He was her savior. He saved her just as she was about to step over the edge, and he never even knew it.

She went to school that day, a day just like any other. All the other kids teased her and taunted her as always. Teased her because she was overweight, because she wasn't able to afford the designer clothes everybody else wore, because she wore braces and glasses, because she wasn't society's definition of beautiful.

Because she was different.

So they called her names, threw things at her in class, and pushed her around in the hallways.

She went home that day and faced the same mess she faced her entire life. Her mother yelling at her about how she ruined her life, its all her fault, she better fix everything, because nobody else would. Her brothers asking why she wore such tight clothes when she was so fat, calling her names like slut and bitch and retard, constantly swearing, getting into fights, hitting her or locking her out of the house whenever she made a mistake, whether it was giving them the phone when a bill collector or telemarketer called, or telling their mother something she wasn't supposed to. She had had her head banged against the wall, had been thrown to the floor, gripped by the throat, left gasping for breath.

She was used to it all, used to something nobody should ever have to become used to.

But that day she had it with it all. She ran from the house, stopping only long enough to grab her bag. She ran until she was out of breath, ran until she couldn't run anymore. She ended up by the swings on the playground of the elementary school she had gone to when she was young, when she didn't have a care in the world, when her life wasn't so messed up.

She sat on a swing and let her thoughts take over. Occasionally she would push the swing with her legs, rocking back and forth, letting the wind whip through her hair, feeling more free than she had in years, almost like she could just fly away. But mainly, she would just think. Sit, watch, and think. She watched the little kids running around screaming, without a care in the world, and remembered how she used to be like that. She thought about her life, and how she would get out of this town, leave her family behind, and travel all over the world.

But, slowly, dark thoughts started to trickle into her mind. Rotten thoughts about how she was all alone, how she was ugly, how nobody would ever love her, about how she would never be able to get out of her life, how her brothers would always hit her, her mother would always yell at her, her classmates would always make fun of her. How she had no friends and never would. And then there were thoughts about how she could get rid of it all, make all the pain go away, how she could finally make them understand what they were doing to her. It would be easy. There wouldn't be any pain if she didn't want any. Just swallow some pills and go to sleep. And they would realize that they should never have been so horrible to her.

She finally had enough with all the screaming children. They were too loud, giving her a headache, distracting her. She reached into her bag and pulled out her Discman with her favorite CD in it. One that she had never told anybody about, because she knew they would make fun of her, like always.

She put on her headphones, and then all of a sudden there he was. He appeared out of nowhere. She looked up at him, studying him, as he stood next to the swing at her side. The sun was setting behind him, causing him to glow, almost as if he was an angel. He was tall and lanky, with shaggy blonde hair that fell into his deep blue eyes. He watched her closely as he sat, making sure it was okay he was there.

He even looks like an angel, she thought. There's something about his eyes. It's like I can see who he really is if I look hard enough. And he can see me.

"Hey" he said.

"Hey"

They sat there talking long after the sun had gone down, and the stars came out for the night. She told him all about herself, about school, and her family. What she had been thinking right before he appeared. She told him how she couldn't take it anymore, it was too much, she wanted it to all go away. She wanted to show everybody what they had been doing to her. He made her see that it didn't matter what those other people thought, all that mattered was how she felt inside. He showed her that nobody gets more than what God thinks they can handle, and that he knows that she can make it through this, because he knows that she is strong, even though she doesn't feel like she is. He helped her realized that nobody is ever truly alone, even when it feels like it, and there is always somebody with her, especially in the deepest, darkest of times. And when everything seems wrong, and she feels no hope, all she needs is someone to believe in her, and help her, and know that hope is never gone. And, he said, that was why he was here. To believe in her.

He stood up then and started walking away.

Right before he left, he pointed to the sky, and she saw a shooting star.

"Make a wish," he whispered. "And I'll make sure it comes true."