I don't know what to do. As I scroll through my text messages, I see just how little I've talked with my college friends in the past few months. I've become like a small tree in our little society - not branching out much, but not totally staying out of contact. It's not like I knew that would happen after I left college and decided to freelance write. It's not like I could predict anything I'm feeling or doing now. It was so different back then...

"Julia! You're just in time. We were about to come find you," Kayla says. "The show's about to start."

"Oh, right!" I exclaim giddily, excited to see Tom perform his part in the play. My smile could literally light up the world right now.

I settle down in my seat and wait for the curtains to open. And as the play continues, I feel close to the characters, as if I were living it myself - being the wonderful Juliet to Tom's Romeo, sighing in this exasperating feeling that people call love.

I can tell that Tom puts love into every word he says and that the audience can see that, too. He's so wonderful! How did I even manage to become his girlfriend anyway?

That thought knocks me back to reality, to the real Tom, the one I currently know, the cheater that broke my heart into a million pieces and left without saying goodbye. I think that's why I have trouble talking to people I once knew. It just hurts too much.