The community service event

The next morning, I decided to go.

Part of me figured it would be a pretty safe way to spend the day. After everything that had happened recently, being around a church group seemed like the kind of environment where temptation wouldn’t exactly be an issue.

At least, that was what I thought.

When I arrived, Marcus spotted me almost immediately.

“Ethan! Glad you made it.”

“Yeah. Figured I’d check it out.”

He introduced me to a few people, and before long I was helping carry boxes and sort donations at the food pantry.

It was actually a good time.

Everyone was friendly, and I started getting to know people I’d only seen briefly at the church meeting.

There was just one thing I hadn’t anticipated.

There were a lot of attractive women in the group.

I’d assumed everyone would be focused entirely on the service project, but there was plenty of joking around and casual conversation between tasks. I met several girls who were funny, outgoing, and easy to talk to.

A couple of them were also noticeably interested in getting to know me.

I caught myself smiling during one conversation and then remembered why I’d originally thought this would be a safe environment.

I almost laughed.

Apparently, temptation didn’t care where I went.

Still, I kept things friendly.

I wasn’t looking to repeat what had happened with Mia and Lily.

At least, that was what I told myself as I carried another box across the room.

Marcus walked past me.

“You’re getting the hang of this.”

I smiled.

“Yeah. I’m actually enjoying it.”

And I was.

The work felt worthwhile, the people were welcoming, and for a few hours I wasn’t thinking about school or the complications I’d created for myself.

But as another girl from the group introduced herself and smiled at me, I realized that even here, I wasn’t going to be able to completely escape the choices I’d been struggling with.

Maybe the real test wasn’t finding somewhere without temptation.

Maybe it was figuring out what I did when it found me.