How can you tell if you're dating someone if neither one of you wants to ask? It's kind of a super-awkward situation. I've been hanging out with this guy, M, and we hang out a lot. He walked me to my class, we text each other good-night, sort-of relationship stuff. I, personally, don't really want to ask him if we're dating. My roommate's boyfriend thinks this is because I don'tknow if I want to date him, so I keep leading him on. That may indeed be true. It's just really hard to decipher because half of the time we kiss goodbye. I don't know. I thought that college would be easier, that it would make relationships easier to figure out because everyone is supposed to be mature. As it turns out, freshman year of college has so far been identical to my senior year of high school, without the curfew or busywork. A little bit of a letdown, I must admit. So, how can you tell if you're dating someone if you a) haven't defined the relationship and b) no one has brought it up? And how can I tell if I'm nervous about the situation or if I really just don't want a boyfriend?

Also, my sister became engaged yesterday. Too bad the guy she's engaged to is a bum. She could do a lot better. He didn't even ask my dad if he would bless their engagement before he asked her. I thought that was super-disrespectful, but that might be because I'm a daddy's girl, through and through. I just look at her and then I look at him and I think "Why are you settling for someone who doesn't deserve you?" Maybe love really is blind. Or maybe when a girl's 29 she just wants to get married and settle down. All I know is that I really hope they wait about 4 years before they get married. Maybe 5, if I'm lucky.

So best friend of 7 years and I go to college on the opposite sides of the country. I'm in NY and she's in WA. This makes finding time to talk really hard, but I'm the only one making an effort to keep in touch. It's almost as if we're drifting apart, not because we don't want to be friends, but because we're at such different places in our lives that it's almost too hard to relate to each other. I really don't want to end my friendship with someone who is like a sister to me, but how do you know when to let go?

On the bright side, I'm young, kind of in love, my parents are paying for my entire college education, and I'm not ugly, so my life could be a lot worse. I just need to know: how soon is now?