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tropicophan-blog · 8 years ago

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This is a Call of Arms- Chapter One

Summary: Danielle is gay and her parents are very religious. They force her to attend church and youth group, but when the pastor’s daughter, Phoebe decides to befriend her, it becomes much more bearable.

Genre: AU, fluff, eventual smut, angst

Note: This is my first fic. I noticed that there weren’t a lot of fem!phan fics, so I wanted to contribute. I’m just a very gay girl who wants to write about very gay characters. Feel free to send asks, anons, and requests.

I like girls. I don’t understand why more girls don’t like other girls. Everyone at school knows that I like girls. So do my parents, prompting them to decide to send me to youth group every Sunday. I’m not sure if they actually care about the sermons “curing” me, or if they just want to get more involved in the church to gain the respect of the pastor. Mom and Dad have always cared about what the pastor and the church thought of them, and I still can’t pinpoint why, but that doesn’t matter. I just don’t want to go to church every Sunday morning and youth every Sunday night.

Saturday dinners are always fairly dull, as are most dinners we spend together as a family. The only thing about Saturday dinners is that they are required. I usually spend most of my time at Jessica’s house. She has been my best and only friend for years, but it has and always shall remain platonic. Her mom is always so welcoming, as her daughter is far more open about her sexuality than I am. Dinners are usually much more fun at the Keaton household than they are at mine.

“Sweetie, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to attend youth group. All of the kids are just so wonderful, especially Pastor Mark’s daughter. Phoebe is a lovely girl.” My mom keeps trying to make me want to go to church so she won’t feel bad about making me.

“Making me go to church every week isn’t going to change the fact that i’m gay.” I didn’t look up from my plate as I said it.

My father spoke up, “Danielle, I will not have you identify yourself as a homosexual any longer. I did not raise a dyke.”

I was surprised. I actually chuckled a little bit after I heard my mother gasp. I just looked at him, stood up, and went to my room. I just sat on my bed for a moment. I had never heard something so hateful from either of my parents before. I would say it hurt, but it’s hard to be affected by people who think of you like that. I didn’t want to think about it too much, so I just put on a record. I figured that The Smiths would be a little too sad, so a settled on Kid A. I’d rather feel spaced out than depressed. Maybe i’m a little bit more affected by my father's harsh words than I let on. Neither of my parents spoke to me again that night. I didn’t stay up too late. I had church in the morning.

…

I woke up at 8:00, which was fairly early, considering church didn’t start until 9:30 and it usually took me about 15 minutes to get ready. I’m sixteen and I still haven't started wearing makeup, i’m just too lazy to learn how. Luckily, my skin is decently clear, so I can almost get away with it. About ¾ of my time is spent trying to tame my hair, which I can’t say is curly because only parts of it are. Others are wavy and some strands are pin straight, but all of it is frizzy and permanently tangled. Because I had time, I took a shower before church and straightened my hair afterwards to tame it. By the time I had finished, it was 9:00 and I heard a knock on my door. I quickly put on a dress and walked to the car where my parents were waiting. The car ride to church was silent, and it wasn’t until we were greeted at the door that my parents finally spoke.

“Danielle, what a beautiful girl. Where have you been hiding this one, Cassie?” Gloria Davis, an old woman that was greeting at the door said to my mom. “We haven’t seen her here in ages. We are delighted to have you back, young lady,” she said to me before turning to shake the hands of another family.

“So noone here knows.” I said under my breath, only half wanting my parents to hear me.

“You are correct, and they will NOT find out. Do you understand me Danielle?” said my father in an incredibly harsh tone.

“Yes, of course. We wouldn’t want the whole congregation to find out you raised a dyke, now would we?” I retorted. “You will not use that language in God’s house,” he said back to me as we sat down in a pew.

Before the sermon started, I spent some time looking around the church. I hadn’t been to a service in over a year, and I was starting to forget what it was like. There was so much forced friendliness as everyone greeted each other. I will admit, however, that the stain glass was gorgeous. I was admiring it when Pastor Mark and his daughter Phoebe entered the sanctuary and started greeting the people in the pews. They made their way to the front when Phoebe stopped at the first pew. As she walked to find her seat, she turned and her eyes met mine. It was extremely awkward, as neither of us looked away for a while. She was pretty, with long light brown hair that hung past her shoulders in natural waves. Her eyes were brown, but they had depth that I thought my father’s and mother’s brown eyes lacked. I finally broke eye contact when her father started speaking at the pulpit. He went through the mundane announcements, obituaries, and births, when the music started playing and everyone stood. We sang an old hymn, and then he began his sermon.

“This world, or rather the society, is broken. We allow immoral things that are blatantly against the will of God to be legalized and even celebrated in our culture. Examples of these include the legalization of marijuana, euthanasia, and most disgusting, homosexual marriage.” This earned nods and hums of agreement from the congregation. I started to stand up in order to avoid a hateful sermon, but my mother grabbed my hand and pulled me down before I could fully stand. “Leviticus 18:22, Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. This, of course goes for women and womankind,” he says. Both of my parents quickly glance at me and return their eyes to the pulpit. “Leviticus 20:13, If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. The men and women committing these acts do not deserve our prayers, but they need them. As Christians, we cannot allow them to damn themselves to an eternity in hell.”

The sermon continued as would be expected. Afterwards, everyone began to greet each other with the same forced friendliness as before. The pastor and his daughter approached my family.

“Danielle, it’s so nice to finally see you here again. What has it been, a year? Why haven’t you been coming?” Mark said to me.

I opened my mouth hoping to respond with, “I have been coming, but with girls,” but my mother interrupted me.

“She had a few rough months and preferred to look to God in solitude rather than with a congregation.”

“Well, that’s fine. A personal relationship with God is the most important aspect of life. I trust that you have moved past these rough times?”

“Yes, sir.” I responded. “Thank you for asking,” my words practically dripping with disdain. He didn’t seem to notice, but my mother did, shooting me a harsh look.

He looked at his watch. “Oh, my. I have a meeting right now, but it was nice catching up, Danielle. Bill, Cassie, see you at the luncheon on Wednesday. Beef stew, yum.”

“Of course, Mark,” said my mother. “See you then.”

Pastor Mark walked off as my parents started walking to the car. I was about to follow them when Phoebe spoke to me, “Are you coming to youth group tonight? It should be a blast.”

I was confused as to why she was talking to me. She went to my school, which meant that she knew that I was gay. “Yeah,” I responded. “It’s not like I have a choice.”

“Oh,” she said.”Well, i’ll see you there. It’ll be fun. Maria is bringing Twister.”

“Great,” I said before I turned and walked towards my parents car. She was beautiful, and if she wasn’t a gay-hating Christian, I would probably have been much less curt with her, but looks can’t always make up for personality.

#religion #christian #sexuality crisis #teenagers #highschool #popular!phil #enemies to friends to lovers #fem!phan #homophobia

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