John looked at his shoes, wishing he hadn't opened his mouth.

The bouquet in his hands felt like a

murder weapon and he'd been caught red-handed.

Maureen glanced sideways at her friends, who all started giggling. John knew that the answer was
no. She didn't have to say it out loud. The look on her face said it all.

Just like every other school event, he'd spend this prom alone. Finally, after a drawn out and far-too-
awkward pause, he sighed and dropped the flowers at Maureen's feet and turned away, cheeks
burning with embarrassment.

Back in the safety behind the locker row, he slammed his fist into the sticker-abused metal.

"Idiot," he muttered.

John knew that he didn't have a chance with Maureen, but after getting paired with her the other
day in science class, he'd thought...

"Idiot," he repeated.

"Hey! Be nice to yourself," a voice said behind him.

"Sorry, I didn't--" he said and turned around, but the words got stuck in his throat.

A girl with white-blonde hair and beaming violet eyes sat on one of the benches behind the locker
row, watching him with a concerned expression.

"Take it back," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"What?"

"You're not an idiot, John," she said. "In fact, you're smarter than most kids in your class."

"Who are you?"

"I'm an angel."

Now it was John's turn to laugh. "Oh, of course."

He took out a soda can from his locker and downed the lukewarm content with a grimace. The girl
followed his every move as if he was the most interesting thing in the entire world.

"Well, nice meeting you, angel girl," he said with a shrug and tossed the empty can in the trash. It
bounced on the side of the bin and landed on the floor.

The girl looked at him expectantly. "You're going to pick that up, aren't you?"

John rolled his eyes. "Yeah, of course."

"Good!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "Where are we going next?"

"What do you mean 'we'?" John bent down and picked up the can, and finally discarded it. "I'm
going home."

"Cool!" The girl stood up and pointed at the bouquet still on the floor next to Maureen's locker. "You
should pick that up too."

John took a deep breath, trying to not lash out. He then grabbed his bag and headed out, the girl
scampering behind him.

"Hey! That's littering! you know that, right?"

"Leave me alone," John grunted.

The girl gave him an annoyingly wide and toothy smile. "No!"
John shook his head and then started sprinting as soon as he got out of the school. He had more
important things to deal with than annoying freshman girls with sanitary fixations.

"Wait for me!" she called out somewhere behind him.

The cars honked at him as he dashed across the street and followed the sidewalk along the park.
After a few hundred yards, he slowed down, panting.

"Phew! You're quite fast for the amount of exercise you put in."

John's eyes went wide. "How? How?"

"I have wings," the girl said, looking over her shoulder. "You can't see them, but they're there."

"Seriously? What do you want?"

"I'm here to help you."

"I don't need your help!" John clenched his fists in annoyance. "I'm fine! Go be an angel for someone
else."

"That's not how it works," the girl said, crossing her arms. "Also, I'm offended. That's not how you
should act when someone is offering you help."

"Just leave, please."

The girl shrugged. "If you give me five bucks."

John was close to bursting but somehow managed to contain himself. He dug through his pockets
and fished out a crumpled bill and handed it over.

"Thank you!" the girl cheered and skipped over to a man sleeping on the sidewalk, dropping the
money in his hat.
John shook his head and turned away. It had been a long day, and he needed some rest. He also
needed to figure out what do tomorrow. Maybe he'd cut class just to avoid the embarrassment of
facing Maureen again. He was just about to cross the street when he heard cheery whistling behind
him.

"Seriously?" he said through gritted teeth.

"What? Oh, I lied." The girl grinned. "But it was for a good cause, so it's allowed. That man hadn't
eaten in two days."

"How do I get rid of you?"

"You don't! And besides, I can help you with Maureen." The girl clung to his arm. "Can I come,
please?"

John glared at the girl, "Absolutely not."

"Pleeeeeeeeaaase!"

People on the street were giving him strange looks. He pressed his mouth into a tight minus. "Fine.
But stop being so annoying."

The girl nodded eagerly. "I promise!"