Author’s Note: This is my first successful short story. I wrote it for an English project. Please read and enjoy.

~Lordess

Some people have excellent memories. These people can recall things to such specific details, it’s as if their memories were written down for them in plain black and white. I’m not one of those people. Everything I remember is pretty much all one blur of gray now. Not that every detail matters much anymore and not that it matters to you.

I do remember some of the important stuff about my life, though, which I’m sure is what you want to hear. Nearly instantly after birth, people saw talent in me. No, I shouldn’t use the word talent, it’s too generous to my abilities at the time. People saw that I had the prospects of talent. I had potential.

So immediately I was immersed into a world of magic; a world where everything was open to me, if I had the courage, strength, and determination to reach for it. The beginning of my years played out like this; I would grow, change, and learn. I began to see such a systematic way about those around me and I could barley help myself from falling into it as well. It was nice, comforting, and safe. The more I grew, the more I came to love this simple way of living.

It was around the beginning of my teens that I came to know the two beings that would truly teach me. They didn’t give me information like the rest of society had. The things they taught me wouldn’t get me anywhere in this world, aside from closer to the one thing most important to all. I wouldn’t realize it then, or for years after, but I knew that these two would change everything simple in my life.

I met the Angel first. She was an interesting character, to say the least. She had such strange ways that she struggled to stay in line and was constantly scolded for it. The Angel had a rampant imagination and millions of stories to tell, but told so few of them. She was capable of hiding anything behind that smile.

The Demon I met quickly after. Him and his cruel smile closely followed the Angel in all that she did. She wasn’t bothered by it, and neither was I, so as I came to love the Angel as a close friend, I came to love the Demon as well.

It was really strange to see them together. At first, they were so drastically different. True, they both were odd-creations in this perfectionists world, but putting them next to each other, you could easily tell the distinctions between them. As the years flew by, however, and as the Demon and Angel grew closer to me, they grew closer together. Each passing day made it harder to distinguish them at first glance. Of course, when I was with them, they each had their own personalities, but looking from a distance?

I began to worry when I felt as though they were blending together.

They had begun to scare me when I began to make the trek from childhood to adulthood. Sometimes their actions would make me question the normal and yearn for something more. They both taught me, in different ways, how empty the normal was. I loved them more than ever for that, but at the same time, they shattered my comfortable world.

The Demon was the first to give me my lesson. He shocked me in his bluntness and his words stung, even if they had no physical effect. I liked his method better. The Angel hid her harsh lesson of life behind a smile. Though the Demon made me cry for weeks afterward with the truth he had presented, the Angel made me cry for years afterward with her truth in hiding.

My lessons left me a void with not much to fill up the empty space, aside from fear. I can’t put blame on them, though. They taught me what no one else dared to. Everyone else seemed to think me either unworthy of knowing or far too grand to ever take theses lessons seriously. But the Angel and Demon, through their actions and words, they taught me how to truly tell them apart.

I grew cautions of the other people around me and things seemed to drag on in endless cycles that made my head spin. I began struggling to keep up with the normal world and slipped farther and farther behind. The only clear memories I had (if I remember them correctly) are the ones dealing with other people. I would watch them as they watched the Demon and Angel, for those two seemed to direct all that was around them. I would watch these people and watched as they were so easily fooled. I could tell, at times, these people couldn’t tell the difference between the Angel and Demon any more. To them, they had become one entity, for wherever one followed, the other was sure to go.

A stranger soon came into my life. He caught my attention the first time I saw him, and he caught all of it. I, sitting down my dark corner and enjoying my lunch in my dark attire, stared at the boy dressed in all white. Seeing him move about was like watching winter. He was quiet, tranquil, and yet seemed cold. As pleasant as he was to the eye, I could feel the distance he put between him and others.

The Demon and Angel noticed him, and my interest in him, and immediately told me of their distaste. I tilted my head when they told me this, frowning slightly. I asked, “What’s wrong with him? Is he not more appealing than I?”

“In looks? Of course he is,” the Demon practically spat, rolling his eyes. The Angel shot him a glare before smiling at me.

“Of course not. He-” the Angel was cut off by the Demon, who leaned forward so I would pay extra attention to his words.

“He’s gorgeous.”

The Angel’s smile weakened, and I could see how forced it was. “Yes he is,” she admitted, chewing on her bottom lip a bit. She widened the fake smile again. “But you? You’re-”

Again the Demon interrupted her, a dark smirk spreading across his face. “-the exact opposite of him.”

Like many times before, I felt the sting of truth in his words. I was not a gorgeous creature, not nearly as appealing as the boy figure walking about in his white clothes. It hurt to hear it, as all insults were, direct or not. The indirect one from the Angel hurt more, for she said nothing in disagreement. I know she agreed with the Demon, but she dared not say it aloud.

I shifted in my seat and my frown twisted a bit. “That doesn’t answer my question though,” I muttered darkly. “Why don’t you like him?”

“Because he’s the exact opposite of you,” the Demon said the same smirk. I no longer knew if his words were to be taken kindly or with anger, so I decided not to take them at all and let my glance shift to the Angel.

“He’s right,” the Angel agreed, much to my dismay. “He’s the exact opposite of you.”

“That boy is so cold, it gives me the shivers,” the Demon muttered, sneering as his eyes trailed away. I followed his gaze to the white dressed boy that was walking through the open courtyards. No one but the three of us took notice of him, for he was incredibly silent in his movement.

“You’re much more spirited,” the Angel noted with another one of her common smiles. “I’m sure he’s a nice guy. Just not for us.”

The Demon gave a loud burst of laughter at that, nudging the Angel’s shoulder playfully. “Are you kidding?” he asked. He motioned towards the boy who had stopped at the large fountain in the center of the courtyard to sit and look about. “That white-freak scares the living-daylights out of everyone here. Why do you think they’ve started ignoring him?”

“He must be lonely,” I muttered, watching him.

The Angel’s laughter, though light in nature, seemed crueler than that of the Demons. “Yeah. Lonely.” I sneered at the sarcasm in her voice. The Demon’s hand landed harshly on my shoulder and I looked up at him with a distasteful look.

“Take my advice and stay away from him,” he whispered with a sneer. I gave him an exasperated look and pulled my shoulder away from his grasp. The Angel was right behind him.

“He’s nothing by trouble,” she whispered, her face etched with worry.

My head was starting to spin and throb. I looked between the Demon, with his deadly, straightforward glare, and the Angel, with her sad eyes hiding so much. I had always hated fighting, but I hated it more when these two agreed. It made it so difficult to tell them apart.

But I knew the difference, even if no one else did, and that’s all that mattered. When the Angel and Demon had drifted a bit away from me, talking amongst themselves, I slipped away. Never before had my steps been so filled with pride and determination. I smiled.

Other people were so enthralled by the Demon and Angel that they couldn’t get away. But because I knew the difference between them, I finally could. I was sure of myself now, sure of everything I had done in the past. I walked away from the Demon and Angel with no regrets.

The boy in white looked up at me as I stopped before him. It seemed as if he were expecting me and smiled. I felt the winter again, but it wasn’t as foreboding as the Demon and Angel had made it out to be. Quite the contrary, it was like an additive drug.

“I knew you’d eventually come to meet me,” he said, his voice nearly breathtaking in it’s sincerity and beautiful tone. I smiled in return. He extended his hand towards me with a kind gesture and I took his hand in mine, shaking it firmly. He introduced himself to me.

I don’t remember anything after that.