Interstellar Academy

04: Birthday

Nova's birthday was on a Thursday, so they decided to throw it that next Saturday. "It'll still be special," Charlotte had insisted. The girls had taken the entire day before to buy outfits, which made Nova uncomfortable.

"Jim, tell me how happy you'd be if you saw your girlfriend in a coconut bra?" Both parties stuttered, embarrassed by such a question.

But Jim made no denials, so Charlotte and Helena took that as a positive answer.

"C-can't I just wear a swimsuit top? I'd feel more comfortable. And w-what if I want go swimming?"

Charlotte chuckled. "Fine. No coconuts."

They each picked out a new bathing suit, though Nova was being more complicated. She wanted to wear a simple one piece or tankini, but Charlotte and Helena weren't having it.

"I just don't want to be too revealing…"

"That's what swimming suits are all about! Not about swimming in, it's about flaunting what you have!"

"And you have more than most girls, if you know what I mean."

Nova sucked in her lips, full of chagrin. "B-but Jim'll be there, and I just… I can't…. what if he won't like me in it? What if I look silly to him?"

"Jim is a growing teenage boy. Of course he'll be thinking silly things when he sees you…" Charlotte trailed off, raising her eyebrows at Helena. "If you know what I mean."

"S-stop," Nova said, trying to be serious, but couldn't help but laugh. "At any rate, I just don't want to embarrass myself."

"You're considered the freshmen's most beautiful girl, and you're worried about embarrassing yourself?" Charlotte sighed. "You could wear a trash bag, and you'd still look stunning."

Nova's eyes widened at the compliment. "Aw, thank you, Charlotte."

"OK," Helena interrupted, having been distracted in finding their friend a bathing suit. "What's Jim's favorite color?"

"Green…" Nova bit her lip, keeping her eyes low.

Nova remembered the first time she'd discovered that little secret. They'd been back on Montressar, the day's inn chores finished, and Jim wanted to show some foliage hiding some beautiful blue flowers. Nova was fascinated with the plants, unable to pick one since it would bring an end to its life.

"Is this your favorite color, Jim?"

"No, it's yours," he said. "Mine's green."

She looked up at him curiously, and wondered why such a random color would be his favorite. Then she noticed how he was staring into her eyes, and didn't question any further.

"Ah, we see." Helena rolled her eyes, annoyed at their couple-y-ness.

"Helena, you know you'd be the same way if my brother finally made a move," Charlotte chuckled. Helena didn't respond, instead looked more interested in the bathing suits than was truly necessary.

Finally, they left the store satisfied and went right on back home, hands full of party accessories and clothing- mainly Luau gear that the public could wear.

"What if no one comes?" Nova asked nervously, sitting in her and Jim's favorite spot on the beach. "That would be humiliating."

"This party is all anyone's been talking about since Charlotte passed out those invitations."

Charlotte had chosen the most obnoxious-looking pink and flower-y invites anyone could possibly think of.

"Still…"

"And if they don't, it would mean we could get to my present sooner…" Jim smiled mischievously at her.

"Why won't you just tell me?" she said, crossing her arms hotly. He was being extremely secretive, which annoyed her. She tried using the "no more secrets" promise they made as bait, but Jim didn't buy into it. "Doesn't count," he'd said.

"That would ruin the surprise." He kissed her forehead, which made her heart jump.

Whenever Jim made contact like that with her, getting so close she could smell him, her heart skipped a beat. He had this aroma of freshly cut wood and pine needles, and it made her head spin. And his touch brought lightning straight through her.

It was a glorious feeling.

She looked up at him hopefully, with something else twinkling in her eyes. He leaned down and kissed her, resting a hand on the back of her neck to keep her close. Twisting her head slightly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, making sure he also stayed close. His other hand traveled to her back, pulling her to him and onto his lap. She straddled him, pressing her chest roughly against his and pushing him onto the ground.

They weren't even thinking anymore. There was something else sparking between them, but before they could keep going, Nova pulled away, sitting upright, her face a bright red. "S-sorry!" She jumped to her feet and ran off, embarrassed by her childish behavior. She didn't get very far; he was much faster and had longer legs than her. He twisted her around and kissed her roughly once more, pulling away quickly to reassure her that all was fine.

"I'm not."

Saturday rolled around, and the party was already popping once Jim and Nova arrived, hand in hand, at the beach.

