Another day of hiding my true identity;

Another day of sheltering my pain;

Another day of wearing my mask,

But I know it's worth it.

"When I get rid of this cast, we are totally going to trash Cleet." Spence was recurrently frustrated as he continued editing one of his zombie videos. Cleet had been bothering him more than usual, and as a result he broke Spencer's arm. It was "accidental" of course, according to the bully.

"Brometheus, we are gonna kick his butt! Better yet, I could probably cause some major trauma! Ya know, pull some wicked spooky stuff!" It caused Spencer to laugh, bringing smiles to both our faces.

He swung around in his chair to stand, but ended up hitting his injured left arm against the desk. He cringed in pain; I did as well, but tried my best to disguise it. Apparently, I didn't hide it very well.

"Alright Billy," he turned to me sternly, "that's it. That's about the tenth time you've screamed or cringed when I've hit my arm. What gives?" He stood there waiting for an answer. The truth wasn't an option, it was too risky.

"I just feel bad for you when you hit your arm, Bromigo!" I flew over to his side, lying on air. "And by the way, if you've really hit your arm ten times, you've gotten pretty clumsy…"

"Billy…" He wasn't in the mood for any more jokes. Spencer's face had turned from anger to worry, and my stomach couldn't help but churn at the thought of his unhappiness. "Listen…these past couple weeks I've noticed that you've been acting up. Well, actually, I noticed long before that. Before I didn't say anything 'cause I thought you were just messing with me like usual."

He had diverted my gaze until now, looking up at me after a short pause. I stayed floating in front of him, resisting the urge to spill my secret.

"But now I'm sure something's up. If you don't wanna tell me the real reason, then whatever. But if you don't tell me what's going on…I don't know. I feel like you don't trust me anymore." He looked away, his eyes now looking at the floor.

I instantly moved, sitting on the bed beside him. "Of course I trust you! You're my closest bro, and I'd tell you anything. You know that, right?"

"Honestly?" His eyes locked with mine once again. "I don't know anymore. I know you're keeping something from me but you're not spitting it out!" Spencer's voice had raised a little, but it was more from frustration than anger.

It hurt me to see him so irritated, to feel so annoyed with me, when I'm supposed to bring good feelings into his life. I struggled with my inner thoughts for a moment, making possibly one of the biggest decisions of my afterlife.

"Spence," I began, "there's something I have to tell you." I stopped myself for a moment, making sure this was the best way to resolve the situation. At this point, I saw no other way out than to be honest with my closest friend. "But before you say anything, at least let me explain."

He looked confused, but nodded anyway, signaling me to continue.

I got up from the bed, moved a few steps back and faced my best friend. It had been a while since I removed my "mask," to put it in one word. I finally let loose, allowing my ivory, feathery wings emerge, along with a dim glowing halo. I felt more nervous than relieved that I was showing my true…form…around Spencer. Before he could question anything, I began to explain myself.

"Simply put, I'm an angel. Well, a guardian angel: your guardian angel. When I died, I was supposed to go to heaven like every other person that dies. When I did, though, I was given a choice. Despite my crazy, and not exactly angelic, lifestyle, I was given a choice: either go to heaven with my bumps and bruises, or have the chance to watch over someone, making sure their life would be saved from as little mess-ups as possible. I didn't know who I'd be watching over; I didn't know it was gonna be the same dude who was gonna live in my Cobra mansion. It kinda just worked that way, I guess."

"I decided to ditch the ticket to heaven and be a guardian angel. They didn't tell me anything except to not blow my cover. And that I could 'go back upstairs' at any time when I was done guiding you out after a few months. That was three years ago."

"I had started helping since you first moved into BJC mansion. I made sure to keep an eye on you and made sure you didn't do any too stupid. You're a teenager, so of course you gotta do some wacky things! Anyway, a few weeks after taking care of you, you kinda uncovered a little loophole and found a way to see me."

"You mean the necklace?" Spencer was much calmer than I thought he'd be, but it's no surprise that he still appeared pretty mind-blown.

"That's right, Brorito," I chuckled, "who knew wearing my necklace would let you see me!" That got Spence to crack a smile, internally giving me a sign of relief; at least he wasn't completely freaked out by all this.

"After you could see me, I had decided whether or not I should leave. At first it felt like the only choice, considering my cover had been blown. But after we hung out for a while we became the best of bros. That's why I couldn't leave: I couldn't, and wouldn't, leave my best pal behind."

"Billy," Spence smiled, "you're the best. I still have one question though…"

"Question being…"

"How come you feel hurt in the same places I do, like with my arm and stuff?"

"Well, I started off, "since I'm your guardian angel, I carry some of the burden of your pain so you are not hurt as badly. I kinda help ease your pain by having half of it hurt me instead. Same goes for when you're down in the dumps or when you're super steamed."

"So wait…you're saying that every time I get hurt, mentally or physically, you get hurt too?" I nodded in response. There was a brief silence between the two of us. The silence felt like a piece of glass shattered on the floor, resembling the closeness we once had, now destroyed. Tears had soon fallen from my friend's eyes as he ran to me with open arms. I accepted his gesture and we stayed in an embrace. "I'm so sorry, Billy. If I would've known, I would've-"

"You would've what?" I snickered, "You're not gonna stop getting hurt, that just doesn't happen. Everyone gets hurt, ya know. And it's my job to help ease the pain by sharing it with you."

"But why…" He tried to speak between sobs. "Why did you decide to…to stay and share my pain instead of…of sticking around in heaven?"

Honestly, I didn't know the real answer to that question. Something about Spencer just…just made me want to stay on this beautifully imperfect planet.

"'Cause I made a promise to myself that I'd look after you! And I'm pretty sure I'd be bored with the people up there. You can't really mess around and prank people. It is heaven, after all." The atmosphere was distressed as we both laughed and cracked smiles. Spencer had ceased sobbing, and his emotion of worry had wiped off his face; his was smiling a pure and genuine smile.

"Billy, I really couldn't ask for a better guardian angel. Thanks for everything."

"Anytime, Brofessor."

No more hiding my true identity;

No more sheltering my pain;

No more wearing my mask,

Telling the truth was totally worth it.