𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 [𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙞 𝙖𝙪]

Chapther Twenty Four

"What took you guys so long?" Ricky asked, climbing into the back seat of Ej's car after waiting in the airport for nearly half an hour.

"Sorry, Ej was being an idiot and wanted to get coffee from the diner before we left," Gina explained, "but I said that we should go after we got you cause I know you miss Nini and she's probably there."

A blush rose to Ricky's cheeks that Ej noticed when he looked at the boy through the rear view mirror.

"Oooh, he's whipped whipped," the boy teased.

"No, I'm not. Just drive," Ricky ordered.

"Alright, alright. Where to?" Ej asked.

"The diner," Ricky mumbled. The couple let out a laugh at the boy then proceeded to make their way to the diner.

When the trio got to the diner, it was seen through the window that Nini and her friends were also there, sitting at the bar.

A smile took over Ricky's face when he saw her and he quickly got out of the car and walked over to the group to greet them.

"Hey guys!" He exclaimed.

"Ricky, you're back," Seb said.

"How was Chicago?" Ashlyn asked.

"It was good, I got to see my mom and my friends," Ricky replied.

A scoff escaped Nini's lips at the response. Friend. Sure Big Red was a friend, but Annie? Isn't she more than one?

Ricky heard the scoff but decided to ignore it because he was too excited to see her again.

"Hi Nini," he greeted the girl.

"Hey," she said, avoiding eye contact with the boy. "Oh, I should get going, I have a new tutoring gig with someone." She started packing up her stuff, and stood up, finally making eye contact with the boy, "Bye Ricky, glad you're back." She walked out of the diner leaving Ricky there, confused.

Ricky. She never calls me Ricky. I've always been Bowen. Is she mad? Why would she be mad?

He watched as the girl walked towards her car and drove away before turning to face her friends, who were also trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"Um," he cleared his throat, "did uh- did something happen?"

The group looked at each other before looking at the boy with mixed reactions that sent a chill down his spine.

Are they mad? Angry? Upset? He couldn't tell.

When Nini left the diner, she got into her car and began driving to the library, where she was supposed to meet the person she was tutoring.

A feeling of confusion and regret rushed through her body all at once and she pulled over on the side of the road so she wouldn't get into an accident. She rested her head on her hands which were sitting on the steering wheel and she let out a sigh.

Confusion. Why was she acting like this? Why was her first instinct to seeing Ricky again, to run away? He's made her so happy these past few months, how did a single weekend ruin all of that for her?

Regret. She regret ever getting close to Ricky because now she feels like this. If only she didn't talk to him when she went over to babysit Spencer that day. If only she avoided him. If only she didn't try to be friends with him.

If only she didn't have these feelings towards him that she couldn't explain.

Tears started to fill her eyes and soon enough, she was sobbing on the side of the road.

I'm so stupid. Of course he likes Annie. She's pretty, probably funny, and she's been there with him for so long. She's probably irreplaceable in his eyes. That's why he went back to Chicago, so they could go to a stupid dance together.

He would never like me. She's perfect, and he doesn't even know me.

She grabbed her phone and sent a text, asking to reschedule the tutoring session.

Introducing Connor: