He's Your Penguin

Chapter One

"You were art- even though you weren't made of paints and colors. You were made of skin and broken hearts, but you are still a masterpiece to me,"

The first time he had spoke those words to you was when you were at your absolute worst. When you struggled to keep your head above water and all the extra weight pushing you further under, you felt as if you were screaming- not just in fear of death that was soon to be approaching- but screaming for someone to help. Everytime you expressed your feelings to your few-so-called "friends", all they would do is tell you to get over it, and that you'll be fine. It's as if they were yelling, "Learn how to swim," while the weight of their words helped sink you down.

But, he pulled you out. He was the brave one to jump in after a poor, broken girl and rescue her from her misery.

You stared at him, tears slowly slipping down your puffy cheeks. Even when you were like this, he still thought you were beautiful. He sat down next to you as you continued to watch. He gave you that same small smile he did when you were younger, and breathed your name softly, curious to see if you were still swimming with those thoughts or if he really did pull you out. He pulled you out- he had your attention.

"M-mark," You cried, grabbing onto his shirt, pushing your face against his neck. You let out a few sobs to go along with it. He wrapped his arms around you, adding to the comfort. He needed you to be okay. He loved you, but he wouldn't quite breath the words yet.

"All I can ever ask of you is to stay," You breathed into his neck. "Just stay,"

Stories always begin with words. It's amazing isn't it? How 26 letters can be composed into something so sweet of breath? How meaningful, yet terrible they can be? Some people spend hours contemplating the words to say to others, but sometimes, there are no combination of 26 different letters that could even accurately capture even a sliver of what their feeling.

However, he found the words he needed to say to you, and to think those were only composed out of 26 little letters. The words you desperately needed to hear.

~~~~

You just moved to a new town, well, more like city. This was a bigger place than where you used to live in a small, ol' country neighborhood. You were scared, you didn't know anybody. But, then again, you were also excited. This meant you could meet to friends and have them over for play dates and sleepovers. Your parents signed you up for the elementary school that was just down the road from your house, and you'd be starting school with the rest of the children in the area in about two days. Those two days flew by, and you were ready to start your day with your new class. However, that excitement faded when everyone stared at you, wondering who you were. They'd never see you before, and on top of that, when you had to introduce yourself, some kids a table over laughed at how your voice sounded. You knew it was because you lived in the south and you had an accent. It was funny to people around here, further north.

You went through the day pouting and secluding yourself from the rest of the school. Especially at lunch, when nobody wanted you to sit with them. You felt the tears swell in your eyes as you turned and left the cafeteria. You decided to eat lunch outside, alone. You threw the sandwich you had back down at your lunch box because it was too wet to eat now, due to the tears you spilled. It made you cry more; you just wanted to go home.

"I like your accent, it's kinda really cute,"

You jump, hearing a voice. Looking up, you see a boy sit down in front of you, smiling like an idiot, with blush staining his cheeks. He probably thought that he sounded like a dork saying that out loud, but he also looked like he didn't care-- and you didn't either.