Page 54 of Searching for Nova

We both get up.

“Dinner is at six tonight,” he says.

“Can I skip it? I was going to get dinner with Jace.”

“Your mother wants to have family dinner, so no, you need to be here.”

“Yeah, okay,” I say, rolling my eyes as I go up to my room. I’m really tired of these family dinners. I’m almost 18. I should be able to eat with my friends, not have to sit with my family and listen to Jenna whine the whole time, which is what ends up happening.

My phone rings as I go in my room. It’s Jace.

“Hey, I can’t make it tonight,” I tell him.

“Why? I thought you were coming over.”

“I was, but my parents are doing the family dinner thing.”

“Tell them you have plans.”

“I did, but my dad wouldn’t let me out of it.”

“But we’re still on for tomorrow, right?”

“What’s tomorrow?”

“We’re meeting at the rink after school.”

“Yeah, shit, I forgot. I have to cancel.”

“Why?”

“Something came up.”

“What? Another family thing?”

“Yeah,” I say, not knowing what else to tell him. I can’t say I’m going to see Nova, not after he accused me of trying to get with her. I never should’ve told him I know her. And I never should’ve made up that stupid lie about meeting Nova at summer camp. I guess it doesn’t matter. It’s not like he’ll ever see her again to verify that story.

I don’t like having to lie about my past. I’ve never questioned it before, but now I am. Why am I so ashamed of my past and where I came from? I was just a kid. I couldn’t help what my parents were like or how much money they made. That doesn’t make me a bad person.

Thinking about that brings up too many emotions so I stop and try to focus on my school work. My grades have been falling this year. I used to get all A’s, but this year I’ve been getting more B’s and C’s. I’ve already been accepted to college so I’ve been putting my energy more on hockey than my grades.

At six, I go down to the dining room for the dreaded family dinner. Everyone’s already there and Jenna’s already whining.

“Why do we always have to have meat?” she says in that whiny tone. “My health teacher said we should be vegan. Anje’s family is vegan.”

“We are not going vegan,” my dad says as I sit down next to him.

“It’s better for your health,” Jenna says, “especially for old people like you and Mom. And it’s better for the planet.”

My mom sighs. “Jenna, please. We’ve already discussed this. We are not going vegan.”

“Then I am.” She stabs her steak with her fork and puts it back on the platter. “I’m not eating meat anymore.”

“Great!” I say. “More for me.” I take a steak from the platter. “You know vegan means more than just not eating meat, right?”

Jenna looks at me. “Yeah, obviously.”

She has no idea what I’m talking about. I could tell by the confused look on her face when I said it. She pretends to be an expert in everything, which is another reason I don’t like talking to her.

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