"Here," Ashley says just as she opens the door again. "I'm pretty sure this is yours."
Ashley hands you a small box that looks like the kind jewelry is sold in. You have no idea what it could be. Your friends watch as you open it up.
"Oh," you say as you stare at the small, perfectly intact trilobite.
"I found it in Rex's room not that long after we started dating," she says. "He said you gave it to him when your class went fossil hunting."
"I remember that trip," Anuja says. "I think that was fifth grade. It was fun."
"Rex said he didn't find any fossils and was bummed about it, so you gave him one of yours," Ashley says. "I thought it looked cool, so he gave it to me. I figured you should have it back."
"It was the best one I found," you say, more to yourself than to anyone else there.
"I think he missed you all, in his way," she says timidly, like she's afraid of what your reaction might be.
It's Anuja who responds first by laughing. "Did he? He had a funny way of showing it."
"Yeah, that's bullshit," Addy says.
"It's time to go," you say, cutting them off before this can go any further and get out of hand.
Outside Ashley's house, you take another look at the trilobite in your hand.