Hayley came into my room, a brush in one hand and her unplugged hair dryer in the other. I put a bracelet on and asked, “Why wouldn’t I?” “Oh come on, you haven’t been in a while,” she said. “I’ll be ready to leave in fifteen minutes.” I watched her leave as I mentally calculated the last time I had been to my parents’ house for dinner. Obviously I had been home for Christmas. Then we had dinner on New Year’s Day. That had been the last time because Josh had been there. Ever since our break I had been avoiding family because I just couldn’t deal with the disappointed looks like I had done something wrong. Josh had been a part of my family, and that made this break all the harder. I added a ring Josh had given me for Christmas. At the time I had thought it was a promise ring. Looking at it now, I knew that’s what he had had in mind. Yet he’d never said anything. If he had wanted to marry me so badly why hadn’t he talked about it more?
