Overpacking

"So you don't even know if he saw the texts?" Darlene's question echoed in my room. I had put her on speaker phone so I could pack while we caught up. Darlene had Mono for a couple weeks so in addition to us all being so out of touch, I really hadn't seen or spoken to her.

"Yeah, but what am I supposed to do?" I asked as I carefully rolled one of my dresses to put in my suitcase. "If I bring it up and he didn't see them, I'm making a problem out of nothing. If he did see them and I don't bring it up, it's almost like I'm hiding something." I grabbed a pair of gray pumps from my closet and tried to arrange them in the most efficient way possible. I was only going to be away for the weekend and as much as I tell myself not to, I always overpack. I can't be the only one, right?

"I don't think I'm going to say anything about it," I continued to Darlene. "I just wanted to see what you thought about it."

"Yeah, I wouldn't stress about it," Darlene replied. "I'm just glad you have something to talk about. The only drama I've been exposed to the last few weeks was the Mad Men marathon."

"I swear, I'm not obsessing," I replied even though it was only partially true. Sure, between that and Scott's comment about moving out, I had a few things on my mind about our relationship that I wasn't voicing, but nothing that kept me up at night. For the most part, I felt like we were really solid and I hadn't felt this good about where a relationship was going since, well, ever.

"Well, I wish you could 'not obsess' with me this weekend. I can't believe you're not going to be around for the Memorial Day weekend festivities!" Darlene, along with most of my other friends, had really fun stereotypical Memorial Day weekend activities planned. They all involved day drinking at the beach or a barbecue hosted by a friend, but I sadly couldn't attend them since I had my first research conference this weekend. I would be going to three this summer and I was super nervous about presenting in front of people. I just have to picture everyone naked, right? Ew. I really don't get that trick.

"I know, I suck," I replied as I rummaged through my make up draw for the spare hair brush I bring with me on trips. "But I'll be around next weekend! We need a girl's brunch or something."

"Yeah, my waistline doesn't need brunch though," Darlene sighed through the receiver. Darlene always had trouble with her weight fluctuating. In high school, she was simply chubby, but quickly gained the 'freshman 15' and then some once college rolled around. A few years ago, though, she dropped a ton of weight and while she was still on the bigger side, looked bagging. She had one of the prettiest faces of my friends so she got her fair share of attention from guys, but her confidence was always a little off and I attribute that to her weight loss struggles.

"Me too," I quickly replied and I wasn't lying. I was definitely gaining some weight between the stress of school and being comfortable in a relationship. "Let's make a gym schedule or something when I get back."

"Sounds good!"

We hung up a few minutes after that. I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't be around to hang out with my friends for the weekend, but I was going to California. I haven't been since I was a kid and I had never seen San Francisco so I was pretty excited to check out the sites. I had funding for the whole thing so I told my mom that if she wanted to come along she'd just have to pay for a plane ticket. I didn't think she'd seriously take me up on it but she did! I was pretty excited to be getting some quality time with her and it would be much more fun to travel with somebody than alone.

As I was trying to zip up my suitcase, I heard a knock on my door. "Come in!" I yelled.

"What's up?" I was still focused on my suitcase, but I recognized the voice as my brother. It may actually come as a surprise to you that I have a brother, because I doubt I've mentioned him, but yeah, I do. He's two years older than me and also still lives at home. We're close in that we see each other every day, but we're not super involved in each other's lives. We get along great, though.

"Just trying to pack," I answered as I tilted my head up and gave him a smile. "Jealous of my trip with mom?"

He laughed. "No, you can have her," he replied as he walked over to my bed and sat down. Nothing was unusual about this encounter. My room was right next to the bathroom and his was in the basement, so he'd stop by my room before taking a shower. We talked about my flight and itinerary for the trip for a few minutes before I asked him if he had any plans for the weekend.

"Well, I'm going to the wineries tomorrow with Linda's friends," he said, rubbing his chin.

"Nice!" I exclaimed. He had been dating this girl, Linda, for a couple years now and he seemed to get along with her friends from what I could tell. My brother began looking around the room and I suddenly had the feeling that something was off. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing, weirdo," he said before standing up. Okay, cool story, bro.

Then before I even knew what was going on, he reached into his pocket and showed me the most beautiful engagement ring.

"Do you think she'll say yes?" He asked, grinning.