Page 5 of Vespertine

“Ni-co! Ni-co! Ni-co!” the crowd chanted, catching sight ofhim.

He fell back and got into position to take the stage withhis bandmates.

“Showtime,” he whispered.

Chapter Two

JASPERLET HIMSELF DRIFT ONthe beautiful hymns sung by the choir as he movedthrough Mass. It didn’t always feel like this—as if he weren’t entirely there,as if he looked on from above and was guided rather than leading Mass himself,but Andrew had been right in his prediction a few weeks earlier. Summer was infull swing now, and it was going to be a good one.

Jasper’s people rose and fell like a synchronized wave andhe tried not to feel pride when his words sank in and they bowed their heads.But no, it wasn’t pride in himself; it was pride in them, for being here, forlistening, for giving up time away from their homes to be with him in thepresence of God.

A humbling gratitude overcame him as Mass ended and hewatched his congregation file out of the church’s large doors. When God hadfirst called him, he’d been overwhelmed and scared, and that sentiment hadlasted through college. Now his heart had mellowed and he found fulfillment inserving God, in being there for the people who needed him.

Usually he helped the altar servers and Andrew tidy up, buttoday he stood rooted to the spot and watched the town square from the shade ofthe narthex. With an odd feeling of foreboding, Jasper waited, but no one came,and eventually he turned away.

The relative darkness of the church made it difficult to seeafter staring into the sun for so long, and he didn’t immediately make out theshape that detached itself from one of the large pillars to his right.

“Hello,” Jasper said, squinting a little.

“Hi.”

He blinked and his vision adjusted. Before him stood ayoung…girl? He couldn’t quite tell, but he thought so. She was huddled into alarge sweatshirt and kept her gaze down.

“Can I help you with something?” Jasper asked and she shrankin on herself. “If you just want to stay inside the church for a while, that’sokay too.”

“No, I…my name is Lizzie…” She glanced up at him and hershoulders drooped.

“Okay, Lizzie. I’m Father Hendricks, but you can call meJasper. Make yourself at home. I’ll be—”

“No, you don’t understand. My…legal name is Stephan Benoit.”

Jasper halted for a second, then recovered quickly and heldout his hand. The social services file showed Stephan Benoit as a young blackgay male. Not transgender. “I see. Well,Lizzie, it’snice to meet you. I hadn’t expected to see you until tomorrow.”

The almost painful looking hunch in her shouldersdisappeared. She gave his hand a brief, damp shake before pulling the too-longsleeves back over her knuckles. “I just wanted to come and take a look, Iguess. I’ve never been in a church like this before.”

Jasper grinned. “Impressive, isn’t it?”

She relaxed a little more and stared up at theseventy-foot-high ceiling. “It’s beautiful.”

“When you’re settled in at the Blue Oasis Center, you cancome here as often as you like.”

“I’m not very religious,” she admitted, her voice droppingas if she was afraid to say it.

Jasper laughed. “That’s okay. This can be a place to findpeace when you need it, even if you’re not Catholic. Where are you staying?”

“My social worker got me a room at the Bay Heights Hotel.”

“You could’ve moved straight into Blue Oasis if you wantedto.”

“Yeah, I know. But Mr. Jones just transferred here and hehad some stuff to do, so he asked me if I was okay with waiting until Monday.”She bit at her lips and shifted her weight. “To be honest, I liked having thechance to be alone for a little bit.”

“I totally understand,” Jasper said. “Mrs. Blair at BayHeights will take good care of you.”

Lizzie said nothing and Jasper took a moment to really lookat her. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked skinnier than sheprobably should. No noticeable bruises, but he’d learned from experience thatdidn’t mean anything. In the years he’d been running theLGBTQyouth center, he’d seen enough to know the worst wounds were usually invisible.

“Do you play any sports, Lizzie?”

“I played soccer, but…” She grimaced and shrugged at thesame time.