her smile was the first thing i noticed on that autumn day. 

her cupid's bow arched upwards perfectly as her bottom lip went down, showing off her beautiful, pearly white teeth.

seeing her smile made my heart explode into fiery ashes. it was insane how one look could make your day.

i don't know if it was the fact that i had gotten a passing grade on my test in algebra, or maybe it was the fact that my favorite video game was coming out this weekend. 

but what i do know is that seeing her made me want to be the happiest man on earth.

she looked like such a nice person. the kind of person everyone wants to be friends with. 

i was determined to be one of those people.

her brown locks coiled in front of her heart shaped face, framing her lovely smile.

 her blue eyes showed happiness and they were full of life.

then, that life was gone.

 girls swarmed around her, and pushed her against the locker, making her drop her books. 

they called her horrible names, things i couldn't even bring myself to say.

just as quick as they came, they were gone, leaving her on her knees, pulling her stuff together.

i walked over to her and bent down, sweeping up her misplaced books in my arms.

"thanks," she mumbled, avoiding eye contact. 

as she stood up, her blue eyes curiously glance into my green eyes, like she was looking into my soul.

she broke the stare and scrambled away, her brown hair flying behind her as she raced to her next class. 

the way she looked at me, you could almost see her slowly breaking inside.

as she walked away from me, all the happiness that was coursing through my veins had been frozen. 

instead, the happiness chose to linger and then slowly fade away.

after that encounter, i promised myself that i would be the one to bring back the light in her.

cover by ashlayyy61