Chapter 3You Wanted Muscles I Wanted Peace

I turned to my aloof new deskmate. "Hey. Want to get some hot pot? I know this place that makes the most incredible, numbing broth."

Maeve gave me a look like I had sprouted a second head. She swung her backpack over her shoulder and slipped past me, throwing a chilly line over her shoulder. "Are we friends?"

Brutally rejected, I walked out of the school gates alone. The silence was jarring. Since kindergarten, the walk home had always been a shared routine. In college, I walked her back to her dorm every single night. When we got married, I'd leave work early just to wait outside her office so we could commute together. How could someone who loved me that deeply suddenly flip a switch and become a stranger?

The frustration flared up, hot and sharp. I kicked a loose pebble on the sidewalk, sending it flying. "Selfish jerk!" I muttered.

The pebble soared through the air and struck the back of a head a few yards in front of me. The person stopped dead in their tracks and slowly turned around.

My stomach dropped. Maeve's eyes were like chips of ice as she stared at me. "Who are you calling a selfish jerk?"

My brain scrambled for an escape route. I pointed quickly at a stray golden retriever lounging by the brick wall. "The dog. I was talking to the dog."

The retriever blinked at us innocently, giving its tail a lazy wag. Maeve’s lips curved into a cold, dangerous smile. "You talk to dogs with rocks?"

"...It was a slip of the foot. I didn't mean to."

She walked back, stopping right in front of me. Her voice dropped to a quiet, threatening register. "Dan. Were you throwing that at me?"

I waved my hands frantically. "No, no! I swear! I was cursing out Lola. Really."

Maeve went quiet for a moment, her eyes searching mine with a strange, unreadable intensity. "Why were you cursing her out?"

"Because she's... a selfish jerk."

Maeve arched an eyebrow. "So. Lola dumps you, you call her a selfish jerk, and I get a rock to the head?"

I choked on my words. From an outsider's perspective, I had indeed been dumped. When I first realized I had traveled back in time, I wanted to scream with joy. I thought I was getting a whole second lifetime to love her. Who could have guessed she’d be off eating churros with her new muscle-bound boyfriend?

I took a deep breath. "What do you mean she dumped me? We were never even together. Besides, a girl like her—someone who forgets her promises, who betrays our... our friendship—she’s not worth my time anyway."

A small, unexpected chuckle escaped Maeve's lips. "Right. Well, you still owe me an apology."

I hung my head. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. Do you need to go to the nurse?"

"No."

She turned to walk away. On some bizarre impulse, I called out after her. "Let me buy you dinner to make up for it. That hot pot place really is amazing."

She stopped. She didn't turn around, but her cool voice drifted back to me. "Lead the way."

After sweating through a bowl of ridiculously spicy hot pot, I dragged Maeve to a street cart for fried chicken and skewers. The heavy weight in my chest finally began to lift, dissolved by the simple comfort of grease and spices. When I finally walked into my apartment courtyard, the first thing I saw was Lola sitting on a concrete bench. Beside her was a grease-stained paper bag of cold churros.

Seeing me, she stood up, her face instantly souring. "Dan, did you lose your way? Why did it take you so long to get home?"

I rolled my eyes and walked right past her. As our shoulders brushed, I said casually, "I was out having dinner with Maeve. Lost track of time."

A hand gripped my backpack strap, jerking me to a halt. Lola’s voice exploded behind me, raw with anger. "What did you just say? You had dinner with Maeve?"

She spun me around, her eyes wide with sheer disbelief.