Michelle and Matt

"If I—"

He stopped her, putting up his hand. He looked tired; there were circles under his eyes. "Okay, Michelle. My turn now."

He stood up and looked out the window for a minute or so, then turned around and looked directly into her face.

"Everything you say is true—and thank you for saying it. You betrayed me in the worst possible way, the most humiliating, even public way.

"And, needless to say, I've been thinking about it a lot. People do dumb things occasionally—get drunk and kill themselves in cars, or get into stupid fights, or panic during finals and try to cheat on exams. Or cheat on their boyfriends, or fiancés.

"And I suppose young people are even more likely to do dumb stuff, and we're both just 21. So, believe it or not, I kind of forgive you. I'm not so angry now, not like I was. Just really sad.

"You know, I can't help thinking that it has something to do with your boobs. I mean, how they got big and you started getting so much attention from guys. You may not realize it, Michelle, but I think that's what made this whole thing possible.

"I wish you well—but we're done. I figure you're hoping we could find a way to work things out, even after what you ... after everything that's happened. But we can't. I won't. What you did made me feel like I simply don't know you at all—that the real Michelle, or the new Michelle, is someone utterly different from the one I fell in love with back in high school."

Her mouth was open and there were tears on her face, but she didn't try to interrupt him.

"Maybe it was some weird once-in-a-lifetime aberration, some biochemical explosion of selfishness. Maybe nothing like it would ever happen again, and you would love me and be faithful to me for 60 years.

"But I'm not going to take that chance."

He stepped over to her and said, "I'd like my ring back, please."