Nova Baker

5.

The smell of sizzling bacon filled the kitchen, mixing with the scent of cinnamon from the pancakes Darnell was flipping with exaggerated flair. The morning sunlight spilled through the windows of Corey James' house, casting golden beams across the tiled floor. Music pulsed low from a speaker on the counter — an old-school R&B mix Darnell had thrown on without even asking. Nova approved.

Nova stood barefoot at the stove in one of Darnell's shirts that fit her like a short dress, her hair pulled up messily, a wooden spoon in her hand. She was laughing, really laughing, eyes squinting as Darnell tried and failed to catch a pancake midair.

"You were so confident just now!" she teased, pointing at the mess of pancake batter on the edge of the burner.

"I was confident!" Darnell defended, grinning as he grabbed a towel to clean it up. "The pancake just... had other plans."

Nova shook her head, flipping the eggs with ease. "You are banned from flipping anything else. I mean it."

He walked over to her and stole a slice of bacon from the plate she had just finished. "Harsh. But fair."

The song changed to something slower, something sweeter — and without asking, Darnell reached for her hand and spun her gently into a clumsy, lazy kitchen dance. Nova laughed again, stumbling into him.

"Darnell," she groaned with a smile, "I'm trying to cook!"

"And I'm trying to make memories," he said, holding her close for a second before letting go. "Don't fight me on this. I'm a romantic."

She rolled her eyes, but her heart tugged a little at that. The kitchen, the music, the sunlight, the smell of breakfast — it all felt so safe. So far from the chaos she was used to tiptoeing around.

For once, she didn't feel like she had to dim herself to keep the peace. She could laugh loud. She could move freely. She could just be.

"You do this with every girl?" she asked playfully as she turned back to the stove.

Darnell leaned against the counter, watching her. "No. I don't even let most girls cook in my kitchen."

"Oh? So I'm special."

"Very."

Something about the way he said it made Nova pause. She looked down at the eggs, but her thoughts had already drifted.

Special.

Not "Liv's little sister."
Not "Jordan's twin."
Not "the quiet one."

Just... Nova. As herself.

She hadn't felt like that in a long time.

After they plated the food and brought it over to the small dining table near the window, they sat across from each other, eating in easy silence. Nova's gaze drifted to the light outside, to the way the sun lit up the yard, and the soft wind pushed the curtains inward just slightly.

"You know," she said slowly, "for a long time, I thought staying quiet was the safest way to survive."

Darnell looked up from his fork, not interrupting — just listening.

"I didn't want to compete. Liv was already the golden child, and Jordan... well, he's always doing something dumb and loud enough to steal all the attention. I figured the only way to keep my peace was to stay out of the way. Be the dependable one. The calm one."

Darnell nodded, chewing carefully. "You ever resent that?"

She didn't answer at first. Then, quietly, "I don't think I even allowed myself to feel it. I just told myself I was built different. That I liked being invisible. But... lately?"