Ch31

NOVA

"Explain?" Enzo's eyes narrow as he looks down at me. "Explain what, Nova? That you’re stashing Noah’s least favorite person in your wardrobe like a piece of dirty laundry?"

"Enzo, please," I stammer. I hold my hands up, palms out. "It’s not what it looks like! We weren't doing anything, I swear to God! Caleb was just... we were just talking, and then we heard footsteps, and I panicked! You can't tell Noah. You cannot tell my parents, Enzo, please."

Caleb blinks, his smirk fading into a look of slow-burning confusion. He looks between the two of us, his brows furrowing as his gaze lands squarely on Enzo.

"Wait... hold on a second," Caleb cuts in, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't get it. Isn't this your room, Nova?"

I snap my head toward him. "Caleb, please, just shut up..."

"No, seriously, isn't this Nova's room?" Caleb asks, completely ignoring me as he takes a step forward, eyeing Enzo up and down with an annoying smirk. "What were you doing in here in the first place, man? Just barging into a girl's bedroom like you own the place?"

I wince, waiting for the blast zone.

Enzo ignores him, slowly turning his head, but not before giving Caleb a look of such deep disgust.

"My physiology work is important to me," Enzo says softly as he looks back at me. "If you're going to leave me stranded in the kitchen just to hook up in your wardrobe with this jackass, then you had better be the one to tell Mrs. Gable why our assignment isn't done."

"We weren't...! We're not hooking up!" I squeak. "I swear, Enzo, we weren't doing anything!"

Enzo just stares at me.

"Enzo, please," I whisper, my voice cracking slightly as I swallow down the lump of terror in my throat. "Will you... are you going to tell my brother?"

Enzo tilts his head. "I'm not you, Nova. Unlike you, I actually know when to keep my mouth shut."

Caleb lets out a loud, sudden snort from beside me.

I whip around, glaring at him. "What?!"

"What?" Caleb repeats, raising his hands in fake defense, though his eyes are dancing with amusement. "He still hasn't answered why he came into your room in the first place, Nova. Why are you letting him talk to you like that?"

"Caleb, shut up!" I hiss. I turn back to Enzo, trying desperately to keep my voice steady. "Is there... is there a problem, Enzo? Why were you in here?"

Enzo rolls his shoulders, crossing his arms over his broad chest. His eyes flick down to me. "I came in here to borrow your physiology textbook. Since you're supposed to be helping me pass, I assumed you'd actually have a material."

I nod. "Right. The textbook. I have it right here..."

"We need to be civil if you're going to be my tutor," Enzo interrupts. "And frankly, I don't want your brother to kill you before you get the chance to teach me... so I'm going to distract him downstairs."

He steps back, giving Caleb a look, from his hair down to his shoes.

"You have two minutes to get this motherfucker out of here," Enzo sneers coldly. "If I see his face when I come back up, I'm telling Noah myself."

Without waiting for a response, Enzo turns on his heel, grabs my physiology book off the desk with one hand, and walks out, slamming my bedroom door shut behind him.

The thud of the bedroom door closing vibrates through the floorboards, leaving silence in its wake.

I stand frozen, my heart hammering like a trapped bird. My breath comes in short, ragged gasps as I stare at the dark wood of the door, waiting for the floorboards outside to creak, waiting for Noah’s voice to roar from the hallway.

Nothing happens. Just the faint, distant sound of Enzo’s footsteps descending the stairs.

"Nova..."

"You need to go," I blurt, turning on Caleb. "Right now, Caleb. Move!"

I grab his stuff, put it on him, yank the sleeve of his jacket and yank him toward the window, but Caleb doesn't budge. He plants his sneakers on the rug, his brows pulled together as he stares at the closed door, then down at me.

"Nova, wait a second," he says. "Did you not see that?"

"See what? I saw my brother's best friend catching you in my wardrobe!" I shove his chest, but it's like pushing against a brick wall. "Get out!"

"No, Nova, listen to me for one second," Caleb insists, grabbing my wrists gently to stop my pushing. "I noticed something. The way he was looking at you..."

