Page 35 of Searching for Nova

Jenna smiles at me. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“I thought we were going to discuss these things,” my mom says, giving my dad an angry look.

“It’s not that much money, and it’s worth it to spare me from having to hear one more minute of this conversation.” He turns to me. “What’s new with you, Easton? You’ve barely said two words all night.”

“I’m just tired,” I say, cutting my steak. I don’t even want it. I’m not hungry. I would’ve skipped dinner if my parents didn’t insist on having family dinner every night.

I haven’t had much of an appetite since Nova told me to get lost last Sunday. Now it’s Friday, so it’s been almost a week since I’ve seen her. I miss her and can’t stop thinking about her, but she’s made it clear she wants nothing to do with me. I’ve tried calling her, texting her, and even showed up at the diner, but she wouldn’t talk to me.

When she said we couldn’t be friends, I didn’t think she meant it. I thought she just needed time to process how she was feeling having me back in her life. I’ve had to do the same thing. I’m still processing it, dealing with old feelings, old memories. It’s not easy, but I’m willing to deal with those painful memories if it means I get to see Nova again. But she won’t even give me a chance.

“How’s practice going?” my mom asks me.

“Fine,” I mutter, wishing she’d leave me alone. I don’t feel like talking.

My mom and dad look at each other. My dad nods and a huge smile fills my mom’s face as she looks back at me.

“What’s going on?” I ask, glancing between her and my dad.

“We have a surprise for you,” my mom says. “We were going to tell you tomorrow, but you’ve seemed so down this week that we decided to tell you tonight, hoping it’ll cheer you up.”

“Is he getting a new car?” Jenna says, sounding annoyed. “If he is, I’m not taking his Jeep. I want a Range Rover, in white, like the kind I showed you.”

“He’s not getting a new car,” my mom says to her. “And neither are you. You don’t even have your license.”

“What is it?” I ask. “Just tell me.”

“We got you a new skating coach,” my mom says. “The man you’ve been wanting to work with.”

“Gordy Linz?”

“He had an opening and we took it,” my dad says. “Consider it an early birthday gift.”

Gordy is a hockey legend. He played professionally. Won championships. Went to the Olympics. He started coaching a few years ago, but has a waiting list a mile long.

“Are you serious?” I say, my eyes bouncing between my mom and dad. “This isn’t a joke?”

My dad smiles. “You can start working with him next weekend if you’d like. We told him you’d be calling to set up your first session.”

“Holy shit,” I mutter.

“He swore!” Jenna says to my mom, pointing at me.

Our parents are strict about swearing, but I still do it, and so does Jenna. She’s even worse than me, but we try not to do it in front of our parents. If we do, they take money out of our allowance.

“What do you think?” my mom says to me, ignoring Jenna.

“It’s awesome. But how is this even possible? He’s gotta have like over a thousand people on his waiting list.”

“He’s doing a commercial for the bank,” my dad says. “I showed up at the shoot, told him about you, and convinced him to be your coach. Unfortunately, he can only meet with you once a week, but you’ll still have your other coach.”

“I’ll take once a week. I’ll take whatever time he can give me.”

“We hope this will make you feel better,” my mom says to me. “We hate seeing you down.”

“It’s because of Paris,” Jenna says, smirking at me as she cuts into her steak.

Sometimes I really don’t like Jenna. If she wasn’t my sister, I wouldn’t even talk to her. She’s bratty and spoiled and doesn’t care about anyone but herself. I don’t know how she ended up that way when the same parents raised us. Maybe those early years of my life affected me more than I thought. Having almost nothing taught me to be grateful for what I have.

---