Page 27 of Searching for Nova

8

Nova

Easton helpedme finish the dishes, then we got out of there before Ted could change his mind about letting me leave. He usually wants me to leave so he can have the place to himself, but today he insisted I stay there and clean the apartment. He’s in one of his moods, the bad kind that makes him even more of an ass than usual. I’m guessing his date last night didn’t go well. That’s usually what puts him in a bad mood—or losing money in a poker game. He’s even worse when that happens.

“You still love milkshakes?” Easton asks, smiling at me as we wait at a stoplight.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I know the perfect place to go.” He takes off as the light turns green.

“Where is it?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

“How far is it?”

“About a half hour from here.”

“We have to be back by six.”

“We will.” Easton glances at me. “Is he always like that?”

“Who?”

“Your grandfather. Is he always an ass, or did I just catch him on a bad day?”

“He’s always like that.” I look out the side window, not wanting to talk about Ted, or anything else about my life. It sucks, and Easton’s life is perfect, so I’d rather not swap stories about how our lives are now.

When Easton showed up at the diner, I was going to cancel our afternoon. I thought about it all last night and decided it wasn’t a good idea. Part of me wants to see him, but the other part of me wants him to go away. I can’t figure out why I’m feeling like this. For years, I missed him like crazy, then I went through a time where I hated him and decided I never wanted to see him again. After that, I just tried to just forget about him, which didn’t work, but at least I wasn’t holding out hope that I’d see him again.

Now’s he here and I have so many feelings coursing through me that I can’t figure out what they mean. Adding to that confusion is my attraction to him, which seems wrong, and yet my body doesn’t seem to care. It keeps reacting whenever I see him, my heart racing, that nervous, fluttery thing happening in my stomach. I don’t even get that way with Mateo.

I’m getting those feelings again now. The ones where my stomach’s all nervous and my heart’s going really fast.I am not attracted to Easton.Maybe if I keep repeating that to myself I’ll be able to make these feelings stop. It’s going to be hard, though, because he’s really freaking hot.

He’s wearing his leather jacket with a dark gray shirt under it. And he smells really good, like expensive cologne. I, on the other hand, am wearing a baggy sweatshirt and ripped, faded jeans that got that way because they’re old, not because I bought them that way. My dingy white sneakers are ripped along the toe because they’re a size too small. I’m saving up to buy new ones, but don’t have enough money yet.

Looking at Easton and then looking at me, I realize he and I have nothing in common anymore. We’ve become totally different people. I don’t know how to even talk to this version of him.

“Do you have to make all his meals?” Easton asks.

I pause a moment, wondering what he’s talking about. Ted. He’s not letting that go, but he needs to. It’s not his life. It’s none of his business.

“It’s part of our deal,” I explain. “I cook and keep the place clean in exchange for a place to live.”

Easton looks at me, concern covering his face. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just our arrangement. Never mind. It doesn’t matter. So where are you taking me?”

He looks back at the road. “It’s a place my parents took us when we were kids. They have all these different kinds of milkshakes, or you can make your own. They have a wall of candy in bins. You can pick whatever you want and they’ll make it into a shake.”

“Sounds good. Is it expensive?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me.”

“But—”

“This is my idea. I had to force you to do this. I’m not making you pay for something you didn’t even want to do.”

---