"Hey, welcome!" Charlotte placed a lei over both their necks. "I can't believe so many people are already here!"

At first, Nova figured they were here simply to enjoy the beach. Everyone wearing different colored leis proved otherwise.

"I better go thank them for showing up." Squeezing her boyfriend's hand, she let go and began walking up to random guests, shaking their hand and furiously thanking them for coming out.

"She's so formal. Must be a princess thing." Charlotte shrugged. "My brother and Stav are over there." Charlotte gestured toward the shore where some boys and a couple girls were playing volleyball.

Jim ran over to his friends and joined in the next game.

This wasn't your typical game of volleyball. The ball used was actually some type of energy plasma. Morph kept trying to swim out of Jim's pocket to play with it; to him, it was like his cousin. Hitting the ball or letting it fall was absolutely necessary, lest you burn your hands. Jim spiked the ball mainly to his other teammates who were close to the net, and they spiked the ball right on the other side. Once Stav hit the ball so hard over the next it caused the ball to form a glass bowl out of the sand upon contact.

Jim had grown tired, as did Ruse, and they went to wade in the water.

"Nova seems to be enjoying herself," Ruse noted, glancing back at her, Charlotte and Helena playing limbo, the floating stick ever so slowly lowering after each person went under.

"I'm glad. She's been stressed out lately."

"Why's that?" Ruse asked, as if he needed to. Nova had been consumed with royal business for a couple weeks. Her father kept her updated consistently on what was going on; she was going to rule over these people, so she had to stay updated.

"Her family, her planet. It's a lot of stuff for one girl." Jim thoughtlessly kicked the water around his ankles, watching it swell up quickly back into place.

"She doesn't like having to be away for even a night, does she?"

"Nah. Hopefully she'll be able to forget about everything, if only for tonight."

"Nervous about your gift to her?"

Jim rolled his eyes. "Well yeah. But I've been planning this so long, it's as close to perfect as it could get."

They gathered around a long table decked out in Luau décor, Charlotte going as far as to order a Solar Hog, delicacies on many planets. They sang happy birthday to their friend, cheered after blowing out the candles on her tall cake, and quickly dug into the yummy pastry. Nova stood next to Jim, playfully stealing bites from his cake.

"You have your own, Finn!" he said, holding the cake out of her reach.

"But I want yours, Hawkins!"

"They're so strong of a couple they call each other by their last names," Stav teased.

"Next they're gonna start referring to each other as 'boy' and 'girl'," Charlotte chipped in, nudging Stav playfully. Nova and Jim gave each other knowing glances.

The party died down quickly, and Nova thanked everyone for coming out and celebrating with her.

"Time for bed." Charlotte and Helena stretched dramatically, then grabbed the arms of Ruse and Stav and tugged them away. "See you at home!"

"W-what?" Nova went to follow them, but Jim reached for her hand, pulling her to him. "Jim?"

"I have something for you."

Pleasantly surprised, Nova allowed Jim to pull him where he pleased. They went passed their usual place and around a cave to-

A shack.

A wooden, yet sturdy shack.

Nova gasped. "Jim! It's beautiful! But, I don't understand-"

"You wanted us to be alone? This is the place for that. I've been working on it since that day at the beach, determined to finish it." Jim chuckled, ruffling his hair nervously. "So if I've been irritable, it wasn't me. It was determination."

Nova made him turn to face her, her eyes glowing up at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled sweetly. "You're perfect, you know that?"

He shrugged playfully, pressing his forehead against her and smiling at her mischievously. "Yeah, I've heard that, actually." He leaned down slightly so their lips touched. As the kiss deepened, he gently lifted her into his arms and carried her easily to the shack, setting her down inside.

When their lips couldn't take anymore they pulled apart, breathless, and she buried herself in his underarm.

"Yep. Perfect." She giggled, then looked at him. "But we do have to head back soon."

He grimaced, but agreed. "I know." He helped her up. "Come on. Let's try and beat curfew."

She took his hand happily. "When do you care about curfew?"

But while they jibed at one another, someone was watching, waiting, for them to exit.

And Jim could feel their eyes.

"Let's… hurry." He kept his pace as steady as humanly possible, since Nova was much shorter than him, but wanted to keep her safe.

Too late.

"Ah, look at the two love birds, nestling in their nest, it seems?"

Roger.