Morning rise, Nova opened her eyes and stared idly at the ceiling. Those words Lucas said to her yesterday flashed back into her head again. She sits up and ruffles her hair in frustration.
“What nonsense is he spewing out? Start a life? Together? Who does he think he is?” She lays down again, and the memory flashes back again. “Ah!... I even cried in front of him again. I even rested my head on his shoulders. Ah! So stupid!” she complained out of embarrassment. Despite all of those feelings, Nova remembers what everyone said to her.
“Is it really true? There’s no way out? That I’m stuck?” she questioned herself.
“Nova?” A knock snaps Nova’s thought out of her. She stood up and opened the door. “Hey.” Lucas said, but Nova was just silent.
“I was wondering if you want to hang out with us.” Nadine showed herself up and waved at her. “Apparently, Nadine wanted to give us a tour, so I was thinking of tagging you in for you to relax.” Lucas smiled. Seeing him again reminds her of yesterday.
“You talk stupid,” she blurted out of the blue.
“Huh?” Lucas questioned; he’s confused. “W-what part of it was stupid?” Nova just decided to close the doors when suddenly Nadine pushed the door open and dragged her.
“This is why I love it here; I have my strength.” Nadine said to herself.
“Wait!” Lucas called. He closed the doors and caught up with them.
“Nadine —”
“Don’t complain, Nova, I waited almost 30 minutes just to see Lucas pace back and forth in front of your door and practice his speech.” Nadine complained. “And I agree, he talks stupid.” Lucas turned his head to her after hearing those.
“Huh? What part?!” he complained but the two just ignored his nonsense.
“Do you like painting? They usually paint around this time,” Nadine said, continuing to drag her.
“I’m bad at painting.”
“I didn’t ask you, Lucas.” Nadine replied. They continued bickering while Nova was spacing out. She used to show her drawings to her mom when they were in the hospital. Both of them are gifted in that field, and it became their bond as a mother and daughter. Lucas noticed her spacing out, so he stopped arguing with Nadine. He fastened his pace, catching up with them.
"Hey, are you alright?” he asked. Nova snapped back and slowly nodded.
“Here we are.” Nadine finally let go of Nova's hand and showed her around. Nova finally saw people in normal clothing like her, but strangely, some of them were in a uniform, in a business suit, even in their pajamas. They are painting together while a person in black clothing is monitoring and talking to them while painting, which seems like guiding them.
Nova decided to walk on her own towards the group and watch them paint. Various scenarios were seen. She mostly sees people painting happy people, happy scenarios, and beautiful landscapes, but one person caught Nova’s attention. A girl was in a bed, peacefully sleeping, but as Nova looked closer, the little drawings, bottles of medicine, and a few tablets were spreading around the sheets and floor.
“What… are you doing?” Nova confusedly asked. The girl looked at her with a bright smiley face. She’s the girl in her blue pajamas.
“Hi,” the girl said. “It’s nice, right? I didn’t know that I could paint like this. You like the vibe? So... sad.” Then she laughed, then she noticed the teardrop falling from the girl's eyes. Nova took a step back as she heard those words.
“What is going on?” she mumbled to herself. She felt that someone was staring at her, so she looked for it. It was the person in black who was monitoring them. She looked at her blankly with no emotions, then suddenly smiled and approached her. Confused, she took a step back as she approached; every step back became heavy, as if someone were pulling her. She’s getting closer, then.
“Ah! Nova!” Lucas complained. Nova stepped on Lucas' feet.
“S-sorry, I didn’t mean it.” visible in Nova’s voice was scarred, which made Lucas concerned.
“I-i mean, it’s fine, Nova; I know you didn’t mean it. You, are you okay?” he asked, then he looked at the person in front of them.
“Are you here to paint?” she asked, smiling.
“Chia!” Nadine called. She was seen holding a canvas and a palette. “We’re here to paint. I hope you can guide them.”
“Of course, Nadine, that’s my job,” then Chia ruffled Nadine’s hair. “I’ll take care of your friends, you can go and paint on your usual spot.” She looked at Lucas and Nova. “You can follow me.”
Chia made their way to an empty chair. Lucas just sat, but Nova was hesitant, knowing her encounter with Chia.
“Now try putting some colors on your palette,” Chia commanded. Nova looked at the table beside her canvas, She looked at Lucas, who was opening the tube of yellow. She looked at her tube of paint again.
“Why is mine mostly in darker shades?” she curiously asked, but was just ignored.
“Now I want you to move your hands.” Chia opened the tube of Nova’s paint and dropped a bit of paint. “You want to start with some... you know...” Chia gets Nova’s hand and makes her hold the paintbrush. “... a dot.” then proceeds to guide Nova’s hand and draw a dot on the empty canvas. “...and let your hand and memory work.”
The next few minutes have been blurry for Nova. She feels like she is being sucked into a void. Unfamiliar scenarios flash back, strange feelings of pain, betrayal, and agony.
“Nova!” she snaps back. She looked at the owner of the voice, Lucas, who was holding her right hand tightly and her paintbrush in his left hand. “Why... are you crying?” he was concerned. Lucas let go of the brush and then wiped her tears. Nova slowly shakes her head.
“I-i don’t know. Why... am I crying?” she asked, then her attention turned to the canva she made. A woman is standing on a balcony ledge, and below her, it looks like waves. So grim and dark. Lucas saw her gazing at the painting, so he knocked it off. Nova looked at her shockingly. “W-why?--”
“Let’s go.” Then he proceeded to grab her and go out of the place. They went to the shore again where they went yesterday and let go of her hand. “Let’s not just do anything. We’ll just wait here.”
“W-wait… what?”
“Nova, you said you want to get out of this place, right?” Lucas asked, Nova didn’t even get to answer but he knows what she wants. “Then let’s wait here. Let’s wait for Kai, Solari, even Clay. Let’s wait for them. Here.”
“B-but I...”
“Please, Nova, let’s wait here,” he pleaded. Seeing his face, she slowly sat down beside him, looking at the sunset. Strangely, it has been getting brighter and brighter as the day passes by.
“One day, we will get out of here. Happy, away from those complications, Nova.” He knew she was confused by what he was talking about.
“Look, Lucas, I really don’t get —” Nova didn’t manage to finish her sentence when she felt his lips.
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