Things had surely been awkward for a while but I was really working toward moving past that and forward to whatever new thing would surely soon be sprung on me.

I climbed down my bed and my feet met the chilly floor. The room must have dropped in temperature again when I'd slept. I was starting to get used to it, the sudden chill that clung to my space. It helped that December had settled in, and snow had begun its slow descent over the town.

A week went by too fast, caught up in the ...