Chapter 3: Camp (Part 3)

Nova's POV

I take the ball, run, and score. My team starts screaming in support and I hear all my friends doing the same.

"How the hell are you guys back already?! We have like 10 more minutes," I ask them.

"We got out of the practices early, princess," Nick says, making me blush a little and my brothers tease him. He doesn't even care, he just looks at me. I smile a little and go back to the game.

"4:4! The one who scores wins!" I hear the goalkeeper for the other team shouting. We all nod and they play the ball open.

We start playing. A girl from the other team pushes Jennifer, a girl from mine.

"Whoa, whoa!" I shout as she falls on the ground, grabbing her ankle.

Everyone runs to her, "Are you okay? Oh my gosh," they all start asking.

I chuckle, "Jen, it's not a real game. Don't fake please," I say and give her my hand. She takes it and I pull her up.

She giggles, "Penalty! You all believed me," she says.

"No way," the other girl laughs.

They fist bump and we continue. And Jen goals. We all laugh.

"We won," she giggles.

I ruffle her hair and run to the others, "So.. Can we go and eat something?" I ask.

"An hour until lunch," Bella says.

I sigh, "Did you bring something?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes, "Yeah, but I'm not giving you. You eat all the good stuff," she says.

I narrow my eyes a little. I look at Jor and Chic, "You got anything?" I ask.

"Money," Chic says.

I groan, "I thought you said you're bringing chips?" I ask.

"I thought you were," he says.

"You said to me-" I start.

He stands up, "That I'm gonna take money and you food," he says.

"I told you like 3 days ago that I have too many clothes for fitting food," I say.

"Hey, don't-"

"Woah, woah, guys," Jor says as we keep arguing.

"I have food, okay?" Nick shouts.

We shut up, "What do you have?" Chic asks.

"Come on," he chuckles and starts going. We all follow him. We have to walk for about 500 meters to get out of the woods to his beach hut.

I squat down to tie my shoelaces. I see Nick staying behind a little, which makes me smile. I tie them and then start running after them.

But yeah, as usual, I fall. "Crap!" I shout. They all start laughing.

"Not funny," I laugh, "Fuck that hurts."

"Wow where's the perfect girl next door now?" Harvey chuckles.

"She's not perfect," Chic says as he knows that I'll start yelling at Harvey otherwise.

They're still walking towards me, but Nick is here already. He offers me his hand. I gulp and take it. And he pulls me up.

"Thanks," I sigh.

He looks at my knee like it's gross. "Blood?" I ask.

He looks up at me, "You can say that," he says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Like.. Mixed with dirt," he says.

They all reach us. "No looking," Chic tells me.

I roll my eyes. He rolls his eyes, mocking me and making me smirk.

"Can you walk?" Sadie asks me.

I slowly walk, "Yeah," I say, limping it. I jump on my left knee, everything’s okay. I jump on my right knee and that hurts as hell.

"Don't do that," Jordan groans.

"Why not? The more I do it the less pain there is," I say.

"Wow. You should see how gross that looks," Seth says.

I chuckle, "Been worse I'm sure," I say.

"Yeah, but still gross," Jordan says and squats down in front of me.

"I can walk, dude," I say.

"Shut up and get on my back," he says.

I sigh and put my one leg over his shoulder. He takes my hands and stands up while I put my other leg on him too.

"Wow you got that figured out," Emerald chuckles.

"She falls like 3 times a day," Bella says.

"Shut up," I mumble making them laugh. "Jor, I'm still hungry, can we move faster?" I ask.

He looks up at me, head upside down, "No. You're heavy," he say.

I smirk, "You told me yesterday that I was too light," I tell him.

He ignores me, which makes me smile. He's holding on from my ankles and playing with my bracelet with his thumb.

"You break it, you better find one exactly like it," I say.

"Why is it so important to you anyway?" he asks.

"Collin gave it to me," I say quietly.

He sighs and looks up at me, "I won't break it," he says. I smile a little and nod.

Nick looks up at me and raises his eyebrows. I nod, telling him that it's my brother. He sighs and smiles sadly.

I smile a little. I like that he isn't even asking this with words. He can keep secrets. And I have a feeling that this boy will soon know all of mine.

We reach the beach and Nick's hut. Gage unlocks the door and we all go in.

"Wow. This place fits more people than I thought," Nick smirks. We chuckle.

Jordan squats in front of the bed. I sit on it and look at my knee. I wanna puke. I get off and quickly run outside and throw up.

Then I wipe my mouth and go back inside. They all look at me, worriedly, except for my brothers who are smirking.

"Sit down," Chic smirks and pushes me onto Nick's bed.

