Page 98 of Searching for Nova

“That’s not the point,” my mom says. “We need to know where you are. You can’t be out all night and not let us know where you are.”

“Seriously? So what happens next fall, when I’m in college? Are you going to drive to Madison every night to check where I am? Make sure I’m in bed by midnight?”

“This isn’t next fall,” my dad says, getting up. “This is now, and while you’re living under our roof, you will not be allowed to run around all night and not tell us where you are.”

I throw my hands up. “I can’t fucking believe this. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t get drunk, didn’t get in trouble, didn’t crash the car. I could’ve been at that party, getting arrested, but I wasn’t. You should be happy about that, not yelling at me.”

“What’s going on?” Jenna says, stumbling into the kitchen, looking like she’s still asleep.

“Honey, go to your room,” my mom says. “We’re talking to your brother.”

She perks up, suddenly seeming much more awake. “Is he in trouble? What’d he do?”

“Jenna, go to your room,” my dad says.

“But what about breakfast?”

“I’ll make it when we’re done,” my mom says. “Now go upstairs.”

“I want to stay and listen.” She pulls out one of the barstools by the kitchen island.

“Jenna!” my dad yells. “Upstairs! Now!”

Her jaw drops. He never yells at her. She turns and leaves the room.

My dad looks back at me. “Are you going to tell us the truth, or do I need to start calling parents?”

I take a moment to figure out what to say.

“I guess I’ll start calling parents.” My dad gets his phone out.

“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you,” I say through gritted teeth. I’m so damn pissed at them. I don’t do half the shit my friends do and my parents still don’t trust me.

“We’re waiting,” my dad says, sitting back in his chair. My mom sits next to him.

“I went to see a friend.”

“What friend?” my dad asks.

“Just someone I met on Halloween. Jace wanted to get something to eat so we went to a restaurant and that’s when I met her.”

“So this friend is a girl,” my mom says, glancing at my dad.

“It’s not like that,” I say. “We’re just friends.”

“Friends,” my dad says. “And yet you spent the night with this girl.”

“I didn’t mean to. I went over there to watch movies. We fell asleep, and when I got up, I realized it was morning.”

“And where were her parents?” my mom asks. “Are you saying they weren’t home?”

“She doesn’t live with her parents. They died when she was a kid. She lives with her grandfather, and yes, he was home.” I really hope they believe me. I don’t want to tell them the truth. I don’t know how they’d react. They might be okay with me seeing Nova, but I doubt it. It’s more likely they’d try to forbid me from seeing her, saying she’ll bring back memories I should be trying to forget. They don’t even like me talking about that time of my life, so I doubt they’d be okay with me seeing the girl that brings me back to that time.

My dad rubs his jaw. “If this was all as innocent as you’re making it sound, why did you lie to us about it?”

“Because you don’t know her,” I say. “And you don’t like me hanging out with people you don’t know.”

“Why didn’t you have her over?” my mom asks. “You could’ve invited her to dinner so we could meet her.”

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