The Lost One

Olivia Parker has been quietly wrestling with doubts about God ever since her science teacher, Mr. Norton, died in an accident. While researching a school paper on Leonid Sepanov, a long-dead Russian atheist philosopher, she has begun imagining conversations with him, and her friendship with Zoe Grant has grown strained ever since Zoe shared Olivia's secret doubts with their pastor.

At Whit's End, Olivia spots a flyer for The Reluctant Queen, a modern retelling of the story of Queen Esther that Zoe has written and Connie is directing. Olivia is stung to learn that Priscilla Peterson has been cast as Esther. Connie admits she thought Olivia would be good for the part, but Zoe assumed that because Olivia has been struggling with her faith, she wouldn't want to be in a Bible story. Olivia just wishes she had been given the choice.

Meanwhile, Zoe visits Miss Adelaide, who is about to become the new faculty advisor for the school paper, the Odyssey Owl. Miss Adelaide reveals that she will soon choose a new student editor-in-chief, and Zoe learns she is competing against Andy Rome, another talented writer. Zoe is eager to impress her with a strong article.

Olivia texts Zoe to meet her at Whit's End, but instead of making peace, the conversation turns into a fight over the play. Zoe insists she was only trying to give Olivia space, but Olivia points out that Zoe once said she couldn't imagine a better Esther, then never even told her the script was finished. Exhausted, Zoe says she feels like everything she does is wrong and begs Olivia to tell her what to do. Olivia's answer is cold: "You can keep your promises or stop making them."

At home, the imaginary Leonid keeps Olivia company, jamming his finger into her electric pencil sharpener and offering to fill her paper with boasts about his own genius. When he notices her open Bible, he mocks its stories, claims its words sting his eyes like pepper spray, and plants darker seeds, suggesting that no one can prove the Bible is true and that even Mr. Whittaker might have an agenda.

The next day after school, Olivia waits alone in Miss Adelaide's classroom, since her teacher has left a note about a meeting. Suddenly she hears a crash in the hallway and sees a girl named Martina, a frequent visitor to detention, running away from Mr. Hampton's locked classroom. Olivia can't see inside, but she is sure Martina was up to something.

That evening at Whit's End, Olivia works up the nerve to ask Connie whether the Bible might just be made up. Connie answers warmly: the Gospel writers wrote decades apart yet told the same stories, Old Testament prophecies came true, archaeologists have dug up a stone mentioning the house of David, and the historian Josephus wrote about the crucifixion. As Connie puts it, "Jesus is as historical as Benjamin Franklin." But when she returns to rehearsal, Leonid tells Olivia she is asking the wrong questions. The real question, he says, is whether a world where God truly exists is something she can live with.

At lunch, Zoe approaches Olivia as a reporter. Someone snuck into Mr. Hampton's room after school and set all the caged gerbils loose, and Zoe knows Olivia was next door helping Miss Adelaide. Olivia claims she saw and heard nothing, and when Zoe mentions that the cleaning crew found the mess before the time Olivia says she left, Olivia hastily changes her story. With no leads, Zoe writes a harmless human-interest piece about the gerbils instead.

Miss Adelaide is unimpressed, because Andy Rome has scooped Zoe with a real report. An anonymous source heard the crash from the next room, saw the culprit running away, and helped security catch and discipline the guilty student. Zoe realizes with a chill that the next room was Miss Adelaide's, and the only person there was Olivia.

Zoe confronts her, and Olivia admits she gave the story to Andy, maybe even to hurt Zoe, because she was still angry about the play. Zoe is heartbroken; her mistake with the play was honest, but Olivia's betrayal was on purpose. She confesses she has been trying so hard to figure out how to be Olivia's friend that she no longer knows if it's worth it. Olivia replies that she doesn't want to be anyone's chore and tells her to stop trying. Stunned, Zoe asks if this means they aren't friends anymore. The two girls say goodbye to each other, and Zoe walks out the door, leaving the friendship, and Olivia's questions about God, hanging unresolved.