1

I opened the mailbox; more science journals. How many did Dad subscribe to? I walked into the empty house Dad had left me. Left me, like Brian on the other side of the Earth, like Jared, like mom… I threw the magazines into the trashcan and the bills on the kitchen table. I had just turned to the living room, when there was a knock at the door.

"Evey! It's me!"

I opened the door to see Emma, my best friend since elementary school, smiling brightly at me, her hair gold in the sunlight pulled up on top her head. She was holding two bags that made her seem like she would fall forward any second at the uneven weight.

"Here," she said thrusting one of the bags into my arms. "I went ahead and got your books when I got mine. I figured one less thing for you to worry about."

I shut the door behind her.

"Thanks," I said trying to return her cheerfulness.

I sat down on the couch and pulled five large textbooks out of the plastic bag. Tomorrow the fall semester started. It was my fourth and hopefully last year of college, but from the way things were going it was hard to be optimistic even about school.

Despite Emma sitting right next to me, I had never felt so alone in my life. My mother had died in a car accident when I was only five. I missed her but I had grown up a pretty happy person. I had a normal life; I had even been engaged—until eight months ago, when Jared decided to run off to LA with some blonde chick he had only known for two weeks. I had lost touch with most of my friends during our relationship and now they were all caught up in their own boyfriends. Now don't get me wrong, I was heartbroken about Jared, but he wasn't what made me feel like the sun would never shine again. Two months after Jared took off, my dad had been murdered. The police said it looked like a robbery gone bad, but nothing to my knowledge was stolen. Then to top it all off my younger brother, Brian decided to join the army and I hadn't seen him since.

I flipped through my Criminology book and wondered if there was anything in it to help me find my father's murderer. I was studying to be a forensic scientist, but I had let the police do all the investigating. They had found nothing.

"Want to order a pizza?" Emma asked interrupting my thoughts.

"Cheese or pepperoni?"

"Cheese!"

Through it all Emma had been by my side. She checked on my everyday and tried her best to bring me back to reality. Before we had been roommates, but now she lived in a small apartment with her boyfriend, Tom. I liked Tom. He was good for her, because Emma as wonderful as she was could be a little bit scatter-brained. Lately, I had spent a lot of time with Emma and Tom. They tried their best to not let me feel like a third wheel, but sometimes despite Emma's constant assurance, I felt like I was crashing their evening.

We ordered the pizza and turned on the TV. Bones was on, mine and Emma's favorite show. Sometimes I think it's why I decided to study Forensics.

Just as Dr. Brennan figured out who the murderer was, Emma turned to me.

"So there's this guy I want you to meet."

I sighed. "Emma, I—"

"Evey, you haven't let me say a word about him," she interrupted me.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," I said.

"Well, he's very good looking. He plays soccer, and he's getting his doctorate in Psychology. So he's very smart." Emma said all this very fast, getting way more excited than necessary.

"How old is he?"

"Twenty-four."

I thought for a minute.

"Emma, I just don't know if I'm ready."

"Evey, it's been eight months," she said placing a hand on my leg, "and I know you're going through a lot, but you can't just sit around by yourself. And even though Tom and I love hanging out with you, I know you have to be getting sick of just us all the time."

Emma was right. It had been eight months. It couldn't hurt just to meet someone.

"Okay, fine," I replied.

Emma jumped over to hug me.

"You won't be sorry," she said.

Somehow I wasn't so sure about that.

I looked at my schedule.

American History

12:00

Harris Hall 152

American history, one of the few basic classes that I hadn't taken yet. Everyone would probably be freshmen and sophmores. I would be the pathetic senior who waited until the last minute. History was one of my least favorite subjects so I had put it off every semester until I couldn't afford to wait any longer.

I walked into classroom and found a seat right in the middle, far enough away that I could try and remain unnoticed by the professor, but not in the back where I wouldn't even be able to see. There had to be at least eighty desks in this room. A standard lecture classroom. I saw the rest of the semester before me, sitting in this chair taking notes about things from the past that scarcely mattered at all to me. I just hoped I would be able to stay awake the whole time.

