“Do you want to be?”
He looks at the ukulele like it’s something magical. “Do you want to be mine?”
Without thinking, I push the ukulele into his hands. “Keep it. It’s yours.”
His eyes widen. “I can’t. It’s your birthday present.”
“Exactly. And you didn’t give me one. So you’ll make me happy by keeping this.”
He hesitates, then holds it carefully, like it might break. His fingers brush the strings, awkward but gentle. The song changes. Now it’sMineby Taylor Swift, from her new album. I hum along, because I can’t help it.
“Marshall?”
“Cooper?”
He smiles a little and nudges me with his elbow. “The others... they... I mean...”
I blink. “The others who?”
“The kids at school. Do they ever... you know. Hurt you?”
I shake my head. “No. They don’t touch me. They just tease me, laugh at me, step on the ants I watch in the garden, slam theclassroom door in my face, call me weird, tell my mom what I do at school. But they don’t hit me.”
I pause.She does that for them.
He studies me for a long time, then asks quietly, “Why do they treat you like that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never asked. Why are you afraid of blood?” The question slips out before I can stop it and his face goes still. “Well... I...”
“Sorry,” I whisper. “I shouldn’t have—”
But he cuts me off. His voice is flat, but trembling. “When my father got mad, he used to lock me outside. I’d sleep in the doghouse in the yard. That’s why Seth calls me a dog. My father’s name is Igor Bogdanov. He got angry a lot. Once he slammed my head against the sink. There was... so much blood. When I saw it on your arm...” His eyes flick to the band-aid on my elbow.
He swallows hard. “It’s my fault. I hated you. I’d never even seen barbecue sauce, Nova. I thought you poured blood on the food to scare me. But you saved me today. If you hadn’t gotten in the way, you wouldn’t have been hurt. If I hadn’t thrown that punch, they wouldn’t have kept going.”
“Stop,” I tell him. I cover his hand with mine. “You’re my Vincent. You’re special. You’re my best friend. You’re not a bad person.”
“Am I?” he asks.
“Of course you are.”
Slowly, he smiles. “And you’re my Nova. The girl with a hole between her teeth.”
I laugh softly, resting my head on his shoulder. He lets me stay there, not afraid of me anymore. “And you’re my Vincent,” I whisper back. “My best friend. The boy in the Cars T-shirt.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Nova Marshall
PRESENT (2023)
"Music is a safe kind of high."
Jimi Hendrix
When I open my eyes, I find myself sprawled across Steven’s chest, Fleur curled on my butt. My stereo is still playing a Tori Amos song. I must have left my playlist on last night, and somewhere between the music and those new sleeping pills from the pharmacy, we fell asleep.
Steven’s alarm keeps ringing on the nightstand. I grab his phone, glance at the time, and jolt upright, dropping Fleur onto my flowered bedspread.
