When Kat Came Back

Chapter 49

"Ash!" Jonah cried out. "Ash! Wait up!"

He broke into a light jog and caught up with Ashlynn easily. She wasn't walking that fast anyway. Jonah noticed she looked pale, skinnier than when she'd left for New York. And she was late. She'd come home way later than she'd said she would be.

"Hey!" He said, as he caught up to her and touched her shoulder. Ashlynn dropped her bag, pulled away from him and crossed her arms in front of her in a defensive stance. Jonah pulled his hand back and put both up in a sort of surrendering pose.

"Whoa!" He said. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Ash. You know that."

He scrutinized his friend. She looked sad. There was a bandage poking out of the collar of her hoodie, just a bit. A corner.

"What happened?" Jonah asked, reaching for the bandage.  Ashlynn stepped away from him and pulled her hoodie so it covered the bandage. The doctors in New York said her stitches should be good to come out in a few more days.

"Hey," Jonah said, quietly. "Hey. It's okay. It's me. I'm not going to hurt you. What happened? You're not okay, are you?"

Ashlynn looked at Jonah, shook her head and turned and walked away. Jonah saw the tear that fell from her eye before she turned. Something had happened in New York and Ashlynn wasn't the same. He was worried. He liked Ashlynn. He wanted to protect her.   He didn't want to see her hurt, or sad, or in pain. He'd felt that since the day Mason had walked into her fractured hip on her first day.

Jonah watched as she walked down the hall and turned down the hall where her locker was. He didn't know whether to follow her or not. But he wanted her to know she could trust him. That's all he'd ever wanted her to know. That she could trust him. He didn't care who her brother was. It was cool that her brother is Patrick Stump. But Jonah liked Ashlynn because she was smart and funny. Like he'd said when they met, he knew what it was like to be the new kid, and she'd started school as a big story in the newspapers. Jonah felt like he was the first person who'd treated her like Ashlynn and not 'Patrick Stump, lead singer of Fall Out Boy's kidnapped baby sister.'

Jonah walked over to Ashlynn's locker and stood beside it while she packed and unpacked her school bag.

"Seriously, Ash. What happened? You were supposed to be back a couple of weeks ago. Are you okay?"

Ashlynn looked at Jonah then turned away and closed her locker. She looked at him again, shook her head and walked away. Jonah followed because they had the same class anyway.

He walked beside her. He wanted her to know that whatever had happened, he was still there for her. He still wanted to be her friend. And he'd wait until she was ready to talk, if she wanted.

They got to the classroom and, like her first day, Ashlynn took her seat and looked out the window.

"Welcome back, Ashlynn!" Mr. Peterson said said. Ashlynn didn't look at the teacher. Mr. Peterson looked at Jonah, knowing the two were friends. Jonah shrugged. He had no more of an idea what what's up with Ashlynn than the teacher did.

Their friends came into the class and saw Jonah and Ashlynn and came over to say hi. Ashlynn didn't acknowledge them. She didn't look up when they said hello. Jonah shrugged and texted his friends.

"Something must have happened in New York. She won't talk, though."

The teenagers looked at each other, looked at Ashlynn and began to formulate a plan hoping to help Ashlynn.

The rest of the school day was more or less the same. Her friends tried to get her to talk, her teachers welcomed her back and asked about her trip. And Ashlynn remained silent throughout.