Freezing Bonds that Tie our Hearts (Blood and Water #2)

5. Nova

When the bell rang signaling the end of classes, relief didn’t even come close to how I felt. The only thing I wanted to do was dive into my bed and sleep until tomorrow.

As I was rummaging through my bag in search of some chapstick and car keys, I felt a strong hand come down on my shoulder. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked up into dark green eyes.

I sighed internally. Great. Lewis Knightsley; exactly who I wanted to see today.

My first week in Ravenbridge, I thought Lewis was a nice and cute guy. He was part of the football team, class president, his dad was the mayor and his mom was pretty well known for all her charity work. All in all, Lewis was the poster, all-American, child.

If only his personality matched.

I’d actually gone on a date with him last year and spent the entire hour and a half regretting that decision. All he talked about was his family history, how his grandpa came from Ireland and went from rags to riches, his summer spent in The Hamptons and winters skiing in Aspen.

Boring.

“Hey, Nova.” He sent me a dazzling smile and I smiled back politely while discreetly removing my shoulder from his grip.

“Hi.”

“I heard about what happened in Diaz’s class today, are you okay?”

I greeted my teeth, trying to keep my smile intact. “Of course. Nothing new there, just Aiden being… well, Aiden.”

“I can’t believe that bitch did nothing to kick him out of her class.” He narrowed his eyes and shook his head like his calling my favorite teacher a bitch didn’t make me freeze up. “She’s a shifter, you know? Guess Northie scum will always remain Northie scum.”

I frowned and took a step away from him. What was it with guys in this town pissing me off today? Who did he think he was, talking like that about one of the only teachers in this school who truly cared about her students?

“I don’t appreciate or tolerate you speaking that way about Mrs. Diaz, Lewis. She’s a great teacher and she isn’t responsible for Aiden acting like a jerk.”

I truly hated this schism between the two sides of town. Most importantly, I hated how some Southies thought it was okay to speak ill of Northies in front of me just because of my father’s yearly salary.

His demeanor entirely changed when he saw I wasn’t about to put up with his bullshit. Eyes wide, he gave me a strained smile, shaking his head.

“Of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just angry on your behalf.”

I said nothing and simply gave him a curt nod.

“If Aiden bothers you again, come and find me, okay? I’ll make sure he knows not to mess with you.”

Now that almost made me laugh.

Aiden would wipe the floor with Lewis, despite them being roughly the same height and Lewis—being a football player— slightly bulkier in size.

“Aiden has always picked on me, Lewis. I’ve handled it for the last three years all by myself and I’ll continue to do so. Thanks for asking, though.” Shooting him a small, polite smile, I side-stepped him without waiting for his answer.

I didn’t care much for it after how he spoke about Mrs. Diaz. I also meant what I said: I do not need him to take care of Aiden for me. I could do that perfectly by myself. Mostly by ignoring him.

Pushing the doors open, I finally made it out of the school only for my eyes to immediately find him. Speaking of the devil.

He was sitting on the hood of his car, an old black Camarro which would probably put my uncle Devon’s to shame.

He looked up almost as soon as I came out, his eyes finding me easily. Jumping off the hood of the car, he started making his way towards me and I felt my eyes widen a bit. I looked around for a quick escape but my car was parked near the gates, at the opposite of where I stood.

Swallowing thickly and squaring up my shoulders, I decided I would face him instead of running away. We didn’t normally speak outside of class, even less without other students or our respective friend groups surrounding us, but I guess there was a first time for everything.

“Hey,” he gave me a nod and pushed his hands inside the pockets of his jeans, drawing my eyes to the movement. They fit him well, not skinny but not too baggy either like the ones my dad used to wear in the 90s and refused to throw away.

“Hey.” I answered, my gaze unwavering from his.

“So… I guess I’m stuck in you.” I sucked in a breath at his words, warmth climbing up my neck and my eyes widened in shock. I almost doubled in laughter because his expression actually matched mine. “I-I meant with you. I’m stuck with you.” He repeated. “For Diaz’s class… oh my God.”

