Show Us The Way - Chapter 1

Author's Note

Please read the Author's Note. It explains everything about this novel. And please, I would like reviews specifically about my writing and the story, not about anything else. Yes, this is a novel based on a certain religion and I don't want to have to read through arguments about religion and such. Thanks for reading! :) Oh yeah, one more thing: this is my July campnano novel so it's not really edited or anything. Please be as harsh as you want.

Chapter 1

Annette

My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.

-Psalm 119:28

The ride to school was always a dull one. Her mother always took the highway instead of the back roads. There were three different ways to get to school and only two of them required going on the highway. The third way was go through the heart of DC. That was Annette's favorite way to go because of the Washington Monument. It was her favorite part about living in DC. Tourists had to plans trips to visit the monument, but she could go whenever she wanted to.

And it was always nice to see the White House too. That ended up being on the way too. But her mother was always in a rush and never saw the point in talking the scenic way when there was a quicker route. So they were stuck taking the highway.

"Annie," Carol said, turning her head to glare at her daughter. "Quit moving around like that. You're gonna make me crash. I can't see with your head bobbing up and down."

"Sorry, Mom," she grumbled as she sat down and leaned her head against the window. She was only trying to see the monument. It was hidden from view by about a million trees. You'd think that being the tallest building in the area, you'd be able to see it from any point. But you can't.

Annette sat in silence for the rest of the ride until they reached her school. It stood tall and large, making her old middle school, which was right across the street, look like a one-room schoolhouse. Her heart ached for that school. Today she would be starting high school. She was excited, but at the same time she would miss all of her old teachers and the familiar feeling of the halls at Saint Mary’s Middle School.

The Lincoln School of Acumen, where she was attending high school, was a private school for kids with exceptional talents anywhere from musical ability to future scientists. Acumen was just a fancy word for "geniuses". Of course, the average person didn't know that so the name was usually met with raised eyebrows.

The school looked like a college campus with its separate buildings for each subject. There were huge open plots of grass with trees and flowers scattered across them. All of the buildings were made of brick and had moss growing up the sides. It was there for decoration, but something about it made Annette cringe.

She loved her school already even though she hadn't spent a day there yet. It had a special program for history among many other things like art, drama, and science. But history was her favorite.

"Shall we pray before you go in?" Carol asked. Annette nodded. She turned and took her mother's hands in her own, bowed her head and began to pray.

"Lord Jesus please bless me in my studies today. Keep we awake and alert and focused on whatever task is in front of me. And I ask You to help me see You in everyone I meet. Help me to be kind and find compassion in my heart. And as always, help me to understand Your will and to do it. Amen."

Carol let go of her daughter's hands and smiled. Annette had never realize how beautiful her mother really was. Carol may be nearing fifty, but she still looked like she was thirty. Her blond hair was cut in a cute pixie cut and her face was nearly blemish free. The outfits she wore were inappropriate for her age, but they looked good on her so it didn't matter. And she never wore too much makeup, quite unlike Annette who tended to always put on just a bit too much. Not on purpose of course.

Annette couldn't look any different than her mother. She figured that she got all of her dad's genes. Her hair was a dark black color and her eyes were a plain brown. Not to mention her skin was pale white while her mother's was nearly olive.

"Listen, honey," Carol said in her soft, loving mother voice. This was only one side of Carol. Annette could give testimony to other times when Carol wasn't so motherly. But Annette preferred this side of her mother the best. "Don't be afraid to be yourself. There are some big changes happening and your religious beliefs may come under attack at any moment. Just know that God is there for you and will protect you."

Annette didn't really know what her mother was talking about. No one had ever attacked her religion before. There was no reason for someone to. "Don't worry Mom," she said. "I deal with these kids everyday.”

Carol sighed. "I know, but that was in a Catholic school. Everyone there was a disciple of Christ. You’re going into high school at a non-religious school. The devil will be working there harder than ever. Just be careful.”

Annette leaned over, kissed her mother on the cheek, and climbed out of the car. “I will, Mom, I promise. Remember, I’ve got soccer practice after school so you don’t have to pick me up. Jen will drive me home.” Carol tensed.

“I don’t know about that. Jenny and her family are atheists. I’m not sure I want you going anywhere with her.”

“Mom,” Annette groaned. “You’ve always told us that God loves everyone. So He must love Jenny too even if she doesn’t love Him back. And besides, Jen and I are good friends. She doesn’t care about what religion I am and honestly, I don’t care either.” Carol looked at her daughter skeptically. But Annette could see that she had won the argument.

