Gone with an Angel

Chapter Fourteen:

I had tried to fall asleep later that same night with ideas in my head for what I could possibly do for James. Unfortunately, I woke up with nothing but crust over my eyes and the slight remnant of drool matted onto my pillow. I sighed in defeat and decided to think about it later.

 Stand up, get dressed, pull hair up in a messy pony tail, and eat breakfast. That was as far as I had gotten in my daily schedule I made mentally. I guessed I'd just go along with whatever was happening with James and Ty.

When James passed by through the kitchen, I noticed something new. He was speaking rapidly while holding his hand to his ear, and while I thought this was extremely weird, I realized how stupid I was being. James was holding a cell phone against his ear and was talking to someone about something. I wondered who on Earth he could be talking to. And when did we get a cell phone?

 James passed in and out of the room; going nowhere in particular it seemed, just pacing, speaking, and listening. By the time he had finally ended his conversation twenty minutes had passed. He sighed and tossed himself into a chair opposite me, punctuating the ending of his conversation with whoever that was.

 "Um?" I finally said after more lengthy minutes of silence, I figured he would just start answering the questions he had to have known were racing through my mind.

"Yes...?" He tilted his head to the side like a confused little dog, and I just raised my eyebrows and stared back at him until he broke out of his fog of confusion. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm way over tired." he said as he reached his hands to his eyes and rubbed them, as if proving his point. "Late night and all that."

 "I'm aware..." I said slowly. “I was there too, with you, remember?"

 His eyes lit up and I assumed he did just remember, but he kept on smoothly.

 "Yeah, right, that. So uh, we got a phone,” he said stupidly, pointing to it with one extended finger.

"And...?"

 I just stared at him. Something was wrong with James, he just wasn't himself. With all of his stating the obvious, confusion, and not answering things.

"What's wrong, James?"

"It's just so hard..." he said quickly, leaning forward throwing his face into his hands and crumpling before my eyes. His back quaked with shivers from his sobbing, and I sat there awkwardly. I didn't know to touch him, and have him pull away again, or say something encouraging, or not at all.

 I opted out of all those options. "What's hard, James?"

I waited patiently while his sobs died down to tears, then to wet eyes, and then to the quiet little hiccups.

"Taking care of everyone. Figuring out the meaning of life, with no guidance what so ever, just the hunch of what I need to do. I may be an angel, but I'm still a human as well. I can't do everything...God isn't directing me, it's not like angels are some elite club with secret meetings, it's just something you're born with. Do with it the best you can." He shook his head and lowered his eyes to the floor, reaching his hand up to brush a few stragglers of tears clinging to his cheeks.

"I can't even imagine. I'm sorry," I said stupidly, and then out of curiosity jumped ahead to ask, "Who was that on the phone?"

He attempted a smile. "That was this guy from where Ty and our family used to live. When I went to school I had made friends with him. His name is Alex. Anyways, he was the only one I talked to outside of our little family, because I hadn't felt the connection to anyone that I needed to help, so I stuck to the people who did need me. But when I met Alex, there was another feeling. It was something more than the usual but still different. Later on I found out that was because Alex was an angel. That feeling is specific only between angels. When Ty and I's parents ditched and we moved, I had to leave Alex behind. He had to stay there for his quest. I haven't spoken to him in so many years, until now." He made a real smile now, and I felt my heart jump in my chest.