I have no other way to start off this story, so I guess I'll just go for the most used way. It all started a cool September afternoon, and I was out for a walk. I paused for a moment, thinking I heard something out of the ordinary, but soon continued on my way. That's when the noise got louder, and I realized what it was.

Someone was crying. No, it wasn't like the occasional bratty child wailing because they don't get their way. Someone was crying…really hard. It kind of disturbed me for a minute, especially since I had no idea where it came from. Frozen in my tracks, I debated investigating further. Soon enough, weighing out the pros and cons became overshadowed by the gentleman in me (yeah, I know. Surprised I have one? Me neither.) decided to check it out.

I followed the sound further for about five minutes. It ended up leading me to an old, abandoned shed. I had passed that shed many times before, with most of the time, my guess being that the owner of it moved away or found it useless. Whatever, that doesn't matter. Back to the story.

Once again, I found myself debating going further. I now stood in front of the door, trying to stay standing. The haunting sound of sobbing weakened my knees with a feeling I can't name. Probably some combination of guilt and fear. Ignoring all other nagging thoughts that screamed, "DON'T GO IN", I slowly opened the door.

The crying wavered a little, and a sillhouetted figure sat still in fear, as I had similarly done. As I came closer, the figure was trying to hold back more sobs, resulting in a series of gasping hiccups.

I had to say something, but the question was obvious. What? What would I want to hear if I was her? Again, ignoring all rational thought, and going by impulse, I softly said, "It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you. What's wrong?"

As the figure took color and turned around, there she sat. Matted brown hair, a plain beige sweater paired with jeans, and amber eyes filled to the brim with tears covered her appearance. However, that wasn't what compelled me to help. It was her expression.

It remains in the back of my mind this very day. Wide open eyes, bloodshot and glassy, on top of her half-opened mouth formed a look of pure desperation. Mere fractions of a second after seeing it, I knew exactly what message she was trying to convey.

HELP ME.

I walked over to her as fast as I could without scaring her. I wanted to sit next to her, but I realized that she was sitting on a lawn mower that had to be about 45 years old. Realizing that I had no other choice, I leaned over to match where her head was, and asked her again, since she hadn't replied.

"What's wrong?"

She tried to speak, but the same noise was all that I heard. I ran a hand through her hair, but she winced back in fear and pain.

"It's alright…I'm here to help you." I locked eyes with her, not letting my soft expression give way. After what seemed like an eternity of staring, she finally moved and allowed me to move again. I ran the same hand up and down her back.

"Do you…" She finally spoke, her voice so quiet and shaky that it was barely audible. She looked away, pulling her hands around her sides. I just contined rubbing her back.

"Do you ever feel…like there's no hope? I know that sounds pretty common, but I mean…like the feeling that no matter what kind of hope you think you see, it's not real…" She trailed off frequently, and she finally ended up trying to hold back more tears.

Okay, so this was obviously a pretty big problem. I needed to know more.

"What do you mean? Did something happen?"

"I…I'm not the most liked person at school…" She took in a sharp breath, rubbing her eyes.

"'nd…well, people call me all sorts of things. I think I have friends, until they turn on me…it always happens. No matter who it is, no matter how long we've known each other. In the end, I'm always alone. I try to talk to my parents about it, and all they care about is my grades." She closed her eyes, scartching her head.

"Well, it's gotta be pretty hard to focus if you can't tell anyone…" I suggested.

"That's just it. I can't stop thinking about it. All I hear for support is 'suck it up', and since I can't focus, my grades…" She choked, trying as hard as she could to continue. I used my other hand to hold one of hers. She didn't have to continue. I already knew where this was going.

"It's alright. From now on, you have someone. I know you think I'll run off later on, but I won't."

She looked up at me, almost afraid. I stared right back, showing her how sincere I was. She told me no more than a few minutes ago that all of her friends leave her, so I'm doubting she believed me. I pulled her into my arms, and stroked the top of her head. Soon enough, she was sobbing again, sluthing to my shirt. At his point, I didn't care if I had two huge stains on my shirt from tears; it didn't matter.

"Why…" She whimpered,
"WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!"

She cried even louder than before, and I didn't let her go until her sobs died down, which took quite a while. She sat up, wiping her eyes, and sniffling profusely.

She looked me dead in the eyes. "Thank you."

I smiled warmly, just a little. "You're welcome. Do you want me to bring you home?"

Well, this girl said that she had bad grades, but she wasn't stupid, that's for sure. At least she knew about stranger danger. She backed away a little, and I chuckled a little.

"Oh, nevermind. Sorry."

"Um…it's okay…it's just…"

"Stranger danger?"

When I finished laughing at my own lame joke, I looked back up. I couldn't believe it. I had just gotten this girl, who was just bawling a short while ago, to smile. Even if it was just a little. It was something.

"Hm," She chuckled a little too, "Um…either way, how can I thank you? This meant a lot."

"You don't have to," I smiled. It made me feel good to do this regardless. "But we should keep in touch. Does that sound like a bad idea?"

I waited and waited for an answer. "…I guess not."

After we had exchanged phone numbers, and after she had thanked me half a million times and some change, we left and went our seperate ways. I looked over my shoulder a minute afterward, and I saw her walking with a stride in her step that no one would see from a person as down as she was before.

When I finally got back home, I could tell that my caretakers were going to be mad at me. It was worth it, though.

"Where in the world were you?!"

"I ran into someone who needed my help!"

"Master Tamaki, I wish you'd just mind your own business for once…"