His cheeks took on a beautiful crimson color and it almost knocked me off my feet. Ever since I first met him, Aiden never looked anything short of cool and confident. Sometimes he was angry and cold too, and I caught him smiling and laughing with or at his friends a few times over the years, but never, ever did I see him embarrassed. Never.

And thank God for that because learning that Aiden Walkers, blushed? It made my heart do weird things.

Isn’t it so incredibly annoying when your brain wants to react a certain way but your body does the complete opposite? That’s exactly what was happening to me right then. I couldn’t keep my darn heart from thumping against my chest and my lips from opening slightly.

And as much as I hated admitting it, his slip of the tongue made an unwanted image appear in my brain. That was just how it worked, you know? My brain. I had always been a highly imaginative person and whenever I read or listened to a story, images unfolded inside my brain of their own accord.

And the images his words brought in were not appropriate in the least, especially not in such a public space, with so many eyes pointed in our direction.

“Fuck— listen. I want to start early on this shit, okay? The earlier we start the earlier we finish,” his words were harsh, eyebrows pinched together and his jaw clenching in frustration. “Meet me tomorrow morning at the library; I know you have a free period after math and so do I. Don’t be late.”

And that’s all he said before giving me his back and walking to his car, nearly wrenching the door open in anger.

He got in, slammed it, and drove so fast out of there you’d think his butt was on fire.

What the heck just happened?

***

“I’m home!” I exclaimed as soon as my shoes were off and neatly put away in the entry closet.

I gently put my bag on the small bench right next to it, before making my way toward the backyard where I could hear my sisters laughing

Dad was on the patio that overlooked the rest of our backyard, preparing the grill, probably to make some steaks for dinner. He wasn’t paying it much attention though as his gaze was set farther away on the two girls giggling together. Cece was on the swing and Aurora was right behind her, pushing her a bit higher each time, which my daredevil little sister seemed to find hilarious.

“Higher! Higher, Rory! I wanna touch the sky!” she giggled.

Her short braids swung along with her, the beads at the ends making their own melody. They both looked so carefree and happy. It felt like a wave of love submerging me, right then. I loved my family, my dad, my uncles, my grandparents… but the love I felt for my sisters went above and beyond. The love I felt for my sisters knew no bounds.

“Hey, baby.”

Turning my head, I smiled at my dad and made my way to him. He hugged me with one arm, the other gripping a can of root bear. Dad didn’t drink but he did have a weird addiction to them.

“Hey.” I whispered against his chest.

“How was your day?”

“Tiring,” I sighed. “Honors English already gave us our end-of-semester assignment, I’ll start working on it tomorrow.” I pulled away, a bit embarrassed when I remembered my weird altercation with Aiden earlier.

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, okay?” His eyes watched me like a hawk and I gave him a small, reassuring smile in response.

“What’s for dinner?” I chirped, effectively changing the subject.

“Steaks, mac and cheese, and salad. Devon is swinging by to eat with us tonight.” My smile widened at the mention of my uncle.

My dad had four brothers. Two were older, Andre and Michael, and two were younger, Damian and Devon. Since he had me pretty young, my father was only thirty-six. I got a few cousins from my older uncles but they’re all around Cece’s age and live in New-York, where all of my dad’s family comes from.

After my father graduated college at the very top of his class and passed the bar, while juggling a job, a young wife, and a kid (me), job offers came flying in from everywhere. I don’t remember much, I was only six or seven back then, but I do remember us leaving our one-bedroom apartment in a shady New York neighborhood for a nice little house in the suburbs just a few months after he was made associate and started practicing law.

My dad wasn’t just a ruthless lawyer, he was also great with finance. So he invested a lot and in different things. By the age of thirty, he decided he would start his own law firm—from scratch. Moving to Ravenbridge meant he had an hour-long commute to and from work, but we couldn’t stay in the city after my mother’s death. Too many things reminded us of her.

