BAILEY'S P.O.V.

Paige hugged me tightly. "My goodness. I cannot begin to imagine being in that situation, Bailey." She slowly and carefully pulled away. "Not trying to be insensitive, but...what happened to the baby?"

My eyes went wide, and my bottom jaw dropped. I had to process her question, praying that I heard what I wanted to hear. Then again, who wants to hear that a mother rid herself of her baby? Oh, I did not do that.

This was not the perfect time to laugh, but I could not hold it in. I laughed and laughed. I was laughing so hard that my poor belly started aching. Paige and the fairies were rightfully confused. They looked at one another, and then back at me.

Finally, Orange said, "I cannot believe that a sinner who calls herself a child of the King thinks that what men and women face every day is a laughing matter. I got news for you, Bailey. It is no laughing matter."

I forced my laughter to die down and wiped tears that had formed in the corners of my eyes. "I am not laughing at the men and women who deal with it," I defended myself. "I found Paige's question funny."

"I was serious, Bailey," she said, scratching the side of her head. "You must have done something to your baby because your family did not come with one." She covered with both of her hands. "You did not abort the cutie...did you?"

I patted her shoulder and smiled a little. "The baby is fine. That is, if I had one."

Her face was now as white as toothpaste. "You were never pregnant, were you?"

"Nope, and I hope to heck that I will never be."

Besides me being a Christian and my sister, Betsy, being an atheist, we have different opinions on the subject of marriage. Betsy is one of those girls who dreams of marrying the perfect husband and having children. I want to clarify that there is no such thing as the perfect husband or the perfect wife. Because we are sinners, we are imperfect. We are bound to make stupid decisions until we pass.

This reminds me of a story. The story is about two teens who attend the same school. One is a popular girl, and the other is an outcast boy. The girl was popular because she was perfect. Well, in the eyes of sinners. Everything from her smooth hair to flawless skin, there was no room for imperfection.

The boy was the opposite. He was nicknamed the outcast because his peers did not like - no, hated - him. He was imperfect. He kept making mistakes no matter how many times he promised that he would never do it again. He tripped constantly in the halls and in the classrooms because he was too lazy to tie his shoelaces. He cheated on a test when he copied one of his classmate's tests. The boy blamed the temptation, however, he obeyed said temptation.

In addition to his behavior, he smelled worse than a skunk, and that is saying something. "Oh, no! Not a skunk! More like, "Oh, no! Not a stinky boy!" It did not help that his clothes smelled like a raccoon's home. The boy refused to take a shower or wash his clothes, claiming that they were pointless and that he would rather be homeless and die on the streets. You can understand that he was not a good person.

That is the keyword here. Was.

One day, his life turned around. For the better. The boy received a Bible as an early birthday present. Instead of reading it - because he was not fond of reading - he researched verses on his computer...and was astonished.

For those of you who are true Christians, did you feel the Holy Spirit moving inside you? Did He pull at your heartstrings? That is God reaching out to you. He wants you and only you. And He was doing the same with the outcast. As the boy read and studied verse after verse, he could feel his heart at ease. It was the first time ever that he knew that everything would be okay.

The more that he studied God's Word, the more that he grew in character. The person that God desired him to be. Although that he failed sometimes, he at least fought temptation. His laziness was in the past. He was a new man and could not thank God enough.

His classmates and the "perfect" girl took note of the change and gossiped. Gossip is nothing but a bunch of lies and putting another person down. Even if the gossip is true, you should never use a word that causes scars. It is not what Jesus commands. Use kind and encouraging words to lift a spirit. Trust me when I say that it is one of the best feelings.

After a while, the girl confronts the boy. She poked his chest and asked why he was so perfect.

"Do not kid yourself. You will never be perfect. No matter how hard you try, you will never be perfect like me."

The boy breathed in. "You are correct. I will never come close to being perfect. Your looks will always be better than mine. And you know what? I am fine with that. I am not jealous that you are popular. Heck, I could care less if I were popular. Popularity fades. Looks shrivel in the dark of night. You know what will never leave your side? God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. That is what counts in the end."

That story took up half of this chapter. I apologize. Let us get to the important stuff, shall we?

Paige and I followed the fairies deeper into the cave. It was not long before we came across two separate tunnels.

"You are going to hate me for saying this," Blue said. "I do not know which tunnel."