We rode home together. I kept silent, but Angela and Jessica talked the entire trip. I felt my chest searing now. The pain that had seemed to go away had never left me. The distraction of friends had helped, but now that I sat in silence in the car, the pain came back three times as lethal. I could have talked to my friends. That might have helped, but I couldn't bring myself to say a word. Jessica and Angela didn't seem to expect anything from me. They were surprised I had even gone. I felt more alone than before.