The Romance In Our Rivalry

22 | "Aubrey."

Nick

I felt like I was losing my sanity. My love for Nova was unwavering, and the thought of her potentially admitting to infidelity was unbearable. With both Aubrey and Nova, although I hadn't confronted the latter yet, appearing to be deceitful in this situation, I realized I had to resort to more drastic measures.

My father, a private investigator specializing in homicide cases, could likely make accommodations for me if necessary. At his agency, there was a new recruit, Carl, just out of high school and undergoing training. He seemed like the perfect fit, able to blend in seamlessly with teenagers.

Since I had to meet Nova again soon, I decided to quickly call my dad and address this matter beforehand. He was usually laid back and easygoing, so I didn't expect him to refuse, but I was concerned that he might have an issue with Nova if I disclosed the full extent of the situation.

"Hello?" my dad answered after just one ring. Usually, it takes him two. I fist pumped like some little kid at the sound of my father's voice.

"Hey pops" I replied, "how are you? Are you busy?"

"I'm good, and you?" my dad asked, only responding to the former of what I had said.

"I'm alright" I confirmed, "but... I don't have much time, so I'll cut to the chase. Is there any way that I could use Carl's help for something?"

My dad remained silent for a second, probably debating whether or not he should ask me what for. Finally, after a moment of silence, he spoke. "Is whatever you need him for illegal?" I scoffed.

"No" I answered honestly, "I just need to find something out, and your staff is good at that stuff. Seeing Carl's new on the job, I figured it would make some sense to give him something to do."

My dad sighed heavily on the other end of the phone, clearly conflicted with morality and his love for me. "I will tell him to text you. I'm going to give him your number" he began, "but I'm trusting you Nicholas, seriously. Do not do anything illegal or violent."

"Dad, I swear I won't get in legal trouble" I reassured, "this is something that's more so about me than anything. It doesn't affect anybody really." My fathers questions about the situation ended there, which I appreciated. Typically, my father doesn't know how to mind his damn business.

Beyond that, dad and I talked for another ten minutes. Similarly to mom, he likes to drag out conversations. Trying to refrain from being rude, I dismissed myself. "I need to get Nova," I confided, "I'll talk to you when I get home. Bye."

"Band room?" I texted Nova, assuming she would be there with the newspaper clique. She read my text almost instantly. Maybe I'm real, or maybe I'm delusional, but seeing that made me happy. It seems that Nova is still heavily into me.

"No," Nova texted back, "library."

Unsure of how to continue the texting conversation, I replied with laughing emojis. Following up, I sent another text: "nerd." But Nova only haha-reacted.

I drove my car around the school because the library was much closer to the front lot. "I'm outside" I made Nova aware, to which she heart-reacted my message with nothing more, yet again. Despite a slight seeming disinterest in our messages, Nova seemed relatively joyous as she greeted me.

"How was practice?" she asked, smiley and upbeat. "Typical" I replied with a shrug, speaking calmly and not at all matching her high end energy. I watched as she put on her seatbelt, "what's up with you?"

"W-what do you mean?" Nova asked, her tone and expression now changing dramatically. A stutter that I had never heard before was very present.

I raised an eyebrow and removed my key from the ignition. "I meant your unexplained excitement" I answered, looking at Nova. "But, now I'm curious to know if there is something else going on." Nova licked her bottom lip and took a deep breath.

"I don't know" she lied with a gentle shrug, "it's just been a pretty long day."

I played along with a nod at Nova's words. I figured that it was probably best to drop the subject entirely, especially seeing that I was hiring a private investigator anyway. I might as well make the most of my time spent with my girlfriend.

"I've missed you" I kind of whispered in an attempt to sound cute after a moment of silence. "I feel like we haven't had a moment like this in forever. It feels nice to be alone, just the two of us."

Nova smiled, "it's been a weird couple of weeks, but I've missed this too. Hopefully we can get back to normal soon. I'm my happiest with you."

I unbuckled my seatbelt so that I could lean toward Nova. I settled for the crevice between her shoulder blade and neck, massaging my tongue into her skin. I could feel light pulsating emerging from Nova's nerves as I formed a pattern with my tongue.

"Aubrey" I heard Nova softly say, but I ignored it. I figured that with all the bullshit thoughts that I've been having, this was probably just another one; it wasn't real. That was, until I heard it again.

"Aubrey."

"Why are you saying her name?!" I asked with frustration seeping out of my voice. I yanked myself away from Nova's neck as I did so, startling her.

"What?" she asked, "who's name?"

"Don't play dumb!" I hissed, "Seriously Nova, don't. I was just kissing on you and you're moaning Aubrey's name. The hell is wrong with you?"

Nova readjusted herself quickly, not saying anything as she looked down, just further angering me. "I was like half out of it, I swear!" she insisted, "I'm really sorry Nick, I legitimately did not realize that I was saying Aubrey's name." I took a loud, deep breath.

"Whatever," I let out, deciding that I would be working on my anger management from here on out. "I don't have the time or energy to be mad," I confided to Nova, "so it's cool. It's getting late anyway, you gotta get home." Nova didn't present me with a nod or smile or even a verbal agreement. It seemed that she may have actually made a mistake. She remained quiet, just looking ahead.

As you can imagine, the car ride was miserable, hostility loomed. I was too shocked at what Nova had done that I refused to even play music. I drove in silence, as Nova sat in silence, rethinking all that had happened between she and I up until now. I had little to no doubt that Nova and Aubrey made out today like Maddie said. I just don't get it.

Upon arrival to Nova's house, her demeanor changed yet again. She was back to the overly bubbly Nova that I had first met in the parking lot about an hour and some change ago. "I love you," she smiled, "have a good night, Nick. Be safe." I stiffened my jaw, refusing to look at my girlfriend. At first, all I did was nod at her words. After a short silence and the realization that Nova wasn't going inside until I said something back, I replied.

"Love you too," I spoke in a low tone, mumbling the words "I guess" immediately after. I could see that Nova, who had started closing my door, stopped doing so from the corner of my eye. But her halt wasn't long at all, it seemed that she either heard me or wanted to say something else. But instead, she shook her head and gently closed my door.

I didn't wait to make sure Nova got inside like I normally do. Instead, I sped off, unwilling to spend another moment with Nova invading my mind.