imada, the Filipino-American couple who owned the restaurant where Alipang worked. The Imadas were so pleased with Alipang's work that they had said they had a surprise for him to be revealed today.
 
This was the Sunday before Labor Day Weekend.

The adults exchanged greetings. No sons or daughters walked with the Imadas; all their children were now adults, living in Richmond or farther away.

"Are you ready to spring this surprise that you've been keeping Al in suspense about?" asked Eric.

"I am," said the gray-haired Rafael. "Alipang, you know how we donate the surplus food for each day at closing to needy people; you've been the one to deliver it sometimes. Well, Pastor Stetzer is going to preach about charity and giving today, and give a call for young people to be involved. So I'm going to be giving YOU a readymade opportunity to increase your involvement. Alipang, YOU are now going to be in charge of choosing the recipients of our food giveaways!"
 
Redemption Free Church was the most well-integrated church in the county. Most Asians in the area who were not Buddhists or Catholics attended here, as did some African-Americans. The pastor, Tom Stetzer, was a white man married to an African-American woman named Isobel, which helped set the right atmosphere.

The Havens and the Imadas sat together, after Melody and Harmony had been safely deposited in children's church under the supervision of Isobel Stetzer. Worship started with the hymn "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior."
 
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After the hymn came congregational greetings, then contemporary singing with the usual guitars. When worship leader Shavonda Moore, the other most prominent black woman in the fellowship, had concluded the preliminaries with a prayer, Pastor Stetzer stood to preach. He read from the Book of James, where it is shown how pointless it is to utter spoken blessings to people if we are unwilling to DO something for them. He went on to mention and praise already-existing instances of Redemption members doing deeds of charity.

"We hear talk of calling on government to do more for us; but are we not ready to help others WITHOUT having to be ordered to by Washington? We hear that 'the rich' need to give us more; but there are those compared to whom WE ARE 'the rich' ourselves...."
 
The Tisdale family quietly slipped in. Elizabeth Tisdale, a brown haired blue eyed beauty in her mid fourties, scooted her way to her friend Mrs. Jacobs.

Kim stood in the back with her three older sisters Sharon and Susan (twins), and Betsy(her real name was Baeline, but she prefered something less ridiculous). They watched everything that was going on. Kim noted that there were not that many people her age, only a handful.
 
Though not ignoring the message, Alipang was in the habit of looking around the church to see who was there. He was quick to spot the new arrivals, and still quicker to have his attention riveted by the youngest of the Tisdale daughters.

This town was just large enough that everyone DIDN'T automatically know everyone else. Alipang was quite certain that he had NEVER seen the dark-haired, oval-faced, physically perfect embodiment of absolute beauty who now stood thirteen pews back from him, accompanied by a mother and sisters who were almost as attractive as she. He would not have forgotten seeing any of them, but especially not the one who, merely by existing, was yanking his eyes out of their sockets. This distracted him from following Pastor Stetzer's naming of members who had done good deeds...until he heard:

"...Lucinda Rockwell, Pete Gordon, and Alipang Havens, who joined in the July house-repair project for senior citizens. Please come forward!" Returning to Earth, Alipang went up with the others to be applauded. His eyes immediately sought out the impossibly beautiful stranger again, wondering if she even knew about any of the charity projects done in this town. He didn't know if this family had ever been in any need itself--though he was observant enough to notice that there was no father in sight with the woman and her daughters.
 
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Alipang was quite certain that he had NEVER seen the dark-haired, oval-faced, physically perfect embodiment of absolute beauty who now sat thirteen pews back from him

lol!:eek:hee hee thanks!:rolleyes:;)


Kim watched as the people went up to the stage for the charity work. She saw a young dark skinned boy, roughly around her age. She caught his gazed and smiled, though she didn't show teeth. She hated her nearly beaver teeth and never smiled with an open grin.
 
Alipang had never had anything remotely like a girlfriend, though he had friends who were girls--including the sister of his best male buddy. Not only were his parents as protective of his purity as if he had been a girl in Norfolk near the Naval base, but the boy's own serious and responsible nature had always kept him focussed on family, work, church, homeschooling and Escrima training.

So Alipang, who had fought off physical attacks by boys twice his size, found he had no defense against what was hitting him now: the unknown princess near the back of the sanctuary had looked him in the eye and smiled at him. It was all he could do to stand in place until they were dismissed--and then all he could do to return to his parents, rather than do what he wanted to do, which would be to make an idiot of himself trying to make that girl's acquaintance.
 
As the service ended Mrs. Jacobs, a good hearted african american woman in her late fourties, had the Tisdale sisters meet everyone...down to the last infant. They came to the Havens and Mrs. Jacobs made sure each Haven was accounted for.

"...and this is Alipang, he's from the Philipenes."

Each sister shook his hand, Kim was the last.

"Pleased to meet you I'm Kim Tisdale, do you-?"

"KIMMMMMY," Elizabeth called to her daughter, but then realised she had company and walked over to them, "Hello, I'm Elizabeth," she said to the Haven family then turned to Kim, "are you going to eat later?" She asked.

"Yes mom," she said as she looked at Alipang. She then rolled her eyes with a smile, indicating that parents were sometimes annoying.
 
Alipang noted the girl's eye-roll. Since the Holy Spirit had taught him to feel gratitude and love for his parents instead of rebellious contempt, he had never again felt any disrespect for them. But he was not so naive as not to realize that _some_ parents existed who deserved a _little_ disrespect. He would not form any hasty opinion of Mrs. Tisdale; but neither would he let himself think ill of Kim for her attitude. With her gorgeousness burning him like a blast furnace, he didn't _want_ to think any ill of her.

"I, uh, I'm glad you came. I mean, glad your family brought you, I mean glad that _all_ of you came. Do you, I mean, does your family ever [ * gulp * ] eat at the Pansit Paradise?" Oh, God, could I be any MORE humiliated? She has to see that I'm attracted to her, and she probably already has all the football players competing over her...
 
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