Five hours later, I finally handed him the reply. It was a note, all folded up, that on the outside said, “Umm…”
He saw the title when I handed it to him. “Do you understand how hard that was?” He asked me.

I nodded. My stomach could not get used to the idea.

I had said yes. I felt that was the only thing to do. I liked him…so why was I so scared?

My friends were decidedly more excited than I was. I was the first among them to have a boyfriend. It was cool.

So why did it feel so weird? Awkward?

To make things even more wonderful, Brad had lost the note. It turned up at the end of the day. His friend Cathy handed it to me and told me how some guy named Wally had found it and then given it to the other Kylie. I was mortified.

But why? I shouldn’t have cared that people outside my immediate friend circle knew. But it bothered me.

The whole thing bothered me.