When Liam said that he had no intention of leaving Nova alone longer than he had to, he meant it. She found it kind of adorable, actually... the way he insisted on walking her to music class 'in case she forgot her way there' and telling her he and Mason would be there at the end of the period so they could walk to lunch together.

Nova didn't really take it to heart though, resolving to just spend her lunch hour in the classroom with her violin. It was why she was so surprised when a cautious knock sounded at the door as she tried to remember the piece they were studying as a class by memory, keeping her eyes carefully closed the entire time.

She turned toward the sound as she stopped, tilting her head curiously with a smile when she saw that Liam and Mason were actually standing there, waiting for her.

"Sorry," Mason said, looking a little embarrassed. "We wanted to make sure you didn't forget to eat."

Liam was just staring at the instrument in her hand, so wide-eyed it made her blush a little. "Yeah," she replied, biting her lip as she looked at all of her sheet music. "Just give me a second, I'll be good to go."

Mason walked in leisurely as she carefully placed her violin away, slotting the bow into the little pocket in the case and closing it. When she turned, he was carefully putting all of her music back into the folder she brought to class. "You didn't think he meant it, did you?" he asked curiously, glancing at Liam at the door.

Nova shrugged a little. "I thought he was just being nice," she admitted.

"Nope," Mason assured her as she carefully took the folder from him. "He's imprinted on you like a baby duck... I meant it when I said you were stuck with us, you know. When Liam decides you're his friend, he's not backing down easily."

Chuckling a little, Nova hopped down from the raised steps she'd been standing on as she approached Liam. "Thanks," she said simply. "I probably would have spent lunch in here if you hadn't shown up, to be honest."

Liam frowned, tilting his head a little as he gently—almost carefully so—took the folder she was holding from her. "Why wouldn't I?" he asked. "I said we would pick you up from class, didn't I?"

She didn't really have an answer to that, to be honest, so she just settled for a bashful smile as Mason directed them to her locker so she could drop her things off. Grabbing her lunch money, Nova found herself in between Mason and Liam as they made their way down to the cafeteria. She stayed quiet for the most part, letting them talk about their classes and weird things that had happened, each paying for their meals before looking for a table.

"Liam, Mason!" a voice called out, making the three look around to see the guy from practice the previous day—Garret—waving to them from his seat beside a pretty girl with dark hair a shade or two lighter than Nova's. Nova hesitated a little, sure that Liam and Mason would call a raincheck on lunch and go sit with their friends, but Mason seemed to note that and locked elbows with her, steadily dragging her over to the table.

"Hey guys," he said cheerily as he dropped into the seat across from the girl. "This is Nova, have you met her?"

Liam sat down two seats from Mason, sending the clear message that Nova was supposed to sit between them, which she did, albeit a little hesitantly. Garret grinned at her with a little recognition.

"Yeah, you were at practice yesterday, right? You're cousins with Cadmus!"

Nova nodded with a small smile as the girl beside Garret beamed at her. "I'm Violet," she greeted. "We have English together... you play the violin, right?"

"Yeah," she supplied. "A couple more, but violin's my main instrument."

Mason glanced at her curiously as he took a sip of water. "How many is a few?"

Nova shrugged, looking at her lunch tray as she picked up a french fry. "Eight."

"Eight," Garret echoed, blinking in disbelief when she looked back up. "How do you even do that?"

Blushing a little, Nova shrugged again, not really sure how else to respond. "I've been interested in music since I was a kid. My mom was in an orchestra."

"What does she do now?" Violet seemed genuinely curious, not a rude intention at all, but Liam cleared his throat pointedly.

"You guys are still planning on coming to movie night, right? What do you think about Nova joining us?"

Violet looked a little startled by the harsh interruption, but smiled all the same. "I think it'd be great! High time I get help beating back the testosterone in here."

She sent Nova a wink and everyone laughed when the girl just blushed alarmingly bright. Mason nudged her with his elbow, tilting his head curiously. "So, where did you go before transferring here? We might as well get to know one another, right?"

