CHAPTER15
ZEKE
I’ve never beennervous about bringing a girl here before, but that could be because they were hookups. Why did I need to be worried when they’d never be around again?
But with Nova, it’s completely different. Even Jess didn’t give me this much anxiety.
I rub my chest as I move up the walkway to Skiz’s place. Xan rented it out to him when he moved in with Briggs a couple of months ago. He’s also on the Wildland Fire crew now. I tease Skiz that he’s trying to be my brother, and it never goes over well. People either love Xan or hate him. There’s very little in between.
I’m sure Skiz hates him. Doesn’t surprise me. I feel both ways about Xan, depending on the day.
Nova follows me to the door, still in my hoodie with her hair up in a ponytail. She’s chewing on her lip with her brow furrowed.
“Are you nervous?”
She startles as if I interrupted a deep thought. She’s only been a permanent part of my life for a week now, but these shifts into herself are noticeable. Five minutes ago, her smile was like a beam of light, and now she looks terrified of walking through this door.
“I’m fine,” she says, but it’s a lie.
Telling people I’m fine when on the inside, I want to curl up and die in a hole is kinda what I do. I’ve been listening to her sayI’m finefor almost a week, and it makes me crazy because she’s not fine. How could she be fine?
“Okay,” I say. My answer is drawn out as I knock, then open the door without waiting for someone to answer.
Music fills the dim space, and I kick my shoes off in the doorway. Nova raises her brows, and I nod. American. I never understood why it’s a thing not to take their shoes off inside.
“Z?” Skiz leans over the couch in the living room to see the entrance with a game controller in his hands. “No way.”
I spread my arms wide as if presenting myself. “I have come to make this gathering less depressing,” I say in a booming voice, then flip the lights on in the kitchen, shifting to my regular voice. “But really, y’all turning into vampires or something?”
Nova smirks at they’all. She’s wearing on me already, with her slight drawl and the way she elongates some of her vowels.
Skiz’s brother, River, throws a football at me, and I catch it. Nova flinches, and that’s when they notice her. Skiz, River, and Louie stare at her, and she shifts uncomfortably, glancing at me.
“Who’s your friend?” Skiz asks, his deep brown skin glowing blue in front of his video game. “Where’s Jess?”
Jess only came here with me once, and it was so awkward it was physically painful. I don’t have the kind of life someone like Jess is used to. I’m guessing it’s even more so with Nova.
I put my arm over Nova’s shoulders and tuck her into my side. She’s rigid and tense but outwardly calm and pleasant. There’s this dead sort of smile on her face. Pretty, but not like the one she gave me at the apartment.
“This is Nova,” I say, and brace myself for it.
All three of them gawk. “This is her?” River points to her, and I steady my breathing.
“This is her.”
“The girl?” River points more aggressively.
“Yes, asshole. The girl. Stop staring at her.”
“Hey, Nova.” Lou stands and runs his hands through his blond hair. He leans forward to shake her hand.
He’s the only friend I had in school who stuck with me. There weren’t many kids in my class, and most of them fell off my radar after I dropped out of high school.
I’ve known Skiz and River for almost my whole life, but they didn’t go to school here. Their First Nation has land up North, but they spend a lot of time here with their grandparents.
Skiz grins at me with an obvious wink, like he’s proud of me for having Nova around again, and then introduces himself.
“Hi,” Nova says, her voice softer than usual. “Nice to meet you.”