Droplet IV
5 years later…
Moss had grown on the tombstone since the last time River Getachew visited. He would have to discuss that sternly with the groundskeeper. A thick patch of moss covered the name. He tried using his fingers to remove it, but for inexplicable reasons, his strength failed him. She became one with nature and nothing seemed more beautiful to him than that.
“Evergreen,” he muttered under his breath. “Evergreen Cunningham.”
He always felt good vibes coming from her grave. He knew she was with him. If only she could be with him physically…but that was never meant to be. It wasn’t until 2 years after her death that he properly grieved her passing. At the time of her death, he was obsessed with Droplet. It was beyond tragic to him that within 6 weeks after her passing he ended up having the same ideals she did.
They could have stayed together…
She could have lived…
If only Droplet hadn’t gotten in the way. It had warped his mind, forcing him to believe in something that just did not exist. Jesus wasn’t the son of God. God didn’t exist. People who believed so had no proof. As for those who used religious texts as support, well he couldn’t help them. He hadn’t the patience or the time to listen to them. They were too deep, too entrenched to see the light above the sinkhole.
Evergreen was the love of his life, of that he was certain. The biggest tragedy was that he didn’t recognize this until it was too late. She would never become his wife. She would never become Mrs. Getachew.
“I will never mislead another again,” he said aloud to himself. “I promise.”
Upon thinking of the word Droplet again, he spat into the grass, yelling out in frustration. No one else was in the cemetery and from the looks of the tombstone no one else had visited in well over a year. How her parents could’ve moved on was beyond him. She had a roommate, he reminded himself. He had been close to Evergreen’s roommate, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember her name. Whoever she was had fallen into the quicksand of Droplet. Yet another tragic loss of rationality for the human race.
Droplet existed on his campus, a fact he was hopeful to rectify.
“You fucking idiot,” he mumbled to himself through exaggerated breaths.
Evergreen’s life had quite literally been taken by Droplet. Had he never left her, she never would have drank so much and died from alcohol poisoning. He could’ve prevented it from happening. The pain Droplet instilled on his life was immeasurable. He was so stupid, such a loser, he kept repeating over and over again.
He didn’t even attend her funeral, a fact he kept hidden within himself. A fact he was still utterly ashamed about. Her death was but a whimper on that campus. He hadn’t been able to see Evergreen for the angel she truly was. Angels were fictitious creations, of course, but if anybody depicted the epitome of how he remembered paintings of angels, it was Evergreen.
“I miss you,” he uttered. “So much,” he added through gritted teeth.
River stood up saying her name aloud one final time before he left the cemetery.
Maddie Smith walked down the sidewalk trying to find where the student center was. It had been 3 months since she arrived on campus and she still struggled finding her way around. Looking to her left she saw the water fountain, but hadn’t she just passed that fountain 10 minutes ago? The fountain was in the exact center of campus, a fact that didn’t help her lack of directional sense.
She texted Jaden informing her she was lost and to find her at the fountain. Jaden would understand. She knew the student she discipled would eventually find her. For now, she sat down on one of the benches surrounding the fountain. Waiting was fine. It gave both of them time to breathe before diving straight into weighty discussions about God’s movement in Droplet.
Jaden was the rare student that understood that God’s movement through Droplet and the campus as a whole was much more important than His movement through herself individually. Very rarely, if at all, did they discuss Jaden’s walk with the Lord. But it was all good. Jaden was doing fine and the more they focused on Droplet, the more on fire Jaden became and that was what really mattered. An intense heart, an immeasurable yearning to spread God’s word…well, the more she thought about it…no, no, no, she would not think on it now. The movement was growing and more people were coming to faith. How could she ask for anything more?
The continuous dripping of the fountain, how it overflowed several levels before landing into the base, it all seemed so symbolic of Droplet and how much the campus was blessed through the movement. She smiled to herself ever so slightly. The fountain turned off. The dripping continued for half a minute until finally it stopped. They must have turned off the fountain for the winter months. She just randomly happened to catch it. That was it. There was nothing to worry about, no, nothing at all.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Her heart skipped a beat as she quickly grabbed the phone out. A single text message from Jaden informed her that she wouldn’t be able to meet. Just as well, Maddie thought.
