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“I’m not asking you to decide anything, at least not now. I just really wanted to do that. I assumed there was a chance you might punch me, but I was willing to take the risk.”
She smiles a little. “I wouldn’t punch you, unless you’re still with Paris. Then I’d punch you.”
“I’m not with Paris. I’m not with anyone. I gave my heart to this girl I met a long time ago, before I even knew what love was, and now it’s hers. I can’t get it back.”
“Easton, don’t say that,” she says, resting her head on my chest. “I want you to find someone and fall in love, get married, have kids.”
“What if I want all that with you?” I ask, stroking her hair.
She doesn’t say anything. She just gazes at the ground.
“You can have that, Nova. You’re not destined to have the life your mom did, or to be like your dad. You can have a good life.”
“Then why does this stuff keep happening to me? Just when I think things are going well, something happens that ruins it.”
“Like me being adopted and leaving you behind,” I mutter.
“It’s more than that. It’s everything. My whole life. Things just don’t work out for me. I need to accept that and stop getting my hopes up, thinking things will be different.”
“But they can be different. We found each other again. That should be all the proof you need that good things can happen.”
“And be taken away. Ted died, and now I don’t know what to do, where to go.”
“Let me talk to my parents. I’ll see if—”
“They’re not going to let me stay there. You know they’re not.”
“My mom might, and maybe she could convince my dad.”
The chances of that happening are slim to none but I’m not going to eliminate it as an option when it’s the only one I have right now. I’d get her a hotel room, but I can’t until I turn 18. Jace found that out last summer when he tried to get a room for him and the girl he was dating. The hotel told him he had to be 18 and have ID to prove it.
Nova shivers as another gust of wind blows. Clouds have covered the sun and it looks like it might snow.
“Let’s go. I need to get you someplace warm.”
She nods, wrapping the blanket tighter around her.
“When’s the last time you ate?”
“Last night, but I threw it up.”
“You’re sick?”
“No. I just—it was probably just food poisoning.” She walks off, heading to the parking lot. There’s something she’s not telling me, something she doesn’t want me to know. I’m guessing it’s about her dad and whatever happened that made her leave her dad’s place and come back here.
“Let’s take mine,” I say as she goes to Ted’s car. I’m worried if she leaves without me, she’ll take off and not let me help her. I know how she thinks, and right now, she thinks she’s a burden and doesn’t deserve help. Years of people telling her she’s worthless have made her this way and it’s not going to be undone overnight. I’m determined to prove to her she’s worth so much more than she thinks, even if it takes the rest of my life to do it.
11
Nova
“How are the pancakes?”Easton asks, smiling at me from across the booth.
“Really good.” I take a bite of the last pancake, not sure I can finish it. Easton took me out for breakfast and I ordered pancakes, eggs, and bacon, but my stomach isn’t handling it well. Going days without eating much messed up my stomach and now I’m feeling kind of sick.
“What’s wrong?” Easton asks as I set my fork down and push my plate aside.
“I can’t eat anymore.” I lean back and put my hand over my rumbling stomach. “I don’t feel good. I’m gonna go to the restroom.”
