"Wait, what?" Nova had to ask, though she wasn't often times confused enough to ask someone to repeat themselves. But after Gina stood before her, telling her what she'd done, it was a understatement that Nova needed to hear it again.

"EJ and I are going to the homecoming dance together. Far from a couple and with absolutely no romantic feelings involved." Gina said as Nova gave a odd look, "Trust me, okay? It's all part of a huge plan that will get me the lead. You're seriously my only real friend, I would never do that to you."

"Am I apart of this plan?" Nova asked with a eyebrow raise, "Are you sure there is no feelings involved? Because I know he has a way with words and you, obviously, are absolutely gorgeous."

"No feelings, at all." Gina stated knowingly with a nod of her head, "He's far from my type. All you have to do is show up and look nice."

"I should probably get a date now." Nova said with a sigh, looking around the room before she smirked.

"Oh no." Gina said, seeing the look, "What are you thinking?"

"Your own plan made me strike one up of my own." Nova grinned, crossing her arms, "I'll need a pizza, skateboard, and marker."

"Everyone move!" Nova yelled as she skated into rehearsal the next day, barely keeping balance on the skateboard, "Watch out, Ashlyn!"

"Oh my god, my life." Ashlyn spoke, holding a hand to her heart as Nova basically flew through the room. EJ looked over with a odd look, squeezing the bridge of his nose in disbelief, "What is she doing?"

"It's really a lot easier not to ask." EJ said back.

"Big Red!" Nova yelled when she jumped off the board, wincing as it collided with her ankle. The red haired boy turned around with a odd look. Nova struggled to hold the pizza box before pulling it open, the words Hoco written on it in banana peppers.

"You've got to be kidding." EJ said in disbelief.

"Aw, she's such a romantic." Carlos gushed.

"Here, hold it, I have one more thing." Nova said, pushing the pizza into Big Reds hands. Nova bent down and grabbed the skateboard, flipping it over to reveal the red words, "Where's Ricky? Ricky!"

"Nova?" Ricky asked confused, making his way through the people as he laughed at the sight, "What are you doing?"

"Hoping the two of you will be my dates to the homecoming dance." Nova said, holding up the skateboard that had Hoco written at the bottom, "It's the new one, by the way. I asked the guy at the store and he said these wheel are, and I quote, so sick dude."

"You've got to be kidding me." EJ repeated as he hit his head with his palm, "She's going with him?"

"Oh, and Big Red." Ashlyn nodded, getting a look of disbelief from her cousin.

"This is so sweet." Seb said, snapping a picture with a grin.

Nova looked at the pair, "Will one of you say something? Hello?"

"I have a car!" Big Red announced with a grin, taking one of the pizza slices, "I say yes."

"He said yes!" Nova grinned as the room cheered, "Ricky? Care to accompany me, and obviously the Big Red, tonight? Two in one deal, always the best kind."

"We already slow danced." Big Red said his way.

Ricky laughed as he held the board, looking at Nova, "Is there a silver lining to this?"

"Always, but think of this as a minor apology for threatening your nose." Nova said, confusing the rest of the room aside from Ricky, "So?"

"Yeah, totally." Ricky laughed.

"He also said yes!" Nova announced as most of the students cheered. Nova hugged both of them, the pair bouncing up and down together as the room cheered.

Nova sat in the starwell later that day, feeling down now that it had sunk in that her hoped didn't come true. While she wasn't sure what she wanted, she knew she at least wanted to be EJ's date tonight. They talked about it once, she'd held onto that conversation for a while. Now he'd been going with one of her best friends, and it hurt her.

Nova sighed as she scrolled through her insta feed, a account EJ had set up for her a year ago.

Her thumb continued to scroll until she made it to the first three photos, a sad look on her face as she stared.

"Nova." EJ spoke up as he walked down the hallway, "Ricky Bowen?"

"Cute, isn't he?" she had to go back, dropping her sadness and turning it into a smirk, "Ginas cute too, looks like we both did good."

"Is that what you're mad about?" He asked her with a sigh, "You shouldn't use people just to get back at me."

"You Pisces and your different minds." Nova hummed with a shake of her head, "Believe me, the last thing I'd waste my time on is using people just to get back at you. Ricky and Big Red are me friends. And you're one too talk, you're literally using Gina to get Nini back."

"Gina is using me to get the lead." EJ said back, trying to defend himself, "I know we've talk about homecoming since last year when you got sick and couldn't go. We can-"

"See you at the theater table tonight." Nova cut him off quickly, her mood changing when he brought up last year, "I'm sure you'll look great."

"Nova." he tried calling out to her, but she'd already been down the hallway.

"Hey, are you okay? I got here as soon as Ani called." EJ said as he walked into the ER, finding Nova in one of the beds. He'd been dressed for homecoming in a suit while Nova had on a pretty dress, though she looked horrible, "You look rough."

"Food poisoning." Nova mumbled, feeling weak as he sat down on the bed, "I'll never eat sushi again."

"Aw, my little salmonella." EJ joked as he kissed her forehead. Nova cracked a grin as she sighed, "Homecoming wasn't that cool anyways."

"Still, we didn't get to go last year because you were on your ski trip." Nova said, leaning to the side as EJ held her hand, "You look nice."

"We'll go next year and make it the best night of our lives." he reassured her, pushing a strand of hair out of her face, that stuck to her sweaty forehead. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to her nose, "Get some rest."

"EJ has called me his little salmonella ever since that day. I mean, who cares, right?" Nova asked, doing her interview in the dressing room, "That was probably just for a show, you know? Because our friends were in the hallway."

Nova stared at the camera a moment longer, "Totally wasn't real, right? Right?"

wrong.

•

kylie speaks

next chapter is a huge
turning moment and like
hella badass!

i better not see any pisces
hate in the comments! they're
in my top three favorite signs
🥺