God and Girl is my first novel, written in 2015. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.
Dr. Ayers loved my paper and gave me an A. My Fall semester grade was also an A, as it was in all my classes.
The holidays came and went as winter continued. Ellen and I had carefully built a deep and wide foundation for our relationship. Our daily patterns and routines became predictable, but our ways of expressing our love were quite spontaneous, quite new every day. Thoughtfulness was not simply a characteristic of our relationship, but it was a mighty mission. One of us was always surprising the other with a sweet note, a goofy, but love-enlightening text, or an ugly shirt, purse, or pair of shoes from The Sand Mountain Thrift store, with the clothing item always finding a unique way of showing up—in the mail, in an icebox sat by the front door, hung outside a window, or crammed into a school locker. We were both masters of thoughtfulness. We were both missionaries, even though our mission was not religious, we were just as zealous.
Our ninth-grade year came to an end with straight A’s for both in all subjects. Ellen and I spent our summer riding bikes, swimming, eating and more eating, and sharing trips with our parents to beaches and mountains. The roots of our love grew deeper and deeper with every summer rain. Summer started with a slow jog, but ultimately raced to the finish line.
Our tenth-grade year seemed to start as suddenly as our ninth grade had ended. World History became American History, and Algebra I became Algebra II. Thankfully, Biology, English Literature, and Poetry continued. Art was gone. I had lost interest, as it seemed to divert my attention away from my poetry. Thank the universe for poetry. Without it, the big bang would have gone bust.
I have known Ellen now for over a year. Today, she holds my heart, molds my mind, bolds my hope, and rolls my imagination a zillion times more than just yesterday. She lives inside every cell of my being. I can’t imagine life without the gorgeous and glorious Ellen. There would be no life without my one and only Ellen.
The Pencil Driven Life 