Glancing around at the other four at the table, Nova was about to protest that no one really wanted to listen to her drone on and on about herself... but everyone seemed genuinely interested in the topic. Liam nodded encouragingly at her, and she tried for a confident smile.

"I went to LaGuardia," she said quickly. "It's a high school for the arts in New York."

Violet's eyes scrunched up a little. "Didn't Timothee Chalamet go there?"

Nova nodded, smiling a little at the awe on the other girl's face. "Nicki Minaj and Jennifer Aniston too, there's more, but I never really liked the idea of having to live up to them, you know? I tried focusing on the kids who currently go there and find out who they're going to be one day."

"That's awesome!" Mason exclaimed. "I don't know why you'd ever move here from New York, though."

Nova's smile dropped slightly and she practically felt Liam stiffen beside her. "My dad," she said simply. "He died three weeks ago. I lost my mom when I was just a kid, so I didn't have any other choice but to move here to live with my aunt."

Garret, Violet and Mason looked absolutely horrified and she shook her head quickly, dipping another french fry into the ketchup on her plate. "There was no way any of you could have known," she assured them. "Don't feel bad, you would have found out eventually, so I'd rather be honest with you right away."

Violet reached across the table to squeeze her hand, a small smile gracing her features. "We're going shopping one of these days," she said with a decisive nod. "Garret isn't any help with picking out colors, but I can tell you're a woman of taste."

Nova nodded with a small thread of excitment, remembering how exciting it had been to just do something as simple as shopping with Livvy and Grace. Not that she thought anyone would be able to replace either of her friends, but the idea of not having to be alone was such an exciting one she couldn't restrain herself from smiling.

Liam nudged her slightly, glancing down at the fries on her tray. "You going to eat those?"

Grinning a little, Nova scooted the tray over a little so it rested between the two of them. "Go for it," she encouraged him. "Just don't touch my apple or milk."

Mason tutted scoldingly, but the grin on his face told everyone there that he wasn't really upset. "Cheating our friend here out of her food, Liam? That's cold!"

Liam hesitated a moment, glancing back at Nova as she carefully plucked the apple and milk from the tray. "Like I said, go for it. I have plenty of food at my aunt's house. Leftover lasagna for example."

Mason tapped the table with excitement. "I'm coming over for dinner, tell your aunt to prepare an extra plate."

Raising an eyebrow, Nova grinned a little as she took a bite of her apple. "Aunt Veronica doesn't cook... if you ever want something other than crappy cafeteria food, tell me and I'll make something."

Liam made a noise as he swallowed a handful of fries. "You cook?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Liam," Garret chortled. "She plays eight instruments. Pretty sure the girl isn't human."

Nova should have froze or stuttered at that comment, should have freaked out at the possibility of someone finding out her secret. To her surprise, though, she leaned forward on the lunch table and pointed at Garret with a teasing grin. "You want something inhuman? I'll bring fudge or cookies on Monday for everyone to share."

"That's it, Liam," Violet declared with a laugh. "I'm taking your new best friend, official abduction."

"Like hell you are," Liam scoffed, draping his arm across Nova's shoulder gently. "Sorry, she's not getting rid of me that easily. She is one of the few people who truly appreciates the magic of an aero bar."

Nova rolled her eyes, but grinned a little at the reference. The companionship, the easy banter... it was easy to feel like she belonged among them, like she would have a place at their lunch table all the time.

Liam squeezed her shoulder again, giving her apple a pointed look and grinning when she took an exaggerated bite out of it. He didn't remove his arm from her though, which was surprisingly welcome to the girl. It was a grounding point of sorts, a reassurance that he wasn't going to disappear. As soon as the bell rang to signal that it was time for them to get to the first class of the afternoon, Liam was groaning and gently tugging Nova up from the table.

