PAIGE'S P.O.V.

"That silly church?" a classmate of mine said. "I hope to heck that it burns to the ground."

"Not very nice," I replied with a frown.

He gave me a creepy grin. "Forgive me, Paige. I will donate to your church...if you make it worth my wild." He touched me inappropriately, and I gasped and slapped his face. "Yow!"

"Touch me again, and I will break off all your fingers!"

The classmate spat on my cheek, and I watched as he stormed out of the cafeteria. I wiped off the spit and picked up my clipboard and pen.

"Back to square one...again," I stated sadly.

You fans are probably wondering what I was doing, and I will happily tell you and much more. I am a Christian, not a toxic one, but a wise Christian who does not force their beliefs on others and believes in vaccines and medicines.

I lived in Florida with my parents and younger sister, and the four of us used to attend a nice, small church. Unfortunately, the church was having trouble with finances - I despise finances - and the government would force it to shut down if it did not pay.

Our pastor explained all of this to us last week and encouraged us to raise money to help the church keep going. I am a hardcore Christian, so I was eager to collect tons of money.

Weirdly enough, my plan led me to death. No, no. Donations do not lead to death. Let me explain.

I came with the idea of a bake sale and asked my friends and some of my classmates if they would assist. You would think that I would receive at least a little bit of help. Nope. I was on my own.

Two days ago, I asked the principal permission to set up a bake sale and sell all kinds of desserts. She was skeptical at first, but then decided that I could.

"I trust that the desserts will be good, Paige."

"More than good. My mom and dad are making them."

"Then those desserts will not be a disappointment." Her eyelids lowered halfway. "But..."

I grew with concern. "But what?"

"Remember when you mentioned to me that nobody wanted to help you with donations?"

"Yeah. Where are you going with that?"

"I know exactly why none of them came forward."

I was stunned. "You do?"

She nodded. "You are raising money for a Christian church, and not one student has a desire to support anything that has to do with Christianity."

My face saddened. "Oh." I was hurt. "Oh..."

It felt as if a hammer shattered my poor, aching heart. I kind of understood why my classmates did not want to get involved, but why not my friends? I mean, they were my friends.

"I know how hard it is to hear," the principal said. "Just do not be surprised if you do not raise any money. No one in this school cares about your beliefs."

What was wrong with helping out a church? I can totally understand if it was a bad church, but mine gave money and service to the poor and homeless.

Why was I even surprised? With the exception of my so-called "friends," all my classmates did not like me because of my beliefs.

Now you know what I was up to and that I was doing it alone, and the worst part was that I had not gotten a single penny. It teared me apart. It really did.

The students made it worse. They knew that Christians do not support same-sex marriage and transgenders and called me a racist and homophobe. I could not back tears and buried my face in my hands and cried. Hating and not supporting are different things. Did they not learn from Caleb's book?

As I was sobbing, I felt a poke on my leg and wiped my eyes. I looked down and spotted my little sister. We could have been twins if we were the same age.

My sister's name is Penny. Our parents gave her that name because she loves pennies and collects them.

"Why is my big sister crying?" Penny spoke. "Did those meanies upset my awesome sister?"

I sniffed and forced myself to smile. "What are you doing here, Penny? You are supposed to be in class."

"I know, but I asked my teacher if I could see you, so here I am!" She climbed into my lap. "Where is the money, Paige?"

I let out a heavy sigh. "There is none."

She gasped. "Did you eat it?!"

"No. Besides, how could I eat some when nobody has donated any?"

"I will give you some money if it will make you feel better."

"That is sweet, Penny, but—"

She cut me off. "I insist."

Penny took out her money, her lunch money, and put it into the jar. My smile grew wide, and my heart healed. If you do not consider that sweet, then you have no idea what sweet is.

"That is your lunch money," I pointed out. "You need it if you want to eat."

She shook her head and smiled. "I would rather have a homeless eat."

"Aw. Penny." I hugged her. "You are so mature for your age."

"Jesus taught me well, Paige."

"I am glad. It would be a shame if you were not a believer. You would miss so many opportunities."

Penny leaped off my lap. "I will tell my class all about your bake sale. They will surely donate money."

I patted the top of her head. "Thank you. That would be great."

We waved goodbye to each other, and I got up and stretched my legs. All of a sudden, we received the scary announcement.

The cafeteria intercom came on, and the principal announced, "There is an active shooter on the premises. I repeat. An active shooter."

The next thing that I knew, I was shot in my side.