Chapter 1: Thinking About Jeremy

Wednesday night at the church I attend while at school, as with many churches, is Youth Night. Since my freshman year I’ve volunteered as a youth assistant and have been working with the younger teens, mostly twelve to fifteen years old. Over the years I have watched them grow and mature and it always amazes me when I returned in the fall how much they grown up over the summer.

Now that I’m a junior, some of the ones that were in the older end of the age spectrum when I was a freshman have moved up to the senior teen group but I still try to talk to them and keep up with their activities. One boy who I pay particular interest in is Jeremy, now a sixteen year old senior in high school. His birthday was in late December making him one of the youngest boys in the senior class.

I guess part of the attraction to me was that I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jeremy at times because he always seemed a little out of place with his peers. Boys are naturally a bit behind the girls anyway at that age but with him being the youngest in his class he was even more so than the other guys. Naturally the girls in his class didn’t pay him a bit of attention and it didn’t help matters the he was more than just a bit on the shy nerdy side as well. He was cute though and with a little help on the wardrobe side and some better glasses I could see the makings of a handsome young man.