From day one, Mia's life was tragic. Her mother died in childbirth, leaving her father to raise her on his own. Thankfully, Mia's aunt came along to help. From the first day she started school, Mia had been bullied. By her preteen years, she began cutting herself to cope. Luckily, her father and her aunt took steps to help her. Later, her father got a job offer in a new city. He would get an increase in pay, so he took it. Mia said, "I hope I won't get bullied in my new school." Her aunt said, "Mia, there's no guarantee the other kids won't make fun of you. Bullying happens in every school. Your father and I got bullied all the time when we were in school." When Mia arrived at her new school, she said to herself, "Well, this is it." She hoped nobody would notice her scars. After all, she still had to fight herself not to cut at times. Some of her classmates seemed nice enough, but she wasn't sure if they would want to be her friends. She thought, Maybe they're just being nice, and they really don't want to be my friends. During lunch, she looked around for a place to sit. She finally found a lonely table. One of her schoolmates came to her and asked, "What are you doing?" She said, "Having lunch." He tilted his head. "All alone?" She nodded. He asked, "Wouldn't you like some company?" She said, "Sure." He sat beside her. He said, "My name's Anthony. What's yours?" She said, "Mia." After talking a while, Mia and Anthony learned they had the same interests. Anthony then noticed Mia's scars. He said, "I hate to stick my nose into your business, but I'd like to know. What happened to you? Where did you get those scars?" Mia was hesitant to answer. She really didn't want to talk about self-harm. She then came up with a lie. "Oh, clumsy me," she said. "I fell down these concrete stairs." It sounded believable, but Anthony didn't buy it. He said, "Mia, tell the truth. You got hurt on purpose." She asked, "How did you know?" He said, "I know what self-harm looks like. My older sister used to do it. Listen, Mia, if you need to talk, I'm available." She smiled and said, "Thanks, Anthony." At the end of the day, Mia told her father and her aunt what happened. Her aunt said, "It sounds like Anthony really likes you. He wants to be your friend." Mia said, "I don't know. I wonder if he's just being nice." Her father said, "Mia, you should let him in. It sounds to me like he wants to be your friend." She said, "Okay, I'll let him in."