“Jessica you’ll play the preacher” called the teacher calling out parts. My friends burst into laugher

“ The atheist preacher” I smiled, giggling. She went on threw the list. At the end we sat there waiting for the bell to ring.

“ Hey Jess” I turn to look at a group of my classmates, all looking at me. I waited for the insult, they called me a cutter since I wore all black. “ Are you really atheist”

“ Yeah I am” I replied with out missing a beat.

“ Why?”

“ why are you not?” they stared at me like I had just threw a chair at them.

“ Cause I was raised Catholic”

“ and my parents raised me to make my own chooses” my parents are atheist but both grew up in the church. My parents were born in England, where religion is private, when they met in Canada it was the same thing. That and no one cared. In America it is more social then anything. That’s when they started calling me a devil worshiper. Told me, a thirteen year old girl, I was going to be tortured in hell for eternity. When I had to go to the school counselor, her room was filled with “ Jesus loves me”. She had things saying “ Find the lord”. And im here because of religionist bullying. When I said one of the names, she didn’t believe me. Just because his fathers the senator or something. On the last day of school a boy came up to me

“ Can I sign your year book” I thought he was one of those guys trying to sign everyone year book. He wrote Jesus loves me. I told him I was atheist he looked at me like I had the black plague. The ring leader came over to sign. Why did I let him you ask. Simple I was hoping that he would give me some reason to believe in humanity. He didn’t, he drew a cross, I ripped it out of his hands before he could finish.

“ How can you be atheist?!” yelled the first boy. The whole class irrupted into

“ What?”

“ Your going to hell” said a girl, who had broken there leg falling of a table drunk. The bell rang as I left my last class of that middle school. Tho the school year was over, there torment was not. A boy ran up to me I knew. He pretended to throw holey water on me.

“ The power of Christ burns you” he chanted, I sighed moving my fist. He ran off scarred I would hit him. The year book guys grabbed hands circling me. Chanting something from the bible. I had to go for counseling , when I told her. She told be I could have pressed legal charges. I know not all religious people are like that. My best friend is catholic and I respect her. And she me. I’ve never killed, stole, raped, yet when I say im atheist people think im a horrible person. I have morals with out a god. No one is telling me to live my life god or I’ll burn. I live it good, because I want to. Im not trying to turn the world atheist, But then why are you trying to make me religious?