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I wait for her to take their order, then go up to her. “Is Nova here?”
“No. I don’t think she was scheduled today.” The girl smiles at me. “Hey, you’re that guy. Nova’s friend.”
“Yeah, have you talked to her?”
“Not since our last shift together.”
“When was that?”
“I don’t know, maybe a week ago? I only work here a few hours a week. Some weeks I don’t even see her.”
“Is that other waitress here? Mara?”
“No, she worked this morning. Why are you looking for Nova? Did you guys have plans tonight?”
“No. I just haven’t heard from her and was getting worried.”
“Aww, that’s sweet. I wish I had a guy who worried about me.” She rolls her eyes. “My boyfriend, Trey, could go weeks without hearing from me and he’d—”
“Hey, maybe we could talk later. I need to go.”
“Oh. Okay.” She smiles. “If I hear from Nova, I’ll tell her to call you.”
“Thanks.” I race out of there before she tells me more about her boyfriend. I’m sure she’s a nice girl, but she seems like one of those people who can talk for hours and I don’t have time for that. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be listening. All I can focus on right now is Nova and finding out what happened to her. She’s not at the diner or the skating rink or her apartment. Or if she’s at her apartment, she’s somehow able to not make a sound. Why isn’t Ted there? He’s almost always there.
“We’re having dinner soon,” my dad says as I walk in the house. “We’re eating at five instead of six. Your mother has plans with a friend this evening.”
“I’m skipping dinner.” I head to the stairs. “I’m not hungry.”
“Easton, wait. I want to talk to you.”
I stop and turn back. “What?” It comes out sounding angry, because I am. I’m angry at myself for not telling people about Nova, and angry at my parents for trying to convince me it’s better if she’s out of my life. I’m sick of them thinking they know what’s best for me. They don’t even know me, at least not the real me.
“You need to stop treating your mother and me like we’re the enemy,” my dad says. “We’re not the reason things didn’t work out with that girl. We didn’t know even know you were seeing her.”
“Her name is Nova. Stop calling her ‘that girl’. And even if I’d told you I was dating her, you would’ve tried to stop me. You don’t want her in my life because she’s part of my past, and you’re doing everything you can to erase that part of me, like it never existed.”
He sighs. “We’re not trying to erase it. We just don’t see a reason to bring you back to that time of your life. You have a bright future ahead of you, so why not focus on that? That’s all we’re saying.”
“What if I get back together with her? Are you going to tell me I can’t see her?”
He looks down and rubs his jaw. “You don’t know the circumstances.”
“Of what? What are you talking about?”
He looks back at me. “I wish you would just stop fighting us and trust that this is what’s best.”
“For who? You and Mom? Because it’s not what’s best for me. But you guys don’t care about that, do you? You only care about yourselves and how you look to other people. You can’t have your son dating some girl who lives on the wrong side of town.”
He grabs my arm. “Listen to me. You are done talking to me this way and you are done disrespecting your mother and me. We did nothing to deserve this. Your mother has barely slept since that girl showed up and she’s been crying over how you’ve been treating her. Is that what you want? To hurt your mother?”
“I haven’t done anything to Mom. I’ve been avoiding her because I don’t want her telling me what to do.”
“She’s trying to help you. We both are.”
“I don’t need your help. I’m old enough to figure out my own life.”
He lets go of me and backs away. “I’m asking you to trust us. Your mother and I know things that you don’t. We’re only doing what’s best for you.”