"C'mon," he said with a laugh. "Time for English. If I wait any longer, I'll convince you to ditch with me."

Feeling her mouth drop with near exasperation, Nova playfully slapped his arm. "It's the second day! You're such a hellion, a bad influence really."

Mason laughed as they all started walking toward their next class—she was pleasantly surprised to learn that she had three of her four classes with Liam ( History, Math, English ) and two with Mason ( History and Math ). It meant that the only class she actually felt alone in was Music, but now... she was hoping that she could look forward to the end of the class when Mason and Liam would be waiting for her so they could walk to lunch together.

Nova wasn't feeling alone... and to think, it only took Liam witnessing her firey demise for it to happen.

A spike of guilt shot through her. According to Cadmus, Liam was a werewolf that she was keeping an eye on. When he found out... would he hate her for lying to him? Would he think she was only acting that she wanted to be his friend?

She really did like hanging out with Liam. All through History, he had whispered little facts to her about what they were learning about, shifting in his seat to show her what parts of her textbook to highlight. She was so glad that she bought the textbooks like the school gave the option of, because with the hints Liam was giving her, it would be so much easier to write up notes. Mason had offered helpful commentary like how he rated the sizes of the Greek statues in the textbook.

Liam shouldn't have found that as funny as he did, but even Nova wasn't totally able to hold her giggles back

Now, they were into English and Liam was bouncing around eagerly after Nova had let it slip that she actually liked writing essays. Mason had made a joke about how he would just pay her to do his, and then there was no stopping Liam.

"We could turn it into a whole business!" he teased, making her roll her eyes. "Come on! Mason and I set you up with clients and we get like, ten bucks each from the transaction!"

"You're making her sound like a really cheap escort," Mason pointed out, making Nova's face flush heavily.

Liam gaped at him in horror. "I'm talking about essays, not... that!" he practically squwaked, making Nova's blush die down as she started giggling.

Mason shook his head as they entered the classroom. "Clients, us getting money off of it for our involvements... you totally are making it sound like that."

"He's not wrong," Nova pointed out and Liam groaned.

"Nope, you aren't allowed to team up with him. Absolutely not."

Mason raised an eyebrow with a mischievous grin and turned to Nova. "Do you think we could add an extra fee if you serenaded them first?"

Humming thoughtfully, Nova slid into a seat and glanced up at Mason. "The fee would have to change depending on what instrument I used," she said quickly. "I mean, cello would be a lot more expensive than the clarinet, for example, if only because of how heavy it is."

"You raise a fair point," Mason agreed as he sat down behind her, leaving the seat beside her open for Liam. "I think we could set up a whole little system if we wanted to."

"Would the two of you stop it?" Liam asked as the teacher entered the classroom, his face so red that Nova wanted to take a picture.

Yeah, she liked having friends.

It was the end of the day when Cadmus and his new friends—allies? Nova really wasn't sure how to classify them to be honest—struck. As Nova exited the science lab with Mason and Liam, she was immediately drawn to the sight of Kira walking down the stairs in... slow motion?

She'd sat with Kira the previous day at tryouts, and this was definitely not what she had seen in her. The Kira she'd sat with was a little dorky and awkward, but had a heart of gold at the root of it. She was excited by the little things, like how Nova had admitted she was able to play Counting Stars on her violin and flute. Kira had been shocked by her ability to catch a lacrosse ball, easily embarrassed.

She did not have the confidence to freaking strut down stairs and make eyes at a freshman as she did.

No, not just any freshman... the freshman Scott had turned into a werewolf the night before. That meant that this was about Liam, and that Cadmus was willing to toy with her new friend's head to get what he needed from him... not cool, and that was coming from Nova as his friend... not as a disaproving cousin, but that too.

Unfortunately, Liam seemed like he was totally buying into the act, staring at Kira with wide eyes as she descended the steps and completely ignoring Mason as he tried to talk to him.

Then, Kira fell down the stairs.

