Page 172 of Under the Waves
“Stop walking away from me, Malakai Foster, or I swear toGod I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Mm. You’ll do what, Collettò? Get on a plane and fly back home to mommy and daddy dearest?”
“Don’t do this, Malakai!” Nova yelled, jabbing her finger in his direction. Kai grasped both her hands in his and slammed her body up against his as she let out a desperate gasp.
“You don’t get to walk back into my life and pretend like nothing happened, Nova. You don’t get to do that!” He growled, shaking her shoulders in a frantic motion. “You don’t get to do that to me, Γυαλι?,” he repeated hoarsely. “Youcan’t.”
“Yes, I can!” she screamed, slamming her hands against his chest repeatedly, over and over again. There were tears sliding down her reddened cheeks, mixed with the darkness of her mascara. “I can when I know if I let you go right now, you’re going to go home and carve yourself open like a fucking pumpkin, you bigidiot!”
“Because you make mehate myself!” he choked back, voice as equally vicious and deathly as hers. There was no space between them anymore, not as Kai grasped her by the back of her neck, holding her head and entire body in place. Nova went completely rigid against him. “When you left, Collettò, you broke not only my heart butme.I was nothing but a soulless human being wandering the depths of existence without you, and you neveroncecalled to let me know you were okay. Being around you, Nova Collettò, was the greatest experience of my life, until you stole that from me too.”
Nova attempted to shove him off her, letting out a desperate scream as she did, but Kai held onto her as if he was a man dying without her touch.
“That isn’tfair, Malakai, and you know it,” she whispered back, helpless.
“I ambroken, Nova, and you made me this way. You and this stupid, fucked up universe.”
Nova cried, tumbling from his grip as she stumbled away from him. “Stop it! Just stop it!”
“You want to know what you missed all these years?” He chuckled brokenly, grinning at her with the saddest of smiles. “You missedeverything,and you know what? I’m glad you did because being around you now makes me feelmiserable. No wonder your parents shipped you back here, they don’t evenlove you enough to fight for you!”
“You are an awful,awfulhuman being, you know!” She screamed, eyes narrowed like daggers, locked onto his with an unbreakable grip. “I don’t know what people see in you, Foster, but it certainly isn’t anything beautiful. You have the loneliest pair of brown eyes I’ve ever seen, and you know what hurts more than your words? Yourmind, because inside there is a dark and lonely fucked up place that is jagged, and sharp, and scars every single person who tries to get close to you! So you know what? I’m done trying. I amdone.”
“You already walked away from us once, Glasses,” He rasped, grasping onto her wrist, pulling her body flush up against his despite her fighting him every step of the way.
“No,” she demanded. “You don’t get to put this on me. I havetriedall week to talk to you, to explained what happened but you won’t evenlistento me! So, yeah, I’m done trying.”
“The Nova I know would never have given up.”
“The Nova youknewis gone.”
Kai flinched backwards at her words.
“You were the one who left us in the first place!” He exclaimed.
“I wasdrowning, Kai,” she sobbed. “I was drowning here. Couldn’t you see? I was miserable and no one even noticed. You didn’t even notice.”
Kai’s eyes softened. “I always noticed you, Glasses.”
“No.” Nova stepped back. “You don’t get to call me that.Not anymore.”
“You’ll always be Glasses to me, no matter what.”
Pinching her nose, Nova shook her head. “I’m tired, Malakai. I’m so tired of this.”
“So stop fighting me,” Kai whispered softly, eyes shining with understanding. “Stop fighting us.”
“There is no fuckingus,Malakai. There never was!”
“And whose fault is that!” he jabbed back at her, softness erased.
“Let go of me, Kai,” she whispered softly, a notion that was so unlike the fiery and passionate Nova Collettò I once knew. Kai looked at her dead in the eyes as if she’d slapped him straight across the face, but in one smooth motion, he dropped his hands, letting her go without a fight.
“If you walk away, Nova, I won’t chase you again,” he said honestly, never once letting his eyes falter from her.
“You never did the first time, Malakai,” Nova dipped her head and without any more words, she turned on her heel and left, leaving Kai standing there in the sand, linen beige shirt half unbuttoned and neatly trimmed hair ruffling in the wind. Even when she was gone, he stared at the place she used to stand like she was still there as a fragment of his imagination.
Iknewsomething had happened between them before Nova left the country. Jakson had a bet going with everyone to see who could guess what Kai did to make Nova run so far away from him. I’d tried talking to Lia about it, but whenever anyone brought it up, she’d shut right down like a clam, refusing to even utter a single word on the topic. Not even to Jakson, either. That was how I knew, whatever had happened between the two of them, was serious if she didn’t even tell him.