Chapter Two "How'd they die, Al?" Sam asked. "Well, in the original history, that bunch of kids, um, you and Grant and Sinda*" "Yeah, yeah, I know. Go on." Sam interrupted his friend. "At some point during the sermon tonight, they all decide to leave the arena and your parents follow them. Their-their bodies aren't found for three days." Al grimaced. "Jordan and Craig have to identify them." "Oh, that poor boy." Sam shook his head. "This should be easy, Sam. All you have to do is keep the kids in here and bam, you Leap out." Al grinned at his friend, hooking his thumbs in his garish red and orange suspenders. "Yeah, right, Al. It's never as easy as it seems." Sam turned around to face the mirror as the door opened and two young woman walked in. He noticed that they too wore tags around their necks but the rope holding their tags was white while his was black. "Al." He whispered sharply when he saw Al's eyes follow the girls' swaying hips. "Hey, I can look." Al raised an eyebrow and put his ever-present cigar into his mouth. "I'm going back. Tina's waiting for me. I'll be back to check on you later." "Al*" "All you have to do is keep them here, Sam. It's not that hard." Al punched a button on the handlink and disappeared through the imaging chamber door. Sam glared at his best friend as the imaging chamber door shut. With a sigh, he turned and walked out of the bathroom. He thought for a second before walking toward the entrance that he had seen Grant and Sapphire go through. His eyes searched the crowd before he spotted the pair on the floor of the arena, waving at him. He smiled and waved back as he carefully made his way down the concrete stairs, thanking Trinity that she had the good sense to buy comfortable tennis shoes and warm-up pants. "Did you seen any of the others?" Grant asked as Sam came down the aisle between the chairs. "Uh, no." Sam answered, starting to pass Grant to sit next to Sapphire when Grant grabbed his hand. "I saved a seat for you next to me." The young man said shyly. "Oh, boy." Sam muttered between clenched teeth. He gently pulled his hand away and sat down next to Grant. "Isn't this great?" Sapphire gushed as she sat down next to her brother. "And the guys here are so hot!" "Uh, yeah." Sam grimaced as he spoke. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Sapphire?" "Sure." Sapphire said happily. She switched seats with Grant who never took his eyes off of Sam. "What's up with him?" Sam asked Sapphire quietly, glancing sideways at Grant who smiled widely when he saw Sam looking his way. "Grant?" Sapphire asked. "Yes, Grant." Sam said, exasperated. This young woman was getting on his nerves. "Why does he keep staring at me like that and trying to hold my hand? Are we going out?" "Trinity, are you okay?" Sapphire asked. "You know that Grant's had a crush on you since he was twelve. You and he started acting like you were going out at camp last month. Every thinks you're going together, but you won't go out with him because he's younger than you." "I won't? I mean, he is? I mean, sure, I knew that." Sam stammered. "Are you starting to like him, Trinity?" "No!" Sam said defensively. "You should know me better than that." He added, hoping that it was the truth. "You're right, Trinity, you're right. I'm sorry. That was a dumb question." Sapphire began to say something else but cut herself off when she spotted someone that she knew walking towards them. With a shout, she stood up on the chairs and began waving both of her hands in the air trying to get the attention of whoever it was that was coming. "I wish she'd cut that out." Sam heard Grant mutter. He gave the young man a sharp glance. "Sorry, but she's weird." Grant said to Sam with a shrug of his shoulders. Sam shook his head and turned to see who was coming to join he and the two others. With any luck, they would be the last of the group that he had to save. A petite young woman with curly brown hair and blue eyes hidden behind glasses was the first to join them. She sat down next to Sam and smiled warmly. "Hi, Nina." Sam said, hoping that he had guessed accurately. "What's up?" "Your Dad drove us over because it's still raining. I can't believe you guys actually walked over here in this. Aren't you freezing?" Fourteen year-old Nina Matthews asked her best friend. "Not really." "I am." Grant spoke up from where he had regained his seat on the other side of Sam. He wore shorts and a T-shirt while Sam was wearing long pants and a short sleeved shirt. "I wish they'd turn off the air conditioning." "Then it'll get stuffy in here." Nina explained. "When are my parents coming?" Sam asked suddenly. "They're right there." Nina said, giving Sam a puzzled look as she pointed to the two adults who had made their way into the row of chairs behind them. "They came in with Sinda, Marta, Chris and Conrad." "Oh. I didn't see them." "Where's Jordan?" Grant asked Nina. "He's with that Tony kid from California. Him and Craig are going to sit with Tony tonight." Nina said. "Trinity," Sam felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned to see an older version of the girl that he had Leaped into. She was speaking to him. Embarrassed, Sam asked her to repeat what she had said. "I said, have you been having fun so far?" "Oh, yes, ma'am." Sam said. The woman gave him a puzzled look before sitting back in her seat. Grant leaned over and whispered, "since when do you call your mom, ma'am?" "Oops." Sam thought. He shrugged. Grant opened his mouth to speak, but whatever words there were died out when the band that was up on the stage began to play. A blond young man had made his way over to sit on the other side of Sapphire and then switched seats with the young woman. Sam guessed that this young man was Conrad Josephs. His guess was confirmed when Nina leaned over and asked, "why didn't Conrad walk over with you guys?" "I think he likes Marta." A tall, thin young woman with dark eyes and brown hair entered the conversation. "Ah," Sam thought. "Here we have Sinda Jackson. And the petite blond sitting next to her must be Marta Jiles. That only leaves the young man next to her. Since Jordan, Craig and Tony aren't here, than that must be Chris from California." "Have you met Marta's boyfriend yet?" Sinda asked. Sam and Nina shook their heads. "This is Chris Russell." Sinda introduced the young man sitting with Marta. "He's one of Tony's friends." She explained. "Isn't he the one that you thought was hot?" Sapphire had moved behind the group and spoke up as soon as she could. "Shut up." Sinda snapped. "Come on you guys." Sam intervened, trying to keep the peace. "Why don't we just be quiet and listen to the music?" Sinda scowled, but didn't say anything more. Sam sighed with relief as everyone turned their attention to the music that was being played. Sam's relief was short-lived, however. The music was enjoyable, but Sam began to feel uncomfortable as he watched the teenagers all around him get into the worship, raising their hands and closing their eyes. He turned his attention to the screen where the lyrics to the songs were being displayed. As Sam read the words, he grew even more uncomfortable. The band stopped the song they had been playing and said that they were going to introduce a new one. Sam gave a wry smile at the irony when he saw that the song's title was "Rain Down on Us". "Appropriate, isn't it, Sam." Sam glanced over to where his hologram friend was standing, in front of Grant. The young man obviously thought that Sam was looking at him because he smiled. Sam returned the smile and turned his eyes back to the screen. Al quickly moved in front of Sam. "What's wrong?" Al immediately noticed the uncomfortable look in Sam's eyes. "I thought you were okay with all of this God stuff. I thought I was the one with the problem." "I don't know, Al." Sam said, keeping his voice down. No one noticed him talking, so he continued. "I'm feeling really weird about this Leap."