This was it. Today was the day of the talent competition and I was next. I couldn't believe it!

With my heart beating dangerously fast, I walked onto the stage. I looked out into the crowd and saw Rachel, James, Leila, my mom and dad and even Stephanie. They were all here to hear me sing! I took a deep breath and strummed the first note.

Every day is so wonderful

Then suddenly it's hard to breathe.

Now and then I get insecure

From all the pain, I'm so ashamed.

I am beautiful no matter what they say.

Words can't bring me down.

I am beautiful in every single way.

Yes, words can't bring me down... Oh no.

So don't you bring me down today.

To all your friends you're delirious,

So consumed in all your doom.

Trying hard to fill the emptiness.

The pieces gone, left the puzzle undone.

is that the way it is?

You are beautiful no matter what they say

Words can't bring you down....oh no

You are beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can't bring you down, oh, no

So don't you bring me down today...

No matter what we do

No matter what we say

We're the song inside the tune

Full of beautiful mistakes

And everywhere we go

The sun will always shine

And tomorrow we might wake on the other side

We are beautiful no matter what they say

Yes, words won't bring us down, no, no

We are beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can't bring us down, oh, no

So don't you bring me down today

Oh, yeah, don't you bring me down today, yeah, ooh

Don't you bring me down ooh... Today

I smile when I hear the huge applause around me. As I look out into the audience I realize that for the first time, I believe it. I believe that I'm beautiful.

______________THE END__________________

Hey guys!

It's over! Can you believe it?!

Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this short story. The whole story feels very important to me as I can relate it to it and I'm sure a lot of you guys can as well...

Thank you all so much for giving this book a try. It means a lot to me! I hope this story will help any of you out there who struggle with such insecurities.

The final song is "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. Any one who hasn't heard it, please hear it as I have attached the lyric video in the media. It is one of the most inspirational songs I've ever heard. I always feel emotional when I listen to it.

So, it would mean a lot if you voted or commented about what you thought of this story!

That's it I guess. I will see you all next time when I write my next book!Goodbye all you beautiful people!

-athena