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have you been?”
    The woman was dressed in an ill-fitting T-shirt and a pair of worn jeans that looked like they hadn’t been washed in a while. “Get in the goddamn house, now!”
    The woman’s hair was a shade darker than Eva’s, and her face was prematurely aged in that way that alcoholics and heavy smokers look, but the resemblance was still there. This had to be Eva’s mom.
    “Get the hell away from that bike! What the hell is wrong with you!” she screamed. Eva glanced at me, her expression scandalized. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and fled up the walk toward the house.
    Brushing past her mother, she ran inside, the door slamming again behind her. The woman continued to yell, and began to berate me as the little kids stared at us in silence.
    I didn’t know what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of. I strapped the helmet on the back of the bike, fired it up, and got the hell out of there.
    I had never thought to get Eva’s phone number from her, and I didn’t know anyone who would have it, so I had to wait until Monday to see her. The weekend dragged by slower than any weekend ever had. And even though I got some invitations to go party with people, I found myself leaving early and riding the bike around restlessly.
    Monday finally came, and I couldn’t wait until the first class we had together to see her. I went to her locker before the first bell, hoping she’d show up, but she never did. Disappointed, I went back before chemistry, when normally I would walk her to class, but she wasn’t there. She didn’t show up to chem, and she wasn’t in English, either. I had no idea what to make of it, and was antsy as fuck all day.
    On Tuesday, I tried to play it cool, and showed up at her locker at my normal time. “Hey, Eva. Missed you yesterday.” I tried as hard as I could to act like I hadn’t spent the last three days on pins and needles. “Were you sick or something?”
    When she turned to me, the look she gave me was one of pure loathing. “Do not talk to me. Ever . Again ,” she hissed. Her eyes were cold, hard sapphires. “ Ever . I mean it.”
    “Eva, what—“
    “LEAVE ME ALONE!” she yelled.
    A couple of kids turned to look at us. I opened my mouth to protest, but she slammed her locker shut with a loud bang and stormed off toward our classroom. I stood there, not knowing what to do or say. I had no idea what I’d done. I had no idea what she thought I’d done.
    All I knew is that suddenly I wanted to vomit.
    I tried to talk to her a couple of times after that. But she was serious. She never wanted to hear my voice again. She wasn’t just playing some sort of manipulation game, like some girls would do to test how much you were willing to put up with to be with them.
    Eventually, I stopped trying. I ended hooking up with Debbie Turner for a while to distract myself. Then the school year ended. I never saw Eva again.
    I assumed she went to University of Washington, like she said she was going to. And that was that.
    Until now. Here she was. It was ten years later, and she was ten times more gorgeous. And she still thought I was a fucking asshole.
    And I still didn’t know why.
    But I wasn’t about to go through that bullshit again. Eva Van Buren was the closest I’d ever come to having my heart broken, and I didn’t need that shit in my life. I preferred the never-ending stream of no-strings-attached pussy, thank you very much. I wasn’t the moony-eyed kid I had been back then.
    Before I left the hospital, I had Cal come down with me to the third floor so I could set up my first PT appointment. Might as well get the ball rolling, I figured. They booked me for a ten o’clock session the following day, which they said would be done around noon. I was about to begin seeing Eva Van Buren every single day.
    It was only six weeks, I told myself. Eight at the most. I’d done tougher things before.
    Right?

6
    Eva
    I sat in the cafeteria by myself, sipping iced tea at a