“Fine. But I still don’t want you riding home with her. Take the metro with Melissa. You can even stop by the monument if you want. I just filled up your card this morning so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting to the trains. Have a good day, Annie. I love you!” And with that, she zoomed around the corner and out of sight.

The monument. She said I can go see the monument! With that happy thought in mind, Annette made her way up the front steps of the school.

When she opened the front door, she staggered back a bit. Up until this point, she had been completely confident about going to high school, especially since it was not like any other normal high school. But now she wasn’t so sure. The halls were jam packed with kids carrying instruments, huge backpacks, and dressed in the most outrageous outfits.

Someone rammed into her from behind and she was forced through the doors. She stumbled into the hallway and nearly fell. The boy who had run into her turned to apologize, but his eyes flickered to her neck and he stopped. His lips formed a tight line and he walked away without saying anything.

Just as she got moving again, someone else slammed into her back. This time she was sent sprawling onto the floor. The flap of her backpack came loose and all of her folders and books spilled out.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, jeek!” Annette looked up to see the kid who knocked her over. He was a tall boy with short, messy brown hair. He was tan, way too tan for a normal person to be. And his friends, nearly six of them, all boys, seemed to flock around him like he was the most popular person on the planet. He and his friends laughed and walked away.

Annette sulked and hurried to pick up her books. Why'd that boy have to be so mean to her? He was such a jerk. She decided that she didn't like him. And then, as if suddenly realizing her thoughts, she stopped suddenly and wrapped her hand around the cross dangling from her neck. She shouldn’t think that way. If Jesus could forgive those who ridiculed Him while He was on the cross, she could forgive the kids who were mean to her. Her life and problems were much less than anything Jesus went through.

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Annette mumbled.

“Ephesians 4.” Annette snapped her head up to see who had spoken. Soft, green eyes were smiling at her. They belonged to a boy who looked to be a few years older than her. He was kneeling on the ground in front of her, two of her folders in his arms and a notebook in his hand. His black hair was tussled and fell just above his eyes.

Embarrassed, Annette grabbed everything from him and stuffed it back into her backpack and stood. Had he really heard her quoting the Bible out loud? She was sure that she was only saying it in her head. But she was a bit impressed that he knew the verse.

“Do you need this?” The boy asked, holding out the notebook that she had forgotten he had. She smiled a little and took the notebook.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. She was sure that he’d leave her alone once she had everything put away, but he didn’t. He just stood there, hands in the pockets of his jeans. Obviously he was waiting for her to do something. But what was he waiting for? Did he want to watch her walk away down the hall or invite her to lunch? It was a little weird. Could she have made a friend on the first day already? No; she wasn't that good at making friends.

But then again, this boy refused to leave her side. Even when she nodded at him and started walking away, he followed. He was at a safe distance, but he was still too close for comfort. Anyone watching closely could see that he was following her. He was starting to make Annette nervous. She could barely focus on where she was going.

Right at the band room. Left at the choir room. Walk through the cafeteria.

Annette pulled a map out of her backpack and consulted it. As she was trying to find an easy way to her locker, she saw the boy in her peripheral vision. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, heel kicked back against the wall. She could almost imagine the bemused look on his face that she knew was there. It made her blush. There was just something about him that was cute.

Shaking her head, she turned back to her map. There was no need to be thinking about boys. There was a completely different problem that she had to deal with. Groaning, she realized that she was going the complete wrong way. And it was the boy’s fault. If she hadn’t wasted so much of her focus on him, she’d be at her locker already.

Turning, she stalked back the way she’d come. She didn’t even look at the boy, even though she was sure he was still following her. She just needed to get to her locker. Then she could put her books away and head to homeroom and her first day of high school could really begin.

But there was still that nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. No matter how many times she told herself not to think about it, she kept imagining the boy walking behind her. Quickly, she snuck a peek behind her. Sure enough, he was still following her. Her heart beat faster as she turned back to the hall in front of her. Didn’t he have somewhere else to be? Homeroom was starting soon. He couldn’t afford to be late.

Finally, when it had become too much for her, she whirled around and said, “May I help you?” The boy stopped in his tracks and raised his eyebrows in surprise. But he didn’t say anything. That just made her more agitated. “Tell me why you are following me!”

“No reason,” he said, shrugging. “Do you need help finding your locker?” Annette looked from him, down at the map, and to the wall next to her. The lockers stood side to side, an endless line of bright orange. She hated the color. In black writing, the number 548 stood out to her. It was her locker.

