Hey guys, this is the first chapter that's told from Paige's perspective. They're both the main characters so it makes sense that we go back and forth between them throughout the story.
Chapter 3: Bible camp
It was such a nice day, and yet Paige was trapped inside at her punishment, bible camp.
"Hey how's it going" she asked one of the other kids
"...where's your camp t shirt"
"I didn't really want one"
"You gotta wear it"
"I don't have to"
"You're being difficult"
"What?"
"You gotta wear it, It's what everyone else-"
"Ok great talk!" Paige asserted thus ending the conversation. The shirt kid walked away leaving Paige alone again. All the adults here were the most religious people she had ever seen, it's like everyone was Sheldon and Missy's mom…who just walked in, and Sheldon and Missy were with her.
"See there's a space theme isn't that fun" she could hear their mom talk about a Jesus pinata in an astronaut costume, honestly if their religion praises Jesus turning him into a pinata seems messed up.
"Jesus was a carpenter, not an astronaut" SHeldon corrected
"Maybe he built the rocket" Missy shrugged off "OOOH DOUGHNUT HOLES!"
"Can I please wait in the car" Sheldon pleaded
"No I want you to be here"
"It's ok, you can crack the back window"
"Hi Sheldon" Paige stepped in
"Paige? What are you doing here"
"My mom made me come here" she explained
"See she's not happy either" his mom said before she started to help set up
"Why did your mom make you?"
"Punishment, I got caught with cigarettes"
"Why would you want to smoke?"
"To look older"
"Odd, my Meemaw says most women lie to look younger"
"What about you, you believe in this stuff now?"
"No, I'm here because stamp camp got cancelled, further proof there is no god" Sheldon quipped, Paige wasn't sure if here or stamp camp would be worse.
"You changed your hair back?" he said making her realize she hasn't seen him since that weekend
"Yeah, that was a different punishment" she said showing her fully blonde hair again
They ended up sitting together as all the other kids gathered to listen to what she could only describe as a greatest hits compilation of your favorite songs mutilated to fit a church audience.
As soon as Pastor Jeff needed an excuse not to play rap songs he announced a bible trivia contest in exchange for prizes he clearly got from a thrift shop. "Alright to win this Solemn 100 bookmark, who can name all the apostles?"
She had to admit, seeing like fifteen kids struggle to name a single one at this church themed daycare center was probably the most entertaining thing Paige saw all day "look at these suckers trying to compete for a stupid bookmark"
"I bet they don't even know Solemn 100"
"Or what a book is" she snapped as Jeff continued to struggle in front of all those kids
"I don't even care about church and I can name them all"
"So can I"
Sheldon looked a little bit threatened "no you can't"
"Yes I can, I can even do it in alphabetical order"
"Well I can name them in the order they appear in the book of matthew" Sheldon obviously just instigated a challenge and Paige wasn't backing down from that
"Draw!" she said as they both shot their hands up
"Yes Paige"
"Peter, Andrew, James son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Barthalamuel, Thomas, Mathew, James son of Maltheus, Thadeus, Simon, and Judas; and that's the order they appear in the book of Mathew" she proudly grinned at Sheldon having won the challenge and pretended to blow smoke off her hand. She ended up getting the bookmark which she tossed aside right after "told ya"
Sheldon shook his head "I'll beat you next time"
"Oh is that so" Paige smiled at the thought of beating Sheldon again
"Oh yeah, next question I'll destroy you" Sheldon said perfectly cocky
"Well if you're so confident, I'm sure you wouldn't mind a little wager"
"What do you mean?"
"Two dollars for whoever answers the next question," Paige offered. Sheldon looked hesitant but he nodded and agreed
A few moments later Jeff asked what were the ten commandments, they drew their hands and….Paige got it again
"That's how it's done" she said waving her gospels bumper sticker before laying it on the bookmark. Sheldon honored their wager and gave her two dollars.
