The Second Author

Chapter Fifteen (revised)

I woke the next morning with my face glued to the keyboard. I must've fallen asleep while typing last night. There were like three gazillion G's on the screen. I laughed at myself and erased them all, then shut down the computer. I slipped it under my pillow before standing.

I took a quick shower and then headed to school. The day was pretty boring. I tried to focus on what the teacher was saying, but it seemed impossible. My mind kept drifting to Taylor's story.

At lunch, I found a quiet spot outside and sat. I pulled a notebook out of my bag, flipped to a blank page, and started writing. I need to get this thing finished.

I thought back to the last scene and where I left off last night. Moanna had just revealed a shocking secret to Nova. And while her reaction was typical for her, she's being a bit of a hypocrite.

She's expecting Madoc to be fine with the fact that she was married, but now is mortified to find out that he was, too. This double standard isn't looking too good for her.

Moanna spent the next hour apologizing for telling me. But I'm glad she did. It was something I needed to know. But does he know?

"We should probably head inside," she said. "It's getting late."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Will you tell me if you remember anything else?"

"From your past?" she asked, already knowing the answer. "Or his?"

"Both." I knew it was stupid of me, but I didn't care. I want to know. Jezper came around the corner, more excited than I've seen him in a long time.

"I've got something," he said. "The man you married? He's dead. Died just before you moved from Maine. But! And that's a big ass but, you two had children."

"What?!" Moanna and I were both shocked.

"This doesn't' make any sense," she said. "Nova is no more than twenty-one, right now. So, how is any of this possible?"

"Because she wasn't always," Calliope stood a few feet away. "You guys should come inside." She turned and went back in.

We all glanced at each other before hurrying after her. We walked inside and found everyone gathered in the main room. We joined them, finding a place to stand or sit.

"What's going on?" I asked. I glanced at each one of the boys. And Jemima didn't look too happy, either.

"We need to all come clean abo-"

"Hey." Todd sat down next to me, breaking me from my thoughts. I slid the notebook away, as to not draw attention to it.

"Hi," I smiled. "What are you doing?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. It's not like you to separate yourself from the pack." He gave me a slight nudge, proving his point that he was joking and just giving me a hard time.

"I don't know." I offered a weak smile. "Maybe I need a little of that right now."

"Why? What's going on?" he asked, suddenly concerned. I sighed, pulling my legs up to my chest. I shrugged my shoulders, looking out into the parking lot.

"You're the one always telling me that's not an answer."

"I just...I don't know," I sighed with irritation, more frustrated at myself than anything. "I should be at home. Packing. Or..."

"Or what?"

"I found out that my sister was writing a story. She died before she could finish it."

"Wow." He looked around. "That sounds depressing."