Let's Make a Deal

Chapter 1

Nova's POV

Stupid history class. Our teacher was absent all week, yet he gave the substitute a project for us to complete.

Of course, Luxe and I are partners. She's been my best friend since preschool. We share the same passion for art and that's about it. Luxe has brown hair, while mine has a reddish tint to it. She prefers to use her artsy skills on graffiti and drawing tattoos. She has a nose ring and several piercings up her ears. Total badass. It's amazing that we're friends, actually. I dance ballet and would never break a rule, but meanwhile Luxe just dyed the underside of her hair last week without telling her parents.

Her family is full of scientists, doctors, engineers, and lawyers, but like me, she only wants to be an artist. My family accepts it while hers, not so much. They see her as a rebel.

"Hey Luxe, can I come over tonight to work on the project?" I asked Luxe, who was sitting next to me at our lunch table.

"Sure thing. Any chance I can draw a tattoo on you? With pen ink, of course." Luxe pulled her long black hair into a bun. I rolled my eyes but nodded.

"Oh that's right. Tonight..." She whispered to herself.

"Do you want me to come another night? Maybe later this weekend?" I asked, sending her hesitation.

She snapped out of it shaking her head. "Tonight's perfect. I'll see you then!" Luxe took her tray and threw it out, rushing out of the cafeteria to her next class.

What is this all about?

After school, I took the bus home and walked with Luxe to her house.

"My mom said that I can sleep over tonight if that's alright." I offered. She knew the drill. When I sleep over, my mom just drops off my stuff later because we don't end up sleeping for a while anyway.

She nodded. For some reason, she didn't seem the same after the whole thing at lunch. I was a little worried, but I knew that she would eventually tell me.

As soon as we got inside, we started working right away. Our presentations always looked beautiful, because that's one of the perks of being an artsy kid.

We were working for about an hour when I heard people talking excitedly in the kitchen.

"What's going on, L?" I asked.

Her face grew red. "Oh, nothing. Nobody. Let's just keep working."

I frowned. She is an awful liar.

"Fine. I'm going to see what is going on downstairs for myself." I got off of her bed and left before she could stop me. L just followed me downstairs, probably knowing that they're is no stopping me at this point.

I finally reached the kitchen and saw her mom, dad, and little sister Ava all hugging this guy. This really hot guy.

"What's going on?" I turned to her confused.

Before she could answer me, Luxe's dad called out to her.

"Hey, come give your brother a hug!"

Luxe froze.

I turned to Luxe in shock. "Brother?"