@Tucson, apparently I'm doing a really good job at taking it away from myself.
I almost made it to the car and I heard "sir! Sir! You lost your headphones! Sir!"
Almost made it.
A young girl came running up with my headphones.
"I think you dropped these."
"Thank you."
"You were crying upstairs, weren't you?"
"Yeah. I thought everyone could tell that." I started trying to walk away again.
"Ignore them. They're my brother's friends and all of them are a--holes. I just get a ride here with them so I can run. They told me about you and I went to check but you were gone."
"Was about to be." I turned to walk onward, but the next thing she did made me stop cold
She started talking. "It's ok to be sad. It's ok to cry and it's ok to try to hide it but sometimes we can't. I cried in front of my class last week when I got a D on my history project, right after my boyfriend broke up with me the day before Christmas break. I was so mad I couldn't stop crying. My aunt had to come get me from school. I was so embarrassed."
"I'm sorry you're having trouble too. Thank you. Mine's kind of more complex than that. Life's harder when you keep making the same bad choices over and over. Go back to your friends and forget about me."
"Could I give you a hug? You need a hug."
I'm not going to turn down a hug, not after that. She hugged me and said I hugged like her daddy. I haven't hugged my own daughter 5 times this year. I've only seen her 4.
I feel better because of this young lady's kindness. Things in this world are so messed up. Some people aren't, but I don't know any. That kid is awesome.