Chapter Five

"Wow," I say as we drive to the beach, our favorite spot in the whole world. "the sunset is amazing tonight."

"Yeah, I had to call in a few favors, but I'm sure it was worth it." Zuma jokes.

"Either way, it's gorgeous."

"Just like you." He mumbles.

I blush and crack a smile. "Smooth, babe."

We pull up to our spot and I practically leap out of the car, tripping over the sidewalk in the process.

"Gweat job, Captain Klutz."

"Would you love me more if I wasn't a klutz?"

"I love you more because of that."

"Aw, how sweet."

"Being sweet is one of my skills."

"Oh whatever." I shove his shoulder playfully.

We find a place to set up our temporary camp and I set down my present carefully.

I feel Zuma pull me close to him by my waist, running his hands up and down my back. "Happy anniversary Nov."

"Happy anniversary, Zum."

He kisses me quickly but softly. "Can you believe it's alweady been five yeaws?"

"And still going strong."

"I've had the biggest cwush on you since Pwe-K though."

"Rocky used to have to drag you out of the classroom for like, ever because you would always be too nervous to talk to me."

"Not anymowe."

"Yeah. Thanks for growing a pair."

"Hey!" He pushes me down into the sand, hovering over me.

"It's true!" I counter.

"Mhm. Suwe."

I giggle, pressing my lips to his. "I love you."

"I love you too." Zuma whispers back.

He lowers his body on top of mine, deepening the kiss for a few minutes until I pull away breathlessly. "Is it just me or does this get better every time?" I say, out of breath.

"No, it definitely gets better." My boyfriend helps me up and I curl myself into his side, sighing.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"The future. What's gonna happen after high school?"

"We'll still be together. That's all I know."

"Yeah."

"Anything else?"

"Who am I? All I know is the little girl scarred by years of abuse by the woman she called her mother."

"I know."

"Then who am I?"

Zuma sits in front of me, inching closer and closer. "You are Nova Rosalie Larkin. My amazing girlfriend, the prettiest girl I know, the smartest in school, the bravest, and the best science partner a boy could want."

"Did you ever notice that when you get serious your speech sounds normal?"

"I'm being serious, love."

I smile. "You really think all that?"

"I weally do."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"All the time."

We kiss again before settling into the sand, watching the sun go down and the stars come out, the only noise around us being the gentle waves lapping the shore.

"So, I heard you got me something top secret." I break the silence.

"You first."

I grab the gift bag, setting it in front of him. "Sorry if it's a bit lame."

Zuma's eyes widen when he pulls the sextant out, carefully turning the instrument in his hands. "How is this lame? Babe, this is amazing!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Thank you Nov, I love it." He leaves a kiss on my nose.

"Yay!" I giggle

"Okay okay. Now you can open."

If you thought Zuma was surprised, then you should've seen my face when I opened the small box.

"Zum? What is this?"

"Look, I know that we're still young and all, but it feels so wight. We've know each other pwetty much our whole lives, and so I thought that maybe this would be fitting."

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Are you serious?"

"Very. Please please please, Nova. Marry me?"

I sniffle. "Yes yes yes yes. A thousand times yes!"

I have never seen a bigger smile appear on Zuma's face than this one. Teary eyed and a sniffling mess, I hug him tightly, never wanting to let go.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." I whisper.

"Fow what?"

"Everything."

I hear him chuckle. "You're welcome."

I don't let go of him, only burying my face into his chest. "I'm finally going to be free from her."

He sighs into my hair. "I'll keep you safe no matter what it takes, Nov. I pwomise."

"I know you will Zum. I trust you."

Zuma nuzzles his nose into my hair. "My house tonight?"

"Will there be Disney movies and popcorn?"

"Whatever you want."

"Then it's a deal."

"Sweet."

I peek at the ring, admiring the aquamarine stone set it in the silver metal.

"You just had to get me my birthstone, didn't you?"

"I thought it was fitting. And besides, my birthday is in March too."

"Doubly special."

"Mhm." He smirks.

"Zuma Douglas Atwater! Don't you dare pull the "I'm two weeks older than you" card on me."

He sticks his tongue out at me. "Man," I sigh dramatically. "I'm marrying a child."

"I'm not a child!"