"I'm not down yet" Sheldon said, he was stubborn but admirable in a way
"Care to raise the steaks?" Paige said all sneaky like "four dollars…and the loser has to tell the winner they're the smartest person here" Sheldon was more hesitant but agreed to the terms
Pastor Jeff asked what the three wicked women of the bible were, they drew their hands and…. Sheldon got it
"Care to honor your own terms" Sheldon smugly asked
Paige sighed "Sheldon you truly are the smartest one here" she said honoring the deal
"Thank you"
"You really needed that didn't you?"
"I did," Sheldon said without thinking, "Wait hey!" his reaction got Paige to laugh really hard
"Pastor Jeff, he's not wearing the camp t-shirt either" t-shirt boy tattled
"WHAT IS YOUR DEAL!"
They kept going back and forth like that for the rest of the day until it was time to leave. "This was fun" Paige added
Sheldon seemed a little shocked at first but actually seemed to agree "it was, I enjoyed far more than I expected…. dare I say almost as fun as stamp camp" she almost laughed at that but stopped herself
Paige shrugged, she wouldn't have expected Sheldon to make something more fun but this was bible camp so it was a low bar.
They both parted ways and Paige's mom showed up to pick her up. "So how was your day" her mom asked clearly assuming she knew the answer
"It was really boring, but not all bad"
"Oh! Well I'll take what I can get, hope it taught you a few things"
"Not really," Paige said as her mom sighed.
They eventually arrived home, where mom still hasn't earned enough to get her own tv and her sister Erica was painting her nails on the couch "oh good you're back, hooray" she said sarcastically
"Well hello to you too" Paige sarcastically greeted, she noticed Erica also had their new copy of Select "hey can I look at that too-"
"No!" Erica bluntly said "Has anyone seen the computer, I wanna message my friends?"
"I think dad has it at his place" Paige pointed out
"Yeah and who's fault is that" Erica whispered under her breath
"GO TO YOUR ROOM!" their mom yelled at Erica from the kitchen
Paige went to her own room only to find that Erica 'Borrowed' her walkman and didn't give it back. She just finished her dinner in bed before going to sleep.
The next morning she woke up in yesterday's clothes, showered, ate her moms pancakes, and went to get dressed for camp. Unlike most days she compared three different shirts trying to figure out which one looked best, and debated whether to tie her back like yesterday or let it down.
"You going somewhere important?" her mom said somewhat curious
"No" Paige said harsher than she should have
Her mom left but it was a valid question why was she that invested in what she looked like, just to get finished already she on a whim decided on a shirt and chose to leave her hair down
At 10 o'clock she once again left and got dropped off at bible camp. When she got there she waved at Sheldon and started scrounging through the bookshelf with Missy for anything good.
Sheldon approached "for your information not only am I going to show you up today, I've also prepared some biblical trash talk"
"What's he talking about?" Paige asked Missy
"He stayed up all night studying" Missy explained rolling her eyes in embarrassment
"Auhhh, you did all that work for me" Paige sarcastically said, toying with him
Sheldon's smile faded "...well more for me to win" Sheldon tried to revert the conversation
"Hola amigos" Jeff announced in spanish for some reason "for this Noah's arc poncho, What was Peter's original name?". Sheldon drew his hand while Paige didn't "Sheldon"
"Peter's original name was Simon"
"Correct" Jeff announced
"Bet you didn't know that one did you" Sheldon smuggly said
"No no I did, he was also known as Seafus" Paige explained to a now confused Sheldon
"Next question" Jeff announced "for a John the Baptist pencil topper, Where did Jesus perform his first miracle?"
Sheldon reluctantly drew his hand while Paige didn't. Sheldon got called on "a wedding" he said winning the prize "Why won't you compete with me?" Sheldon whined getting all upset
"Well I don't really care about the prizes, it's also kinda funny seeing you get upset" she explained
"What's funny about it?"
Missy raised her hand "Everything"
"(sighs)" Sheldon looked disappointed and walked away, which was.. A tad less funny
Paige went on to do a couple games with Missy and the others like connect four and bible themed monopoly. By the midpoint she couldn't help but notice that Sheldon hasn't joined anyone else yet, he was sitting at their table from yesterday displacing his hair for some reason
Paige sighed and felt a little bad "can I ask Sheldon to join us-"
"NO!" Missy and two other kids instinctually yelled. Missy looked around on the chance she caused a scene "ugh I mean, no he probably wouldn't want to" she said trying to sound less like a douchebag
Paige sighed and pondered if she should ask him anyway, Sheldon could be really annoying but he wasn't horrible. Even if he didn't want to at least she could say she trie-
She was hit on the head with a t-shirt "Alright I let you off really easily yesterday, but you really need to wear.." t-shirt boy said pointing a rolled up t-shirt at her, she responded by shoving the stack of miracle cards down his collar and walked away.
She really needed to teach that shirt obsessed jerk a lesson, she needed a way too- 'that's it' she thought, noticing the bibles for prayer circle. She had the perfect idea for a prank…but, two brains are always better than one.
She walked up to Sheldon "hey"
"Hi Paige" Sheldon said, seeming shocked she came up "notice how a piece of my hair is out of place, does that bother you?"
"Yes you look hideous" she played along
"Oh good, that's the reaction I was hoping for"
"Anyways, I have an idea for a new project, was wondering if you were interested"
"Well that depends, what is it?"
"I have a great idea for a prank-"
"Paige" Sheldon interrupted
"Just hear me out, a big way to end off this boring camp, all we have to do is build something in books that look exactly like those bibles"
"Paige did you learn nothing from that stink bomb escapade"
"Yes, not to get caught" Paige said to Sheldon's dismay
"I just thought…it would be fun" Paige admitted
"I just don't-" Sheldon was interrupted by a t-shirt thrown at him, knocking over his drink and spilling it on his pants
"Come on just- Ha it looks like you peed your pants" t-shirt boy got a bit carried away
"Get out of Here!" Paige said really sick of him, successfully scaring him away
Sheldon tapped her shoulder "I think I have a different approach to the prank"
For the rest of the day they collected the data they needed and they successfully designed a blueprint for the perfect machine that would fit inside a book. Paige gave Sheldon her home phone number so they could keep up with the construction.
That night they called each other and as they finished building the paint catapults loaded the paint and sealed in the covers of a book similar to the bibles "I think mines done, what about yours" Sheldon said on the other end of the line
"Great, I could probably make twenty of these" Paige said proud of her handiwork
Sheldon went silent for a few moments "hey Paige, I'm really sorry about upsetting you with my disfigured hair"
It took Paige a moment to remember what he was talking about "oh yeah..ugh thanks Sheldon..means a lot" she said just to be nice
"I guess..I had a lot of fun our first day and thought you not wanting to do it again meant you were done with me"
"It's ok Sheldon, really" she said being a bit more genuine "you know I always thought a good nickname for me would be the queen of pranks"
"That is a very fitting alias" Sheldon agreed
The next day Sheldon showed up with a backpack "hey Sheldon is that another safety kit?" Paige asked
"Yes, in this pouch we have drinking water, in this one moist towelettes, and finally in this one I have some 'reading material'" he said as Paige gestured to the one she made planted on the bottom shelf next to a t-shirt
Sheldon went to the coat hangers to hang his safety kit, and snuck his book with Paige's.
All they had to do was wait.
"Alright everyone, let's gather round in prayer" Pastor Jeff said maybe ten minutes later
Sheldon and Paige approached and-
"Alright I keep letting you two off the hook but-"
"If we wear the shirts during prayer Will You Finally Shut Up!" Paige asserted
"...well maybe during prayer"
"Then no," Sheldon added, "can you pass us some bibles?" he asked and t-shirt boy passed them the ones on the bottom shelf.
