Halfway There | COMPLETE ✔ + Sequel

Chapter 11 - Confrontations

 | Nova's POV  |

"Hello? Nova?" I was startled when a small wrinkled hand waved in front of my face. I looked down at Penny's smiling face as she waited for me to say something.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" She asked, "You seem a little distracted."

"Huh?" It took me a moment to register the question, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, Penny, I'm fine." I promised.

"You've been so lost in thought recently. What's on your mind?" Before I could answer she gasped and put a hand to her chest, "Has a girl, other than our Stella, finally touched your heart?" She feigned surprised. I rolled my eyes at the little old woman.

"No, Penny. You know my heart only beats for you and Stella." I joked. She gave me a mischievous grin before smacking me with a dishrag.

"Get back to work!" She said walking back to the podium as two more people walked through the front door. I quietly chuckled to myself. Penny was not young anymore by any means but she had the spirit of a 20-year-old that somehow always kept me on my toes.

I turned my attention back to the dishes I was washing. The day hadn't been busy, which would've been a bad thing if it weren't for the big party that showed up earlier for a birthday. Why anyone would choose to eat here for their birthday is beside me but their mother left a pretty large tip so I'm not one to complain.

I turned to look over to where Stella was sitting, in her usual back corner booth, to see her writing away on whatever she was working on. I sighed, wishing I could let myself find the courage to let her run off to the park on her own for a couple of hours. God, knows she's seen more of the inside of this diner than anything else.

I shook the thought out of my head. Thinking that way wouldn't help anything, there was no point in having them. I couldn't risk her for anything. I returned my attention to the dishes in front of me, my least favorite, mindless chore. And as my thoughts started to wander I found myself, to my complete dismay, thinking about Dani.

Reluctantly, I let her overcome my mind again. I'll be the first to admit that when I first met her, I paid no attention to her. She was an average looking girl with nothing of importance to me, I wrote her off like any other person. But as soon as I realized that she hadn't told anyone I had been there the day she had been attacked everything she did from that point forward surprised me.

I was fully prepared to hear the banging fists of Social Services demanding to question me and threatening to take Stella away the next morning. I spent the entire day pacing my living room and stress eating but no one ever came. When the realization hit me that she did as I asked her to do I couldn't figure out why she wouldn't tell anyone. She owed me nothing. I didn't know her, she didn't know me. Why would she listen to something I told her to do?

Since that moment she has yet to cease surprising me. The way she went out of her way to find me and thank me for helping her. When she showed genuine concern the day I came into class with yet another black eye. The way she never seemed to push for answers when I was obviously hiding something. Even her offering to take care of Stella so she wouldn't have to be stuck in the diner all day.

Everything she did was unexpected and I couldn't figure out why. It wasn't until I thought it further, after speaking with her and putting all the puzzles together, I realized that it was simple. She is... good. I've known my fair share of awful, selfish people and after being around them for so long it took me a lot longer to see how genuine she truly is.

It was so different and strange but oddly enough I found myself drawn to it. I found myself wanting to be near her and know more of her so she could surprise me all over again with her kind, selfless nature. Even the way she looked to me changed completely. She was radiant and I had no idea how I never saw it before.