Chapter 52: Besties! (1)
There was no clash of feminine rage or intense, assessing stares—nothing like the dramatic tension you’d find in a romcom or TV series. No. Nova and Aiyana barely spoke. Silence and strained tension hung thick between them whenever Atia wasn’t around, acting like the glue holding together two unstable rocks drifting in a river straight toward a waterfall.
Whenever Nova did try to spark conversation, Aiyana replied, but her responses were blunt and short and killed any chance of continuing the topic. She’s really going to make me work for this, Nova thought, watching Aiyana walk off without even acknowledging her latest question as if it had been rhetorical—or not worth her energy to answer.
They were currently standing outside one of the other mini treehouses. Atia had taken it upon himself to act as a tour guide and revelled in showing Nova the treehouse before, which was his hideout. The one they currently stood before and remained standing in front of was Aiyana’s. Or so Nova presumed; the feline didn’t answer her and instead went inside without inviting them in.
Atia pointed out a few of the structures to the main treehouse in the meantime. Nova couldn’t get over the engineering of it all. It was basic yet so useful. She didn’t realise until now just how much technology had taken such prominence in the world—in her world.
Atia guided her along another bridge that swayed between the tree of his treehouse and the ancient Ceiba tree in which Yoa’s magnificent house was built. He guided her to the side where leaves fell down like drapes of a curtain, acting as a partial wall. In front of it, a large pool had been carved into the wide tree branch. It was definitely big enough for a few people to fit in and most definitely for someone as huge as Yoa.
"If you need to heat the water, use the rocks here." Atia pointed to a small bundle of smooth pale rocks that were definitely not from the forest but the beach. They were all similar in size and mostly smooth.
"Rocks?" Nova looked up at him questionably. "Are they magical?" She asked, feeling dumb for asking, but anything was possible in this world at this point. She crouched and touched one with her finger, expecting it to be boiling hot. It was not.
It was Aiyana’s snort from behind them that answered Nova’s question. The feline sauntered back to them, looking more refreshed, her hair damp and plaited behind her, revealing more of the sharp-angled of her refined face. "Magical rocks, huh?"
"Don’t be mean," Atia gave her a look. "She’s not from here, remember?"
"Do they have magical rocks where you’re from then?" Aiyana ignored Atia and rested her mocking gaze on Nova.
"No," Nova said through gritted teeth.