nova // l.h. (on hold)

06 // new

"You pull those off better than I do," Nova laughed, examining her friend as he tried on a few pairs of PacSun sunglasses. He posed, trying to make her smile bigger. "The round ones look best."

"Do they?" he jokingly asked, placing them back on the rack.

Nova nodded, soon leading her newest infatuation out of the store. "Oh my God."

"What? What's wrong?" Luke asked in a sudden shock, looking down at her.

She looked down at his hand and then back up at the person she saw wandering around the mall. "I need you to hold my hand."

"What? A-are you serious?" he panicked, his cobalt eyes widening at the thought.

"Yes, please? C'mon, just for a few seconds. Oh my God. Hurry up, before he sees me!"

Luke took a deep breath before grabbing her hand, but not interlocking their fingers. It was like the kindergartener hand-hold.

"Have you ever held a fucking hand before?" Nova laughed, fixing it by intertwining the pair's fingers.

"No," Luke huffed, biting his lip and turning red out of embarrassment. "Who is that?"

She stood closer to him, glancing over at the guy. "My ex. He's such a douche. Just pretend that you're my boyfriend, maybe he won't notice us at all," she advised. "You seriously never held someone's hand before?"

"It's embarrassing, I know," Luke looked down at the floor, listening to her contagious laugh. "Stop laughing! I'm sorry that I've been a geek all my life. I'm new at this."

In her opinion, Nova didn't think that Luke resembled a geek at all. Luke was hot; he was much hotter than any of her exes. He was effortlessly himself, and it was a quality that she liked. She watched as his face turned from tomato red to rose red.

Luke got used to holding her hand after a minute or so and he loosened up a little bit. He carried her bags for her and his own few in his unoccupied hand. "Is he still there?"

"No," Nova said, not letting go of his hand.

"Alright," he responded, his lips forming a straight line. "Were you trying to make him jealous or something?"

"That question screamed 'I've never been in a relationship,' and yes, I was. He expects every girl he dates to still be obsessed with him months after he dumps them. It's kinda funny."

Luke nodded in understanding, somehow finding himself grazing the back of her hand with his thumb. "I get it now," he said, confused about when to let go. She didn't seem to want to.

"I think I found someone potentially better than him, anyway," she hinted, giving his hand a tiny squeeze.

Despite being as intelligent as he was, Luke didn't pick up that the hint was about him. "Oh," he sighed, readjusting his grip on the bags. "That's great."

Nova pursed her lips and released his hand after a few minutes. Luke's only thought was that he felt like he had lost his virginity...of hand holding.

"C'mon, lets go in here," she said, a grin spreading across her cheeks. Luke followed her into the music and movie store and down the aisles. He stayed behind her the whole time as she led him towards the back of the store.

Later in the night, Luke turned down the radio on their way home. "You know what? That was actually kinda fun," he said, glancing over at her.

"Kinda?" Nova questioned. "Am I seriously that boring?"

He shook his head, driving towards her house. "No, not at all. You're a lot more fun than my friends, and don't tell them I said that," he laughed.