𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 [𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙞 𝙖𝙪]

Chapter Twelve

Nini waited for the rest of her friends to meet up with her at her locker while she was talking to Carlos about their after school plans.

"Hey!" Ashlyn interrupted their conversation as she approached with Seb.

"Hi! Where's Kourt?" Nini asked, looking around for their friend.

"Oh, she had a shift so she told us to tell you guys that she was headed there right away." Seb answered.

"Oh okay, well, should we go now then?" Carlos asked, grabbing his keys from his backpack.

"Yup! Let's go, I'm craving a milkshake right now." Nini said, closing her locker.

The group of friends make their way into Carlos' car and almost immediately play some old Taylor Swift songs. All of them sang at the top of their lungs to 22, We are never ever getting back together, and You belong with me, all the way to the diner, where they would meet Kourtney.

They made their way inside and sat down at the bar, waiting for Kourtney to serve them.

"Hey, your regulars?" Kourtney asked the group of friends.

"Yes, please and thank you," Seb answered for everyone.

"Neens, don't look now, but that guy sitting in the booth a couple tables behind you has been staring at you since we came in." Carlos informed, trying not to make it obvious that he, himself was staring at the boy.

Kourtney came back just in time to hear what Carlos said, and looked at the boy he was referring to. "Oh him? That's Ricky, apparently he was here in kindergarten but moved away and now he's back for senior year."

"Is he cute?" The brunette asked, curiously, causing the group of friends to laugh.

"Yea, he's cute," Seb said, not noticing the transition in Carlos' face that went from laughing to glaring towards him.

Everyone else noticed and laughed harder, except for Carlos, who had a hint of jealousy painted all over his face.

"Nobody could be as cute as you though babe," Seb redeemed himself.

Nini managed to look at the guy behind her who her friends said was staring at her, only to see that she recognized the boy. She quickly turned back around and faced her friends with a look of shock on her face.

"Guys, that's Joe Goldberg," she said, her eyes wide.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ashlyn asked, not noticing that Nini had caught a glance towards the boy.

"Oh right, I never told you guys, but a couple days ago, I came and visited Kourt on her break and it was a nice day out so I decided to walk. And I walked past the park, as usual, and this guy walking on the trail just stopped and stared at me as I walked down the street. It was so creepy."

"And that's him?" Carlos asked, slightly confused.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure. I think I also may have also bumped into him in the school hallway but I never said anything cause, what are the chances?"

The five friends all looked towards the direction of the boy sitting in the booth, in unison. After a few seconds, the boy glanced over at the girl and her friends and saw that they were all staring at him. He looked back towards his two friends as quickly as he could, heat starting to rise to his cheeks.

After a minute or so of avoiding the group, he looked back, but they were gone.

The group of friends, excluding Kourtney, all practically ran back to Carlos' car, questioning the mysterious boy and the encounter they just had.

Carlos, Seb, and Ashlyn all laughed as they were talking about how awkward it was but Nini stayed quiet in the back seat as she was deep in her thoughts.

So, Joe Goldberg has a name. Well, a different name.

Ricky.

+

LATER THAT NIGHT, IN RICKY'S DREAM:

Again, this dream was different from the rest. He wasn't in the diner, waiting in a booth. He was surrounded by people he didn't know, by people he didn't recognize. He stood in the centre of a crowd, wanting to get out, but can't because it was as if he was being trapped by all of them while they danced to the sound of music.

His dreams the past couple nights have been pretty much the same thing: he's sitting in a diner, the girl comes in, sits in the booth on the other side of the restaurant and then leaves, without saying a word.

But this was a whole new environment, he had no idea where he was.

He started walking around, still surrounded by the group of people, trying to get a good look at everyone's faces to see if he recognized anyone, but he didn't.

Until he saw her. The girl. Nini.

She was facing away from him. He couldn't see her face but he just knew that it was her. Before he had the chance to go up to her, she started walking away.

He was calling out to her, telling her to stop, to wait for him. He kept yelling and begging for her to turn around and talk to him, but she didn't. She just kept walking.

Ricky watched her get further and further away from him. He tried catching up to her, attempting to leave the crowd that he was stuck in, so he could finally talk to her. But he just couldn't.

"Stop! Wait! Turn around!" He kept yelling, but it was no use. It was as if she couldn't hear a thing.

He finally got out of the crowd, breathless from pushing all the people around him. He stood there, hands on his knees, still watching as she walked away.

"Nini!" He yelled. The girl stopped, finally, he thought. She slowly turned around to face him. He stood up straight, expecting her to walk back towards him. To give him a sign. To say something, anything.

But she didn't. Instead, she just gave him a smile, and turned back around to continue walking down a never ending pitch black road.

He woke up that morning in tears, again. Just like he had been for the past week.

Ricky stood up and went into the bathroom across the hall from his room. He splashed his face with cold water and leaned against the counter, staring at himself in the mirror.

What is happening to me?