Fourteen years old and the first shot of alcohol burns her throat. Fifteen years old and she swears her first boyfriend is the love of her life only to get her heart broken three months later. Sixteen years old she throws her food up for the first time. Seventeen years old she pops her first pill. Eighteen years old she breaks down for the first time as she swears her life is falling apart.

Mascara leaves black streaks down her face as curls up her fragile body on the bathroom floor. She glances up at the mirror only to see the desperate cry for help written all over her face. It is her against the world, or so she feels. She pushes away all those close to her, and she walks through the high school hallways with a lifeless expression on her bare face. She changes in the bathroom during gym class to hide the scars that cover her thighs. She leaves the school for what she things will be her last day as she begins her walk home with no intentions of continuing on.

She walks past a group of boys who simultaneously stop and stare. She braces herself and she prepares for the laughs and snickers. She feels a hand grip her shoulder and she spins around ready to defend herself from whoever was trying to hurt her. When suddenly she is greeted by a simple “hello.” The tension in her shoulders is released as she takes a deep breath, almost as a sense of relieve. He proceeds to tell her how beautiful she looks today and how he couldn’t help but let a pretty girl like her pass by. The edges of her lips begin to curl upward into a smile for the first times in months. They exchange phone numbers and as she continues her walk home, she looks forward to tomorrow for the first time since she can remember.

She walks into her house and sees an envelope addressed to her. She opens her first college acceptance letter and a tear begins to trickle down her cheek, but for the first time it's because of happiness and not from enteral sadness. She presses the letter against her chest as she looks up and whispers a simple “thank you” into the sky. She lays in bed that night and for the first time she doesn’t cry herself to sleep.

Fast forward a year from now and she steps foot into her new dorm room for the first time. She kisses the same boy who approached her a year ago to give her last goodbye to her boyfriend before he drops her off for school. As the day comes to an end she lays in bed as she thinks back to where her mindset was a year ago, and she begins to laugh. Who would’ve thought a simple hello would save her from spiraling downwards. Who would’ve thought a simple act of kindness would be the reason she’s still here today.

This is a fictional story that applies to real life situations. You walk past thousands of people throughout your lifetime and don’t acknowledge majority of them. You never know how far a simple smile, a simple wave, a simple hello, or a simple you look nice today can go. Think of all your bad days when you wanted nothing more than a helping hand to reach out and save you. Don’t hesitate to save someone else from falling just because someone might not have been there to save you. For all you know that smile you sent their way could’ve saved their life.