Lost Heart √

Five

Skylar's POV

"You called the police for a break-in," Nova stated the next morning, right as I left my room--too busy to notice her sitting on one of the kitchen stools as I tried scrubbing off a dirty splotch of blue from my bright red hoodie.

I snapped my head up and stared with wide eyes. Nova was never usually up when I was.

"Oh...uh...yes." I managed out. Lying clearly was of no use. Not when she knew those police officers from last night.

"Why?" She looked confused. I trudged forward and plopped down on the couch. "I mean, why do that on purpose?"

"I did not, Nova." I passed her an exasperated look. She eyed my hoodie in something that looked like distaste--not everyone loved red, I guess. "Someone did break-in last night. I wasn't lying."

Not like she was going to believe me.

"Why--"

"My room was a mess when I got in. Everything was a mess. There was a message scribbled over my wall mirror in red paint. The same colour as this hoodie I'm wearing." It made me feel a bit sick now--the colour of my hoodie. "The windows were opened when I always have them closed shut. Everything was a mess."

Nova was still eyeing me sceptically. "But the officers didn't see anything."

They didn't. And I looked insane now. Perhaps I had gone insane after all. I'd thought about it the whole night.

"It wasn't a mess when they got in." I looked away from her. "Everything was...everything was fixed."

The silence that followed made me feel horrible. A little sick too. And here I'd been hoping for a nice start to the morning at least.

"You do know that makes you sound like a nut job, right?" She sounded pitiful.

I glared at her. "Where's your brother?"

She nudged her head towards the door. "Out for a morning walk."

"No, I mean, where was he last night?"

"Um...with me?"

I clenched and unclenched my jaw. "Do you know...do you think he's involved with gangs back in New York?"

Not the nicest question to ask, per se, but I was already in the deep according to Nova.

She gave me a look of disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously." I faced her. "He's got that something about him. I bet he knows some sketchy stuff--"

"Well, isn't your boyfriend involved with sketchy stuff too? Is he in a gang?" She retorted.

I faltered and my mouth fell shut in surprise. Caden's life was his. I didn't have a right to go around talking about his secrets.

"You don't even know who my boyfriend is, Nova." I got up and opened the fridge, taking out a cup of yoghurt.

I heard her making a tiny noise behind me. "Uh-huh, Caden Miller. His name's plenty popular among Dad's precinct." She sounded like she was smirking. "Did I ever tell you that?"

I gripped the yoghurt, then slowly placed it back. I wasn't so hungry anymore.

"Why do you have a background check on me anyway?" I narrowed my eyes at her. "You're a creep. Did I ever tell you that?"

She pressed her lips together before breaking into a smile. Raising her brows, she looked away. "Kyle's not in any of that stuff. Believe me." She shrugged. "I would've known. He tells me everything."