𝐒𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒 || ᴘʜᴏᴇʙᴇ ꜱᴘᴇɴɢʟᴇʀ

phase one - meet her

nova jackson grooberson, or nj for short, sat at the counter of spinners while she ate a burger and curly fries, working on a coding set her father had gotten her for her birthday. granted, her birthday was 5-ish months ago, but, hey, science took time. outside was dark and the stars in the sky made up for having no street lamps on the roads of summerville.

summerville lived in the middle of literal nowhere, and honestly, it was a shit show. not lots of wifi, older kids were off the rails, as well as the adults, and yet, nobody seemed to leave, unless, of course, they died. nova was waiting for her father to get off his second job, but until then, she took her mind off of life and did science.

nova jackson was a curious darling, pretty and smart. nova had milk chocolate brown skin and dark brown curly hair that shrunk to her shoulders and was always parted down the middle. she wore bracelets that clinked and clanked and rings that made people's hands hurt when they high fived and fistbumped.

her watch on her right wrist showed combat style, on the inside of her wrist, as her earrings ranged from dinosaurs to small water bottles. her style was deemed weird in summerville, but as the town was such a weird place, it turned out to be a blending-in point. she wore a unique button up shirt with short denim overalls over it, and converse that were scuffed and bruised.

outside the diner, the spenglers rolled into the drive-thru, talking until the teen boy, trevor, told them he would be a second before unbuckling his seat belt and leaving the vehicle. the younger sister, phoebe, looked around, left and right, when her mother turned around to look at her from the front seat.

"hey. maybe you will make a friend out here." phoebe nodded. "make them out of what?" "i'm serious. a new home could be an opportunity to start fresh. keep an open mind."

phoebe nodded again, unconvinced, and her mom turned back around to face the steering wheel, staring at it for a moment before looking around, a girl who sat at the counter inside the diner, shovelling fries into her mouth while holding a screwdriver before dropping it and grabbing another tool. "hey, that girl inside looks interesting."

phoebe turned her head into the window, having to squint and concentrate to find who her mom was talking about, until she found her. she seemed to be doing something scientifically related, and though phoebe could only see the back of her head, she seemed quite beautiful.

the girl inside pulled her head back, letting out a huge breath out of frustration, showing the girls side profile out of the curly hair. god, she was super pretty. almost too pretty.

phoebe almost checked with herself to make sure the girl wasn't the daughter of a greek goddess. but, quickly, phoebe let go of the feelings she felt wave and buzz through her stomach. she probably wasn't going to see her again, so why dwell on it?

so, she looked away and just muttered a "yeah."

back inside, just as nova had finished her last fry and banged on the counter, not violently, but more as in a teasing way, asking for another order, she saw a boy sit beside her. "hi," he greeted. "hey," the girl slightly smiled at him, making him comfortable to do it back.

lucky, a girl she knew quite well, grabbed the basket of empty fries from her and put them back on the counter, instructing the chefs to make another order along with some others. then, the boy, trying to make some new acquaintances, decided to enter the conversation in possibly the most awkward was possible.