How bad could it be to enlist your female best friend into helping you lie to your Christian family about your new relationship with your male best friend and about your newfound sexuality?
Not that bad, right?
Right???
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Nova Queen and Ari...
Author's Note: Listen to the song Gabriel by Nao if you would like a jam to listen to for this chapter. There is also a sexual content warning for this one.
Ari's P.O.V.
My mother and I merrily strolled back inside of the house after staying out for a little while longer to stargaze and continue our progress. She asked me various questions about the undercover secret life I had been living, about Charlie, and my relationship/ friendship with Nova.
I tried the best I could to answer her questions without overwhelming her too much until she was too sleepy to stay outside any longer.
After dropping her off at her room on the left side of the house, I stopped by the dark, lifeless, empty kitchen to grab a bottle of water and make my way back to the right side of the house to my room.
When I got there, Nova was snuggled under a light throw blanket and in her freshly laundered pjs with a black satin scarf tied around her head while her professionally done black and purple box braids were piled high upon her head to keep them out of her pretty face. She was popping Goldfish cheese crackers into her mouth while watching old reruns of Fresh Off the Boat on her Hulu subscription.
She looked so adorable with that iconic paper bag clutched in her grasp snacking on those little cheese fish.
"Oh hey!" She greeted me with cheerful eyes after finally noticing me walk into the room.
Her genuine smile beamed towards me like it, itself was also greeting me.
"Hey," I said smiling back at her trying not to laugh.
"How did it go with your mom?"
"Come with me into the bathroom. I need to shower and I can tell you about it while I'm in there."
"Aight, fine with me. Let me put this on pause. I need to pee anyway."
Nova paused the show and climbed out of the bed to follow me into the bathroom, Goldfish crackers still in tow.
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I updated Nova on my talk with my mom and expressed to her about how happy I am that our conversation went a lot smoother than I first expected. After a nice warm shower, I was in such a chill mood. I honestly felt like nothing could bring me down in this moment. I felt like I was riding a high that I didn't want to ever come down from.
Before I got out the shower, Nova had already removed herself from the bathroom so she could climb back into the bed to continue watching her show. I exited in nothing but my brown, fuzzy dry off towel around my waist and sat on the bed scooching my way next to her and grabbing the clutched bag from her grasp to pop a few fish into my own mouth.
"Are you not gonna put on your pajamas?" She asked, glancing over to me.
"No."
"Why not?" She asked while laughing at me and snatching the bag back.
