Free Katie's Angel by Tabatha Akers

I would have turned around,” Katie said in a very hateful tone.  The look on his face made her regret that she had been so mean. None of this was his fault, all he was just trying to be was a friend.
                  “I’m sorry that I came. I will go. See you later,” Jack replied in the same harsh tone that Katie had used towards him, as he turned to walk away.
                  Caught off guard by his tone, Katie couldn’t come up with a smart remark like she would have loved to do. “No its okay, you can stay. I am sorry that I was so mean. It has just been a very emotional day for me. Well after lunch it was emotional,” she said so that he wouldn’t think it had anything to do with him. She was so exhausted from all the emotions that she had felt in the last few hours that she could probably fall asleep if she wasn’t careful.
                  She scooted over so that Jack could sit down. She knew that he was probably wondering why she was sitting in a cemetery, hugging a headstone, but he never asked. And she was honestly grateful that he didn’t.
    They sat there in silence for a while as Katie picked at the grass. She didn’t even try to look at Jack. She was embarrassed, not knowing exactly what Jack had or had not heard.
    “You look like you had a rough day after our lunch,” he said breaking the silence.
    “You could say that,” Katie replied without making eye contact. “You could say that for every day for the last two years,” she continued.
    “Wow two years of rough days. That has to be a record, especially for a fifteen year old girl. I think that should earn you some ice cream or something,” he said trying to make her smile.
    He could tell she was very upset about something, but didn’t feel like it was his place to ask. He was usually able to realize when so meone wanted to talk and when they would rather be left alone. All he really wanted to do was give her a shoulder to cry on if she wanted it. Although at this point, he was quite sure that she was not about to tell him what was bothering her, and he was okay with just sitting there with her.
    Katie cracked a slight smile know ing that is what Jack was trying to get her to do. She just couldn’t muster up anything more than that.
    “I can leave if you want to be alone,” Jack said not really wanting to leave her alone, but he didn’t want to intrude either. He knew exactly how she was feeling. Well in a certain way he knew how she felt. He had never lost anyone but he had come so close to knowing what it felt like to lose someone close to him. He didn’t know for sure, but he was sure that whoever she was missing was someone that she was very close to.
    “No it is okay. I was not very nice to you earlier. I’m sorry. It is just that… Katie stopped and just looked at Jack. She was certain that he did not want to hear about her p roblems, but she had the sudden urge to tell Jack about everything. She felt like she could talk to him about everything she had been through in her entire life. That was a new feeling to her since she had never been able to talk about anything with anyone except Jackson.
    Interrupting her, Jack said “Look, I am only here if you want me to be. I am a good listener, and I do give pretty good advice depending on what the topic is.”
    “Thanks,” Katie replied grateful that he wasn’t pushing her to talk about anything. “I don’t usually talk to anyone about my thoughts or feelings. I keep them to myself. It is easier that way,” she continued.
    Jack knew exactly how Katie felt when it cam e to talking about feelings to someone else. He had dealt with that himself. “I used to be like that, but I have figured out that sometimes talking to someone makes all the difference. I didn’t start talking to anyone until I got myself arrested for getting out of the rain,” Jack said.
    “Did it help? And I mean did it really help?” she asked him, actually surprised