Nick shows me 5 different packs of chips. I smile and take one, "Thanks. I’ll pay you back," I say and open it.

"No need, these are my favorites so you're not gonna eat those alone," he says, making me chuckle.

"Nick, take her legs," Chic says.

"What?" I ask.

"I need to clean you up," he says.

I sigh and look at Nick, "You don’t have to do t-" He takes my legs, making me smirk.

I take his pillows and put them under my head and start eating the chips. They chuckle at me.

"Guys if you all wanna hang out, our is the biggest," Bruce says. We all nod. They take some of Nick's food and go there.

Me, Chic, Jor and Nick are here now. I feel pain on my leg so I fly my head up.

"Calm down," Chic says. I sigh and rest my head back onto the pillow.

We all just eat in silence and he keeps cleaning my cut and then patches it up.

"Okay, let's go," Jor says.

I look at Nick, who is holding my ankle bracelet on his palm and studying it.

"Guys, I'm gonna stay here," I say.

The two of them smirk and Nick smiles a little, still exploring the bracelet.

"I'm not sure if you two should be here alone," Chic smirks.

"Yeah, Nick. You ever carry condoms?" Jor asks.

I hide my face into my hands, but Nick laughs with them, "Haven't needed them so far. Out," he says.

"We're watching you," Jor smirks and they go out.

I drop my hands and sigh with a smirk, "Sorry," I say.

He chuckles, "It's okay.. How are you three so close anyway?" he asks.

I smile, "I don't know. When I was like 3, they used to pick on me. Like a lot. But.. After what happened they're just super protective and sweet to me," I say. He smiles.

"Do you have siblings?" I ask.

"Emery. She's 10," he says.

I giggle, "Cute name," I say.

He smirks, looking back at the bracelet, "Tell me about your family," he says.

I chuckle and sit up and cross my legs. "Hey, I was playing with that," he says. I chuckle.

"You don't want to hear about my family," I say.

"Yes, I do," he says.

"It's fucked up," I say.

"So is mine. You tell me, I tell you," he says.

I sigh, "Well.. At first there's my mom," I say, playing with my friend bracelets around my wrist, "She is obsessed with me being perfect. I have to have perfect grades, I have to look perfect all the time, I have to act perfect," I say.

"Wow. That's a lot of pressure," he says.

I smile up at him, "Yeah.. You know how Harvey said that I was the perfect girl next door?" I ask.

He nods, "Yeah, but I think you're a lot more than that," he says. I smile.

"Yeah, you never call me that or you'll get a punch. A hard one," I say, making him chuckle.

"Anyway.. My mom wants for me to be exactly like that. Perfect. So when I actually have some wishes, like can I go surfing for a few hours, she'll start questioning me. Like everything I do. So I never really can go without my brothers," I say.

He smiles sadly. I sigh, "Then there's my dad. He lives in Seaside... He has a new woman every week and he doesn't give a crap about us," I say, "But we have to go there every other weekend. Then we're just alone there and try to find something to do. Usually play cards with Chic and Jor," I say.

"Wow. Why did your parents break up, if you don't mind answering that?" he asks.

I smile, "You're so polite," I say. He shrugs. I smirk, "Getting there.. When we went surfing first time, I was 3, Chic was 5, Jor was 6 and Collin was 7," I say.

I feel his hand on mine. It makes me feel safe, so I turn in around and push my fingers through his. He smiles and does the same. I giggle quietly.

"Anyway, I remember my dad telling me that he wants to teach the boys how to surf.. So we all went. We all loved it so we started going more and more. But once I was 5. They were 7, 8, 9," I say sadly, "We went night surfing. Like all of us," I say. He nods. I sigh, "Let's just say, that it didn't end well," I say, "My parents got into a fight. There was a thunderstorm coming. Our parents put us to sleep and went somewhere to talk things out.. My brother died that night," I say, "And.. My dad never came back. To live with us I mean," I say.

He seems so sad, but confused, "Wow," he says. I wipe my tears away with my free hand and sigh.

"So basically.. My mom and dad are both still crying about that night and yeah. I have some problems," I say, not knowing how to call them.

He sighs. "Okay.. Before I start, you should know something about me," he says. I raise my eyebrows. He pulls the short-sleeved T-shirt's sleeve up and shows me his tattoo.

I put my free hand on it. It's bigger than my hand. I slide my fingers over it, "Why is yours different?" I ask.

He sighs. "Right. That's what you need to know," he says. I pull away and look at him. "My dad is the Honey Badger King. And I'm the next one," he says.

I raise my eyebrows and start smiling, "Wow. Cool," I say.

