Bonita

Chapter 29. Late Night Talks

NOVA

The next day, the air outside felt deceptively soft.

The kind of warm breeze that tricks you into believing life is simple.

We sat at our usual table beneath the tree at the edge of campus. Low branches stretched overhead, casting shifting shadows across the wood.

Cisco lounged like he owned the earth.

Levi sat upright beside him, posture so perfect it looked rehearsed.

Kai was half-standing, half-sitting, bouncing like his bloodstream ran on caffeine.

And me?

I was physically present.

Mentally, I was still in Tennessee.

Still kneeling in front of stone.

Still whispering, I'm still your girl, mama.

No one spoke at first.

Which was rare.

Unsettling, even.

Then Levi cleared his throat.

"You know the talent show is coming up."

I blinked, pulled back into my body.

"You're still thinking about that?"

Kai shrugged. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Because it's stupid."

Cisco clutched his chest. "Stupid? Nova, that hurt."

"You begged us to do it," Levi reminded me.

"That was before I realized you all sing like dying mosquitoes."

Kai gasped. "Excuse you. I can sing."

"You sounded like you were being exorcised when you tried Baby by Justin Bieber."

Cisco lost it immediately.

Levi's lips twitched.

Kai stared at me in betrayal. "I did not."

"You did. Like a goat."

"A goat with emotional trauma," I added.

And there it was.

The crack in my chest.

The tiny, unwilling lift of my mouth.

Cisco noticed.

Of course he did.

"What was that?" he asked softly.

"Nothing."

"That was a laugh."

"It was a cough."

Levi tilted his head. "It wasn't."