Walking Through the Scorn

Ashley stopped in front of the school doors and took a deep breath. Over winter break, her stomach had grown considerably larger, and it was impossible to hide it anymore. But if she didn’t go in, she would be late for class. "Who cares?" She thought. She wished she could just leave, but where would she go? She pushed through the swarm of teenagers to her locker. As she hung up her coat, Ashley felt a shiver go down her neck. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a group of girls from church—staring at her. One of them whispered, another giggled. Ashley’s face burned. She grabbed her binder, shoved her backpack into her locker as fast as she could, and started walking toward her first class on the far side of the building. Hugging her binder, Ashley kept her head down, but she could still feel the eyes on her belly. Then she heard someone cough, “Preggers,” and a group of guys snickered. She would not cry. She would not cry. “Hey Ash, I’ve been looking for you.” Miles came up alongside her. Ashley breathed a sigh of relief and tried to smile, but that’s hard to do when you’re trying to keep tears from leaking out. “You sure you want to be seen with me?” she said. Miles held her hand gently. “Hey, I’m not leaving you guys to fend for yourselves. You’re an awesome mom, and I’m pretty set on being an awesome dad.” Then Ashley did smile. As they walked through the halls together, the glances still stung but not quite as bad. “This morning,” Ashley said, “I was reading Psalm 23, and that’s what this feels like.” Miles tilted his head. “Which part?” Ashley pulled a crumpled paper from her pocket. “I wrote it down: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...” She offered the paper to Miles, and he read the rest. “...I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Ashley nodded. “That verse is the reason I came to school at all today. But when my friends won’t even look me in the eyes, it’s hard to remember God is with me. So, I guess, thanks for being here. It helps me remember that God still cares