“Nope,” she said, turning her back to him. “This is it. See you around!” She set to turning the dial on the locker. But she just couldn’t seem to get it to open. No matter how many times she put in her combination, it just wouldn’t open. She groaned inwardly. There were no lockers at Saint Mary’s. They had been allowed to carry their backpacks wherever they went. But not at the Lincoln School of Acumen.

She felt the boy come closer. Her heart beat fast as he stood next to her, looking over her shoulder at her locker combination. She could feel her neck and face flush. She hoped that he hadn’t noticed. Carefully and slowly so she could see every move, he entered the combination and pounded the locker once with his fist. To her surprise, the door flew open.

“How’d you know what to do?” She asked in amazement. The boy shrugged.

“There’s always some unlucky freshman who gets this ridiculous locker.” He looked at her. They were still too close, but Annette was too upset to move. Besides, she wasn’t exactly sure if she wanted to move.

“I’m Peter,” the boy said, holding out his hand. Somehow she was able to reach out and take his hand. His skin was soft and warm under her touch.

“Annette,” she said. “But my friends just call me Annie.”

“Annette,” Peter said slowly, trying out her name against his lips. “I like it. Very original. Annie is good and all, but I think I’ll just call you Annette. Is that okay with you?” Before she had time to tell him that he could call her whatever he wanted, a steady ring filled the halls. It was the bell for homeroom. She hurriedly stuffed her backpack into her locker and slammed it shut.

Peter was still standing there when she turned around. “The freshman homerooms are that way,” he said, pointing to the right. She looked down the hall to see kids like her, small, scared, shuffling into classrooms. “Sophomores are down the next hall. And juniors, that’s me, are with the sophomores. I’d suggest staying away from the gym. That’s where the seniors are. They have a little too much fun teasing the freshmen.”

“I’m not a freshman.” Annette somehow managed to say. She’d been trying to tell him since the first time he said she was one, but she wasn’t able to. Now it was his turn to look confused.

“Sophomore?" She nodded, making him shake his head. "You look too lost to be a sophomore.” He cracked a smile and Annette found herself laughing.

“Yeah, well, I’m new so I don’t know my way around. Can you show me to--” she consulted her schedule, suddenly realizing that she didn’t even know what room she was in for homeroom. “Room 37B. That’s where I’m supposed to be.” Peter grabbed her schedule, looked it over twice and then whistled.

“You’ve got a full schedule. And some complicated classes at that. Hey everyone,” he said, yelling to the bunches of students still heading to homeroom. “We’ve got a genius over here!”

“Shut up jeek!” Someone called back to him. Peter’s smile became fixed. He saluted the packs of kids and turned back to Annette. She frowned. That was the second time she’d heard that term and she had no idea what it meant.

“What’s a jeek?” she asked. This time, the smile disappeared from Peter’s face completely. He shook his head and said he’d tell her later.

"I'll show you to your homeroom."

The entire walk to room 37B, Annette shared her stories of growing up completely fascinated by history. While most girls wanted dolls and play houses for Christmas, Annette wanted books and miniature statues. And then she told him how she’d tested out of ninth grade and was bumped up to tenth grade.

In turn, Peter told her about his crazy family and overprotective twin sister. “Jenny thinks that she’s in charge because she came out first. But I mean, really, what’s three minutes to decide who’s in charge?” Annette stopped in her tracks.

“Oh my gosh, Jenny. Like, Jenny from the soccer team?"

“Yeah, you know her?”

“I’m on the soccer team,” she responded. “I met her at camp over the summer.” Peter nodded.

“That would make sense. My sister likes to be best friends with everyone.”

“She's your twin? But you two don’t look anything alike!”

“I know, that's what everyone says.” Peter said, wrinkling his nose. Then he leaned down and whispered in Annette’s ear, “I’m the pretty one.” That set Annette into a fit of giggles. Peter grinned proudly as if he’d spent the whole morning trying to get her to laugh.

They spent the rest of their walk laughing back and forth and trading family stories. Annette hadn't felt this comfortable with anyone in a while. Even the kids she hung out with back in middle school weren’t this nice or funny. And here she was on the first day of high school, making a new friend. A real one at that, not just someone who was pretending.

“Well,” Peter said suddenly. “Here you are. Room 37B. I’m actually in 37A, so I’ll see you after homeroom, yeah?” He looked as if he was going to hug her, but then thought about it and stuck his hand out. They shook hands again and Peter headed into Room 37A. Annette watched him disappear and then, after taking a deep breath, walked into Room 37B.