"Says the one with the pouty lip." I smile victoriously.

All I get is a heavy sigh as Zuma runs his thumb gently over the cut on my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Chapter Six

"Man, I love Disney movies." I burrow into a pile of blankets, taking over half of the couch.

"What'd you pick?" Zuma flops next to me holding sodas and some popcorn.

"Only my favorite movie of all time! Brave, obviously."

He responds with a chuckle and I rest my head in his lap, humming as his fingers weave through my hair.

Pressing play on the remote, I smile widely as the movie starts.

"Hello?" I call. "Is someone there?"

Everything is eerily quiet. Like, scarily quiet.

"Zuma? Guys? Anyone?"

"Novaaaaa." A creepy voice echos through the dark space.

"Who's there?"

"It's allllllllll your fault." It echos again.

"What did I do? Hello?"

"It's alllllllllll your fault." This sentence repeats over and over, taunting me, getting louder and louder as I try to run away from it.

"I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Then I trip over something, and a light shines out of nowhere, illuminating the dead bodies of everyone I love.

"No! This wasn't me!" I cry.

"It's allllll your fault." Hands appears out of nowhere, closing around my throat.

"Please, this wasn't me!" I gasp, trying to get air to my lungs.

Then it all goes black as my neck is snapped and I'm dragged down into a fiery pit.

"It's allllllll your fault." Follows after me.

"No!" I scream, bolting up and frantically looking around.

"Nova, are you okay? What's wrong?" Zuma's panicky voice jolts me from a daze.

"When did I fall asleep?"

"After the cwedits, but that's not what matters. What happened?"

I shake my head. "I need air."

I stand up, stumbling toward the front door, shakily unlocking it and walking outside, settling into the porch swing.

"Babe, tell me what's wrong." Zuma sits next to me, pulling me into his arms.

"All dead. You were dead and so was everyone else. And don't get me started on the creepy voice, and my neck getting snapped, and the pit of fire."

"That was all one nightmawe?"

I nod, breathing in a fresh gulp of air, the feeling of hands closing around my throat still tingling.

"I'm so sowwy, Nov." He holds me tighter, rocking the swing.

It's quiet for a few minutes.

"I don't know if I can sleep again, but we have school in a few hours."

"Let's go back inside and see if we can get back to sleep. If you can't, then I'll stay up with you and we'll just have to suffer through the day."

I nod. "Thank you, love."

He hums, kissing my head and picking me up bridal style.

Gently placing me into his soft bed, he pulls the covers over me and crawls in next to me. "Get some sleep, Nova. I'll be wight hewe."

"You always know how to calm me down, don't you Zum?"

"It's my special power." He grins.

I giggle, yawning as he pulls me close to him. I feel myself drifting off and I sigh contently. "Thank you for being here for me."

"Always, Nov. Always."

Chapter Seven

Nobody's POV*

"If you're all wondering why I called you here so early in this absolutely wonderful Adventure Bay weather, I have a proposition."

A clique of eight "friends" gathered in the tiny office, elbows and legs shuffling around.

"Have you ever heard of beauty sleep? Cause you interrupted mine." The main minion's shrill voice complained.

"Shut up all of you." The leader sighed. "Let's hear it. I would like to not fall asleep during my school takeover."

The man twirled his blond mustache. "I want you to form a group. One much like that stupid Paw Patrol. Only you will be my Kitty Catastrophe Crew causing havoc all around."

"And what's in it for us?" The leader of the clique leans forward, shoving her heavily makeup covered face into the man's.

"Seeing the Paw Patrol's downfall."

The girl smirks, the group following her lead. "You have a deal."

"You have done a great favor for your town. They rely too heavily on a group of teens. It's time for a new regime."

"What do you want us to do Mr. Humdinger?"

"I'm glad you asked Ms. Toulouse. Your first mission is to follow the group, minus the exchange student and copy down their every move."

"Yes sir, but they each have a job. What about us?"

"I've assigned you a job."

"Can we know?"

The man smiled evilly and twirled his mustache again. "Becca Toulouse, you will follow Chase Baxter. You are both natural born leaders, so it won't be hard."

"The police boy? How daft! But I'll take it."

"Angelica Davenport, I have assigned you Skye Himmel."

"But I can't fly!"