Jeff and the other kids opened their bibles to the right page no problem, but when Sheldon and Paige opened theirs
SPLASH
Sheldon and Paige got blue paint all over their clothes shocking everyone in the room "WHAT THE" "WHAT"
"OH LORD!" Mary said running to her son's aid, Jeff looking at the mechanism in the book
Paige looked towards t-shirt boy, balled her fists, and growled
"Paige, PAIGE" Mary and Jeff repeated as they held her back "Hows about we go call your mother" Jeff said dragging t-shirt boy away
"WHAT! NO! No no I didn't do anything"
"Oh I have a few words for your mother boy" Mary snarled
"This was my favorite shirt" Paige fake complained
"Sheldon, Paige, I am so sorry, there's a sink down the hall and to the left, go get cleaned up" he said as he dragged t-shirt boy away.
Sheldon and Paige left the room and by the time they reached the end of the hall felt it was safe to laugh at his expense.
"This was my favorite shirt!" Paige mocked herself
"I have to say, that was… a new yet enjoyable experience"
"That's one way to put it" Paige said, rolling her eyes at Sheldon's weird words. They made it to the sink and got as much of the paint off as they could. "So Sheldon, what was yesterday about?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well you wouldn't hang out with us or any of the other kids, just wondering what that was about" Paige probed
Sheldon's entire demeanor changed, like she just ruined a perfectly good joke "they weren't completing a productive task" Sheldon simply said "also your analysis is wrong, me refusing to participate with them implies I was welcome in the first place, are we done?"
Paige could see Sheldon's mask slip off a little "you know what I think, I think it has nothing to do with the games and more to do with avoiding someone" Paige played dumb to irritate him into cracking
"Obviously" Sheldon threw at her
"What's your problem Sheldon, go on tell me" she pushed
"I don't have a problem, can we be finished"
"Oh no no no, I saw first hand you can actually be fun when you want and now I'm curious" Paige wouldn't let up
Sheldon sighed and sulked at her, that comment obviously striking a nerve "you know what, this was a mistake" he said ready to walk out
"Why are you blocking?"
"I'm not blocking"
"Come on Sheldon just tell me, tell me who you're so desperate to avoid; is it Missy, t-shirt boy, your mom, Jeff-"
"EVERYONE ALRIGHT!" Sheldon yelled, obviously regretting yelling since he tried to return to his earlier tone "does that answer suffice"
Paige was a little shocked at first but tried to keep going "somewhat, just not all the way"
"Really?" Sheldon moaned
"Hey what's your problem Sheldon, what do you have against everyone anyway?"
"Hey it's been loud and clear that the feeling is mutual. Everyone who's around me for more than two seconds always ends up having the same reaction; you're weird, he's crazy, what's wrong with him" Sheldon vented, hitting Paige in the feels "it's been that way ever since I learned to talk and everything I try seems to have the same result, and science dictates that if many sources go to the same conclusion than it must be true. People keep telling me 'you'll be alone in life', 'you're a freak', 'Mom and Dad fighting is your fault because you're a freak-'"
"Sheldon, that's not your fault!" Paige interrupted almost instinctively
"Well if Missy and Georgie always think that, then I can't change their minds" Sheldon stated taking a deep breath "no matter what I tried it didn't change anything, and if there's clearly nothing I can do or say to change their minds, and apparently I'm just a weird loner… why try to be anything else?" Sheldon said finally finished
Sheldon went to sit down by the window and unwind after all that. Paige just looked at him, how he tried to sit up straight and be serious but obviously had a lot holding him down. She walked up and sat next to him "you know...when we met, I didn't think you were just a weird loner" she reminded, getting him to perk up a little
"True…" Sheldon admitted "...it took you way longer to figure that out than everyone else" he attempted to make a joke and got Paige to chuckle a little "...bazinga" he said just so she knew it was a joke
Thank you for reading, and Please Review!