Love and Redemption (Completed)

SummerTime

"But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." Isaiah 64:8

The next couple of weeks were torture! The constant prayers, Bible Times, God Blesses, and church services were enough to make me crave a prison cell. At least I would fit it there. I stood out like a sore thumb at church and hated every second of it. Didn't have a phone to distract me, couldn't bring a book to read, and the one time I dozed off gained me a swift 'not so soft tap on the head' by the old lady that sat behind me. And to make matters worse, it felt like we went to that stupid church almost every single day. If it wasn't a sermon it was an event, or baptism, or charity event, or just because. I counted down every day to my freedom of summer camp, but the days couldn't go fast enough. 

Tension in the house was rising too. I did everything I could to stay in my room, but the Steadmans seemed determined to spend time with me. Finally, one night, something in me snapped, and I couldn't stand it anymore. We were in the middle of Bible time and my head was pounding from all the verses. I finally just roughly stood up and walked towards the doorway of the living room.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Pastor asked in a mixture of displeasure and shock.

"I gotta get out of here," I said, more to myself than to him.

"Sit back down young lady," Pastor said more roughly.

"NO!" I partially screamed as I turned around to face him, "No, I won't. I won't sit here and take another minute of this Bible crap. It's all useless bedtime stories about some dude that died thousands of years ago! I don't have to sit here and listen to another word you say!"

Even as the words left my mouth I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I had made a mistake. However, I was committed and I wasn't backing down now. Pastor's face had turned red and Jane's mouth had fallen open in silent shock. Pastor looked like he was about to say something, but instead he did something I didn't expect. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. The redness in his face went away and he had an eerie calm look that haunted me.

"Ok, Chloe. If you would like to leave you can. But please just go to bed instead of leaving the house. It's late and dark outside," he said calmly, but I could see his white knuckles gripping his Bible.

I didn't say anything and just left the room. I thought about leaving the house, but decided being on a comfy bed would be better than wandering around in the woods in the dark. I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes. Camp was just two days away. Two more days of enduring this awful house and church. Two days... 

Two Days Later

Jane gave me a huge hug before I climbed into the bus that was taking me to summer camp. 

"Have fun!" she said with a huge smile on her face.

"I will," I responded as squeezed her back. She finally let me go and I gave a sharp nod to Pastor. We weren't really speaking at the moment since the blow up the other night at Bible time. I climbed into the bus and found a window seat in the back. Soon enough more kids around my age started filling in the empty seats. A young girl with shoulder length, curly blonde hair sat beside me. She was wearing a bright blue sundress with flower prints all over it and white flipflops. Her sky blue eyes were sparkling as she turned to me with a huge smile.

"Hi! I'm Molly, are you super excited for camp?" she looked at me excitedly. Her bubbliness made me want to vomit. 

"Yea, totally," I said as I turned towards the window and hugged my backpack closer. Inside, along with my wallet, spare jacket, and favorite book was a huge bottle of vodka I had managed to steal last time I was at the store with Jane. It was my ticket into all the parties and I couldn't wait to crack it open. To say I was in alcohol withdraw was an understatement.