Beautiful (Completed!)

Closer Than The Angels

It was already time for another day at school. As weird as this may sound, I'm not dreading them as much as I once did. Maybe the package really has been making changes in my life. It's early and I have heard a few of my classmates saying something about an assembly. Which could be cool, we have had some fun ones before, like that one time where the trick basketball players came and was doing all sorts of cool stuff.

It's at this moment that I see a young woman up ahead. If I were to guess her age, I would say probably somewhere in her early twenties maybe. I take in the sight of her sliding down the wall and clinging to her knees like a scared little girl. The way her shoulders are quivering she must either be crying or having a hard time breathing. Her long brown hair is spilled over her face now, and I stop in front of her before I can think. "Are you alright?" I hear a voice say, then notice that it was mine.

She looks up with blue-grey eyes underneath semi-thick glasses. "Yes. Just my nerves." She stands to her feet, blinking away her tears. She reaches out her hand to me. "I'm Sophia Angelle. I'm the speaker for today's assembly."

"I'm Kristen Bell." So that's why she was so tore up. "What's it abou-"I start to ask but the bell cuts me off. Oh well, guess I will find out soon enough.

*Fifteen Minutes Later In The Gym*

Sophia is sitting on a stool in the middle of the gym, a guitar in her lap, and a microphone on a stand in front of her. When ever gets settled in the bleachers, she gives us a smile. "Hello, everyone I'm here today to speak a few words with you and sing a few songs as well."

We all applaud and she continues, "Have any of you ever heard of Anthem Lights?" I am surprised at the number of people that are 'wooting' their answer.

She laughs. "Well I like that answer." She strums her guitar a few times. She reaches over and clicks a button on a keyboard I hadn't noticed before. It brings up a picture of a tall man with dark hair. "Well this is Alan Powell. He has recently been in quiet a few movies, along with the music career and family time."

She rolls through some pictures, and I seem to recognize a few of the movie posters. She comes to a video and clicks play. Its that same guy talking about his struggles in life during a dark period of his life.

Sophia speaks up again, "Of the group of Anthem Lights, Alan is typically seen as the leader, more adult (occasionally anyways). He always seems to have the right words to say to people. He's strong and steady. Always ready to listen." She pauses, taking a deep breath. "That was basically me in my group of friends. I was the "Alan". I had my own share of struggles too though."

Now she clicks to a picture of a crying teen. "The rate that teens try self harm is alarming and breaks my heart. I pray everyday for the ones that feel so down that the only way they can get some relief is to hurt themselves. It's not the only way. Jesus is a better way."

A few students grunt and stand to leave. Sophia calls out in a commanding voice. "Before any of you go I have something else to say. I have been one to self harm. Not with razor blades. There is more than one reason that I trim my finger nails so short, one of those is for guitar. Anyways it first started out when I was in high school. I would get upset, and I tend to have a flighty temper anyways. When I got upset I would hit myself. I had finally moved past that and then thought I might actually be getting better. Then it started to wear I would claw myself. I regretted it every single time afterwards, but in the moment it felt like the only way to re-leave the pain of being so upset and angry inside. Then it came one time that I did it again and left a scar on my stomach. It didn't go away in day, or even a few weeks. It was still there, not near as visible as before, but every time I would spot it, I would think again of how bad I felt about it."