But she didn’t dare ask him what he thought—because she sensed that he wasn’t happy for her.

And he wasn’t.

At all.

He was actually angry at her.

Because she had found someone.

And that made him feel like she wasn’t his anymore. And it made him feel like she wasn’t going to be there for him whenever he needed her, like she always had been. Which meant that he couldn’t rely on her to be his girlfriend like he did in high school so people wouldn’t wonder about him. And he couldn’t tell people in Portland that he had a girlfriend named Michelle so he wouldn’t have to go on dates with the guys and the girls who asked him out.

Because Michelle had a real boyfriend now—someone she loved. And who loved her. And Justin had to face the fact that he and Michelle—in spite of how much they had always loved each other—had never been—and never would be—what Michelle and her new boyfriend were.

And that made Justin feel utterly alone.

Because he didn’t think he was ever going to find someone.

Maybe because he wasn’t sure he even wanted to find someone.

Because he had things he wanted to do with his life. Big things.

And he wished Michelle wanted to do big things with her life, too. And then he suddenly asked her, “Don’t you have things you wanna do with your life?”

Michelle was taken aback—and a little irritated—by the question. And she scoffed. And then sneered and then said, “Yeah, I wanna ‘do things with my life.’ I just told you: I wanna have a baby. And a family.”

Justin didn’t say anything. Because he didn’t understand people whose only goals in life were to find love and have a family.

“And I know I’m supposed to want more,” admitted Michelle, softening. “But right now, I don’t.” Justin didn’t know how to respond to that, so he didn’t. “Anyway,” continued Michelle, “I want you to be the godfather.”

Justin winced.

He couldn’t even take care of himself. How in the world could she count on him to be the person she trusted her kid with if anything happened to her and the kid’s father?

And he ignored Michelle’s wish that he be the godfather.

And turned on the radio.

Michelle immediately turned it off. Because she wasn’t going to allow Justin to escape into his music like he always did. She was going to force him to be right there in the real world with her.

“Hey!” she said sternly, glancing over at him. “I just asked you to be the godfather to my kid. Is that something you wanna do or not?”

Justin couldn’t bring himself to answer the question.

Michelle scoffed. “Well, I’d like for you to be godfather. To my kid.” She glanced over at Justin. “And I’d like for you to be happy for me. ’Cause I’m happy!” she snarled. And then she waited for Justin to say something. And he didn’t say anything. So she said, “But it doesn’t look like you wanna be either of those things.”