Losing my religion

1. Meeting him

It's the first day after Easter holidays and I couldn't be happier. I haven't seen Romy in three weeks, and I can't wait for all the gossip, news, and sharing classes. Though these three weeks were fine, since I got to spend them in Europe with my family, nothing compares to the feeling of seeing your best friend again.

I meet her at my door, where she always waits for me so that we can walk to school together. After five minutes of "I've missed you"s, we start gossiping about the people in our school, something we absolutely love doing.

"You remember Aria, right? That girl who wouldn't stop studying and looked like a dead body. Well, I've heard that she looks totally gorgeous now. She got her braces off and she doesn't need glasses anymore. And not only that, but she's changed her style too. She actually follows fashion trends now. Can you believe it?

"Oh Romy, you'll never change, will ya?" I laugh. 

"Nope. Also, I've heard there's a new boy coming to our school, and apparently he's from London. Can you believe it? He must be such a hottie!"

I laugh again. She's so into boys she could actually be one.

When we get to the school, we stop to talk to a few people we both are close with, and we all share experiences and stories for about five minutes, being careful not to be late for our first class after the break. But before we go to our classes, my father, who apart from being the priest in the town church, also works as a Religion teacher in my school, asks us to wait a minute. Luckily, he is not my teacher, it would be too awkward.

"Excuse me for wasting your time but I've got something to say. It will be short, I promise. So, as some of you may already know, we are lucky to have a new student among us. His name is Andy, and he is English. I hope you all welcome him and make him feel home" when he is done talking and everyone goes to their class, my father calls me and tells me to do him a huge favor. The new boy is standing beside him.

"Hey, sweetie. I know I shouldn't do this because you do have to attend your first class as well as the others, but can you please show the school to this new boy so that he doesn't get lost trying to find his class and the other rooms?" he smiles at me, and I notice the new boy glancing at me with a confident yet mysterious look. It seems as though his eyes are lost. 

"Sure" I answer.

I show him around a little, taking him to the classes he'll need to go to, the cafeteria, the school library, and obviously, the church. 

"This school, this town, and especially my family is very religious. I don't know whether you believe in God or not, though it would be such a big mistake to ignore the power and importance of God in our lives. So, even if you're not Christian, pretend you are one" 

"Fuck it, I'm not going to pretend I am one of those crazy people who are constantly praying and thanking God for everything they do. No, thank you" he shrugs.

"I was just trying to give you advice. Anyway, do what you want to do. It's not me who'll have problems"

"Why would not believing there is a God bring me problems? I'm sure there are normal people in here, who don't care about this shit"

"You are being really rude to the people here and you haven't even met us properly. There's a kind of party tonight in a place called The Terrasse. Would you like to come?" I ask, trying to be nice.

"Are you gonna ask God if he's coming too? Huh?"

"Please, stop saying those things. God is always watching"

"Y'all are so boring. You know what? You don't have to do this. I'll go find my class. I'm sure as hell it's more interesting than this Christian shit" He leaves, and he doesn't even say goodbye. Screw him. God will not be able to forgive him for what he's said.