COLLEGE, SEVEN YEARS AGO.

"You sounded great," Kris said half heartedly. Handling me my school bag and jacket.

"I'm surprised you heard us at all. You, on the other hand, look terrible" Kris had offered me to drive me home after choir practice, and was sitting by himself in the auditorium the whole time.

By my junior year, I joined the choir. Singing the worst talent for a shy girl to have. Really, I discovered I could carry a tune in the shower, but it took years for me to get the nerve to perform for my family. The World Environment day thing in high school was the only time I agreed to song in school. I figured, what the hell, it was senior year anyway. If I was horrible, I only had a year to endure the teasing. But I wasn't horrible, and Kris convinced me to try out for the college choir. We were practicing for a Christmas performance and I could see him from my spot on the stage. He looked terrible, just sitting there, staring into space. As we walked to his car, he gave me the summary:

He and Nicole were having problems, and she brought up the idea that maybe they should break up. "But you've been together for two years." I said "What new problems could you possibly have?"

"They're old ones actually"

"I hope this has nothing to do with me. Aren't you ever going to tell het that I'm not your ex?"

"No. These problems are all about the truth. And I'm never telling her about us."

"Whatever. Its just hard having to remember what I told her. You don't remember most of it myself. How do you do it?" He laughed

"I just say, I'm not one to dwell on the past"

"So you haven't added anything new to the Canon?"Kris was a bit of a comic book fan and fan fiction geek. "Cannon" was his term, Which he just suddenly used to describe the collection of details about our fake relationship.

"No. I haven't told as many stories as you have, Aila, most of the cannon came from you."

"Great. I did all the work and you just reaped the rewards"

"You are a true friend" He lived ten minutes away from our house. I watched him missed his own highway exit, in favor for the next one, which lead us to my village first. "So how Do we fix this problem with Nicole."

"What do you mean 'We'?" He asked. "This is my problem."

"Well I'm your friend, right? And I'm a girl. Maybe there's a way I can reach out to Nicole that you can't" Kris adamantly refused any help. I couldn't imagine what his problem with Nicole could be-- he never complained about her. Never mentioned fighting with her. I'd sometimes see him in a bad mood, which usually meant he was thinking something through but he never said anything bad about her. He's really mature And thoughtful that way I thought.he did forgive me for dumping him at prom- wait, that didn't actually happen. Something I forgot too.

"Problem? Did Kris talk to you about our problem?" Perhaps I had caught Nicole at a bad time. She wasn't as relax as she usually was. She didn