When Maura's father vanished, so did most of her friends. She had assumed tragedy would warrant some amount of sympathy. Instead, her dad's disappearance became fertile ground for spreading rumors.

Some speculated her father had developed amnesia, unable to return home because he couldn't remember who he was or where he belonged. Others said he was a member of the CIA working undercover in a foreign county. While ridiculous, those rumors weren't mean-spirited. It was the whispered accusations that Maura and her mother had driven him away into the arms of a new family that got under her skin. On her darkest days, those were the rumors she thought might be true. Did her dad have another family somewhere, out there?

Thankfully, Leanne kept her sane. They'd been best friends for years, and it totally sucked that they didn't have any classes together this semester, not even lunch. Instead of eating alone or pretending that she was a normal, happy girl, Maura chose to sit by herself in a secluded corner of the campus courtyard, weather permitting.

That's where she was today when she sensed a presence in her periphery. She pretended not to notice, even when the person stopped directly in front of her. She kept her head bent, eyes on her notebook. All she could see were a pair of hot-pink Converse. She held her breath, hoping whoever it was would eventually leave. When the person began to tap their foot, she looked up to find Luke's sister gazing down at her. The girl grinned when their eyes met.

Maura yanked out an earbud. "Not to be rude, but I'm studying."

Luke's sister sat down on the bench next to her, so close their shoulders touched. Maura scooted away a few inches. "I won't be a bother," she said. "I saw you and thought you might like some company." She pulled out a plastic container from her bag and removed the top. A sweet aroma wafted out, a pleasant combination of brown sugar and chocolate. "Would you like one?"

"No," Maura replied, though her stomach grumbled at the sight of the cookies. "What gave you the impression I wanted company? Was it that I was sitting alone? It obviously wasn't that I was wearing earbuds and not making eye contact with anyone."

Luke's sister bit into a cookie, though Maura didn't miss the slight smile on her lips. "You're funny. I'm Evelyn, by the way."

"She has a name," Maura muttered.

Several moments of silence passed while Evelyn took infuriatingly small nibbles of her cookie and Maura pretended it didn't irritate her.

"If you really didn't want company," Evelyn finally said, "you would have walked away. Or, at the very least, put that earbud back in place and not spoken to me."

Maura rolled her eyes. If she ignored her—really ignored her this time—maybe she would go away.

"It's obvious what he sees in you," Evelyn said.

That got Maura's attention. She pulled out the other earbud and turned to face the girl. "He who?" she asked, even though there was only one person she could be talking about.

"Luke, you ninny. He has a crush on you."

Maura snorted. "I highly doubt that."

Evelyn's hazel eyes widened. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"Didn't you notice the barely contained hostility at the movie theater the other night, or is ambivalence just part of your brother's natural charm?"

Evelyn's smile widened. She held out the container of cookies again, and this time Maura took one. "Luke and I were raised together," she said, "but we aren't really related. Still, he is my brother, even if we don't share the same blood. I know him well."

"Then what's his problem?"

"Generally speaking, or in particular?" Evelyn answered, which made Maura laugh. "Luke is a surly boy, without a doubt. We move around a lot, which doesn't help matters. Also, he secretly despises our mother."

"Isn't that par for the course?"

Evelyn's brow furrowed. "Par for the course?"

"Meaning, we're teenagers. Aren't we required to despise our parents?" Maura hadn't much liked her mother when she announced she was planning to sell their home. And as far as her dad was concerned, when she wasn't missing him and wishing him home, she hated him for leaving.

"Hmm. Perhaps," Evelyn said.

"Why would Luke confide in you that he has a crush on me?" Maura asked, changing the subject. "Which, by the way, I don't believe."

Evelyn crossed one leg over the other, bobbing it up and down. "He didn't exactly tell me," she admitted.

"What, did you read it in his diary?" She had meant it as a joke, but Evelyn simply shrugged and locked her lips with a pretend key. "Oh, my gods," Maura said. "I don't know whether I'm more shocked that your brother keeps a diary, or that you read it."

"Someone has to keep Luke in line," Evelyn said. "I act only in his best interest."

Maura polished off the cookie, wiped the crumbs from her lap, and sat staring at this strange girl with whom she'd somehow found herself having an admittedly interesting conversation. "How is playing matchmaker in Luke's best interest?"

"It just is."

"That's not a valid reason."

Evelyn stared at her. "Because I think you two would make a ridiculously cute couple, and it would literally kill me if you didn't get together."

"Literally?"

"I would cease to exist. Poof!" she said, spreading her fingers.

"Well, in that case," Maura replied, "it's nice to have met you." She shook her head. "I hate to break it to you, Evelyn, but I'm not interested in your brother."

Evelyn blinked, rearing back slightly. "Have you seen him?"

"Looks aren't everything," Maura said. "And don't talk about your brother that way. It's gross. The point is, I don't know him. He doesn't know me."

Evelyn waved her hand as if none of that mattered. "Minor details. How do you know that yours isn't the greatest love story yet to be told?"

"Because it's not," Maura said. "Aside from this project we're supposed to be working on together, I have no interest in getting to know him. Now, I would appreciate it if you left me alone. I've got to study."

"Fine," Evelyn said, getting to her feet. "We can resume this conversation later." She pulled out a piece of paper from her bag. "By the way, here's how to get in touch with him."

"I already gave Luke my number. The least he can do is get in touch with me."

"I happen to know he trashed it." Evelyn shook the paper. "Go on. Take it."

Maura snatched the paper from the girl's outstretched hand. "Because tossing your number is exactly what someone who has a crush on you does, right?"

"I never said it made sense." Evelyn smiled and waved her fingers, and then she spun on the toe of her Converse and wandered off to bother someone else.

Maura closed her notebook, her concentration shattered. It didn't matter, though. She could ace the quiz in her sleep. Maybe she would speak to Mrs. Raines and try pleading her case again. And yet . . . she'd never been one to whine or ask for special favors. She would have to make the best of a bad situation. Make lemonade out of lemons, etcetera etcetera. They had two weeks to get the project done. She was sure she could put up with Luke—and Evelyn—for that long.

She turned the piece of paper over and stared at Evelyn's loopy handwriting. Then she dug her cell phone out of her bag and texted a brief message to the number on the page: This is Maura. Library. After school. Don't forget. The message went through, and almost immediately she saw the read receipt. She expected to see the tell-tale bubbles of Luke responding with a message of his own, but the screen remained blank.

When the end of the day rolled around, Maura made her way to the library. She waited for twenty minutes, sitting at a table by herself, but Luke never showed. She searched the library, thinking maybe she had missed him coming in, but there was no one there but a few other students. At last, she reached the unsatisfactory conclusion that she had been stood up.

Again.

Sitting behind the wheel of her car a few minutes later, she sent another text to Luke: If we fail this assignment, it'll be your fault. Again, she saw that the message was delivered and read, and again she got no response.

"Typical."

She thrust her key in the ignition and turned, and the car made a horrible grating sound before reluctantly coughing to life.

"Typical," she said again and chugged out of the parking lot.

*****

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please vote, comment, and recommend Love You To Death to others.