A jubilant cackle sounded from behind her. She paused with only one strap of her purse over her shoulder. She recognized that laugh. It seemed like it was from a lifetime ago, but she couldn’t quite place it. Nor did she know where it came from in the ever-moving river of people around the fountain. It must have been several years since she heard that laugh. Maybe it was someone from high school…she bit her tongue. It wasn’t going to come to her at that moment, not with so little information. Pleasant thoughts overwhelmed her when she thought of that laugh. She just couldn’t place it to a person just yet. It may not even be who she thought it was, just someone with a similar laugh, but she got an inkling that a voice from the past was crossing her path again. Now all she had to do was wait on God’s timing. She couldn’t wait for Him to move.
Pax sneezed as Professor Getachew erased the dry board. Jaden patted his shoulder as she told him bless you. He patted her hand in response as he mumbled thanks under his breath. Jaden was a little touchy, not that Pax was complaining or anything, but it could get a little bit weird at times, especially when an authority figure like Professor Getachew was around.
“Are there any questions?” Professor Getachew asked.
Jaden raised her hand. Professor Getachew nodded at her. “How much will the midterm be weighted for our overall grade?”
“That’s a great question. It’ll be worth 25% of your overall grade.”
Pax nearly dropped his spiral notebook. He was able to grab it in the nick of time as it was sliding down his short legs. His heart started pounding. This test was going to be the death of him. He just knew it. He’d be the first person in the world to die from midtermitis.
“Any more questions…no?” Professor Getachew asked. “All right, well, I guess class dismissed.”
The scuffing of chairs, the rummaging of papers, the zipping of backpacks, and the chatter amongst the students would have drowned out the rest of what Professor Getachew said, had Pax not been seated in the front row.
“If you have any other questions, more than likely they’ll be answered in the syllabus. If not, don’t be afraid to email me. I’m here to help you succeed.”
It was obvious that Professor Getachew was a grad student, considering how young he was. He was so nice and actually cared about helping the students. He was a rare college teacher and Pax felt really, really lucky to have him.
Jaden stood at the door to the classroom waiting for him to walk out with her. When he reached her though, she didn’t move. “Listen, I know we usually grab lunch after class, but I missed discipleship earlier this week with Maddie and well, this was the only time she could fit me in otherwise. I feel obligated, she was pretty insistent. It just didn’t register with her that this was a bad week for me. I’m sorry-” she began.
“No, no, no, it’s fine, I guess. It’s just whatever.”
Pax stayed behind bummed that he wouldn’t have anybody to sit with during lunch again.
Professor Getachew packed up his things and walked behind Pax as he walked out of the classroom. It was then that Professor Getachew dropped his briefcase causing loose-leaf paper to spread across the hallway.
Maddie, whom Pax had seen from a distance during Droplet meetings, audibly gasped. Jaden turned to look back at Mr. Getachew and then raised one eyebrow at Pax. He simply shrugged.
“I, I’m sorry, I can’t meet now…” Maddie whispered barely audible. “River, I, I can’t believe it’s you.”
“Ma, Ma, Maddie?” River stammered. “Oh my god!” he beamed.
“I guess we’ll finally grab that Friday lunch again, except for the fact that it’s actually Wednesday. You’re 5 years late.”
Pax could tell he was getting sweaty palms. It was incredibly uncomfortable. Maddie and Professor Getachew were completely oblivious to the reality that he and Jaden were still there.
“Help me grab my papers and we’ll go. It’s really good to see you, Mad.”
“Likewise, Riv.”
Maddie got on the floor and started collecting his papers on one end of the hall as he did likewise on the other end.
“No harm, no foul. Looks like we’re back on Pax, I don’t know what their problem is. They clearly have major issues.”
Pax thought it was a little rude of Jaden to state that so loudly to embarrass them, but he didn’t dwell on it. It was obvious that Maddie and Professor Getachew had a history together, but it was none of his business and he genuinely didn’t want to know.
River slurped the last of his soda at a table in the student center. He and Maddie hadn’t spoken a word to each other on the way over and now that they were sitting at the same table, it was still just as awkward. Talk about a flash from the past.
“Really?” Maddie asked bewildered. “Was it really necessary to get every drop?”
“Is that even a serious question?”
Maddie smiled snickering. The whole situation was just too crazy. How could it be possible that they would end up on the same campus as working adults together? It didn’t seem real, but here she was in the flesh, living and breathing.
“What are you doing here, Mad? I don’t mean to be rude, but what’s your job?”
“I’m on staff with Droplet.”
River rolled his eyes exaggerating as much as possible.
“You can’t be that surprised,” Maddie added.