That's when I saw him. He sat down three rows in front of me. He must have been smart—only smart people sit in the front when other seats are left. His hair was golden Emma's but unlike her it didn't need the sunlight to shine. He was beautiful. That was the only word I could think to describe him. He sat staring at the front of the room, his face serious, waiting for the professor to begin. Maybe there would be something to keep me awake in this class after all.

"All right, it's twelve o'clock," said a young man walking to the front of the room. He was dressed nice; dress shirt and tie, but he looked barely older than anyone in the room. "My name is Lance Daley and this is American History. Let's start with the roll."

Professor Daley began calling names and students raised their hands one by one. I watched the beautiful guy with the golden hair to find out his name.

"Nathaniel Carter."

"You can call me Nate," said raising his hand.

His voice was as dreamy as his body. There was something soothing about it that made my hair stand on end. Nate Carter…

"Evelyn Lane."

The sound of my name startled me.

"Here," I said raising my hand. "I go by Evey."

"Evey Lane," said Professor Daley staring at me. "Are you any relation to Dr. Lane that worked in the Science department?"

I sighed. Everyone in the science department already knew who I was, I had thought after all this time, I wouldn't have to talk about my dad anymore.

"He was my father," I said and at that moment Nate Carter turned around so fast it startled me. He stared at me. By this time everyone was staring, but Nate looked at me as though he was analyzing me while everyone else just wanted to see the scientist's daughter.

"You're father did some very interesting research on time. He was brilliant," said Professor Daley, "and a good man."

"Yes, he was," I replied. "Thank you."

Professor Daley went on with the roll and everyone turned their attention back to the front of the room. Except Nate. He kept turning around and peering at me. After a bit, I caught his eye, and he smiled. I was glad I wasn't standing, because that smile would definitely have made me go weak at the knees.

Professor Daley passed out a syllabus of what the semester would contain. I tried to pay attention, but I couldn't get Nate's smile out of my head. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I wasn't usually attracted to a guy so quickly. Since Jared I'd barely even noticed the opposite sex, but there was Nate and it was like I couldn't help myself.

I was extremely thankful when Professor Daley dismissed class early. I leaned over to gather my bag and knocked my pen off my desk. Before I could move Nate was handing it to me.

"Did you drop this?" he said in that smooth voice.

I took my pen and thanked him, but I couldn't stop looking into his eyes. They were beautiful like the rest of him, but not the way we typically think of beautiful eyes. From far away I thought they would probably be blue, but they were dark, almost black, which a sort of reddish tent. I had never seen eyes like those before and the way he looked at me was like he could see right through me right down to my soul.

I picked up my stuff and stood up brush my hair around my face.

"Evey, right?" he said as we turned to the door.

I nodded. "And you're Nate?" I said smiling. I was actually smiling.

"I'm a really big fan of your father's work."

Oh, no. Of course, that's why he turned around.

"I'm a psych major, but I read about his research in an editorial. I thought it was extremely interesting."

"Really?" I replied, "Most people just think he was crazy."

"No," said Nate. "After I realized that he was a professor here on campus, I asked him if I could interview him for a paper. He wasn't crazy. I truly think he was on to something."

"You actually believe in his theories?"

"You don't?"

I suddenly felt ashamed. He was my own father, but no I didn't believe his theories could work.

"I wish I had, but no, I didn't believe him," I sighed, "and now I guess we'll never know."

We had reached the end of the hallway. He held the door open for me. That smile. He had to quit doing that.

"When is your next class?" he asked.

I looked at my cell phone for the time.

"Crap in five minutes," I said, it was Forensics and it was clear across campus.

"Are you doing anything after?" he asked. "I mean would you like to meet me at Café Caliente?"

"Um, sure," I replied a little shocked. Was Mr. Gorgeous asking me out?

"Great, I'll see you after class." He flashed me that smile one more time and turned to go to his next class. If I was going to be hanging out with Mr. Gorgeous, I mean Nate, I was going to have to get used to that smile.

My next class was Forensics, which even though it's my sixth one on the subject is always my favorite class, but today it couldn't end soon enough.

I walked to the café and there he was already sitting at a table for two.