Thank You → K.WJ

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a little princess. Unlike regular princesses, she was a quiet, timid child whom no-one spoke to or interacted with. She had no unique qualities, other than her diffidence, for people to want to befriend her. She was neither smart nor dumb, no, she was simply average. Ah, average, such a normal, everyday word. That normal word - that meant nothing to others - was like venom to her ears. The word reminded her that she blended in; that she was so "meh", her existence was as meaningless as a side character in a film's.

Many side characters are often forgotten. They only exist to make the main character stand out and, when the main character does so, the side character fades away into nothingness. This little princess realised: if she didn't become more interesting, then she'd be cast away. Shunned by everyone. Therefore, knowing that she'd be unloved otherwise, she grew. 

Once upon a time, there was a little princess who morphed into someone she was not - and she spent so long changing herself, she forgot who she was. This little princess tried her best, she replaced the person she was with the person people wanted her to be. Just like that, the shy princess became the outgoing one. 

Her grades never changed but she did. She learnt that in order to be liked, she simply had to stop being herself! Had she realised sooner, she would've gladly become this person - this one who people enjoyed the company of. Unlike before, people complimented her left and right. However, she, herself, never understood the compliments; they'd always fall on empty ears.

Those compliments were meaningless, but if she had more friends, she decided, more people would praise her and give her meaningful compliments. After making friends from being a little outgoing, surely changing, even more, would attract more people! And so, she put her theory to the test. First, she dressed differently: tighter shirts and shorter skirts - that's what all the cool kids wore these days. That really got people's attention! Everybody looked at her now - they must really have wanted to be her friend!

Second, she acted differently: she followed the example of her seniors and started to break rules, be a bit more mischievous, skip classes to go hang out with guys way older than her. Originally, her conscience told her off for doing such things; she hated what she was becoming. But then, people started to recognise her more. Heads turned when she walked by and she finally felt like somebody: somebody important, somebody unique, somebody loved. That's all she had ever wanted and her dreams were finally coming true! Just for something as small as change! Change is inevitable, she told herself. You must embrace it with open arms! She cheered in her head as she finally registered how much more people like this new version of her. She never wanted it to change!

Once upon a time, the girl was in the bathroom; she had quickly popped in before her lesson started. She would've loved to skip it if not for the fact that her teacher threatened to fail her if she missed one more of his classes. She was rushing as she especially didn't want to be late: she really enjoyed the lesson even if her new "Cool Girl" persona meant she skipped class quite a bit.

She heard her best friends come in and she wanted to frighten them, so she waited in the cubicle until they reached near her. Not knowing what was in store for her, she lurked. About to jump out, she stopped, having heard them mention her name. "You know, the little slut honestly thinks that people like her." The ginger quipped.

"I mean, they do, her tits and ass are technically her, no?" The blonde added.

"Haha, you're right. Let's hope Jackson notices us soon; I can't stand being around her! To think we're actually her friends, hilarious. She thinks she's all that but, really, she barely has anything other than assets!" The ginger giggled and the blonde joined in, for some reason, even as their laughter grew quieter, she could still hear it loud and clear. It was like a tape recording playing in her head and, as the seconds passed by, it seemed to be more and more never-ending.

After hearing their disheartening words and cruel cackles on repeat, she sat on the toilet seat of her cubicle and cried, shedding all the tears that she could. Although, like the tape still playing in her mind, the tears also seemed never-ending. She walked out of the cubicle to look at her teary-eyed self in the mirror. Gazing at her reflection, she sighed sadly, for once, I wish I could see myself.

She didn't arrive at her lesson that day and her teacher sighed, knowing he'd have to fail a student he originally had such high hopes for. 

Once upon a time, the girl ignored what her friends said about her, choosing to believe that they were just burning off their frustrations. She started to notice how uncomfortable they were with her, and she blamed herself. For not being smart enough to realise that they didn't like her. For not being pretty enough to make them feel less hostile. 

Over the course of a few months, she had become friendly with most of her classmate. Although she acted like a bitch, she was kind enough for people to look past her rude attitude and see that she was a decent person inside. Occasionally, she'd be in earshot of people and she'd hear them talking about her. They would not say kind things but she forgave them, having a heart of gold although an ice-cold exterior.

With everything that went wrong, she blamed herself. Had she tried harder, she would have been able to be so amazing that they'd not want to talk behind her back. Sadly, though, she was not good enough for that and so she remained annoyed at herself. There was no-one there to change her mind and so, she fell out of love with herself. She had grown to love herself at unbelievable speeds and now, now, she had started to hate herself at an even faster pace. Though I reach out my hand, there's nobody to hold it.

Once upon a time, the little girl was misunderstood. She tried her best to smile through it all but, in all honesty, when you believe that everything in this world is against you, what do you do? When your heart aches for no reason and your self-esteem remains a graph with a negative gradient, what do you do? What can you do?

