Nova and I have been working on our speeches for the past three hours. Luckily, the guys are out tonight so they weren't here to be shouting downstairs as we did our work. Whenever Nova comes over to do work and they are home, I tell them to shut the fuck up. I don't threaten them with anything, they just listen.

The focused red head in front of me plops a pretzel into her mouth as she reads an article. We like working together and I'm happy to notice that she doesn't get as distracted by my presence anymore. Of course, I don't talk much while we work, but still.

Her forehead crinkles like she has just read something confusing. She probably has. She begins to move her lips in a whisper. She then proceeds to use a finger to point at the screen while she reads. She's trying. Normally, she would have gave up on the first try. I've been pushing her to reread the material before giving up completely. I also showed her different methods on how she could read it to have a better understanding of what she's reading.

I smile a bit as she continues to reread the paragraph or sentence. I want to say something but I don't in fear of shifting her focus to me. I checked her speech when she got here and she's actually done a good amount of work. I have no doubt she won't be struggling to do it at the last minute like last time. That is considering she keeps working at the rate that she is.

She lets out a small snort and then turns her computer to me. "Look, it says here that there's no harm in a sixteen year old boy being friends with his female teacher because he said, and I quote, 'doesn't find her attractive enough'. Like enough? What the hell does that mean? Boys are so weird!" She finishes. I can't help but grin. I gave her the idea of researching the topic that she is and I'm glad she stuck to it.

"Dude definitely wants some teacher tits." I say with a chuckle. Novalee looks up at me, unamused. She grabs one of my pillows and chucks it at me. I catch it before it hits my face. "What the hell was that for?" I furrow my brows. She crosses her arms over her chest. "That was disgusting, Christian. Don't say things like that." She frowns, now attempting to throw a pretzel at my face.

I catch it in my mouth.

A smile grows on her face and her eyes light up like she just fed her dog a treat and he caught it. "Oh my god, your reflexes are quick!" I shoot her a wink as I swallow the dry pretzel. We don't eat those here but Novalee likes them so Xander always buys them for her when he goes grocery shopping.

She pokes her chin out at me. "How's your speech coming along?" She asks. I flip my laptop to show her my work. "I'm filling out the outline." I explain. Her mouth gapes open as her eyes scan the screen. Okay, she might be a little bit behind compared to me, but she's still doing very good.

"Why are you like a stupid-little-big genius?" She says quickly. I narrow my eyes at her. "You just used two paradoxes in one sentence." Her forehead crinkles again as she stares at me blankly. She's confused again. "Para- what? English, Christian!" She snaps her fingers at me like I'm a child.

I grab her hand within mine to stop her snaps. I place it down on her lap. "A paradox is like a contradicting statement. You called me big and little and then stupid and genius. So, you contradicted yourself twice, babe." I explain. She looks off to the side like she's taking in what I just said. She nods her head slowly. "Oh."

She smiles, but it fades quickly. "Where did you learn that?" She asks, looking back at me. I chuckle softly. She reminds me of Rhys sometimes. They're both a little slow, not dumb though. Well, maybe Rhys is just dumb.

"English class. Didn't you?" I tilt my head slightly as I ask her this. She looks away from me for just a second, before looking back with a newfound smile on her face. "Yeah! I just forgot what it was for a second. Paradox? Oh yeah, duhh. I was confusing it with something else." She chuckles.

Yeah, she definately didn't know that.

She tends to babble when she gets intimidated or is under pressure. "Oh yeah?," she nods "what were you confusing it with?" I challenge. I smirk just as her face drops a bit. She didn't expect that. Just as she's about to rebuttal, my phone rings on the bed.

It's mom. Fuck.

Novalee looks at my phone and then at me to see if I'm going to answer. I pick up the phone and hold a finger up to my mouth. She nods. I press the green button the screen just before it hangs up. I pull the phone up to my ear, "hello?" I say. The line is quiet for a couple of seconds before I finally hear mom's voice.

"Hey, baby."

"I'm kind of busy, did you need something?"

"Uhm, yes. I wanted to speak with you about something important. Have a minute?"

I look towards Novalee who's not looking at me but back at her computer. I get up from the bed and walk out of my room and into Cgc's which is the farthest from mine.

"Alright, what's up?"

"Your father called." Shit. Here we go. I roll my eyes violently, I'm scared they might never roll back.

"What the hell did he want?"

"He insisted we all celebrate Christmas together this year since we haven't the past four." Oh hell no. We haven't celebrated Christmas together for a reason. He's a piece of shit and here mom is, talking to him again.

"Mom, please tell me you said no."

She's quiet for a couple of seconds. "I think we should, Christian." I clench my jaw and grip on my phone tighter. I don't like to lose my cool with my mom but when she makes stupid decisions like this, she makes it hard not to. This woman has been through enough though and I don't want Novalee to hear, so I don't raise my voice.

"No, mom. I've been fine these past years spending the holidays with Xander's family."

"I know, but I miss you. I want you to spend the holidays with me."

"Okay, I'll go see you, but no Matthew."

Mom sighs, "he's still your father, Christian."

No he isn't, I want to say. A father doesn't hit their child because he's angry and drunk.

"I don't care, mom. Please, don't make me do this. Don't do this to yourself."

"It's only one night. Bring a friend if you want. Please, I'm begging you."

"I can't believe after finally leaving him, you're being this fucking stupid again. He's doing this on purpose. He knows you're gonna say yes and if you say yes, I'll say yes because I won't leave you alone with him." I say quickly. I feel beads of sweat forming under my shirt. It's not hot, but my body always heats up when I'm pissed.

