She’s beautiful, but her outer change is nothing compared to what she carries within—nothing compared to her soul.
And I can’t stop noticing the little things about her. How she bites her straw when she’s nervous. How she doodles stars on the corners of my notebooks. How she steals my hoodies and never gives them back, even when they hang off her shoulders like blankets. How she sings loudly and completely off-key in the car, but she doesn’t care because she’s having fun. All of it just... kills me in the best way.
That night—I thought I was in love with her, and I admitted it in the blurriest, most reckless moment of my life. And now? Now I know it beyond doubt.
I’m in love with her. Madly. Hopelessly. The kind of love that keeps you up at night and makes your stomach twist whenever she looks at you.
I love being in love with her, even if to her I’m just her best friend.
Nova cracks one eye open, grabs a fistful of wet sand, and smears it across my chest.
“Hey!” I sputter, brushing it off, but she’s already laughing so hard she almost falls over.
Before I can react, she flings another handful straight at my shoulder. “It was funny, wasn’t it?”
“Really funny,” I shoot back, scooping up a pile and dumping it over her legs.
“Hey!” she shrieks, scrambling backward.
“You started it!” I grin, already brushing more sand into my hands.
She narrows her eyes. “You’re dead, Cooper.”
I jump to my feet. “Catch me first.”
She bolts up after me, and suddenly we’re sprinting across the sand like two kids who never grew up, our laughter mixing with the crash of the waves.
“Come here!” she yells, breathless but grinning.
I wag a finger at her as I jog backward. “Not a chance.” Then I spin on my heel and bolt for the shoreline.
“Come here now!”
“Never!”
Behind us, our friends are a mix of amusement and commentary. Max cups his hands around his mouth: “Get him, Supernova!”
Aurora swats him with the sunscreen bottle, though she’s laughing too. Steven doesn’t even glance up from his book under the umbrella.
The wet sand sucks at my feet as I reach the surf. I pivot to face her, and that’s all the chance she needs.
She launches herself at me.
We crash into the water in a tangled mess of arms and legs, the salt stinging my mouth as we go under. When we surface, she’s sprawled across me, both of us gasping and laughing like maniacs.
“At least we got the sand off,” I manage between breaths.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re hilarious.” She flicks water in my face.
I brush a wet curl from her cheek, still grinning, but my smile falters when her eyes meet mine. They’re wide, soft, shimmering with sunlight. And then—my heart stutters—her gaze flicks down. To my lips. And for one endless second, the whole world slows. My chest feels like it’s going to explode.
“Cooper, I—” she whispers, voice unsteady in a way I’ve never heard before.
“You...?” My voice comes out rough, hopeful.
Her hand lingers on my shoulder, fingers curling slightly, and suddenly she isn’t just Nova, my best friend. She’s Nova—the girl who makes my heart race so fast I forget how to breathe.
I can’t stop staring at her mouth. If I leaned in—just a little—
