Yours Not Mine

Chapter 1

As Faith arrived to the town of her new school, it was a culture shock, considering she wasn't used to such a small town. Everything was in reach and all the stores and restaurants she would need to visit were all in the same area. She wouldn't have to travel more than 3 miles away from the campus to go anywhere, so she would need to get used to walking everywhere. She got settled into her empty room and took in the fresh sensation of being an independent adult.

She picked up her schedule and found out her only class on Monday was Philosophy 100. When Monday came, she arrived at the classroom 5 minutes early, getting into her usual punctual habit.

"Welcome to Philosophy 100," said the professor standing at the front of the room before the white board. "My name is Mr. Charles and if you didn't know already, in this class, you'll be learning about the philosophies and scientific theories of famous philosophers and scientists. This isn't a religion class as much as it is a class about theories or philosophies, hence the name of the class. All the information discussed in this class is purely for educational and informal purposes from an unbiased standpoint."

About ten minutes into class, someone walked in, distracting some people from the lesson. He sat next to Faith and leaned towards her, "What'd I miss?"

"The introduction and origin of philosophy and religion," she whispered back. Faith sensed that this boy didn't care. She picked this up from his late arrival and his only preparation for class was a single pencil.

When class was over, Faith went to the student office to discuss a roommate, but there was no one currently available for her to share her room with. This wasn't the best news because she knew she would be lonely and bored, but on the bright side, it would decrease the chance of distractions. "Yours not mine, Lord," she said to herself.

* * *

Two weeks into school, she sat in the cafeteria working on a philosophy essay. Suddenly, she was approached by the boy who sat next to her on the first day of school.

As he saw her at the table, he stopped and pointed to her, "Hey, I know you. We have philosophy together,"

"Oh, yeah. Hi," Faith said with a smile.

The boy pulled out the chair in front of her, "May I?"

"Sure,"

"I'm Matt, by the way," he said as he sat down. "You?"

"Faith,"

"Ah, spiritual name,"

"Some would say. And is Matt short for something?"

"Matthew,"

"A spiritual name," she laughed.

"Some would say. Call me Matt," Matt had dirty blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. From what Faith observed so far, it looked like there wasn't much more to his wardrobe than tank tops and cargo shorts. "I assume you're Christian or Jewish," he said, looking at Faith's golden cross necklace.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"No. I'm neither. I don't exactly...believe in a higher entity,"

"Oh, so are you agnostic?"

"I'm an atheist," Matt usually shared that piece of information early in the conversation with religious people to see what kind of reaction it would stir up. Faith didn't exactly have the reaction he expected.

"Oh," she replied as if it was just good to know.

"So, lemme ask. What is a good old Christian girl like yourself doing in a philosophy 100 college class?"

"I like to learn about different philosophies and religions, even though I don't believe in or practice all of them. It's good to know people's rituals, how they live, or what they come up with scientifically, I suppose,"

"Well I just had to know. I mean, I just thought someone like you would get offended, you know, since you guys are known for spreading your religious beliefs,"

"Do you mean 'spreading' or forcing down the throats of non believers with the fear of God? I could ask you the same thing, Mr. No Religion For Me. Why are you taking this course?," she asked as she sipped her soda.

Matt shrugged, "Educational purposes."

Faith laughed.

"Okay, fine. I took philosophy in high school and got college credit, so I thought why not continue it. Plus, I really do wanna learn about this stuff. Who knows, I might wanna major in Philosophy,"

"Yeah," Faith said in an unconvinced tone. "Sure,"

"I'm surprised you haven't fled in disgust since I told you I'm an atheist. Oh, no you're gonna try to convert me so I can be more like you in order to save my soul from eternal suffrage,"

"Eh, the second option actually sounds good right now," Faith said, raising her eyebrows and making Matt laugh.

"You're probably the funniest Christian I've ever met,"

"Well, I aim to please. And just so you know, if Christians refused to associate themselves with non-believers, there would be no one for us to convert," she said as if she spoke with deep meaning, then she pointed to her brain and winked.

Matt took a moment to look at Faith's happy features. She just looked happy. He didn't know what it was about her, but he could tell she got along with anyone she came in contact with. She had a sweet way about her that made him want to ignore the automatic dislike he had for Christians.

"So, why are you an atheist?" Faith asked curiously.

"Why?" Matt almost didn't know how to answer.

"Yeah, why? If you were agnostic, that would be different. At least you would have an uncertainty and it would be easier to convince you either way. Since you're an atheist, it's like you refuse to believe God exists, like you know. So, why? Do you not want to believe in God or...?"

"I guess not. I mean, it's basically the same as every other atheist's reasoning. You can't see, hear, or feel anything that show's there's anything out there,"

"As humans, we always want answers and explanations. If it's not in front of us, we're convinced it doesn't exist. Understandable,"

"Why do you believe?"

"Simple. Thankfully, I was raised in a Christian home and went to church on a regular basis, so I always knew about God. As I got older and heard about life changing testimonies, I wanted to know Him so that I could experience happiness and spread that happiness to other people. I wanted to love God more than anything since he blesses me,"

"Well, I'm perfectly happy and I've had everything I've ever wanted and I don't believe any of that," Matt said, crossing his arms on the table.

"True happiness comes from Christ. Money, clothes, houses, cars, friends and all that good stuff is great, but they can only give you temporary happiness. As kids, we got bored of our toys and outgrew them, but God can give you everlasting joy and happiness."

Matt just looked at Faith, taking in everything she said. He was more impressed than anything else that she came up with such a long and certain answer.

"I gotta go," Faith said, looking at the time on her phone. She stood up and swung her back pack over her shoulder. "I need to pee, then I need to finish this essay,"

"Oh, that's good to know," Matt replied, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Nice chat. Hopefully, I'll see you around," Faith gave Matt a hug as if they had been friends for years, which took him by surprise.

"You like me?" Matt felt no need to hide his shock.

Faith laughed at him. "Yeah, man. Later."

Admittedly, one of the only reasons he wanted to talk to her was just so they could debate.Without even realizing it, Matt had just made a friend with a Christian.