The Elusive Heart of Nova Hart ✔

44// steal my breath

STEAL MY BREATH

    Nova was trying not to doze off in English, a subject that never failed to bore the daylights out of her.

    It didn't help that literally none of her friends shared this class with her; not Addy, or Piper, or even Tyler for that matter.

    Or even Graham, a sneaky little voice whispered at the back of her mind.

    Nova gripped her pen a little tighter, sat up a little straighter. Focus, she chided herself.

    "You alright?"

    Nova's eyes fell on the guy sitting next to her, their desks not joined like the ones in Chemistry. It suited her just fine; she preferred single desks.

    Unless, of course, a certain green-eyed, Supernatural-addicted, quirky-T-shirt-wearing boy was in the class with her.

    When Nova didn't respond to the guy, he gestured towards her, elaborating his question.

    "You looked tense, is all," Keith — or was it Hugh? — smiled. He'd sat next to her in English all through Junior year, Nova could recall. Apparently it was the case this year too.

    "Yeah, yeah," she waved him off, her mind preoccupied like it's been recently. "I'm... I'm fine."

    Are you?

    Nova rubbed her temples, wishing her conscience would take a hint and piss off already.

    When the bell rang twenty minutes later, Nova hauled herself up from her seat, the action taking way more energy than it should have. Each step she took, each placement of one foot in front of another, felt like dragging a sack of bowling balls behind her.

    "What's with the face?" An all too familiar voice asked just as she felt an elbow nudge into her side.

    A voice that — and Nova couldn't for the life of her figure out how — managed to pull at invisible chords in her gut.

    "What face?" She asked Graham, wondering what the heck he was talking about.

    "The I-feel-like-the-universe-has-aligned-against-me face."

    "I do not have such a face!" She retorted, cheeks heating up. Graham couldn't possibly read her that well, could he?

    "No?" His question was rhetoric, a but-I-know-better smile on his stupid face.

    Her eyes fell on what he was wearing, that infuriating need to know what was printed on his T-shirt clawing at her insides, scratching at the walls of her mind.

    It was a white tee this time; the lettering in a dark shade of grey- I'm funnier in Enochian.

    Whatever the hell that meant.

    But then Nova's eyes changed course, looking past the odd saying, and instead focusing on how fitting the tee was on Graham's body, and how it seemed to hug his lean build just perfectly.

    John, she reminded herself, guilt searing through her chest and smacking her right across the face.

    "Is there something you wanted, Graham?" She asked, looking at him impassively.

    He cocked his head to the left, breathtaking eyes trying to peel away the stoic face Nova was wearing.

    Was it okay for her to find his eyes breathtaking? Was it, really? Especially when there was another guy out there who wanted to give her the world?

    Nova's body felt even heavier.

    "Well?" She asked impatiently when he didn't respond, her feet tapping the ground agitatedly.

    "Yeah," he finally said, his eyes still burning holes right into hers, "yeah, there is something I want actually."

    "And...?" She frowned, drawing her brows close together.

    He stared at her — but stared wasn't nearly strong enough a word — for a beat longer before he broke the eye contact, sighing in defeat.

    "And I have an uncanny tendency to keep forgetting its something I can't have," he murmured, almost to himself, making Nova wonder if he was even speaking to her anymore.

   BBut remaining in his presence was doing her no favours so she adjusted the strap of her bag and huffed.

    "I've got to get going, okay? Monica's probably already at the gym." Nova hesitated, then added: "Catch you later?"

    His answering smile stole her breath.

    And Nova couldn't remember having her breath stolen in, well, forever.

    If she'd thought she was in trouble when she'd received the butterflies-inducing anonymous notes, she was in a goddamn hailstorm right now.

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I'm squealing like some fangirl over this fan-made cover by thenarratee its beyond adorable ❤❤ thank you so much!! xx