The white petals glow in her hands, her nails painted a dozen colors. She spends hours choosing each shade, and I know—because I’m the one who paints them after waiting an hour and a half for her to decide.
Nova and nail polish go hand in hand. She says she carries a rainbow in her bag so she can have it with her all the time.
But she doesn’t need it—she alreadyisa rainbow. The brightest, most beautiful one. Her laugh is pure harmony. The kind of song you never want to end.
She’s the single sunflower that survives every year in my parents’ garden. She’s the most beautiful flower of all. And I’m the one who gave her her first real kiss.
She flicks a leaf at me to get my attention. “Wanna know my biggest dream?”
I nod. “What is it?”
“I wish I could disappear into a field of daisies, dance beneath the rain with you, sneak into a concert and vanish somewhere no one can find me—just to feel alive again.”
I smile and nod. “That would be really cool.”
“We can do that after high school. Would you like to?”
“With you?”
She nods. “With me.”
“Then yes. I’d follow you anywhere.”
She grins, rolling side to side in the grass. “You know we haven’t finished our homework, right? Steve will kill us.”
I hand her one of the daisies she picked earlier. “He always says that, but he never does. Anyway,you’rethe one who distracted me.”
She laughs, accepting the flower to finish her wreath. “You let yourself be distracted. Besides, we’re written in the stars now. We think and do for two. Thank my twin sister Supernova.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Vincent Cooper
PAST (2015)
"A guitar is more than just a sound
box-it is part of your soul."
Manuel Velazquez
I hear noises coming from my bedroom window as I sit on the bed, strumming a few chords on my guitar. Setting the guitar aside, I walk over to the window. Someone’s tossing pebbles, and I know this move too well.
When I slide the window open, I see Nova grinning up at me.
“Hey! Emergency.”
I roll my eyes in amusement, leaning against the sill. “Gravity scale Britney?”
She giggles, folding her arms across her chest. “Britney shaved in 2006. Come here.”
Nova’s obsessed withAwkward, an MTV series. In the beginning of the show, the characters measured the seriousness of a situation using Britney Spears’ most iconic moments. Nova loved the idea so much she made us use the same scale—andhonestly, it works, even for things that feel more serious than they are.
“Sometimes I wonder why I always listen to you. Wait there.”
She keeps laughing as she settles into one of the garden chairs, waiting. I rush to brush my teeth, swap pajama pants for jeans, and grab a sweatshirt from my closet before heading downstairs. It’s 8 p.m., and my parents are on the couch watching a movie. They both look up when they hear me.
Chris raises an eyebrow, his cerulean eyes gleaming with amusement. “Let me guess... Nova?”
