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theaters before the start of every movie? The one where it sounds like a freight train, a helicopter, and a 747 passenger plane are about to land inside the theater? Right next to your seat? That was exactly how loud my heart and temples pounded. The two competing sounds converged inside my head like competing fighter planes.
    But then the room grew too bright and I realized my eyes were closed. I inhaled deeply, desperately trying to mind-meld with my heart that it needed to slow down. Badly. I wondered if I was having a heart attack, but no one was pounding against my chest.
    Then I realized what I had done.
    “No,” I muttered with my eyes squeezed shut. I’d fallen again, obviously. Just freakin’ great …What was my problem? I’d never wanted to crawl up into a little ball and turn into a pile of dust more than this very instant. This can’t be happening again. It just can’t.
    When my heartbeat finally slowed, after a handful of more deep breaths, it became easier to focus. I forced one eye open. But with the bright light above me, I started to wonder whether I was on an operating table. Or being held captive inside an alien ship.
    Dear god, please let it be an alien ship.
    Even being dissected on an alien ship would be less painful than falling again in Goldie’s Gym, or worse, in front of Max Kramer especially if he had happened to pass by while I was in the clutches of jogging endorphin-land. I swallowed back that cruel possibility, tasted dry lips, and then forced myself to concentrate. The sooner I got up and drove home, the better. I couldn’t play dead forever.
    “Callie?” someone said.
    It was a man’s voice. His tone was gentle but urgent.
    “Callie, babe, are you okay?” he said again.
    A hand pressed against my cheek. The skin was pleasantly cool. Someone lifted my limp hand and patted my wrist. I figured it was probably Kathryn but when I inhaled, I didn’t smell lavender.
    “Come on, Callie,” another voice said, a woman. “Are you okay? Say something!” The voice bordered on shrill and squeaky, and it sounded oddly familiar. But it was too shrill to be Kathryn.
    Curious, I opened my eyes. Even as I tried to raise my head, someone pushed back against my shoulder, gently. It was that same cool hand again.
    Carlos, maybe? I wondered. That wouldn’t be so bad. At least he’ll know what to do.
    “What should we do, Max?” the woman said.
    Max? I moaned to myself. Damn it! Not again! Now I really wanted to die. This was more than one girl could handle.
    I’d fallen again. That much was clear.
    My eyes squeezed shut again and I hoped that, eventually, these people would simply go about their workouts and leave me alone.
    “Come on, Callie. Say something. You’ll be okay,” Max said.
    My eyes blinked open. Who is Callie? Did she fall too?
    I studied their faces. One of the faces kneeling over me definitely belonged to Max. I’d know that square jaw line anywhere. The other belonged to Alexandra Summers, probably anxious to use the new treadmill.
    “Don’t worry, Alexandra.” My words slurred and stuck to my throat. “I’ll get up. You can have the treadmill…”
    But Alexandra turned to Max and shook her blond ponytail, the kind that always remained obnoxiously glued inside a hair tie with nary a hair out of place. “What’s she talking about?” she asked him.
    Max leaned close enough to my face so that I could feel breath. I even noticed the stubble on his chin. I fought the urge to reach up and stroke it with my thumb, just as I’d imagined doing a million times. Jeez, he could sell razors with that adorable stubble…
    “Callie, we’ll help you up now. Ready?” Max said.
    Why are you being so nice? I wondered as Max lifted me to a sitting position.
    He continued to grip my shoulders so tightly that I couldn’t help but sink back into his arms. I looked up at him, speechless, cherishing the moment, unusual as it was. I figured I might as well make the best of another