Page 9 of Searching for Nova

“Maybe. Did he tell you his name?”

“I can’t remember. Something to do with directions. West, maybe?”

“Easton?”

Lenny nods. “Yeah, that was it. What kind of name is that? What’s with you kids and your stupid names? Like Nova. What the hell kind of name is that?”

I stand up. “What else did he say?”

“Nothing. Just asked when you’d be here.”

“Did you tell him?”

“Yeah. Why? Is this kid giving you trouble?”

“No. I just don’t have time to talk to him.”

“Hey.” Kym slides past Lenny into the break room, chomping on her gum as she fixes her ponytail. She’s a year younger than me, a junior in high school. She gets to be a waitress while I have to clean dirty dishes. Lenny said I don’t smile enough to be a waitress, which is bullshit. It may not be a sincere smile, but I can fake a smile all day if it gets me tips.

“Hey, Kym,” I say, noticing Lenny took off. I sit back down on the couch.

Kym plops down next to me. “I’m so pissed. You wouldn’t believe what Trey did last night.”

She tells me yet another story about Trey cheating on her. He does it all the time, but she still won’t break up with him. They both go to my school. One day Trey kissed another girl in the hall with Kym standing right there. I swear he just does it to see how much she’ll put up with, which apparently is a lot since she’s still dating him.

“And then he calls me and…” she continues on, twisting strands of her purple hair around her finger as she talks.

I’m not listening, my mind on what Lenny said, about that guy showing up looking for me. If it’s really Sean, what does he want? And why did he change his name to Easton?

When my shift starts, I feel anxious knowing that guy might show up again. I don’t want to talk to him. I don’t care who he is. I just want to be left alone. I don’t need someone coming in and making my life more complicated than it already is, or making me question things from the past.

When my shift ends at three, I return to the break room, relieved that the guy never showed up. Maybe he decided to leave me alone. Or maybe he realized I’m not whoever he thought I was.

Kym pops her head in the room. “Nova.”

“Yeah?” I grab my backpack from my locker.

“There’s some guy here asking to see you.” She smiles. “And he’s really hot. Did you break up with Mateo?”

“I’m not dating Mateo. We’re just friends.”

“Yeah, right,” she says with a laugh. “Anyway, the guy’s waiting for you out front.”

“Tell him I left.” I shut my locker and walk over to her. “Tell him my shift ended and I went home.”

“I already told him you’re here.”

“Then tell him you came back here and I was gone.” I go past her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Going out the back door, I look around the parking lot but don’t see anyone. Customers park out front, but there’s a chance the guy came back here looking for me. I cut behind the abandoned building next to the diner and make my way to the sidewalk, heading to the bus stop.

“Nova!” I hear a guy yell.

“Shit,” I mutter, walking faster.

“Nova, wait up!”

I turn back and there he is, running toward me. Kym is right. He’s really hot. I didn’t get a good luck at him last night, but seeing him now, there’s no way this guy is Sean, the scrawny little kid from that picture.

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