Misdirected Read Online Free PDF Page B

it’s not good enough just to believe in God. Jesus died for our sins and to truly be accepted into heaven and show our love we have to have our moment. Our moment when the Holy Spirit comes into our bodies and we have felt touched by the Lord.”
    â€œWhat if you don’t get saved?”
    â€œYou go to hell.”
    â€œJesus Christ. Are you kidding?”
    â€œNo. And when you’re around me, please don’t swear.”
    â€œOh. At home it’s not really thought of as a swear.”
    â€œIt definitely is here.”
    â€œSorry.”
    â€œThat’s okay. It’s just good to know the ropes so you don’t offend people. Especially the people who are nice to you.” She smiles and pushes me in the shoulder.
    Holly rolls over onto her back and Tess rubs her belly.
    â€œWhat about Catholics and Jews and Hindus and everyone else?” I ask.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWhere do they go when they die?”
    â€œHell. At least according to most people here.”
    â€œThat’s messed up.”
    â€œIt’s only messed up if you believe it,” she says.
    â€œYou don’t?”
    She pauses for a minute, looks back at the house, and then straight into my eyes. “Look, I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone but my brother. Can you keep a secret?”
    â€œYeah. Of course.”
    â€œI think the Christians around here have it wrong.”
    â€œBut you still believe in god?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œDo you think I’m going to hell?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause I believe that Jesus died for our sins and that counts for everyone. You don’t have to be saved to go to heaven. We’re all going no matter what we believe.”
    â€œYou think your parents would be mad if they knew? You’re still religious.”
    â€œThey would think I’m going to hell and I don’t want to put them through that. They’ve already lost one son. I don’t want them to think they lost me too.”
    â€œThey chose to lose their son. It’s not like he died.”
    â€œIt’s really complicated. I know it’s devastating for them but they don’t want him to be a bad influence on the rest of us.”
    â€œIsn’t it harder on your brother than it is on your parents?”
    â€œProbably equal.”
    â€œDo you still talk to your brother?”
    â€œI’m not supposed to but I email him all the time. I haven’t seen him in two years though.”
    â€œWhere is he?”
    â€œDenver.”
    â€œThat’s not so far.”
    â€œIt’s really far when you’re me.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” I say, unable to think of anything else.
    â€œWell, in a few years I’ll be in college and then I’ll be able to see him.” Tess looks nervously back at her house. “I should get back inside,” she says.
    â€œTess?” I say.
    â€œYeah,” she whispers.
    â€œThanks for coming out here and for, you know, being so cool.”
    She smiles and moves her hair away from her face. “No problem.”

 
    Â 
    Chapter 6
    Chimps Have Feelings Too
    Tess and I hang out every lunch period for the rest of the week. She says that everyone knows I’m an atheist. No one has said a single thing to me about it and that‘s fine by me. Different beliefs cohabitating in the same school. That’s how it should be.
    No one besides Tess has really made an effort to get to know me. Kenny and the other guys I’m going to church with this weekend give me a high five or pat me on the back whenever we pass each other in the hall and say, “Sunday!” But that’s about it. Back at home if someone did that, they would be excited about a Red Sox or Patriots game, not church.
    We start getting homework assignments and things are pretty similar to my old school, although the teachers always seem to find a way to