"Just think about it, okay? I'll tell him that you'll think about it."

I want this conversation to end, so I say, "fine." I hear a breath of relief from her line and then we say our goodbyes and I hang up. I can't believe she's even thinking about this after everything we went through to get away from him.

I run my fingers through my hair, tugging on it from frustration. I turn around at the sound of Cgc's door opening. Novalee. She has a worried look on her face. "Is everything okay?" Her voice is soft. No matter how much I want to lie, I can't. She walked in on me at the worst possible moment.

"No." My voice is rough as I walk over to Cgc's bed and sit on it. His room is messy as fuck, but I don't even care right now. Nova steps over the dirty clothes on the floor and makes her way to sit in front of me on the bed. Her thick brows furrow in worry. "What happened?"

I can't tell her. I mean she knows about my father, I've told her before, but it's been so long since then. She probably doesn't even remember anymore. I don't look at her, but at my hands. "My mom wants us to go see my dad for Christmas this year." I start. "U-us?" She stutters. I look up at her and she looks startled.

I shake my head quickly, realizing why. She thinks I'm talking about me and her. "No, no. Not me and you. My mom and I." I clarify and she nods. "And?" Fuck. She doesn't remember. Why else, Novalee ?

"My dad's a piece of shit. I don't want to be anywhere near him during the holidays. So, I'm not gonna fucking go." I say. She winces at my words. I don't think she curses that much, only when she's mad or annoyed.

So, mostly whenever she's around me.

"So I get they're not together anymore? Your mom and dad?" Her voice is so low that it's almost a whisper. I shake my head and she nods. "Why would she want to go see him again then?" She adds. She does remember. I shake my head again. "I don't know, Nova. That's what I'm trying to figure out. She really can't expect me to be in the same room as him for thirty minutes let alone a whole day," I scoff "she has me all kinds of fucked up."

Nova keeps her eyes on me, but I can't look at her. I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed that my father is a piece of shit. I'm jealous that Nova is one of the lucky ones. She has an amazing father who would do anything for her and her mom. Why couldn't I get that?

"Do you have to go?" She asks. Even though I don't, I really do. I know even if I don't go, he's going to trick mom into going. I don't even want to imagine them in the same room alone together. He's manipulative and mom will fall for it. Just like she always did.

Although I didn't tell mom 'yes' on the phone, I know that's my answer. I'm going to be seeing my dad on Christmas.

"I do. I can't leave her alone with him, Nov." My voice is faint. I feel like I just finished screaming at a concert for three hours straight. She nods and then reaches out to grab my hand, interwining our fingers. I look up at her now. "I know," she pauses "and you're an amazing person for that, Christian Valdez. Fuck Matthew." I can't help but smile. That's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard come out of her mouth.

The I'm amazing part was cool too.

She's still smiling at me and I shake my head. I can't help myself anymore. I'm so insanely attracted to this girl. Everything about her makes me go crazy.

And again, just like that, I reach forward and kiss her.

I feel her hesitate for just a second, but it's not long before she's kissing me back. I untangle our fingers when I realize we're still holding hands and bring my now free hand, up to her face. Both her hands are by her sides now, but I crave her touch. I part her lips with my tongue and slip it in, meeting her tongue immediately. She brings her hands up to the sides of my neck. Finally.

I pull her closer to me and she lifts her leg, placing it on my lap. That's not enough. I pick her up from the hips and place her on my lap. Better. She doesn't stop kissing me, but moves her hands up to grab my face. I rest my hands on her hips, trying my best not to move them lower. I really want to, I just don't know how far this is going to go. We were at this point the first time we kissed and when I slipped my hands lower, she pulled away.

I'm enjoying this kiss way to much to risk ruining it again. She runs her tongue across my bottom lip before biting on it. Holy shit. I hold a groan that tries to escape my throat. I'm hard underneath her and I'm sure she can feel it. I haven't had sex in weeks because I've been to distarcted with football. I need something.

I slowly move my hands lower to cup her ass and this time, she allows it. Her mouth is still on mine and even though she flinched slightly at my touch, she keeps the kiss going. After a couple of seconds, she grinds right on my dick. The groan finally comes out and I feel her smirk into the kiss.

She pulls away and I frown. It's over. Again. That is until she grabs the hem of my shirt. She looks at me like she's asking for my permission to remove it. I nod. She lifts it up and I help her take it off my body. She runs her long fingers down my abdomen. I shiver a bit at the touch of her manucred nails against my skin. She smirks at this and pulls me back into a rough kiss.

Yup, I'm getting laid.

"Valdez! We're home!" Xander's voice comes from downstairs. Novalee pulls away quickly and basically jumps off my lap. "Shit." I find my shirt again and throw it on quickly and then we rush out of Cgc's room. It had totally slipped my mind that we were still in there. Luckily, the guys didn't come upstairs as soon as they got here.

Nova tucks her hair behind her ears as we walk down the stairs, but I stop. I have a hard on and you can see the length of it through my sweatpants. Nova turns around to face me when she realizes I stopped walking. "What are you doing?" She whisper yells. I motion my head down towards the problem and her eyes follow. She gasps and covers her eyes like I'm showing her the real thing. She shoos me upstairs. "I'll distract them, go!" She says. I choke out a small chuckle. "Valdez!" Xander yells again.

"Go!" She mouths. So I go.