And so, this little girl lived; smiling kindly at her friends; speaking warmly to her peers; trying her best to keep them ignorant to her pain. This little girl? She hated herself. She never found herself to be good enough. She never thought she was pretty enough. To her, she never was and never would be enough.

Once upon a time, there was a voice. A voice only she could hear: it was calming yet exciting, soft yet powerful. It was honey-laced, with so much beauty that it seemed as if no-one could crack it or bring it down. The voice was always there when she needed it, and even when she didn't. It'd bring her happiness when she truly wished for it.

Originally, when she went down the route of self-destruction, she'd keep going. She'd question all sorts of thing: how do I become prettier? How do I become more likeable? How much more of this change do I need before people can truly accept me? Can they ever actually accept me? What would others do if I were to suddenly disappear? To just vanish from the face of the earth? Would they even notice? Would they care? And with those disheartening comments, she'd cry herself to sleep before wearing her happy mask the next morning.

Now, whenever she'd ask herself things that'd break her down, she heard it. That voice. The one that dispelled her self hatred. When she thought she wasn't good enough, it'd tell her that she is. When she wanted to change more, it told her that she should change for herself, not to please other people. On her lonely nights, when she wanted to leave this cruel world that cursed at people for their imperfections, the voice was there. It told her that she was worth way more than just a simple disappearance. It told her that she was loved, that if no-one else would miss her, then it would. She would worry that she'd never be loved, that she was too different to be loved. When her worries consumed her and her stress seemed to devour her, it would tell her that being different is not being wrong.

The owner of that voice - that unknowingly whispered sweet nothings in her ear, that gave her a brighter smile, that helped her realise how much she was worth - would miss her. When she finally began the slow and steady path to true self-acceptance, she was given a helping hand by an angelic voice that'd always be there to help her. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, came eight more voices. Eight more guardians, all who convinced her that they really appreciate her existence in this world and that they'd be devastated if anything were to happen to her. They would hold their hands out and pull her up the steep path, and in return, she'd love them and thank them eternally.

From none, came nine. 

Unlike everyone else, they loved who she was and not who she pretended to be. They helped her improve herself, through comforting smiles and sweet words. They taught her that making mistakes and failing is all apart of the process of growing up, and what you do with those mistakes is what makes you who you are. You're doing fine.

The next holiday she had, she left her house willingly for the first time in a hundred years. She went to the shopping centre and splurged. After hearing her guardian angels' comforting words, she had decided to reinvent herself. Properly, this time. She would become a better person, one who she herself would love and only then would others be able to do the same and accept her.

Once upon a time, she listened to the voice; became a better person. She had become someone she would be capable of loving. On this earth, there is but a small issue on the road to self-discovery: not everyone is going to like you and that's okay. As long as you have one person who cares about you, then your existence isn't meaningless. In fact, she was lucky: she had nine kind princes who accepted her and that was enough.

When she went back to school, everyone immediately noticed the change. Some thought it was a good change; others didn't. The secretive whispers didn't stop. The only difference was that, this time, she ignored them. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop them and that's okay, all royalty have haters. To show them how little their heartless words meant to her, she started to live her best life. She did all that she wanted: she worked hard, she made real friends, she became her own person. 

She had no-one to thank but the most prominent voice she heard, the soothing one that approached her first. The one that led her to believe that she was good enough. That she didn't need to change to be loved. They succoured the girl, helping her to understand that, although she didn't believe it, she was a princess; a priceless angel - who loved without demanding love back, who cared without asking for reciprocated care. She was the kindest spirit that existed and she should never change who she is for anyone but herself.

When she got to the top of the cliff of self-appreciation, she thanked the voices that were there for her, that helped her along the way, that stopped her from giving up and running away. As the other eight stood proud, congratulating and cheering for her, the loudest most prominent voice faded. The one that first approached her was also the first to leave. Before going, it said, "I am no longer needed here, you have learnt your worth and I'm glad." 

She tried to run after him as he dwindled away but he was too far gone to return. In the time span of a minute, she went through the five stages of grief: she was in denial that he was actually going, she was angry at him - for leaving before she could meet him, she tried to convince him to stay, she started to cry and, finally, she accepted that he was too good to be hers. She remembered something he told her that stuck, something he said in order to convince her that her always forgiving others was okay. When she was livid at herself for being too kind, he explained that when someone does something wrong, one shouldn't forget all the things they did right. He had explained to her that her heart of gold embraced that fact and it was one of her best qualities.

"Wait!" She called for him one last time before he left.

He turned to her and she grinned, through her tears. "Thank you for being my first fan, and for loving me even when I didn't." 

He simply smiled, "you were easy to love. You were just too scared to show that." 

Without saying it out loud, she replied in her mind 'and you were the guardian angel that was too good to be mine. Thank you, my prince.' 

And with that, he vanished without a trace...