“It’s Brooke.She’s been stressed lately about these sorority girls.I better get it in case she needs something.”She reaches for it and clicks Accept while I resist the urge to hurl the thing down the hall so she’s forced to react to me first.“Hey, what’s up?”
Brooke’s garbled voice comes through the phone.Nova’s eyes widen.
She lowers the phone and hits the speaker button.“My wall is on social media.”
I look over her shoulder and watch the video of her work.Judging from how close it is to how the wall looks now, it was taken recently.“When’d you post that?”
“I didn’t.”
“Well, it has a hundred thousand views already.”Brooke’s voice comes through the speaker.
“Why would someone do that?”Nova asks.
“Free publicity,” I supply.
“But this is the only post on their account.It’s not following any others.”Nova clicks a spot on the screen.“I’ve got DMs from all kinds of places.”
“New fans.You don’t have to read ‘em all,” I tell her.“I used to try to, but I wouldn’t have time to practice, and then I’d have a hell of a lot less fans.”
“Not just fans,” Brooke counters.“You should read them, Nova.”
Nova holds up the phone so I can read it as she says, “It’s a gallery in New York inquiring about exhibiting some of my work.This is probably fake, right?”She lifts her face to mine, seeming genuinely perplexed.
I pull out my phone and do a quick search.“Name matches.Their account has a big following.”
“They want to know if I can meet them.In person.”
“Tell them yes,” Brooke instructs.“If they’ll cover your expenses, they’re probably legit.”
Nova types in the message window.Seconds later, someone is typing a response.
“They can send me a ticket to go this weekend,” she says excitedly.
“If you need a travel buddy, I’m there,” Brooke says before clicking off.
Nova looks up at me.“I’ve always wanted to see New York.Should I go?”
I’ve been looking forward to this weekend with her for the last two weeks.
But I’m not gonna crush this for her.
“Yeah,” I say.“Of course you should.You’d love Central Park.No flowers this time of year, but it’s still cool.And there’s skating at Rockefeller Center.”
She frowns, reading my hesitation.“Wait.When do you guys leave for your next road game?”
“Tuesday.”
Her face falls.“Oh.”
I tug her closer.“Go to New York with Brooke.Blow their minds.”
17
NOVA
“How did it go?”Brooke demands as I answer my cell on my way out of the gallery.
“Good and bad.”I exhale hard as I start along West 24th.“He asked about taking my pieces this summer, possibly for an entire exhibition.”
