It Must Be Your Faith

Pslam 34:17

   When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. - Psalm 34:17
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Zachary Goode was never one to believe in God. His mother, Catherine Goode, always made sure to remind Zach of what a horrible person he is, that is if he's even real. "Remember Zachary, God doesn't exist and you are an atheist.  If this so called God existed then why has he been so cruel to me? He ruined my life and top it all off he left me with you." Catherine Goode stared at her son, a sneer and disgust clear on her face. Ever since they lost his father and his sister Zach's life turned into a living hell. His mother turned to alcohol to drown her sorrows. As the years went by, her sadness turned to resentment towards Zach. At sixteen years old Zach knew better than to retaliate when she gets in one of her moods. 

    The pots and pans clanged against one another as she rummaged through the cabinets, slamming them closed as she went. Zach kept a blank stare on his face, not once letting his mask break. "There it is." Catherine muttered as she reached for the bottle of whiskey in the back of the fourth cabinet. She took a long sip before slamming the bottle down onto the table. "Get out of my sight." Catherine sneered at him. Zach didn't hesitate a moment longer to walk briskly towards the door, slamming it on his way out. 

    Zach sighed as the tension slowly faded away with each step he took. After about an hour of walking he glared up at the sky. "God, Cammie is always telling me that you exist and care. Why me? Why couldn't I have had a normal family? It's so hard to believe in you when you have done nothing to show me that you are real and that you care." "Of course he cares. If he didn't then he wouldn't have sent me to you." A soft voice called out. Zach's mouth dried as he turned his gaze to the girl in front of him. Cammie Morgan, was everything that Zach was not. She was kind, beautiful, intelligent, had a heart of gold, and a true Christian at heart. She smiled warmly at him. For the first time in days, Zach smiled, a heart stopping grin that left Cammie dazzled. 

    "You'll never give up on trying to restore my faith will you?" Zach asked quietly. Cammie shook her head. "No," she replied softly, "I won't. I will admit that life has been very cruel to you Zach. Mia didn't deserve to die from cancer, you don't deserve to be rejected by your mom, and you most certainly don't deserve to live a life where you resent God. You deserve so much more than you think." He shook his head. "Cammie, I know exactly where you're going with this and my answer is still no. We live in two completely different worlds. You're from a high class family, and I'm not even apart of one, but most importantly, you're a Christian and I'm, well, not. I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God. I'm not the right guy for you Cammie. You deserve more." 

    Cammie scrowled. "I don't want more. I just want you." Zach chuckled darkly. "Your parents will never approve of me. Not only am I a nobody, but I don't believe in God. That's a deal breaker for them considering how Christian they are." Cammie crossed the last distance between them and reached for his hand. "I don't care about that. I love you Zach and I know you feel the same way. I know I can restore your faith. I just need you to put in your part of the effort. In case you've forgotten you're the one who kissed me first." Zach smiled briefly. "Fair point, but it's because I love you that I must let you go. You don't deserve to be with someone who believes and loves God as much as you do. You deserve someone who will pray with you at any time of day, someone who will go to Church every Sunday, and teach your children all about faith. I can't do that Cammie, because I don't think I'll ever be able to believe." 

    Tears were streaming silently down Cammie's face and Zach's heart clenched in guilt. Zach has always been in love with Cammie, since the first moment he saw her across the school grounds. She was walking down the sidewalk with her friends when an ambulance passed by, siring blaring. Her smile faded. She bowed her head and started to speak quietly to herself. Her friends took a step back and watched her silently. Zach was confused wondering what she was doing. Her face lifted and she reached for her necklace. Zach watched in awe as she lifted the cross to her mouth and kissed it. 

