“I am absolutely a weirdo, just not a dangerous one.” I grin, tucking my hands back in my hoodie pockets, trying my best to be as unthreatening as possible. There has not been a single occasion in my existence that I’ve thought about this. But the look on her face says it’s maybe the millionth time she has.
I hear a person make a wolf howl behind us, and Nova jumps. She reaches out and digs her nails into my forearm, clinging to it painfully, even through the fabric.
“Hey asshole,” a voice sounds, and I immediately recognize it as Skiz, one of my best friends. He slaps the back of my head as he skateboards past. “Season opener at the pub tonight, be there. I’m going to hit on your sister.”
His cackling laugh echoes in the trees, and I tip my chin to my chest in frustration. Nova still grips my arm, so I gently touch her fingers, and she springs back.
“Oh my God, sorry,” she says quickly, and then her fear turns into a nervous laugh. “That scared the hell out of me. And here I’m asking you if you’re a weirdo. We should walk.”
She shakes her whole body like a dog shaking water, then steps onto the path without waiting for my answer. Was she always like this? Or was I just horny and delusional?
“Are you good?” I ask, catching up with her.
“Yeah, totally. He startled me. I was, uh, distracted.” She looks to her feet, and I match her pace. The silence is bearable now that I’m moving. I really should have worn a heavier sweater. I shiver in the breeze, but the cold keeps me alert.
“I have a place you could stay,” I say once we’re in the safety of the pines, wanting to get back to the reason we’re here.
Nova crosses her arms in the cool shade of the trees, only slivers of sunlight piercing through. “Like with you?”
“No—well, yes. Kind of. My brother is a carpenter. He turned my mom’s basement into a dope apartment. You could stay there.” I smash all the words together and force my embarrassment to stay deeply hidden.
“You live with your mom?” She raises an eyebrow, and I feel the heat in my cheeks slip through my barriers. I’m uncomfortable and nervous around this girl—something I’m not used to. She is confusing the shit out of me, and I don’t like it.
“Yeah, and my three sisters. My brothers are out of the house now.” Why am I still talking? This isn’t helping me.
“Wait, what? How many siblings do you have?”
“There are six of us.”Keep digging that hole, Zeke.
“Wow,” she says. “There are three of us in my family. A brother and a sister, and me. I’m the youngest.”
“I’m the youngest boy. My sister Tabby is the baby, though.” I hunch my shoulders and stare straight ahead, hoping she can’t sense my unease.
“Like Tabitha?” she asks, her voice tipping up into an excited drawl. On any other day, I’d think it was hilarious the way she says Tab’s name. But today, I’m pulled in too many directions. All the competing details are yanking me around so fast, I’m dizzy.
“You met her?” I ask. Of course, she has. This is Raston.
My heart drops. Shit. That’s why Tab was such a dork when I left. She knew I was meeting Nova.
“I did, at the grocery store. She told me to come by and take some of her tomatoes.”
I snort because a meeting with Tab is usually something along those lines. It wouldn’t be the first time she invited a stranger into our backyard to sell produce. “That sounds like Tabby. You gonna take her up on it?”
I’m half-listening to her and half trying to run damage control in my head because Tab will be on me the second I walk through the door.
Nova watches the path as she walks. She’s a slow walker, and I wonder if that’s a pregnancy thing or a Nova thing. Whatever it is, it aggravates my need to move. Sauntering, strolling, and any other form of leisure movement are not for me. I have to move faster than my thoughts.
“I suppose if I live in your mother’s basement, I can get tomatoes any time I want,” she jokes with a short laugh, and it rips up my heart. I should not be looking at her like this. I should not think she’s as beautiful as I do.
“Do you want to go check it out?” I ask again.
She chews on her lip, and I’m curious about her. Why wouldn’t she want to go home? How comfortable could it be to be in an unfamiliar place with people you don’t know while you do something like grow a human?
“Yeah, okay.”
I stumble over words as we round through the trail and come out behind the school. “Hey, Nova?”
We stop on the sidewalk, and I focus on her wholeheartedly.
“Yeah?” her cheeks flush under the intensity of my stare, the same way they did when we first met. When she told me I was gorgeous and asked if we were alone. I shake the thought before it sticks.
“I do want to help, whatever you need. Please let me be involved.” I swallow down every bit of discomfort in an attempt to seem genuine. I am genuine.
I want to be genuine.
The words taste weird in my mouth, and the pleading tone is something I’m not sure has ever come out of me before. I’m confused as fuck, but one thing is coming up as absolute truth.
I don’t want her to leave again.