SuperNova: Heroes of Arcania (27 page)

“Do you think…” he trailed off, but I raised my eyebrows to continue, curious about his question. He cleared his throat before asking. “Do you think the hunt for Fortune has changed you? Made things better?”
 

The question sat heavy in the air. I turned my attention to the corkboard, thinking about the answer. I stared at my notes for another minute.
 

“It’s certainly changed me. There’s no denying that.” I didn’t look at him. “I feel like I’m being ripped in two sometimes, ya know?”
 

“I’m not sure I follow.” His gentle voice ended in a slight question, asking me for better explanation.

“I guess…well, it feels like there are two Novas. There’s Old Nova, the one who, before her little sister died, would’ve jumped at the chance to go out with Andy Vicker.” He laughed at my eye roll and I shrugged. “She’s expected to go to college and work hard to become a lawyer and please her parents. Old Nova is like my daytime persona who does what’s expected.”

He raised his eyebrows at me to continue. When I didn’t, he pressed me further. “And New Nova?”

I sighed. “New Nova has a different checklist. She doesn’t care about school or SATs or parties. She wants to stop Fortune and catch other bad guys. She has
purpose
. My mom questioned me today about what I’d do after Fortune was gone. Or worse, if he left the area, would I go after him?”

“What did you tell her?” I sensed an urgency in his voice, as if he too burned to know the answer. He involuntarily took a step toward me.
 

“That I didn’t know,” I said, wanting to be honest.
 

There was a longing in his eyes. “What is it you want, Nova? I mean, really and truly something you wish for, something that’s just yours?”
 

The warmth of his closeness made me heady. I whispered my answer without thinking.
 

“To feel normal again.”
 

 
I leaned in, my eyes closing in anticipation. He cleared his throat and my lids fluttered open again. Cole had stopped moving, nowhere near kissing me. Evidently I’d misjudged the mood. He was looking somewhere behind me; before I could turn to see, he met my gaze, apologetic.
 

“I better go,” he said, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.
 

My eyebrows furrowed. “O-okay?”
 

Did I do something wrong?

I turned to look back at a picture of Starling on my wall, next to the headline about her murder. Cole was already halfway out of the basement, like I was chasing him out of the place. He spared a wave goodbye before leaving, the door behind him closing with a click. The way he’d acted, I’d half-expected him to freeze me just to get out faster. I spent the better half of the night staring at my corkboards, but rather than thinking of Fortune, I went over the night’s events. Over and over, I tried to think of why Cole left so suddenly or didn’t make a move.
 

I could only come to one conclusion.
Boys are dumb.

Penelope and I were walking to Pop’s, the nearby ice cream shop. My sister walked backwards down the sidewalk, grinning as she read a photo description off Facebook.
 

“It’s a s’mores sundae,” she said. “And it looks like a doozy.”
 

“Sounds like a good distraction,” I muttered.
 

“From what?”
 

“Nothing.”
 

“Right. Nothing. You’ve been acting weird all day.”
 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, pushing forward to get to the shop. I opened the door for her and found us a booth near the front window. Penelope rushed up to the counter and ordered the special sundae from Anna, the shop owner.
 

I sat there and sulked, mad at myself for how I’d acted last night at Nova’s house. It was the perfect opportunity to spend time with her. It was my fault, asking to see her office with all her notes and findings on Fortune. When I saw the picture of Starling, it made me worry. And all of Pen’s warnings about Nova being obsessed with Fortune concerned me, too. What if Nova wasn’t ready to move on, to make room for new memories when she had so many of her sister? I didn’t want to accidentally take advantage of her in a vulnerable state, either.
 

Within minutes, Penelope and I were sharing the dessert at our table. I didn’t meet Pen’s eyes, but I could feel her gaze on me. Finally, I sighed.
 

“What is it you want to ask me?”
 

Penelope didn’t hesitate. “What’s up with you lately?”
 

“What do you mean?”
 

“You’re moody and forgetful. I thought you wanted to go out with Amber last night and party. Did you not have fun?”
 

“Yeah, I had fun.”
 

“So what’s your problem?”
 

I scowled at her. “It’s none of your business.”
 

“It is if it gets me in trouble with Dad.” She took another bite of ice cream and I snorted.
 

“As if you’re ever worried about that.”
 

Her eyes flashed, a warning sign I should stop there. I thought of how to change the subject. “Hopefully we’ll go back downtown with Nova this week.”
 

Rather than smile and join in, as I’d hoped, her eyes narrowed. “You seem to be looking forward to that more than I am. What’s your deal with her?”
 

I shrugged. “She’s been really nice to us. She’s strong and—”

“You’re going to tell Nova you like her.” Penelope’s tone was flat as she stared at me. She slapped her spoon into the sundae, splattering ice cream everywhere.
 

I backpedaled, not wanting to get her in a tizzy out in public. That was the last thing we needed and Dad would have a fit. “I don’t know, Pen. I think she’s cool and all…”
 

“You can’t date her,” she said. She picked up her spoon and went back for another ravenous bite, like she hadn’t just tried to butt into my business.
 

The question came without thinking. “Why not?”
 

