The Angel

Prologue

"Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw

 Lilac watched as the cold snow of the afternoon slipped through her pale fingers, melting at the touch of warm skin. The flakes landed in her messy, platinum hair, sparkling even in the clouded daylight.

One could say she looked like an angel.

Alec watched her from behind the school's glass doors for a few seconds. The winter wonderland around her made her look fit for a painting. She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world, but just standing there in the midst of the cool atmosphere made her seem different.

No. Not different. He was still learning to see.

"Lilac, you forgot your bag again," he sighed, stepping outside and holding her backpack out with a single hand.

She turned to him and smiled brighter -- the same smile he had seen for the past eight years of his life. "I keep telling you to call me Lil'," she corrected for the millionth time as she took her pale blue backpack and swung it onto her back. Lil' was her nickname, and there was no doubt that it fit. She stood at a mere four foot eleven despite being eighteen.

Alec did call her Lil' once and found it strange in his mouth, so he spat it out and promised to never taste it again. He shook his head and walked down the steps, sticking his hands in his pockets as he went. "We better get you home before you catch a cold."

"Colds are nothing to me," she mumbled. Still, the platinum blonde hopped down the short staircase, stumbling on the middle step before regaining her balance, energetic as ever. Lilac clasped her hands together as her eyes kept on the grey sky of early spring. They were filled with some childish wonder that Alec had always noticed but never knew why she was constantly filled with joy. It was the same sky, the same clouds, the same street...

... The same everything. 

Never had that phased her smile even slightly.

"Hey Alec," she said out of the blue as they walked down ever familiar, concrete streets. "Why don't you ever smile?"

And the same question.

He shrugged and kept his gaze straight ahead. "What's there to be happy about?"

And the same answer. She pursed her lips as following their usual routine but only decided on a certain reply that day. "... Because life is beautiful," she mumbled out loud, looking at the scattered snow around them.

'Ha,' he scoffed mentally. 'Beautiful...? It's plain...'

Little did he know that his external expression gave away his thoughts. Lilac had guessed them right away. As best friends, they knew each other. "Well, do you think I'm beautiful?" she asked casually with a grin, her optimism never failing.

Alec raised an eyebrow and finally looked at her. "... Sure, I guess," he answered.

"Then because I am your friend and therefore part of your life, life is beautiful," she concluded, skipping ahead of him.

"You'd be a terrible lawyer," he sighed, speeding up his walk to keep pace with her.

'Stop running so far ahead... I can't always catch up.'