This is part two from last week’s story. See Always Welcome for part one!

Jenna ducked into her first period classroom a full ten minutes early, hoping to find her Spanish teacher before class started. If she didn’t tell her the truth right away, she might lose her nerve. The room was empty. Jenna’s heart sank. Now what?

Grandma’s words played through her mind, as they had all night.

“You need to confess your lies to the people you hurt, but you also have to confess them to God. You’ll need to ask forgiveness from Ivy, Colin, and your teacher, but also from God.”

Jenna slid into her seat and bowed her head. “God, I’m sorry for what I did. I lied. I was a terrible friend to Ivy. Please forgive me and help me make it right. Please help me look to You first instead of trying to do things my way. If I was meant to be with Colin, it would have happened without me lying about it.”

“Jenna?”

Jenna’s eyes flew open and she jumped from her seat. “Hola, Señora Martin.”

Señora Martin tipped her head to Jenna. “¿Hola. Esta todo bien?”

 “No.” Jenna frowned. “May I speak in English? I’ll be able to explain much better that way.”

Señora Martin nodded. “Yes. Please go on.”

Jenna swallowed hard. “I wanted to let you know Ivy never cheated. I lied. She’s very good at Spanish. Better than I am. I’m sorry for any trouble I caused.”

Señora Martin raised her eyebrows. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never suspected Ivy of cheating. She answers questions with a clear understanding of the language. Why would you lie about something as serious as cheating?”

Jenna’s cheeks grew hot. “I, uh…”

Footsteps sounded behind Jenna.

“It’s all a misunderstanding.”

Jenna whirled around to find Ivy standing behind her. “What?”

“Don’t worry, Señora Martin. No one, to my knowledge, has been cheating in your class.” Ivy walked past Jenna and took her seat. Jenna stared after her.

Señora Martin glanced from one girl to the other as the rest of the students filed into the room. “I’m glad to hear that.” She continued to the front of the room, pulled some papers from her bag, and laid them on the desk.

Before Jenna could speak with Ivy, the bell rang.

For the rest of the day, Jenna tried to catch up with Ivy, but was thwarted at every turn. Finally, after school, she met up with Colin in the library.

“Have you talked to Ivy lately?” Jenna asked.

“Sure, why?”

“Because I need to apologize to her. And to you.”

Colin raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

“I lied to you. I told you Ivy was cheating off me because I wanted to spend time with you.”

Colin’s face twisted into a smirk. “I know.”

Jenna blinked. “What do you mean, you know?”

“Ivy is brilliant in Spanish. It’s obvious she knows what she’s doing. I knew you were lying as soon as you told me that.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because Ivy was going to charge me to tutor her. You agreed to do it for free, so I let you.”

“But you told everyone what I said, and that Ivy was going to fail the class.”

“That was Ivy’s idea.”

A dull ache rose between Jenna’s temples. “I don’t understand.”

“I told Ivy what you said because I thought it was funny. She told me to tell you that Señora Martin found out and was failing her because she wanted to teach you a lesson. No one else heard about your lie.”

“So when I talked to Señora Martin this morning…”

“She had no idea what you were talking about.”

Jenna slumped back against her seat. “Well, that’s a relief. I’m glad Ivy was never in trouble. I’m sorry I lied to you.”

Colin shrugged. “No big deal. I’m used to girls doing all kinds of things to be with me.”

How arrogant! Grandma was right. Colin wasn’t worth losing a friend over.

“So I guess this tutoring thing is over,” Colin said.

“If you don’t mind. I’d rather go try to talk to Ivy.”

“Suit yourself.”

Jenna hurried from the school building and made her way to Ivy’s house, praying Ivy would speak with her. She rang the doorbell and paced the porch while waiting for an answer.

Ivy’s mom opened the door. “Hello, Jenna. I’m glad to see you. I understand you and Ivy had a bit of a disagreement.”

Jenna’s cheeks heated. “It wasn’t a disagreement, Mrs. Conners. Ivy did nothing wrong. It was completely my fault. I lied about Ivy because I wanted a boy to pay attention to me. She’s always been a wonderful friend and I feel awful about what I did. There’s no excuse. I came here to ask for her forgiveness, but I don’t deserve it. To be honest, I’m not even sure what I should say to her.”

“Oh, I think what you said will work out just fine.”

“What?”

Mrs. Conners opened the door wider to reveal Ivy standing behind it. She stared at Jenna, stone-faced.

Jenna took a step back, stammering. “I, uh, I’m really sorry, Ivy. I’ll go now.”

Ivy reached out and grabbed Jenna’s arm, pulling her into the house. “You will not. It’s my turn to talk to you.”

Jenna bit her lip and stood against the foyer wall.

Ivy drew in a deep breath. “We’ve been friends forever, and when you lied to Colin, you really hurt me. Everything you said to my mom is true, except for one thing. I did do something wrong. I told Colin to lie to you, too. When I heard you talking to Señora Martin this morning, I knew it had gone too far. I never wanted a teacher involved.”

“I’m so sorry I hurt you, Ivy. Colin isn’t worth it.”

Ivy giggled. “No, he’s really not. He’s cute, but that’s about it.”

Jenna raised her eyebrows. “You’re not interested in him?”

Ivy shook her head. “Not anymore. But I do want my best friend back. I forgive you. Just don’t do it again.”

Relief coursed through Jenna like a flood. “I won’t, I promise.”

Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 

God, sometimes we do or say things we shouldn’t. Thank you for the people in our lives who are willing to extend forgiveness. Most importantly, though, thank You for forgiving us. When others sin against us, help us to remember how much You forgave us, and help us to extend that same forgiveness to them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.