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Andrès shares about his difficult upbringing in Miami, living in an area of the city divided by rival gangs. His dad was incarcerated for most of his childhood, and he didn’t want to end up the same way. But avoiding the gang life seemed impossible, until a coach for a local soccer nonprofit took notice of Andrès’ athletic abilities and got him involved with a team.
The team helped him avoid the full gang experience, but Andrès was still exposed to plenty of violence and drugs. He was always afraid he was just one mistake away from ending up like his father. When he got a scholarship to come join the soccer team at Townsend, he saw it as his way out.
“I arrived last year with a chip on my shoulder,” Andrès shares. “I felt like the students I met here couldn’t relate with my life. And most of you can’t, thank God. But my teammate Mateo kept making this effort to get to know me, to ask me questions, and he was never scared away by any of my answers.”
I glance over at where Mateo is sitting in the second row, and see him give Andrès an encouraging smile.
“So, when Mateo asked me if I’d want to read the Bible with him, I realized I trusted him as a friend, so I wanted to see what it was about. I started feeling so much more peace in my life. I went home over winter break and saw all these guys around me throwing their lives away, and I knew I didn’t want that to be my story.” Andrès glances down at Mateo and says, “I came back that next semester and told Mateo I was ready to go all in, that I knew I needed Jesus to save my life. And I’ve been growing in my faith ever since.
“I guess the point is, if God can change my life, he can change anyone’s life,” Andrès concludes. “Thanks for letting me share my story.”
The whole room claps as Andrès jumps off the stage to rejoin Mateo and the other soccer players, receiving lots of bro hugs and thumps on the back.
My heart starts pounding. I don’t even know what the message is about at Arrow. I don’t think I hear a single word. I just keep thinking back over Andrès’ testimony and the look on Mateo’s face as he listened. He obviously cares deeply for Andrès and has invested a lot into their friendship.
Suddenly everyone is standing around me, and I realize the band has started playing the final song. I quickly rise to my feet and go through the motions of singing along. The meeting ends, and the air fills with a mix of conversations and upbeat music pulsing through the speakers.
I watch out of the corner of my eye as the soccer guys congregate around Andrès. My attention snaps less subtly to them when I notice Bailey giving Andrès short congratulatory remarks before turning to Mateo. I have no idea what she’s saying, but her body language screams flirtation. My eyes shift to Mateo’s face, trying to assess his reaction to Bailey’s obvious interest in him. He nods in response to whatever she just said and smiles.
Huh.
I squint a bit as I study his face. It’s a very polite smile, but his eyes aren’t in it.
That’s definitely not the same smile he looked at me with.
“Are we going to After Party?” Liz asks me.
“What?” I say, shaking my head to clear my thoughts.
“They said that After Party is at Creamiery,” Liz says. “Are we all going?”
“Of course we are!” Teegan jumps in. “Like I’m going to miss a chance at gelato!”
The girls start walking out the doors, and Teegan leans in toward my ear. “That was quite the testimony, huh? Andrès sure seems like a nice guy, with even nicer friends.”
I give her a slight shove as her eyes twinkle mischievously. “Yeah yeah. Let’s go get some gelato.”
When we arrive at Creamiery, there’s a long line of Arrow students waiting to order. The AOPis are talking around me, but I’m still lost in my thoughts.
“Hey Lana.” Aaron’s voice suddenly cuts through the fog.
“Oh, hey Aaron,” I stutter, flustered, as though he could read my mind and know who I was thinking about. We take a step forward as the line moves.
“So how are your classes this semester? Do you have a tough schedule?” he asks.
“I’m only taking twelve hours. I wanted to give myself some margin to work on law school stuff. But they are all upper-level courses, so I still have my work cut out for me,” I tell him. “What about you? How’s your senior year starting off?”
“Same, not too many hours, but more work in each class. Two of my marketing classes are going to have a lot of group projects this semester, which always seem to take more time than individual assignments,” Aaron replies as we move up in the line. He gestures at the tubs of gelato in the display case. “What are you going to order? They have this new Almond Joy flavor that totally slaps—you have to try it.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Yeah, I hate coconut.”
“What?! Aw, it’s so good though!” he persists. “You should ask for a sample. You’ll love it.”
“Um, I guess,” I say uncertainly. Aaron asks the employee for a sample and hands me the tiny spoon. I raise the gelato to my mouth and immediately know I won’t like it just from the smell. Ugh, the flavor and texture of the coconut shreds are so overpowering, I have to try hard not to gag.
Aaron looks at me expectantly, like there’s no way I won’t like it. I swallow hard and say, “I mean, it’s not my favorite. I’m going to stick with my go-to.”
Aaron orders a cup of the Almond Joy, and I ask the next employee for peanut butter cup. As soon as I say the words, I think about how Mateo would have known exactly what I was going to order. Aaron is laughing with a friend waiting for his gelato, and I glance at him out of the corner of my eye.
