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didn’t make it to the door. Stephen said, “Good riddance to bad trash,” and then pushed me hard from behind so that I slammed into the wall.
    I wasn’t even thinking. Just reacting. I turned and pushed him. I pushed him so hard that he fell backward over a table. Some framed pictures fell to the floor, and then Stephen hit the floor. Hard. I didn’t hang around to see what might happen next. I was out the door and walking quickly away into the cold night air.

Chapter Thirteen
    Ashley wouldn’t speak to me the next day at school. I couldn’t believe things had gone from bad to worse. I waited for her outside several of her classes, but she refused to even look at me or make eye contact. I had to talk with her. I thought she would have realized that none of what happened was my fault. But all she said was, “Just leave me alone. Haven’t you done enough damage?”
    I felt rotten. Really rotten.
    I saw Stephen in the hall, and I could see he had a big bruise on his face. I thought about trying to apologize, but I knew it wouldn’t work. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to hit me. Then we’d end up in more trouble, and I sure didn’t want that, or any more attention.
    It was one of my worst days of school ever. I couldn’t concentrate and I couldn’t figure out how to patch things up. After school was finished, I was sitting in the back of the bus thinking about what a crappy future I had ahead of me when Kiley sat down beside me.
    â€œYou don’t look so good,” she said.
    I told her what had happened.
    She didn’t say anything at first. “Maybe this just isn’t meant to be,” she finally said. I knew exactly what she meant.
    â€œI don’t know what it is,” I said. “I’ve been trying to do the right thing.”
    â€œMaybe you’re trying to do the wrong thing. I know your heart is in the right place. It just seems that it’s not working out.”
    I knew there was more to this than what Kiley was saying. I could see it in her face. It was that look she had given me back when we had first gotten together. We’d been together for almost a year, and then I screwed things up. After that, Ashley had come along, and the rest, as they say, is history.
    But maybe Kiley was right. Maybe Mark was right. And my parents. And Ashley’s parents. Maybe everyone could see things clearly but me. When it was time for Kiley to get off the bus, she said, “Call me if you need someone to talk to. I’ll be there for you.” Both of my parents’ cars were in the driveway when I got home. That was weird. They both should have been at work. I knew something was up. But I would never have expected what happened next.
    I walked into the kitchen, and my father was reading some kind of document. He looked up at me. “What happened last night, Zach?”
    I looked down at the floor. “Ashley’s brother and I had a little disagreement.”
    â€œMaybe not so little?” he asked.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œThis,” he said, holding out the pages in his hands. “It’s a restraining order. The Walkers went to the police, and they delivered this today. You’re not allowed to have any contact with Stephen or Ashley.”
    â€œThis is crazy,” I said. “It wasn’t my fault. They can’t do this.”
    My mother came up to me then and put her arm around me. “If they went this far, this is very serious. Zach, I think you just have to back off. I think you have to let all this go.”
    â€œThis is so unfair.”
    My dad set the papers on the table. “I don’t think you have much of a choice here, Zach. I think you need to let Ashley and her parents sort out whatever they’re going to do. Anything you try to do now would only make things worse.”
    â€œAnd you could get in real trouble,” my mom said, the look of parental worry stamped on