I think, over the years, he’s regretted moving here. It was a rash decision, made in the midst of grief. But he couldn’t uproot us back to the city either.

That’s basically how Starling & Bros started. When Devon and Damian started college, they went into law too, and now both of them worked with Dad. At twenty-eight, Devon was the youngest, but also the funniest. Me and my sisters got along great with him and sometimes, it felt like he was more of an older brother than an uncle to me.

Last summer, he let me have my first sip of beer—it was disgusting, but at least I got to try it— and Dad still knew nothing about this or he would have killed him. He was also the one who taught me how to drive, how to play poker, and even a few tricks on the slot machine. Yet another thing Dad couldn’t know about.

“Cool, I’m gonna take a shower and get started on homework before I come down.” I kissed his cheek and turned around, ready to get back inside, when his voice stopped me.

“Nova.” I froze, knowing what he was about to ask. He never forgot, like clockwork.

“Yeah?” I looked down at my feet.

“Did you take your meds, baby?” He asked quietly, softly, but his eyes were serious and left no room for lying.

Biting my tongue, I nodded once.

Three years since I started taking them, but it felt like I’ll never get used to it. Every day I woke up, went to the bathroom, and poured three different pills into the palm of my hand. And every day it felt like I was holding hard, heavy rocks instead. Swallowing them was always the hardest part, the rocks turned into shards of glass inside my throat, gutting me from the inside out.

But then I remembered her. I remembered her lifeless body on the shore of the lake. Grey, bloated skin and a tangled mess of wet hair. I could almost hear her soft, lyrical voice in my ear, telling me to do it, to take those pills.

That was all it usually took for me to swallow.

Because I refused to end up like her. I refused to end up like my mother.

***

“I’m fine, Zee.” I told her for what felt like the hundredth time in barely ten minutes. Rolling my eyes, I got situated behind my desk, grabbed my laptop and typed in my passcode.

The tips of my braids were still a bit wet from the shower I took after dinner, and my pink, silk pajamas felt amazing against my freshly moisturized skin.

“You sure? Because you did look ten seconds away from a heart attack back in class.”

She could be a real smartass sometimes.

“I’m good. It’s not like anything he says can truly impact me anyways. I’m used to him making me feel like a joke.”

She said nothing so I pinched my lips and decided to tell her about what happened after class ended.

“Shut the fuck up!” Zainab exclaimed and I muffled a laugh with my hand, nodding even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “Aiden Walker blushed?!”

“He was so flustered, Zee! I would bet good money that this was the most embarrassing moment of his life.” A snicker left my lips as I made myself comfortable on my chair.

“That boy is so crushing on you.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious, Nova! Don’t you know boys always pick on girls they like?”

“Yeah, little boys. He’s eighteen, Zee. He should know better.” I shrugged, looking through my window onto the street where the sun was starting to set.

The lights in my room were dimmed, leaving an orange hue to illuminate the space. I had a few candles turned on and their flowery and sweet scents made me feel at peace. My room was big, probably bigger than necessary. I had an adjoined bathroom and a built-in closet overflowing with clothes. The walls were a beautiful pastel pink, almost all the furniture was white and I had different shades of pink decorating the space.

My sewing corner was somewhat organized, and so was my desk, despite the few flying papers that I didn’t get the time to put away after finishing my homework earlier. A few pictures of my sisters dressed the walls, some with my friends, father, and family too. There even was one of my mom, on my nightstand.

A big fluffy carpet was splayed underneath my bed and spilled on each side of it, and a vase full of fresh, beautiful peonies sat on my nightstand.

This was definitely my safe place.

“Don’t you know that men never really grow up?”

“Ugh, yes they do. Society just likes to use this idea to excuse their poor, brutish behavior.”

“True.” she agreed quietly and I said nothing, simply scrolling through Pinterest in search of some sewing project inspiration.

“But still, you’d make a cute couple.”

I groaned, “I don’t like bullies, Zee.”

It was her turn to groan.