"No, Nova, I um.. I'm dangerous," he says.

I chuckle, "You feel safe for me," I say.

He smiles a little and I go closer to him. He smiles again, "Anyway.. My dad. The Honey Badger king. Everyone is afraid of him. I mean on the Northside. On the Southside he is like a dad to all my friends and me," he says. I smile.

"Everyone takes the Honey Badgers as a dangerous gang. But actually we're a family. A family who I've grown up with," he says.

I smile, "Cute," I say and rest my head onto his shoulder

He chuckles and keeps talking, "Then there's my mom. Not the best mom. She doesn't care about me or Em," he says, making me sad. "But she's still a mom," he says. I nod a little, knowing what he means.

"My dad, um.. He used to be an alcoholic," he says, "So I took care of my sister for a while."

"Wow," I sigh. He nods, "Now he's better. For about half a year now, he's been sober. And he keeps apologizing for not being there for us before. Now he's the best dad I could ever ask for," I say.

"How did he say no to alcohol?" I ask.

"He got a girlfriend," he says.

"Wait, what? I thought your parents were together?" I ask sadly.

He shakes his head, "Mom lives in Toledo. She has a new family now," he says.

I sigh, "I'm sorry, Nicky," I say.

I feel him chuckling, "Nicky?" he asks.

My eyes widen and I pull my head away, "No, no. I mean, I didn't-"

"You're adorable," he says, making me look down. He puts his hand under my chin and raises it up, making me smile, "I like Nicky," he says.

I smile and he chuckles. "Why is it so dark?" I ask, looking outside of the window. It seems like it's midnight or something.

"I don't-" He gets interrupted by a loud bang. We both jump and tears start rolling down my cheeks.

"What was that?" I ask, moving myself against him.

"Lightning probably," he says.

I start breathing faster. "You okay?" he asks, putting one arm around me.

Another bang. I grasp his T-shirt and squeeze my eyes shot.

"Hey," he says softly, "You're afraid of thunderstorms? Why?" he asks.

Another bang. I can't. I climb onto his lap and hide my face into his shirt, still holding on from it.

"EVERYONE! STAY IN YOUR HUTS! NO MOVING!" we hear a man shouting.

Nick wraps his arms around me and lets me sit in between his crossed legs. I feel safer than ever. But I'm still scared.

His one hand goes onto my hair and he starts stroking it lightly.

I start breathing better, "Can I tell you something?" I whisper.

"Yeah," he says.

I sniffle in his shirt, "I'm scared of thunderstorms. I told you how it was a thunderstorm that night," I say. He probably nods, but I can't see, cause my eyes are closed and face is in his shirt on his chest.

"My parents put us to sleep and went away. Then the storm started... I've always been afraid of the dark and I was sleeping with a nightlight. And-," I sniffle, "The lightning destroyed the power lines somehow. The whole street was dark," I cry by now. "I was crying in my room. Charles and Jordan were asleep somehow. Collin came to my room and.. Hugged me. We just sat there. For hours. The storm was still on and.." I sigh.

"Someone came to our house," I cry, "She must've heard me crying, cause she came to my room. And she was holding a gun. So my brother stood in front of me and told me to stay still... He got shot. The woman ran out. Collin told me to give him my hand. He took the bracelet off from his wrist and told me to keep it safe. He was 9. And he wasn't even crying.... And I was 5. I didn't know what to do. I just cried and cried and cried until the power came back. When that happened, I saw him. I knew before that I was wet from something. But I was small and thought it was from crying.. But it was blood. Just everywhere," I cry.

"So I stared at him until mom came home and started screaming. She grabbed me and took me to my brothers' room and didn't even ask what happened. She just went to Collin and screamed and cried.... That's the first time my brothers took care of me. They gave me some of their clothes, though they were big. And they washed me. When the police came, my dad came back to our house and stayed with the boys while I went to the police station to give statements," I cry.

Another loud bang. I snuggle closer to him and he tightens his arms around me, "Nothing's gonna happen to you," he says.

"You don't know that. They never caught the murder... Every time I'm in a dark place alone or there's a thunderstorm, I feel like she's close," I whisper the last sentence.

"Hey," he whispers. I look up at him and realize that I made his shirt wet. He is crying as well. I wipe his tears away, knowing that it's from my story, "Nothing's gonna happen to you. Not until I'm with you. Okay?" he asks.

For some reason I believe him. "Okay," I whisper. "Just stay here with me," I say quietly.

He nods worriedly. I put my head back against his wet shirt, but this time only my cheek. He kisses my hair and keeps holding me as the bangs continue.