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i. tickle the wire
All the noise eventually began to blend. No longer could she differentiate one word from another. She really just wanted it to stop, all of it. She didn't want to hear anyone else. She wanted to cover her ears so that she could shield herself from ever hearing anything again. All she wanted was silence. But it never came.
The crushing air of the police station was suffocating. Nova remembered not being able to breathe. She would hit the balls of her hand on the sides of her head to try and quiet the noises. The blasting air conditioner was set too high, sending dust flying around the top of the room. The screaming from the three officers surrounded her in a tight, concrete room. Their yells bounced off the concrete walls and hit Nova over and over.
They all demanded something from her. Answers. But not the ones she was giving them. And they'd start all over again. They asked for hours. Tearing her apart. Tearing her story apart. Tearing John B. apart. They wanted her to trip – to mess up on her words. But she wouldn't. Because she was telling them the truth.
Despite the agonizing and breathless hours that they kept Nova locked away in the small room, there was nothing they found that they could charge her with. Not even obstruction, because she was cooperating. But even if there was something – something to charge Nova with, nothing would come of it. Lincoln, her dad, and his team of blood-thirsty lawyers would see that Nova walked unscathed. And so, there was no other choice. Commanded to do so by North Carolina's very own Governor.
But even the Governor promising Nova's innocence wasn't enough to stop the whispers on the small island.
Things were bad. Really bad. And it took no time for them to get that way. Everything was changing. Nova's life was upside down.
She'd received a long-winded letter from her school in the mail. They had granted her leave until further notice. Citing Nova's mental health and unfortunate circumstances as their reason. This had not been a choice only made by the administration. But also, the Board of Donors & Shareholders. The board of which Lincoln Scott was still actively ahead of. And this meeting in which the decision to grant Nova leave was made, Lincoln had not been informed of. Because of that, the vote was unanimous. Nova Scott would not be returning to school.
As any parent would be, Lincoln Scott was furious. Hours he spent on the phone with his lawyers, trying to find a way to fight the school and their many boards. Nova had been a student there since she was four years old. Tallulah, her mother, had been a teacher there. And her dad was their largest donor. They couldn't just kick her out under the guise of a granted mental health leave.