“My God, babe, are you gonna hold that against him forever? He was fifteen. You don’t even know the whole story. You saw him push that weirdo Sebastian around a few times and you think that makes him a bully?”

My jaw clenched. “He pushed him against the lockers and punched him in the face before pouring his bottle of orange juice down his pants. All Sebastian did was say ‘sup?’ to him, being friendly!” I reminded her. “And stop calling Seb a weirdo, that’s not nice.”

But maybe it was a bit true. I didn’t like that word but sometimes, Sebastian Hashwork made me uncomfortable too. He looked at me insistently, and found every excuse to brush against me in the halls during rush hour, I even saw him around my house a few times last year, despite the fact that he lived a few blocks away.

His dad was a client of mine, the Hashwork family was the owner of an international, luxury jewelry brand. Yet, Seb looked nothing like the heir to a multi-billion dollar company.

“I’m calling him that because dude smells like he still doesn’t know that soap and water are supposed to be used daily. Or that they even exist. He sat behind me in math last week and oh my God, I thought I was gonna throw up. Had to use my hijab as a respirator mask.”

A giggle escaped me, making me slap my hand against my mouth to muffle it and soon, Zee was laughing along. I couldn’t even say anything to that because it was true. Sebastian’s hygiene wasn’t the best.

“Oh, my God!” my best friend exclaimed suddenly. “She posted a new story, Nova!”

My eyes widened, knowing exactly who she meant. Straightening in my seat, I started typing in the search bar of my laptop.

www.DiamondHerreraWrites.com

Once it opened, sure enough, a new story was awaiting us.

Last year, Zainab and I attended a book club meeting one town over, not knowing it was actually a romance book club. An adult romance book club. We developed a love for the genre and often exchanged books we enjoyed with each other. Then, a few months ago, she actually found an online blog filled with smutty, fluffy, and even darker romance stories.

The girl who wrote them, Diamond Herrera, hadn’t posted anything for the last two months. However, judging by this brand-new entry, I’d say she’s coming back to us.

“Catch me, Mister Ghostface? Sounds kinky.” Zee exclaimed and I giggled. “Buddy read?”

“Count me in but not tonight. My uncle is coming to eat with us and I need to get started on Mr Shain’s assignment.” I groaned.

“Oooh, which uncle?”

“Devon.”

“It’s honestly unfair that you get to be surrounded by so many hot guys.”

“Ew, gross. That’s my uncle you’re talking about.”

“And your dad too.”

“Okay, I’m hanging up now, weirdo.”

“Bye, love you! Kiss uncle Devon and Daddy Damon for me!” I laughed knowing that if I actually did do that, she would die of embarrassment. She liked to joke around with us but to the rest of the world she was a man-hater through and through. She didn’t talk to them, didn’t look at them and if they came up to her, she’d glare until they left.

“You’re insane.”

“That’s, like, half of my charm.”

I smiled and put the phone down on my desk, my eyes falling back on the web page in front of me. I bit my lips, the urge to start reading almost getting the best of me even though I knew Dad would call me down for dinner anytime now.

Right when my cursor was hovering over the title, the door to my room burst open and Cece came storming in.

“Nova! Help me!”

I immediately snapped my laptop shut, scared of my little sister seeing pictures of half-naked men and then running to tell my dad.

Spinning around, I saw her dash for under my bed when another bigger figure entered the room growling like a beast. I rolled my eyes at Devon’s silly games.

“Come here little girl, or I’ll eat your dainty little feet!”

Cece squealed from underneath my bed and Devon dashed for it, grabbing her ankle and dragging her from underneath while she continued squealing and giggling.

“Give me a kiss or tell them goodbye!” He exclaimed in his monster voice.

Cece smashed her lips on his cheek and made a loud smooching noise.

“Here you go, please don’t eat my feet!”

Devon tickled her as she tried to get out of his grasp. He looked at me and winked as a hello and I smiled back, getting up and following them out of my room, the story on my laptop long forgotten.