    That was the first day that Zach wished he believed in God. He wanted to believe that a greater force was out there looking out for his well being. "What happened Zach? You were starting to believe. I know you were. You even started to wear the cross I gave you. What changed?" Cammie asked softly. "Mia died! That's what changed!" He cried out as he tore his hands away from her and took several steps back. Cammie wrapped her arms around herself, a soft sob coming out. "Mia was everything to me. She was only six Cammie. Six. Why would God take her from me if he existed? No one can be that cruel to a single person right?" Cammie reached out for him again. "Oh Zach." She breathed out. Her arms wrapped around him and she crushed herself to him. "Please don't give up on us." She cried out. "You were making progress and I was starting to believe that we could finally be accepted by my parents. I'm tired of sneaking around. I want to be able to hold your hand out in public, invite you to eat dinner at my house, and be able to do things people in love do." Zach kissed the top of her head and pulled back to see her face. Her beautiful green eyes were filled with tears and her cheeks were flushed. 

    Zach lifted his hand and brushed her tears away. He cupped her cheek and she leaned into his touch. "I love you Camille Elizabeth Morgan. I tried to be the man that you deserve, but I just can't. God doesn't find me worthy of his love, so what makes you think I'm worthy of yours?" He told her brokenly. "I love you Zachary Mason Goode and I will never stop fighting for us. I believe in you, in us." Zach stared into her eyes. He saw her determination, her love, but most of all, her hope. He leaned down and crushed his lips to hers. She gasped and leaned up to wrap her arms around his neck. He pulled her hard against him and kissed her with everything he had, trying to show her just how much he loved her and that all he's ever wanted was for her to be happy. 

    Zach slowly pulled back, lingering on her lips for a moment longer, before opening his eyes. Cammie's eyes slowly opened, her eyes searched his face. Her eyes looked past his shoulder and widened in horror. "No." She breathed. "How dare you touch my daughter!" a man's voice boomed from behind Zach. He turned only to be met with a swinging fist landing squarely on his jaw. Zach fell to the ground and reached up to touch his mouth. He flinched at the pain and felt the blood drip down his chin. "Zach!" Cammie cried out as she dropped to her knees beside him. "Are you okay?" She said frantically. "Camille! Get up this instant!" Cammie's mother, Lorraine, yelled out as she reached for her arm and yanked her to her feet. 

    "Let me go! I'm not going anywhere!" Cammie yelled as she struggled to get out of her mother's grip. Her father reached down and lifted Zach up by the collar of his shirt. "I've already warned you once. Stay away from my daughter." Zach nodded, a blank expression on his face. "Leave him alone!" Cammie cried out, once again struggling against her mother's grip. Her mother whirled her around to face her. "You will never see this boy again! Do I make myself clear? He is not like us Camille." "I love him!" Cammie blurted out. Zach's breath caught in his throat. He watched as Lorraine froze, then in one fluid motion slapped Cammie across the face. Cammie gasped and lifted her hands to cradle her cheek. Zach's vision turned red. "Don't touch her!" he shouted as he pushed her dad off of him and ran to her side. "Cammie? Are you okay?" Zach asked worriedly winching at the sight of the red handprint on the side of her face. 

    "You," Lorraine said to her as she glared at us, "are a disgrace to this family, to God himself!" Cammie's face went deathly pale. "Cammie? Sweetheart? Don't listen to her. You have the purest, kindest soul I have ever seen in all of my life. You're unwavering faith blows my mind and at times I wish I could believe. I swear it." Zach tells her frantically, panic clear in his voice as he saw the hope fade from Cammie's eyes. Zach reached for her but Cammie took a step back and met his stare with a blank expression. Lorraine smiled and reached for her daughter. Silent tears started to fall down her face. Cammie whirled around and ran towards the opposite direction. "Cammie! Watch out!" Zach cried out as he ran after her. Cammie had ran towards the street blindly, not noticing the car heading towards her. 

    Zach's heart leaped to his throat as the car struck Cammie. "NO!" He wailed. Lorraine's scream and Richard's cry were just a faint noise in the background as he saw Cammie's body fly over the hood and roof of the car, and land motionless on the ground. Zach threw himself down beside her. "Cammie?" Zach whispered. "Sweetheart, you have to wake up. Please open your eyes." He clasped her hand into his and brought her knuckles to his lips. "Please don't leave me." He pleaded.