In Too Deep

Thirteen

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Nova had been sitting in the car for five minutes.

She looked around the street that was alive with the laughter of children who rode on their bikes and jump ropes on the road. It was like any other street; it was almost quiet and all the houses were the same. She had been staring at the house she was supposed to deliver the package to, but no one had come out of it.

She was confused. She thought she would find a beat-up house in a secluded place, the lawn swarming with tattered men doing god knows what. She never expected to find herself in a nice street and in front of a beautiful house.

Her eyes drifted to the package on the passenger's seat. It was a small box that was wrapped in a blue paper. It didn't come with an instruction, but it came with the car she drove in. Nova guessed Ghost noticed she didn't own a car and decided to give her one that didn't have a return note. Was she going to keep it with her? Since he didn't say anything about returning it back to him, she was going to assume she would use it for the deliveries. It didn't smell like a brand new car, but it did smell nice.

Drumming her fingers on the wheel, she looked at her watch. Six minutes. That was how long it took before she gathered enough courage to walk out of the car with the package in hand. It was so light under her hands. Nova wondered what was in it. As much as she was curious, she would rather not know the contents inside. Being oblivious was the only thing that was keeping her from losing her shit.

Locking the car, she started to approach the house with cautious.

"Nova."

She halted in her steps, swinging around behind her.

"It is you!"

She found herself momentarily paralyzed as Wendy, an old friend from high school walked up to her and pulled her in a hug. A hug she didn't return. Nova was visibly in shock and frightened. Where the hell did she even come from? Wendy pulled back from the hug, her face painted with a grin. She looked exactly like the last time Nova saw her, which was two years ago; tall, curvy and beautiful.

"Hi, Wendy. What are you doing here?" She tried not to draw attention to her panicked voice, covering it up with a smile she dazzled her with, a smile that was tight and forceful.

"I live here," Wendy answered, tilting her body to look behind her. "Just across the street." There were cars parked outside her house, people going in and out. "What are you doing here?"

Nova's mouth opened and closed, as she searched for a lie to tell her. Obviously, she couldn't tell her the truth, but she could also not tell her which house she was going to. Nova still had no idea who lived in it, or if she could trust them to keep quiet about what she was doing, and she knew Wendy could never keep her mouth shut about anything.

This suddenly became the most annoying day ever.

"I think I'm lost," she told her with a nervous chuckle. She didn't think she sounded believable, but Wendy was someone who wouldn't catch on that. "Got the address all wrong."

"Well, that's fine. I would say you came at the right moment. I'm throwing a small party, and you have to come with me. There are a few people from school that haven't seen you in forever!"

"But I—"

Her protest was death to Wendy's ears as she tugged her to her house. Nova looked back at the house behind her, and then looked down at the package still in had hands. She wanted to scream or cry. Either could subside what she was feeling inside.