3 Years

51 - Stupid

"Wow, only six?" Nini wondered aloud.

"I know, right?" Miss Jenn agreed. "Seems like there should be more."

"Well, at least she seems to have covered the messiest incidents. In our defense, even Tori didn't know that she was allergic to the face makeup."

"And Nick ended up getting mono a couple of years back," the blonde woman added.

"Well, he's graduating this year and is perfectly fine."

"Yeah," Miss Jenn sighs. "And Tori is at the University of Utah now."

"I'm honestly surprised this drama department still exists," Nini chuckles.

"Me too," she agreed. "And we can't forget about the first time," she laughed. "To be fair I probably shouldn't have trusted children to create a rig for a harness."

Nini tilted her head. "Hmm?"

"Oh, when Ricky fell on Ashlyn all those years ago. Thank god it was just sprained wrists."

Silence fell over the room. "Oh," Nini muttered.

"Wait, I'm so sorry," Miss Jenn said. "I wasn't thinking when I said that-"

Nini cut her off. "No, it's ok. Really. It's... It's fine."

"Are you sure?" she asked apologetically.

"Yeah." She gave a small smile.

Miss Jenn sighed while turning back to the clipboard in her arms. "Such a shame," she sighed. "I wonder whatever happened to him."

Nini chuckled a little under her breath but bit her lip to keep quiet. You have no idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you positive?"

"Yes, why would I make something like this up?"

"I don't know."

Nia was asking Ricky if he was sure of what was in his dream. "I saw him, Roni. He answered the door and tried to pull me in. That's all that happened before I woke up."

"Ok." She begins panicking. "This doesn't mean anything. This doesn't have to mean anything. It was just a dream. Meyers has ensured our safety."

"Yes, that's right. This is just a crazy thing my imagination has created."

"Mhm, that is the only explanation."

It's quiet between the two adults until Ricky asks, "Have you had dreams like that?"

She shakes her head. "Not recently."

"Well, what should we do?"

It's silent for a moment while they think. "I say try not to turn it into a big deal. It was just a one-time dream, right?" He nodded. "Well, then maybe we don't stress about it unless it keeps happening."

"Ok. Ok, we can try." Deep down, they both knew they weren't going to be able to let this go so easily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eventually, the end of the day finally arrives. As she waits in the parking lot for Lauren and Jayden, Nini takes this opportunity to call Ricky. He answers after three rings.

"Hey," he said weakly.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah. All good."

"Mkay," she murmured skeptically.

"Why'd you call?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Oh, um, I got your voicemail earlier."

"Oh, right." He sounded that much more scared. He didn't think she'd actually call.

"Are you sure you're ok? You sound frightened."

"It, uh... it's stupid."

"Hey, don't say that," she said sincerely.

"But it's true."

"I doubt that."

"I just had a nightmare and wanted to make sure it wasn't real."

"That's it?"

"I know, ok? It's a dumb reason to-"

"Ricky, calm down. I don't think it's dumb."

"You don't?"

"No, I-" She stops when she sees the twins coming out of the building. "I've got to go, but we'll talk later, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure." She thinks it's stupid. "Bye."

"See ya." She sets her phone down and looks at his contact. It's the same picture she's used for years now. The only difference was the number.

The twins arrive at the car, and Lauren reluctantly gets in the back. "Wow, you guys compromised on something?" Nini questioned.

"No, we flipped a coin," Jayden explained.

"Ah, makes more sense."

🍪🍪🍪

We hit 20,000 reads last week!!🥳

I decided to wait until this chapter to mention it because last week was the 50th chapter.

I can't believe so many people have taken time out of their days to read my little story. I can't properly express how surprised I am with how this story and my others have made it so far.

This is the celebratory video:

It's a masterpiece.