Nova's Semester

Chapter 3

The closer he got to speaking her name the more she started to freak out. She just couldn't figure out why. When it was her turn, he looked back down at the paper and paused for a second too long for her liking, then continued on "Cassanova Gilbert?" Nova took a deep breath and coughed out "Here," he looks up at her and it feels like he is staring straight into her soul his eyes are mesmerizing, a light hazy green color that made her feel hazy herself just looking at them. It made Nova question further just why this kind of guy was here teaching gym of all things. She thinks he'd be a better English teacher than a gym teacher just from what she's observed so far. He looks back down to his clipboard and scribbles in what she assumed was her attendance, he then asks another question. One he hadn't asked any of the other kids "That's quite a long name Miss Gilbert do you have a nickname you'd rather go by?" all eyes turn to her, and she can't help but shrink in on herself again because of it. "Um... N-Nova. ' She wants to bury herself in a hole when she starts to stutter. He just turns back to his clipboard and scribbles the information down and moves on to the next student. It leaves her with a feeling akin to whiplash, she can't quite explain it. The rest of the gym time was spent as free time talking to friends and comparing schedules. All the kids already loved this teacher for just that decision alone. Nova just decided to grab her headphones from her bag and play some music to pass the time until her next period. About ten minutes before class ended, she decided to look at her schedule one more time to try and memorize it better. When she pulled it out, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Mr. Mikaelson happens to be her homeroom teacher as well, just her luck. After those ten minutes of class were finally done the bell gave its first ring for lunchtime. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

The knot in her stomach decided to stay and make a home in her stomach and she felt like she was going to throw up. It was like feeling nauseous and having butterflies in your stomach at the same time, but either way, it made her uneasy. She decided she wasn't going to eat lunch, even if she tried, she was sure it might end up in the toilet bowl. So, when she left the gymnasium, she walked down a couple halls to her locker to grab her skateboard. She moved with every other student in AB lunch to get out to the courtyard as fast as she could. When the doors were opened, she was pushing herself through the crowd, getting complaints from the students she was shoving but she didn't care. As soon as she broke free from the group she sprinted to the pavement, probably looking like a maniac. She threw her board down as gently as she could at the speed she was going, having thrown it a little too hard it started to roll down the sidewalk. When she caught up to where it had rolled, she instantly was taking off from the school grounds to ride down to the park to try and get away from whatever she was feeling. She arrived at the park and checked the time on her phone. She had twenty minutes until she had to go back. Nova moves down the sidewalk towards the swings and stops herself right in front of the first one. Setting her board in the mulch a few feet from the swing of her choice> She jogged up to it and pulled herself up into the seat. Nova loved to swing even as a kid, it was so freeing being able to fly in the air at the speed of her choice, the height of her choice. Everything about swinging was about what she wanted, in her life she didn't get much of that with Elena breathing down her neck, with expectations the same as her parents did. Jeremy only ever paid attention to her if he wanted to piss her off or when she needed a supply of smoke, or he ran out and asked to share with her. So, she was a tad bit glad about it but sometimes she missed her brother, and he really couldn't care less. When she tried to hang out with him, he always had some sort of excuse to not go. 'I can't have plans, sorry maybe later.'

"I have homework?"

"Really?"

"...yes?"

She stopped trying after that, figuring there was no point in forcing him. So to be able to be in control of something for once, she loved the feeling it gave her. She sat down on the swing she pulled her headphones from her neck to put them on, before she picks a song though, she sets an alarm for twenty minutes, then she chooses her favorite song, a new one called Back to December by Taylor Swift, she had played it nonstop since it came out

. When she gets done listening to her fifth song, she looks down at the time shown on the lit-up screen and almost keels over at it. Twelve thirty-five it read. She jumps off the swing in a hurry grabbing her board not even bothering to get on it knowing she would have to run in order to make it before class. The thing about running, even if it made her sweaty and smelly, she quite enjoyed the speed, the wind in her face, her hair whipping around it too. It took her three minutes to get to school and by the time she got there, she had one minute to get her board in her locker and get to class. This time though she doesn't have the luxury of a late slip, and just her luck Foreign Language was her next period. She had only ever heard bad things about the woman teaching the class. Everyone told her she was very mean, very demanding, bland, and ruthless. She did not want to get on the bad side of someone with that description. She sprints as fast as she can to her class, getting reprimanded by a teacher for running in the halls but she didn't care.

The second she throws open the door to her classroom the bell rings. The woman at the front of her class whips her head around to look at the culprit of the sudden intrusion with a wicked glare. Nova immediately apologized for being loud and late. The woman just gives her a nod, telling her to take her seat, the only one open is the single desk at the very back of the class, she couldn't be happier. "Hello class my name is Mrs. Allen welcome to foreign language." Nova knew the second she introduced herself everyone was right. She was very bland and emotionless, condescending. Running her hands down her face she takes out her supplies and waits for the end of this endless torture called High School.