The Introvert and the Football Player

Chapter Fourteen

Stop overthinking it.
Stop overthinking it.
Stop overthinking it.
Stop overthinking it.

Nova could hear Bo's words before they kissed as she walked back to Danni's truck.  She's never had a full conversation with Bo, yet he kissed her as if he was sure he liked her. The way they talked after he was done on the field was an improvement over any of the others they had in the past.  Nova couldn't deny the way she felt when he held her close tonight. She didn't want him to let go, but at the same time she didn't want him to get the wrong idea.
She practically fell into Danni's truck once she opened the door. "You like him." Danni said. Here we go. "I barely know him, Danni. It was one kiss." She answered. Nova couldn't even figure out how she felt about the kiss, and she'd hoped Danni would let her figure that out first.  "Whatever Nova. You'll admit it eventually." Danni told her.

Stop overthinking it.
Stop overthinking it.
Stop overthinking it.

His words were stuck with her. Bo was always someone who was carefree and  constantly acted on impulse. Before Jerome, Nova was the same way. She didn't blame Jerome for her walls flying up and her shutting everyone out. She blamed her entire freshman year.  Jerome had been apart of it which made him an accessory to the crime. Her freshman year was a dark place in her history at Taylor. It was as if Nova had become possessed that year. She skipped class, went to parties, got drunk and high, and hooked up with different guys at those parties. She didn't give a shit about what would happen the next day because to her it was all about the moment.
Jerome was the main one who took her to parties. He always knew which one would have the most to "offer" for them. It was like he was her angel in that dark time, but in reality he was toxic. She loved him with a great intensity then, and it scared the hell out of her.
Soon all she did was party with Jerome. Every Friday they were together at a new scene. But one Friday night Jerome didn't go with her.

"Nova maybe you should just wait until next Friday when I can go." Jerome told her. Nova scoffed at his response. She knew for a face Billy Thomas was gonna be there with the good stuff and she needed a high tonight. "Are you actually worried about me or do you just want a quick lay?" She asked him. Jerome smiled at how she answered him which sent spikes of pleasure down her back. She made him smile like that, no one else. "Baby girl I'm serious. I don't like where it's gonna be at." He told her. Nova paused before putting her earrings in. Jerome was actually worried about her.  Shocker. She walked over to where he was laying and began to kiss him. They never defined their boundaries, and they usually followed the moments when it came to stuff like this. She pulled off his hoodie and continued kissing him. He wanted her as bad as she wanted him. Jerome began to undo her dress as they deepened the kiss. Fuck she wanted him bad. He kissed her neck as he continued to take off her dress. "Babe... Mmmm... I have to go.. Fuck Jerome stop." She moaned. She climbed off his lap and redid her dress. "You're such a tease Bethany." Jerome said as he slid his hoodie back on. "Fuck you. You know I hate my middle name" she growled. Jerome grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Be careful sweet girl." He told her and he left.

Nova had gotten to the party an hour ago, and she was already high. The bass from the song was hitting her just right and everyone was drinking. She swayed as she tried to walk over to the drinks. "Your shadow isn't here tonight." Billy said behind her. "Who's that?" she asked coyly. "Jerome, but you enjoy yourself." He said walking away. Nova looked after him in disgust. What the hell did she ever see in him?  

Two hours later and the party was still going strong. The whole house was crowded yet empty. Everyone who was here was either passed out, too fucked up to move, or they were hooking up in one of Billy's upstairs rooms. Nova was sitting off in the corner watching everyone dance horribly to a Taylor Swift song. She  had to use the bathroom, so she waved goodbye to the dancers. She got halfway up the staircase when suddenly a scream rang through the house. "GET THE HELL OFF OF HER!" Billy yelled. What the hell? A girl ran out of one of the upstairs rooms, naked and crying. Her eyes had black makeup smeared all around them. She ran down the hall in obvious hysterics. She wasn't looking at how close she was to the railing and
She fell.
You could hear her body hit the floor with a thud. Billy came running out of the room and he looked just like she did a few seconds ago- hysterical. "No no no no no no Emily. No." He cried.
Nova didn't know what else to do. Numerous people had called 911 by now. She called the one person who would take her away from here.
Her mother.

She spent the rest of 2013 grounded beyond rationality. Nova could only go to and from school and to church. Her mom had thrown her into rehab and therapy. Nova wasn't allowed to see Jerome anymore, only at school.  After Jerome moved she almost went back to how she used to be. She almost hit up the party that was every Friday night, but that night at Billy's kept her away from parties. After Emily's death he dropped out. Nova had seen him often enough outside of McDonald's when she'd go to get breakfast with her friends. They always shared a small smile with each other too. But by the end of freshman year, Billy had moved far away from this sad, shitty town.  He never told anyone what happened to her, to this day no one knew why she ran out of that room. Only Billy, Emily, and whoever else was in there with them knew what happened.

*****
Nova hated waking up in Danni's room.  Her walls were lime green and her window faced the direction the sun rose. She groaned when she saw what time it was- 8:45. She had been up until 2 last night remembering freshman year. She was proud of how far she's came in her education. Nova had found out yesterday that she was ranked 7 out of 256 in the junior class. Freshman Nova would've laughed at her and called her a nerd, but she was dying to get out of this town. Not like Billy had done, but to the beach. College at the beach had been her dream since the summer before sophomore year and Nova was going to get there.
It was too late to try to go back to sleep now. She grabbed her phone and went to snapchat. Her and Bo were all over snapchat kissing after the game, and Nova had been dubbed "Bo's mystery fan." Other stories were about the game in general or something else anyways. She remembered her promise to Bo about snapchatting him when she got home. And that was hours ago.

-Uhh hey you should like text me. She sent to Bo.
His reply was almost instant:
-Number?
Nova gave it to him and soon they were texting. It was less awkward than she thought it would be. She was trying to be quiet as she texted him since Danni was still sleeping, but he was being so funny. He would tell jokes about how the coach would spazz out before an important game, or how the team was always disagreeing about where to eat before an away game.

"If you don't stop laughing so help me God I will smother you with this pillow." Danni snapped. Nova rolled her eyes at Danni. It was almost 10:00, and she still hadn't woke all the way up. "Paint your room a different color and maybe I'll sleep in." Nova told her. Mornings were the worst time in their friendship. As stupid and childish as it sounded, it had always been that way. Danni wasn't an easy person to be friends with since she moved. And nothing would change that it seemed.