“Do you know what you want to do after you graduate, then?” I ask.
“I’m not sure yet. I was hoping to figure that out this year, but then COVID happened.”
The mention of the virus spreading rampantly through Houston turns our mood somber. We sit in silence, wrapped in our own thoughts. After a while, Evan leans forward and smiles.
“Now it’s your turn. What do you want to do after graduation?”
“Oh, um, I’m hoping I’ll get into UT Austin. They have a really good pre-med program.”
“That’s pretty awesome,” he comments, sounding impressed. “Not everyone can go into medicine.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see if I can cut it.”
“I mean, you set the curve in chemistry while I nearly blew up the lab, so how much harder could med school be?”
I hum. “I suppose you have a point.”
Our eyes meet across the designated six feet of space, and we burst into laughter at the same time. We’re still chuckling when Mom appears, carrying his order in one hand. Evan pops out of his chair as Mom places it on the nearest table.
“There you go. Egg drop soup, walnut shrimp, and of course, egg rolls. I also threw in some of our special lo mein.”
“That’s too much, Mrs. Chan,” he protests. “I can’t accept this.”
Mom pushes it toward him. “I insist. If you don’t take it, I’ll be very upset.”
Evan quickly acquiesces. “Well, I wouldn’t want that. Thank you, really.”
She walks him to the door, unlocking it to let him out.
“We’ll see you tomorrow?”
His eyes flicker over to me, and he winks.
“I’ll be here.”
—
Three weeks pass by in the blink of an eye, and by the end of it, I’ve learned more random facts about Evan than I ever expected to.
His favorite color is green. Not bright green, but deep green, like moss.
He’s allergic to cats, but still owns two.
He was born left-handed, but his parents trained him to use his right instead.
Even though he’s really good at swimming, the only other sport he can play is soccer.
He gets his height from his paternal grandfather, who passed away before he was born.
As we keep talking, Evan starts revealing other things, things that make me realize there’s so much more to him than what he shows others.
He wishes he were smarter, like his older brother, who is attending law school.
Even though he has a lot of friends, he doesn’t feel close to any of them.
He really enjoys learning, and will sometimes spend an entire day wandering through a museum.
Lately, he’s been up late at night worrying about his parents.
The more time we spend together, the harder it is to ignore the way my heart dances when Evan teases me about something I said, or the warmth that spreads through me whenever he laughs so hard his shoulders shake. Soon, he’s the first thing that pops up in my head when I wake, and the last thing I think about before I shut my eyes.
The worst part of it all, though, is the fact that I’m still not positive he feels the same way. Pri’s convinced he does, but I’m reluctant to get my hopes up. Sure, I’ve lost count of the number of winks he’s given me, and I’ve caught him staring at me on occasion. Beyond that, though, there’s always a distance between us he never quite closes.
Maybe Mom’s right. Maybe Evan just wants someone to talk to.
“Michelle? Michelle.”
I start as something touches my shoulder, and glance over to find Evan’s hand. I follow his arm up until I reach his deep brown eyes. For a breath, I see something flit across his features, but I blink and it’s gone. He grabs a chair and pushes it toward me.
“Sorry,” I mumble, sliding it under the table. “What were you saying?”
Today was the first day the city opened back up, and I’ve spent the day setting up the dining room for a limited number of dine-in customers. When Evan arrived to order as usual, Mom invited him to stay and have dinner with us instead.
“I was asking if you had any plans this summer,” he repeats.
“No. Even if COVID wasn’t happening, my parents don’t really take any time off. The restaurant business is year-round.”
“They don’t even close for the holidays?”
I shake my head. “Nope. That’s usually when we’re the busiest.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense.”
“In fact, the day you came in to pick up your dad’s to-go order was my birthday.”
Evan’s eyes widen. “You were working on your birthday?”
“Yeah, but they did get me a cake,” I feel compelled to add.
He glances toward the kitchen as the sound of sizzling oil and clanging pots reaches our ears. Since it’s just the four of us, we’re maskless, for once, something I discover is both a blessing and a curse every time he flashes one of his signature teasing smiles.
At the moment, however, he’s watching me with a strange expression on his face.
“Well, since I’m part of the reason you were stuck at work on your birthday,” he says slowly, “why don’t I make it up to you?”
“Technically, I was already scheduled to work that day, so you don’t really owe me anything,” I assure him.
“Oh.”
Evan’s face falls as he slumps against the back of his chair. I realize belatedly that was not the reaction he was expecting. My heart starts to pound, but I work to keep my voice even.
“Why? What did you have in mind?”
Evan’s eyes snap up to meet mine. He sits up straight and swallows.
“Well, there’s a special exhibit about ancient Egypt coming to the Museum of Natural Science. They brought some of the artifacts found in King Tut’s tomb. They’re only letting in a few people at a time each day, so I thought maybe…we could check it out together. That is, if
