The Supernova Effect

Chapter 29

Andre

The lake looked smaller now.

Not in distance, but in magic. The kind of magic it used to hold when we were 10 and thought skinny dipping made us immortal. Back when Nahmari dared me to dive in first and I swore the water turned silver because she smiled at me.

Now, it was dark and glassy.
The moon shivered across the surface in broken pieces, like someone had dropped a mirror and left it floating. Cicadas buzzed in the trees above, and the breeze skimmed the water, carrying the faint scent of algae, crushed pine needles, and the summer heat fading away.

Now the dock creaked beneath us like old bones,
Nahmari sat next to me,  lightly glide her toes in the water as she watched me roll the blunt.

Her curls were messier now, loosened by the heat and the grief. She had that far-off look she always got before she said something she couldn't unsay.

"Last time I saw you was at your parents' funeral. You left right after."

I exhaled slow. "Yeah."

"They told me you and Anthony moved in with your grandma."

I nodded. "She stepped up. Me and Anthony were too young to make sense of anything. One day I was at home, two parents alive, eating dinner. Next day, I'm crying into a suit that doesn't fit, in front of two coffins, and everybody whisperin' about how much debt they left behind."

I take a long drag and pass Nahmari blunt. Her fingertips brushed mine.

"I thought you forgot about me," she said.

That made me look at her. Her eyes weren't the same as they were back then—more grown, less wild. But they still had that quiet fire. The one that used to dare me to climb trees and break curfew.

"I didn't, I just couldn't go back. Everything reminded me of what I lost. Especially you."

She blinked a few times fast. I could tell it hit her somewhere tender.

"I used to sneak down here by myself," I added. "After Miss D went to sleep. Just to sit on this dock and remember when shit felt okay."

She looked out at the water. "You remember when she caught us skinny dipping?"

I huffed a laugh. "Damn near beat the skin off me."

"She made us go to service the next day with scratches all over our legs."

"And still gave us candy after church like nothin' happened."

"She was always like that." Nahmari smiled, but her eyes were wet as she took a hit.

She passed the blunt back and watched the smoke drift into the stars. We both watched it go.

"My parents shipped me off to boarding school  after I got kicked out of school my sophomore year for fighting, that was my last strike for them. just couldn't deal with me anymore. Skipping school smoking in the house, fighting whenever I got the chance. They said I was unmanageable and rebellious. Really, I was just angry."

"About what?"

"Everything, I felt so alone especially after you left, Nobody ever asked me if I was okay. Not even once. They just... sent me away like I was broken. Like they were embarrassed."

Damn," I muttered. "So we both got kicked out the garden."

She looked at me, then chuckled quietly. "Guess we did."

I swallowed. "I felt that way too. When my parents died, everyone kept saying how strong I was. But nobody asked how I was holding it. They just let Miss D carry me like some weight she never signed up for."