chapter 1

       June 1, 2015. The first day of church camp is just a week away. This is the highlight of every year for me and I don't expect this year to be any different. Except for a few changes. Forest Hill Community Baptist church and 2nd Suburban Baptist church are going together this year, and my boyfriend is now a member of my church.

       I'm Gracie West. I go to Forest Hill Community Baptist Church and have since I was three, when my parents moved to Deertown, Tennessee from Connecticut. My boyfriend, Alex Richard Marshall, and I have been together for two years now. He was atheist until a few months ago. My best friend is Elizabeth Jackson. She was the first person I met when I moved here. I am fifteen now. Elizabeth is sixteen. Samuel is seventeen. 

       Every year at church camp I share a room with Elizabeth, her sister Bethany, who is now fourteen, and my other friend Rebecca, also fifteen. I thought this year would be the same. Boy was I wrong about that.