"I don't care! I don't give a damn about how Enzo looks at me, Caleb!" I wrench my hands free. "He hates me... and if you don't leave in the next thirty seconds, he's going to tell Noah, and then my brother is going to beat you into a pulp!"

"Nova, shut up and listen..."

"No, you listen!" I hiss, grabbing his arm and dragging him toward the door, unlocking it as quietly as I can. "You have to go through the back. Through the kitchen."

Caleb lets himself be pulled into the hallway, but he's still frowning, looking around.

"Wait..." He pauses on the top step, pulling back. "My car is literally parked right out front in your driveway. Didn't they think about whose car it was?"

I grab his jacket again, tugging him down the stairs. "My dad lets some of his friends park their extra cars on our property all the time! They probably just thought it was Uncle Rick’s or one of the neighbors! Will you stop asking questions and *move*?"

We tiptoe down the staircase. From the living room around the corner, I can hear the murmur of Noah’s voice, followed by Enzo answering him. Enzo is actually doing it. He's distracting my brother.

Caleb leans down as we creep past the doorway leading to the living room, his mouth close to my ear.

"I'm not scared of your brother. I could take him."

"He beat you up the last time."

"Right." He pauses before saying... "Nova, Enzo didn't just come up here to take a textbook," Caleb whispers. "Think about it."

"You're crazy," I whisper back, my eyes fixed on the kitchen door at the end of the hall. "He literally had the book in his hand when he walked out."

"Yeah, because he grabbed it off your desk on his way out to save face!" Caleb stops in the middle of the kitchen, turning to face me. "Look at me, Nova."

"Caleb, please..."

"Just calm down and listen to me for two seconds!" Caleb snaps, putting his hands on my shoulders. "He wasn't mad because I was in your room, Nova. He was pissed because it was me. He was mad at you for seeing you and me together."

I stare at him, a nervous, breathless laugh escaping my lips. "Are you out of your mind? Enzo? Jealous?" I shake my head, wrenching myself out of his grip. "He hates me, Caleb! He hates me because he thinks I almost ruined his entire career!"

"I'm telling you what I saw..."

"I don't care what you think you saw!" I grab the handle of the kitchen back door and throw it open, revealing the cool evening air of the backyard. "Out. Now."

Caleb steps over the threshold onto the back porch, but he spins back around before I can slam it shut.

"Text me," he demands, pointing a finger at me. "Text me the second they leave. And actually think about what I said."

"Goodbye, Caleb!"

I shove his chest one last time, push him out onto the deck, and lock the door behind him.

I lean my forehead against the door, taking a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. My heart is still hammering against my ribs, but the threat was gone. Caleb is gone. Noah doesn't know. And Noah not knowing means my dad won't know. I'm safe.

"Just breathe," I mutter to myself, rubbing my temples. "You're fine. You survived."

I turn around, leaning back against the door as I close my eyes for a second, letting the quiet of the kitchen wash over me. I take another deep breath, trying to smooth down my hair and compose myself before I have to face Noah and Enzo in the living room.

Opening my eyes, I take a step forward toward the hallway... and stop dead in my tracks.

Right next to the kitchen trash can, lying haphazardly on the floor as if it has been casually tossed aside, is a thick, heavy hardcover book.

The bright blue spine stares back at me.

Human Physiology: Integrated Approaches.

My breath hitches.

I slowly walk over and kneel down, picking the book up off the floor. It's mine. The exact textbook Enzo had grabbed off my desk, the one he claimed was the entire reason he had walked into my room in the first place.

He hadn't even brought it to the living room to study. He had walked out of my bedroom, carried it down the stairs, and dumped it right next to the trash on his way to see Noah.

I hold the heavy textbook against my chest, staring at the empty hallway leading to the living room, Caleb's words suddenly echoing in my ears.

"He didn't just come up here to take a textbook..."

My fingers tighten around the edges of the cover.

"What a liar," I whisper. "If you actually came to take it... then why leave it on the floor?"