Read With Wings I Soar for Free Online

of the things she wondered about. She also spent a lot of time writing about Katie, who had become completely absorbed in studying. Sometimes Tabitha felt distant from Katie, but she knew that her friend was just struggling to cope. Katie had been writing a diary for a few years, so she gave Tabitha pointers and ideas for making her journal more personal and intimate.
    “Try putting in some stickers or pasting a picture in each entry,” Katie advised. “You can also use different colored pens for different days of the week, just for fun.”
    Tabitha took her advice and now, after just a few weeks, her journal was filled with an array of colors and images to complement her careful, but sloppy handwriting.
    As Tabitha finished her lunch, she pulled her journal from her backpack and stared at the cover. It was a picture of a white bird with brightly colored wings. The caption read “With Wings I Soar” and Tabitha loved it. She imagined she was a bird flying free in a world without divorce or death or anything bad.
    “Nice book, can I have a look?” Ryan's cheery voice drew Tabitha from her thoughts and brought her back to reality.
    “Ha, not a chance!” She put the journal back in her backpack and zipped it tightly.
    “For your eyes only, huh?”
    “You know it. So what's up?”
    “I just saw you sitting over here alone and I wanted to check on you. How's it going?”
    Tabitha smiled at her friend. Most of her spare time had been spent with Katie. Although they rarely spoke about their fathers, each girl found comfort knowing her friend understood what it was like to be abandoned.
    “It's going okay,” Tabitha tried to relax without pouring her heart out to Ryan, who probably didn't want to hear about all of her problems and issues.
    “Did you have a good Christmas?” Ryan pried, and Tabitha smiled at his persistence.
    “Yeah, it was fine. What about you?”             
    “Nothing to write home about. I had Christmas at my Grandma's and then Hanukkah with my Mom. It was fun and the food was great,” he smiled brightly. “And it was nice getting to see my cousins again.”
    “I don't have any cousins,” Tabitha said wistfully. “But I bet it must be nice.”
    “Wow, no cousins at all?”
    “Nope. My dad is an only child and my mom's brother doesn't have any kids yet, so it's just me.”
    “That must be lonely.”
    “Yeah, I guess. You sort of get used to it after awhile. Besides, I don't really have anything to compare it to, so it doesn't really matter.”
                  Suddenly, the bell rang and the lunch room's volume level increased as students began rushing to their afternoon classes.
                  “I have to go,” Tabitha said to Ryan. “But thanks for saying hi.”
                  “Anytime. Hey, Tabitha, do you wanna hang out later? Maybe study at my house or something?”
                  Tabitha grinned at Ryan. “That sounds great. Meet you after class?”
                  “It's a date.”
     

Chapter 10
     
    Ryan was waiting for Tabitha outside when she finished her last class. She had already seen Katie and told her about visiting with Ryan. Katie didn't mind at all.
    “I have a bunch of homework tonight, so it's fine. Besides, it means more of Mom's lasagna for me!”
    Tabitha was glad that Katie was so understanding and wasn't jealous of her new friendship with Ryan. Tabitha loved being friends with Katie and considered her to be like a sister, but it was nice to have a new friend to spend time with, too. Ryan was always smiling and laughing. Even when he was quiet, his eyes sparkled and Tabitha wondered what sort of secrets he held.
    “Hey Tabby Cat!” Ryan greeted Tabitha.
    She smiled. Katie was one of the only people who called her that, but she didn't mind Ryan using her special nickname.
    “Hey Ryan.”
    “Ready for awesomeness?”
    Tabitha laughed and nodded vigorously. She was ready to have