"That's why you're following her, dummy." One of the boys sighed.

"Jackson Price, you have Rocky Rooney."

"But I do the opposite of recycling. Cool!"

"Talia Mazzini, you have Everest Whittaker."

"I'll put the cool in cold."

"Bud Thompson, Rubble Thatcher."

"Wrecking is my pleasure."

"Karlise Shille, Marshall Fierman."

"Let's get hot."

"Marco Hernandez, Tracker Garcia."

"Great." The boy groaned.

"These last two are always together, so learning their tricks might be a bit harder."

The last two kids nod quickly.

"Holland Wintergreen, you have Zuma Atwater."

"Down to the sea is where I'll be."

"And finally, Mason Marlowe has been assigned Nova Larkin."

"Pretending to be smart will be harder than I thought."

"And one more thing. I want you all to copy habits, mannerisms, how they talk, everything."

"You want us to take their identities?"

"Oh please Becca, I don't stoop that low."

"Then we'll do it."

"Great. Your uniforms that mirror the Paw Patrol's are hanging in your lockers. Good luck KCC."

And with that, cackling can be heard around the room.

"Finally I can get back at Ms. Goodway." The vice Principal twisted his mustache one last time before realizing that his pet kittens were causing issues around the office.

"No kitties! That's important!"

Chapter Eight

I wake up to an empty bed next to me and my first instinct is to turn around and look at the clock.

"Only six..." I sigh to myself. "Better start getting ready, I guess."

I fumble around in the dark room searching for a light when something hits me. Zuma's not in bed.

I quietly check the upstairs, trying not to disturb his sleeping family. When I have no luck, my search continues downstairs and outside. That's when I notice him.

"Why didn't I check the pool in the first place?" I chuckle.

The scent of salt water filters through my nose as the brunet hops out of the water, stretching on the cool pavement.

"Gotta start the day off wight."

"Yeah, but I'd rather not have you smell like wet dog."

"Are you suggesting something?"

"Go shower!" I giggle, trying to act annoyed.

"Okay, okay. Fine." Zuma laughs, planting a kiss on my forehead. "By the way darling, as much as I love seeing you in my clothes, I'm sure the last thing you'd want to do is not wear pants to school."

I blush furiously and his laughs disappears but echoes through the house.

"Wow. Not even a good morning." I grumble.

"Good morning, by the way!" He yells.

"Morning!" I yell back.

I sit outside for a bit longer before deciding to start getting ready for school. I pull my favorite pair of pants and my favorite sweater from my bag along with my lucky socks and my Nike sneakers. My makeup and hair brush follow not long after. I run to the guest bathroom and start getting ready.

Once I'm ready and I see that Zuma's still getting ready and that it's only 7:00, I decide to make eggs and toast for us.

"Thought I smelled food." He chuckles, walking downstairs.

"You sound like Rubble."

"Not even close."

I set the food onto plates, making sure to leave some for his parents and siblings. Soon, the four family members tramp down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Oh, you slept over last night?" Zuma's younger sister Hollace says, amused.

"It was nothing bad, Holl." He pushes his sister's shoulder playfully.

"Did you ask? Tell me you asked!" Hollace's twin brother Kace jumps up and down excitedly.

"Children," Becky Atwater sighs, "leave your brother and Nova alone."

I hold my hand out for his family to see and Zuma's dad walks by, clapping him on the back. "Great pick son." Jack Atwater smiles.

"Thanks dad." Zuma blushes.

I check my watch. "Babe, we gotta go. Fifteen minutes till school starts and I'm sure our friends will want to see."

"Be home later! I'll call if I have a mission." Zuma calls behind him.

"Have a great day." Jack responds.

"Stay safe you two." I could tell Becky had seen my cheek, but decided not to question it. Thank goodness for the Atwaters. They were the only family who really understood what I was going through.

"Yeah, If you want to do it, go in a closet!" Hollace teases.

"Holl!" Jack scolds.

"And don't forget to use protection!" Kace adds.

"That's enough, Kace." Becky sighs again.

We close the door behind us. "I love your family." I smile.

"I do too, but it gets cwazy."

"I'm sure I'll manage."

"You fit in just fine alweady."

I giggle, planting a kiss on his lips. "Let's go conquer the day."

"And off we go."