The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 7

Nova

It's the way I have no time management skills. The time is now 7:40 PM, and Amir will be here in a few minutes. I'm just now putting on my clothes.

Once I was dressed, Amir texted me that he was outside. I text him back saying "okay" and hurriedly put on my shoes, grab my purse, and run downstairs.

"What are you in a hurry to go?" my mom asks.

"I'm going to a haunted house with my friend," I answer.

"Oh, okay. Be safe, sweetheart," she says.

I nod and go to leave, see Amir's car in the driveway, and walk toward it.

"Hey, Nova," Amir says once I get in, leaning in to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey," I respond with a smile.

"What did you do yesterday?" Amir asks as he pulls out of the driveway.

My mind immediately goes to my parents and Daisuke, and everything he did for me.

"Nothing much, just went to this new restaurant with my parents," I say, leaving out the part about Daisuke helping me.

"Oh yeah, that Italian restaurant I've been wanting to go to. Maybe we could go there together sometime."

"Yeah, that would be fun," I say.

"Have you eaten yet?" he asks.

"No, not yet."

"Let's get something to eat first, then," he says, making a U-turn.

I nod, relaxing as his right hand rests on my thigh.

I reach over to turn up the radio. It's playing "If It Isn't Love" by New Edition. I nod my head to the beat, and Amir starts singing along.

We soon pull into the parking lot of a diner called Willy's. It's a nice place—it has the vintage old-school look with its red booths and a jukebox.

"Hello, welcome in. You can sit anywhere," the woman says as we walk in.

We go and sit in a booth by the window and look over the menu. I choose to get a burger and some fries.

"What are you going to get?" I ask Amir.

"Probably a burger," he answers.

"Me too. You wanna be like me so bad," I say jokingly.

"No, I don't. You wanna be like me," he rebuttals.

We go back and forth until our waiter gets here to take our orders.

"Hello, my name's Bailey. I'll be your server. What can I get for you two today?" the waitress says, staring longingly at Amir for some reason.

She was definitely giving him the "I wanna fuck you" eyes. I ignore it and give her my order, Amir doing the same. She leaves to put the order in.

"Did you not see how she was looking at you?" I say.

"What are you talking about?"

"The waitress totally wanted you," I answer.

"No, she's probably just being nice," he says.

"No, I think she wanted you."

"Whatever," he says, laughing.

"You don't pay attention to anything sometimes," I say, shaking my head.

"All I can do is pay attention to you," he says, flirting.

I roll my eyes and kick his leg from under the table.

"You get on my nerves," I say.

"I can get on something else too," he teases.

"You better stop playing," I say, giggling.

Our food soon comes, with the waitress doing her best to flirt with Amir. But he doesn't seem bothered by her at all. He's too focused on something on his phone. Once we finish eating, Amir and I head to the haunted house.

"Its cool if I invite some of my friends to come?" Amir asks.

"Yeah, but I thought it was just going to be a me-and-you date."

"It still will be, but it'll be fun with more people," Amir replies.

"Okay," I say.

We reach the haunted house, and he parks his car next to a red Honda with three boys standing around the back of the car.

We get out, and Amir immediately goes over to the car to dap up the three boys.

"What's good with y'all boys?" Amir asks.

The boys give short, non-detailed answers, and Amir motions for them to come follow him, leaving me behind. But one of the boys stays and waits for me.

He had blonde hair and blue eyes and seemed like a spicy white boy by his style. I mean, he even had some white Air Force 1's on his feet that were clean.

"Wassup, I'm Jordan," the blonde boy says.

"Hey, I'm Nova," I reply.

"So you're Amir's new piece?"

"What do you mean? Was there someone before me?" I ask, confused.

"Hell yeah, you didn't know? They've been together for a while. They broke up like a million times. I guess this time it's for real."

I nod my head as we reach the haunted house entrance.

"Are you scared?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"Hell nah. If one of them gets too close, they gon' get they shit rocked."

I giggle and look up to see Amir looking back at me, mad as hell, as if he didn't want me to be with someone else. He should have never left me behind. I swear he can't do anything right.

"If y'all ever stop talking, I'm always an option," Jordan flirts, pulling my attention back to him.

I shake my head as we start to enter the haunted house. It's dark as hell, the only light being a flashing red one. The house has fake blood stains on the walls and bloody handprints on the darkened windows. We make a left turn, and someone with a zombie mask jumps out at us. Jordan screams, and I laugh at him.

I'm glad this is the kind of haunted house where the monsters can't touch us because if it were, I don't think Jordan would make it out. He's currently holding onto my arm like I could protect him.

We keep going through, with Jordan's grip on my arm becoming tighter and tighter with every single monster we see. Luckily, it's almost over.

We reach the exit, and Jordan lets go of my elbow. I let out a sigh of relief, but it's soon interrupted by another hand grabbing me. It's Amir.

He drags me to the side of the house with an annoyed look on his face.

"What the fuck?" I say, snatching my arm away in pain.

"I should be the one saying that! You were out here spending our date with my friend the whole time!" he snaps.

I roll my eyes. Is he being serious right now? I rub my arm to soothe the pain and see a handprint left from Jordan. Wow, he really left a mark. I didn't even think that was possible on my complexion. Amir's eyes soften from anger to worry when he sees the mark.

"I'm so sorry, Nova. I wasn't thinking. Are you okay?" he asks. It seems like all he ever does is say sorry.

"I'll be fine. Can we just leave? I'm tired."

"Yeah, let's go."

We walk back to the car in silence, not even sparing a look at one another. The whole car ride back is the same until we reach my house.

"I'm really sorry, Nova. I should've never invited them. I promise to make it up to you," he says before I get out of the car.

I just nod and get out of the car. I'm already annoyed from the bruise on my arm and don't feel like arguing.

Once I get inside, I try to be very quiet so I don't wake my parents up. I definitely don't feel like getting cussed out this late at night. I make it to my room and plop down on my bed from exhaustion.