Gasping, Nova immediately rushed forward to help the other girl. It didn't really matter if she was trying to lure Liam in with her unbelievably good looks, she was still probably embarrassed and surrounded by judgemental teenagers. Liam was right beside her as she kneeled down to help collect Kira's books and shield her from the eyes that were scrutinizing her. Kira was wearing a skirt after all, and there were bound to be people trying to take advantage of the situation.

Liam was still crouched next to Kira, his eyebrows drawn together in concern. "Are you okay?"

Kira blushed, but propped her head on her hand as she braced her elbow on the floor. "Yeah! Fine," she hesitated a moment and seemed to consider her options before tilting her head to look at Liam properly. "You want to go to a party tonight?"

Liam hesitated a moment, but Kira was already sitting up straight so she was level with him. "It's hosted by Lydia Martin, and everyone knows she throws the best parties in Beacon Hills. As a matter of fact, I think Nova will be going too!"

Liam turned to Nova with a curious expression as she nearly dropped all the books she was holding, both hers and Kira's. "You are?" he asked, looking a little wounded. "You never mentioned anything about a party."

Nova chuckled a little dryly, tilting her head at him with a smile that was probably completely unconvincing. "That's because I didn't know about it," she acknowledged. "It's probably Cadmus... he said he wanted me to make more friends."

Kira nodded enthusiastically, as though Nova had been saying that for her benefit. "Sorry, I thought he already mentioned it to you. Yeah, he said he was bringing you along."

Nova's lips thinned at the implications of that, shuddering a little as she remembered the fall off of the hospital roof the night before. Scott and his friends probably wanted to know more about them, about her, so she was being dragged into this. She stood on slightly wobbly legs, watching as Liam helped Kira up and handing the older girl back her books when she had her legs back under her.

Kira, to her credit, looked pretty unfazed by her fall. She was smiling just as brightly as she had been earlier, smoothing down her skirt and fixing her hair as she looked at the two freshmen. "So?" she asked, glancing at Liam. "What do you say? It'll probably help Nova if you come along!"

The last part was blurted out, like a last ditch effort to win Liam over. Nova's eyes widened, and she would have clenched her fists at the idea of being used to make Liam do what they wanted if Kira didn't look guilty the moment she said it. Nova wondered what the girl had riding on Liam coming with her to the 'party' that night, realizing that it must have actually been pretty important if she looked so desperate.

Liam was looking at Nova now, his eyes curious as he silently asked if Kira was right. The bundle of nerves tightened in Nova's chest as she nodded slowly, not even lying as she chewed on her lip and looked back at the boy. "It would mean a lot to me," she admitted. "I don't really know how I'm going to do this tonight."

That seemed to make Liam's mind up for him as he looked back at Kira and smiled. "I'll be there," he promised, making the older girl grin.

"Great! I'll pick you up! Nova, text me his address, will you? Cadmus can give you my number."

Then she was gone, leaving Nova and Liam standing alone in the hall as they tried to consider what had just happened.

"So..." Liam looked at her curiously, tilting his head with a grin. "Want to come to my house then? She might as well pick us both up, and we can do that history homework."

Nova paused, really liking the sound of that. She hadn't really been prepared for an offer like that though, and it kind of threw her off. Liam seemed to think she was trying to tell him no, though, and he raised his hands in surrender.

"Or not! If you don't want to, I totally get it! I mean—"

Nova reached forward and grabbed one of his hands, giggling a little as he paused. "I'd love to," she agreed. "Are you sure your parents won't mind?"

Liam grinned, walking toward Nova's locker. "They're going to love you," he promised. "Let's grab your violin, then we can go!"

Nova jogged after him, sending her aunt and Cadmus a quick text to tell them she was doing homework at a friend's house before feeling a grin take over her features. Maybe Liam wouldn't hate her after this after all. She really hoped not.

A/N

Apparently, I can't stay away from these two at all, so here you have an entire chapter of them being little tiny dorks!