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“She’s not in the basement,” I say, meeting Easton in the living room.
“Maybe she’s upstairs. I’ll go check.” He’s only up there a minute, then comes back down.
“She wasn’t there?”
“She was. She was in her room, crying, so I left her alone.”
“Why do you think she was crying?”
“Probably because she didn’t make up with my dad. I’m guessing they’re still fighting. Let’s go find something to eat. Maybe she’ll be down later.”
We go to the kitchen and eat leftover pizza.
“I didn’t hear you two get home,” Penelope says, smiling at us as she comes into the kitchen. “Did you just get here?”
“Like a half-hour ago,” Easton says. “When’s Dad getting home?”
“He didn’t say.” She opens the fridge, then shuts it. “I need to go to the store and get a few things. Any requests for dinner?”
“We’re going out,” Easton says.
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Mom, we need to know what’s happening,” Easton says. “How long can Nova stay here?”
“Until next Friday, unless I can find her someplace sooner than that.”
“What if you can’t?”
“Honey, I don’t know,” she says, sounding exhausted and frustrated. “I can’t give you answers right now.” She looks at me. “Nova, I know you were hoping for a better outcome. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to convince him to let you stay.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. I never assumed I’d be staying. And I don’t expect you to find me a place. You’ve already done way more than I ever expected. Helping me when I was sick. Feeding me. Giving me clothes. You don’t have to do anything more. I’ll ask around at school. Maybe someone would be willing to rent me a room or their couch.”
She nods, then hurries out of the kitchen.
“I think she’s crying again,” Easton says.
“Because of what I said? I was trying to make her feel better.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s this thing with my dad. They usually don’t fight like this. She’s probably just upset that it’s gone on this long. Let’s go do something. I don’t want to sit in the house.” He slowly smiles. “I got an idea.”
“What?”
He gets up. “Go put on something warm.”
“Why? Where are we going?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
23
Nova
“I think this was a bad idea,”I say, gripping Easton’s arm. “I can’t even stand up.”
“You’re standing up right now.”
“I mean without holding onto you.”
