While polite, that message told me she wanted to be left alone, not like never-talk-to-me-again, but more like asking me to wait for her to reach out instead of intruding on her in her time of pain. I both understood and resented it, and I resolved to respect her wishes, even at the expense of my own feelings. That's what friends do, right? Put the other person before themselves.

Lots of silence and anguish filled my life in the weeks that followed. Periodically I would get texts from Elena, but never once did she ask to see me or even talk with me over the phone. That did change one...