Life is hard and I [Erika] knew that the hard way.

I was a pretty girl from Iceland; I had a family who came from all over. I had three older brothers and a sister-in-law. My parents died in an airplane crash over my birthplace. That's when my oldest brother, Mark, got us all together and left for a better life somewhere else. At that time my second oldest brother, Berwald, was engaged to his wife, Tina. He just finished his schooling and was going to continue on to a higher education. Tina as well. My last older brother, Nikolai, was still in school. I was young then, that's what they said.

I never saw it as a lost at the time since I didn't see it as a problem. It was when I started school when I started to see the distress. 'Everyone has a mommy and daddy' it hurt when they would say that. I tried to stay happy but every day of my young life seemed to be getting worse. Some day's I would return crying. Mark decided one day to send me to a school that had kids 'like me'. It was horrible; it seemed they were doing that just because it was expected. I never felt as lonely as that day. The weeks leading up to the day I leave was mainly in silence. Tina seemed to feel bad for me but couldn't really sit down to talk to me since her and Berwald adopted a son recently. Everyone seemed to keep their distance from me and it seemed that everyone was falling apart. When I was about to leave for the school, Nikolai came and gave me a toy puffin. He said to never forget the family and he promised, when I got back, everyone will be back to normal. As I was walking towards the plane, I saw Nikolai smile at me and give me a shy wave. That was one of the happiest moments for me.

When I came back, I was greeted by my family, the happiest I have seen them ever. Of course when I told them why I was sent back, the mood changed drastically. It seemed I developed some kind of life time illness while I was away. I had to miss a whole year of schooling due to how sick I was. When I got back to school, I was in Middle school. I didn't talk much and never showed how I was feeling. I was a loner in a sense there. All the girls would tease me and make fun of my platinum hair or my violet eyes. They would say how ugly I looked with my pale skin and my more conservative clothes that my brother would force me to wear. This time, I knew how to keep my emotions under the covers. Slowly, I started to wear heavy eyeliner and blood red lipstick to counter my pale skin and hair. I was no good girl by the time high school came around; the time where stereotypes and cliques were common.

My family was much more supportive of me and we all were close. Tina was always the one I went to for problems that were more ah embarrassing to talk to Nikolai about. I was still sick but it was better than before. I would have the occasional fevers or colds but my family would be there for me. They were slightly worried about my lack of friends but they didn't voice it which I am glad for. Slowly I would turn to the darker side of my life, the one where I would cut my fingers and toes or mare my face with small scars from the pavement. I mastered the art of staying quiet while crying and the art of never showing my emotions. I was fine with my degrading life style. People would beat me up and tease me to no end.

It was that one day, a Friday, I was caring all my books home when a group of girls, the preps, came up to me and started to push me around. After they had their fun, Michael came over to me and helped me up. I knew who he was, the only other one who was as silent as I was. He started to talk to me and even helped carry my books. We were having so much fun being impassive about everything together. When I was at my house, he invited himself in my house and introduced himself to everyone in the house. I can't really say I didn't like it, because I did. He stayed over until it got dark and when he was about to leave he put my phone in my pocket and said to call him soon. After a weekend of fun I had to go back to that dreaded school. Before I left in the morning, Michael came over since he remembered how many books I had. He never seemed to leave my side at school and when a group of kids would walk over, he would stare at them and ignore them entirely. He only seemed to focus on me.

The school year passed and I started to change. Not so much that I didn't have my clothes and make-up as usual, but my personality did, but only for Michael. I was happier and didn't have those falls that would scar my skin. I visited his house more and his family soon became my second house. Our lives soon combined and became one. It seemed life was good. The years passed and soon it was graduation. I had to do a speech for our class. I had a few friends and we all knew each other. My speech brought everyone to tears. Michael was the most hit by it, even though most people wouldn't be able to see it.

"After this day, we are all on our own we will each have our own troubles to go through and failures to make. Just remember the friends you make in high school, could help save you from making the biggest mistakes in life. Back when I just started high school I felt like I couldn't take life anymore. I felt I was just a bother to everyone. I wasn't needed in this life. So one Friday I decided that I was going to end it. I was bringing all my books home so I wouldn't have to be a bother to my siblings even after I was dead. After some people pushed me around and had their fun, my…boyfriend who at the time was just a random student, came up to me and helped me up and started to talk to me. He invited himself into my house and we talked until the sun was down. He gave me his number and we kept going places and enjoying each other's company. By the time school came around I was still alive. I realized that without him in my life at the moment he was, I wouldn't be here giving you a speech. It's important to have someone who you truly care about that you know cares about just the same."

After my speech, Michael came over to me on stage and hugged me for what felt like forever. That was all I needed. No fairy tale ending or movie end, just the knowledge that he cared, my family cared, that people cared for me.

He is my angel.

I am hesitant to post this online. I really don't like this, since it seems way too quick. This would make a wonderful multi-chapter story, which I am thinking of making. This was actually modeled after a post I saw online about the same thing. I will defiantly rework this sometime but for now, Happy belated Christmas Robyn!

Update: Thank you for the help Chillis and Russian Lullaby for the spacing issue.