“Because you two work together,” Pen answered, as though it were obvious.
 

She’d given this some thought already.
Not comforting
. My mouth opened and shut a few times and she sighed.
 

“It’s not that she’s bad for you or anything,” she said. “I mean, I like the sudden rebellious streak you’ve got going; I know it’s because of her. It definitely works out in my favor.”

She spared me a smile and I resisted sticking my tongue out at her. Her smile faded as she shot me a serious look.
 

“Nova is dead-set on taking Fortune down.”
 

“So?”
 

“So that makes her dangerous.” Penelope shrugged in a matter-of-fact way. “To us and herself.”
 

“That’s why we’re helping her.”
 

“Maybe that’s why you’re helping her,” she said with a pointed look. “But she could easily decide she doesn’t want our help anymore and go out on her own. And I don’t want you chasing after her and getting yourself zapped. I won’t be gentle on her if she gets you killed.”
 

Despite wanting to tell her to cool it, I winced at the idea of death by electrocution.
Sounds painful.
“Pen, I know what I’m doing.”
 

She guffawed, but said nothing else. She let her spoon fall again with a clatter.
 

“You made a mess,” I said, glancing at the flecks of ice cream all over the table.
 

Her thin face scowled at me. “Don’t change the subject or I’ll send the rest of it flying across the room.”
 

“Don’t joke like that,” I said sharply.
 

“Who says I’m joking?” she replied just as quickly and full of attitude.
 

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can’t it be easy, just once?”
 

She hesitated, taking in my annoyance. “What do you mean?”
 

“I like living here. Whether or not I like Nova, I like doing good things with her, helping out the city. Don’t you?”
 

Rather than get mad, she raised an eyebrow. “It’s better than sitting around bored stiff, sure.”
 

I leaned in, making sure we couldn’t be overheard. “We don’t have to hide who we are as much here. Please try to understand that. When you threaten to use your gift and expose us, it worries me. We shouldn’t have to keep starting over. I know you hate it as much as I do.”
 

Penelope sighed, the fight going out of her. “Okay, okay. I’ll keep my temper in check.”
 

“Thank you,” I said, relieved.
 

She held up a forefinger. “I still think it’s a bad idea to date Nova, though.”
 

I swallowed back my immediate reply, instead trying to brush her keen diagnosis off. “Noted. Don’t worry; I don’t think she’s into me anyway.”
 

Penelope, never the sympathetic type, checked her watch and hopped up from the booth. “I’ve gotta get a couple books from the library before it closes. I’ll see you back home.”
 

She was out the door a few seconds later. I sighed, wondered if I’d ever understand my sister. As I moved to clean up the sticky chocolate mess on the table, the doorbell jingled. I’d just finished when a body plopped down in the seat across from me. I opened my mouth to tell Penelope off when I smelled perfume. I glanced up to see Amber, brown spiral curls spilling around her face. She leaned in, giving me an eyeful of her cleavage. Tempting as it was, I managed to keep my eyes on her face.
 

She shot me a bright smile. “Hi, Cole. Saw you sitting over here by yourself and thought you could use the company.”
 

“Pen just left—”

“About last night,” Amber said, cutting me off, “I wanted to apologize for, um, not making it through the rest of our date.”
 

“Are you feeling okay today?” I asked, my concern not entirely genuine.
 

Annoyance crossed her face and I bit back a smile. Her mouth twisted as she thought of her response. “I’m great, thanks. Anyway, I was thinking we try it again next weekend? A new restaurant opened downtown and—”
 

My hand went up to cut her off. “I’m sorry Amber, but I don’t think it’s going to work out. We’re probably better off as friends.”
 

Her mouth dropped into an “O,” her pretty face registering shock. Pink flooded her brown cheeks and I instinctively reached out.
 

“I don’t mean to embarrass you,” I started, but she sucked in a breath.
 

“No,” she interrupted, “it’s okay. Thanks for being honest, it’s rare to find a guy who’d be so upfront about it. I’m more used to being dragged along until they get tired of my texts.”
 

“Well then, you should know better, because you’re a lot of fun and really hot. They don’t know what they’re missing out on,” I said honestly. “It’s just…I have feelings for someone else.”
 

Amber shot me a knowing smile. “Ah, right. I should’ve figured when I saw you two by the pool last night.”
 

I bit the inside of my cheek, not wanting to discuss it with her. I wasn’t dumb; girls were gossipy and I’d much rather Nova hear it from me than Amber.
 

“Be good to her,” Amber continued, giving me a stern look. “She’s been through enough without you doing something stupid.”
 

I gave her a faint smile, saying nothing as she prattled on. The bell chimed, ushering in new customers. With my back to the front door, I didn’t see who entered.

“Hey, Henry! Come on up and try the sundae I told you about,” the owner said with a big, friendly smile. Her voice carried in the small space and I perked up at the name.
 

Without warning, Amber waved at someone behind us. I looked around to find Henry
and
Nova. When I saw the look on Nova’s face, I realized what the current situation looked like: me, sharing a sundae with Amber, after I ran out of her house last night instead of kissing her like any normal guy would’ve done.