Share
Eight - Peony
I awoke at nine the next morning, getting myself ready quickly and going into Nova's room beside mine to wake her up. She was draped across her bed in deep sleep, her ebony hair sprawled out across her pillow and her pink lips agape in peaceful slumber.
I walked over her window and threw open the curtains, allowing the lazy autumn sun to spear through the paned glass. "Wake up, Nova, your tutor's going to be here in an hour."
She groaned and opened one eye at me. "I hate science. Let me sleep."
"My dad got a good tutor for you this time. You won't have to learn geology again."
"How do you know?"
"Because your tutor's an environmentalist, which means he studies the Earth and what lives on it, basically. Don't you want to learn about plants and animals?"
Related chapters
Evergreen Nine - Madison
Nova held my hand as we followed Eric down the forest path the next day, the sun cutting through the treetops and casting skinny beams across the ground. It was a clear day, but the temperature was cool enough that we each wore jackets."Tell me, Nova," Eric said as we walked. "What is the most important thing in the world?""Love," Nova said almost automatically."Wrong.""What?""That wasn't an opinion question," he said. "If I had wanted to know what the most important thing in the world was in your opinion, I would have asked what you think the most important thing in the world is. But I asked you for a fact, not an opinion." He half smiled.Nova looked at Eric with a look of confusion, curiosity and a touch of awe. "What is t
Evergreen Ten - Dinah the barn owl
I thought about him as I gave the peony in my room fresh water, setting it back on my windowsill and watching the sun set in the distance.I remember thinking of his eyes tracing the treetops in the forest, his lips rested in a faint smile.I wished I loved some thing just as much as Eric loved the world.Over the next few weeks, Eric came to tutor Nova every weekday, sometimes staying at home for her lessons and sometimes going into the forest.I would tag along with them some days, sitting with Eric while Nova collected samples of plants and insects in the woods.Eric brought her a notebook one morning, telling her she can make her drawings in there from now on. I watched her carefully pen the words "Nova's Nature Journal" on the front of it that night.
Evergreen Eleven - Phobias
Eric held my gaze from across the table. A flash of lightning lit up the kitchen briefly, followed by a quick snap of thunder."So Nova has a phobia of thunderstorms," he said, folding his hands on top of the table."Yeah," I said. "Ever since she was really young.""What are your phobias?"I thought about this for a moment. "Drowning.""Drowning," he repeated, the word rolling slowly off his tongue. "Explain.""I don't know," I said. "I guess…it's just, like, being dragged down and running out of oxygen and not being able to do anything about it.""Yeah," he agreed. "That is scary.""How about you?""I'm deat
Evergreen Twelve - Midnight
Three nights later I was awakened in the middle of the night by the soft chiming of my phone. I reached over to my bedside table and slid my thumb across the screen of the phone without thinking, holding it to my ear.I hardly had time to utter a sleep deprived greeting before sound drifted through the phone's speaker."Luna, I'm in the forest. I just saw the owl —Dinah, or whoever —yeah, I saw the owl maybe two minutes ago."I sat up, putting a hand to my forehead and glancing briefly at my bedside clock. "Eric? It's two in the morning, what are you doing in the forest?""Owls are nocturnal, don't you know! And you said you'd help me find the nest. Now's the time to do it, and I've just seen the owl fly by, probably hunting."I sighed. Do I go back to sleep, or do I go
Evergreen Thirteen - Your own will
He looked at me with his lips slightly parted for a few seconds before a slow smile spread across his face and he reached into his pocket, unfolding his map and smoothing it out.At this point, a little more than a third of the paper was drawn on; Eric's slanted writing crammed beside small drawings of what must be personal landmarks he had drawn.He handed me the map and reached into the pocket of his jacket for a small flashlight, clicking it on and we stood over the map together, deciding where next to go.We stood close to each other, and I could hear his light breathing as he poured over the map, the limited light from the flashlight illuminating his features. His brow was pulled low in concentration as he read his map, one of his fingers tracing over the smooth paper."Right," he said after a few moments.
Evergreen Fourteen - Lola's
Things were different, after that. Clearly. You can't just share a kiss with someone in the forest in the middle of the night and expect things to instantly resume into normality. I didn't quite know what to do, how to proceed from there. On the weekdays Eric would come by to tutor Nova I would try to busy myself with other things; sometimes cleaning my room or watering the plants in the backyard or walking down to City Hall to see if my father needed any help with anything. It did quite seem like I was avoiding him, and I didn't mean to-I just didn't know what else to do. Eric didn't seem to mind my change in behavior. He would smile at me when I answered the door to him and talk to me about the weather while I would make him coffee as we would wait fo
Evergreen Fifteen - Summer in Australia
I felt Genevieve looking at me."Are you alright, Luna?""Yes, why?""You seem a bit down lately.""What does that mean?""I don't know…you haven't spent much time with Nova…. mean, I'm not saying you have to but you usually do anyhow.""She's been busy with her tutoring.""You don't like Eric?"I raised an eyebrow, lifting my gaze to look at Genevieve quizzically. "Where did you deduce that from?""You seemed a bit resentful when you spoke of her tutoring.""No, Eric's fine. It's not him, don't wo
Evergreen Sixteen - Just one dance
"Ow!" Nova said, hands reaching up to her hair where Genevieve was brushing it back into a ponytail."You're hurting my scalp!""Sorry, sorry," Genevieve said, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of Nova's head. She tied a band around Nova's thick hair and set the brush down. "There. You look beautiful."I sat on the bed adjacent to the mirror that Genevieve and Nova stood in front of in my father and Genevieve's room.Tonight was another campaign party, although rather than our backyard this one was taking place in the first floor sunroom Genevieve had cleared out.The sunroom was a bit of an odd room to have in a house in Oregon, but I liked it. It had a full wall of windows, and the ceiling sloped up slig
Latest chapter
- Evergreen Fifty Seven - Evergreen
- Evergreen Fifty Six - His Words
- Evergreen Fifty Five - unknown man
- Evergreen Fifty Four - His universe
- Evergreen Fifty Three - Great Uncle
- Evergreen Fifty Two - You Found Me
- Evergreen Fifty One - Lost my star
- Evergreen Fifty - Tell Me
- Evergreen Forty Nine - Symptoms