“Surprised?” River let out a hiccup of laughter. “No, no, not surprised, just…I guess I’m just a little bit disappointed.”
Maddie nodded her head conceding. The conversation became awkward again. Their ideologies were so different, it just didn’t seem like they could be friends anymore. No offense to Maddie, but she was a different person now and that person had lost that spark that was so fundamentally appealing.
“Do you remember the last thing you ever said to me?”
“How can I forget?” Internally River had forgotten about Maddie, but the moment they saw each other outside of the classroom it all came back in a flood of memories.
“So now you’re a Christian?” they said simultaneously.
“Yeah, and that hasn’t changed.”
River shook his head. He loathed Droplet with every fiber of his being and Maddie was proof that Droplet had taken another victim to join their cult. “That’s just not me, Mad. I-”
“We have different beliefs, granted, but I was hoping that we could respect one another and most importantly be honest with each other.”
Sighing scratching his head, River simply nodded. That was at least logical. How could he stand in front of his class and promote acceptance of all ideologies if he was unwilling to respect hers…defeated, he finally uttered, “Yes, I can do that,” he paused. “I’d like that actually,” he added.
Maddie smiled. The rest of the conversation flowed effortlessly. It was like they were still in college together. Time had never passed, it had just been paused and the play button was finally pressed again. Bidding farewell, he wasn’t sure why, but it seemed proper to hug her. Maddie had been a rock during the initial weeks following Evergreen’s passing. He would never forgive himself for forcing Droplet upon her, but maybe, just maybe he could pull out that girl she used to be and bring her back into the light, away from Droplet forever.
Jaden singing her heart out in the back row, standing up with the rest of the group, as the Droplet meeting came to a close glanced over at Pax who was seated, his mouth motionless. That did seem problematic, but she couldn’t dwell on it. Something much more pressing was about to happen right after the final song of the evening.
She knew she was betraying Maddie by talking over her to Stan, the campus director for Droplet, but it concerned her a great deal. When Jaden first met Maddie, she hadn’t been a believer. She honestly found Maddie’s obsession and love for Christ to be horrifying, annoying, yet inexplicably intriguing. Maddie had been the one that God chose to lead her to faith. Yet something changed the instant she became a believer. Instead of talking about God, they talked solely about Droplet and furthering the ministry. The name of Jesus wasn’t uttered from Maddie’s lips in front of Jaden since she had given her life to God. She didn’t know why, but she told him and she hated herself for being too weak to say it to Maddie’s face.
She wasn’t sure how Stan would relay it to her, but she would no longer be discipled by Maddie. Women’s intuition told her that Maddie would be asked to take a break for a month or two and to not contact any students on the campus. She hated to admit it, but that was fine by her. She loved Maddie like a sister, she really did, but Maddie needed some redirection and fast.
The meeting ended. Jaden bolted out of that room as quickly as she could. She could hear Maddie calling her name, but she ignored it. Avoidance was her only option. Pax caught up with her. He smiled at her. She smiled back brushing hair out of her eyes. They walked back to their dorm halls in silence.
Maddie gasped as River belched in front of her. This was the second day of that week that they were grabbing lunch together. Only this time, it was off-campus. He shook his head quickly, not in a response to what she asked, but to the belch he just gave.
“Dude what is with you and that apple juice? It’s not even carbonated!”
He burst out laughing at her. “I don’t know, I just can’t help it.”
“Burping over apple juice…it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Back to what you were saying, I have to say I’m not surprised.”
“I totally didn’t need to hear that right now…” Maddie sighed exasperatedly.
“What happened to you, Mad? I mean bloody hell, you used to not take shit from anyone and now that you’re told to practically take a vacation you exaggerate defeat. This is so not you.”
“You don’t understand. It’s not a vacation, it’s a forced sabbatical. I need this ministry. I need community. This isn’t a want, oh no. This is a need. I desperately need Droplet.”
Maddie’s heart skipped a beat as River started to yell. “You are so full of shit, your ass is about to explode! You don’t preach the word of Christ,” he paused. “Oh no,” he added under his breath. “No, see, you preach the word of Droplet. Droplet and only Droplet and it makes me sick,” he added with as much disdain as possible.
Maddie nodded her head. She started to cry. Not because what he said hurt like hell. No, she could handle the criticism. It hurt because what he said was true. “Thank you,” she said with sincerity.
“So, are we on for lunch next Friday?”
“Absolutely.”
