`` i should have picked a smaller school , '' she says , glancing out the window at the sunlit day , chewing on her black fingernail . you ca n't predict exactly how it will go and when something will give way , so you stand an excellent chance of breaking a nail on a project like that . my gut says check upstairs , so i trot on up without hesitating . its not that i dont love you or that im not in love with you . `` i missed you after my house burned down . 