Stars Are Stupid | Rina

Part 7

Ricky's POV

I haven't been to Nini's house since that night when my parents told me they were getting divorced. Being here again feels kind of weird. I mean, I guess it should be like a long-awaited reunion, but it's more like accidentally crashing your car into that Chinese food place you used to eat at as a kid. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but that's the feeling I have sitting on the bed in her room with her. 

"Um, do you want some water?" Nini asks. 

"I'm good," I respond. "So, um, it's mostly the last chorus that I need to work on."

"Okay, well, I can play the piano while you sing. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that's great."

She adjusts the keyboard in front of her so that it's easier to reach. As she begins the song, I watch her play. I always used to love watching her whenever she performed, because she was always so passionate about it, and I still like watching her. Her love for what she's doing just radiates off her. It reminds me of Gina when she dances, the way every beat has an effect far greater than what the eye can see. I nearly forget to even begin singing, but I do, and once I'm done, I don't feel too happy with myself. 

"I couldn't hold the note," I mutter. 

"Well, you don't have to sing it exactly like the movie," Nini says. "Make it your own."

I nod, and we try again. Make it my own. This time, I let myself sink into the song, and rather than focusing on getting every note right, I just sing it. I'm smiling by the end of it, because it helped. Sure, it's nothing like the recording, but I think it sounded pretty decent. 

When I turn back to the girl playing the piano again, I feel caught off guard for a second, as though I wasn't expecting to see Nini there. But obviously I was. I don't know why I wouldn't. She's here, and she's the one helping me right now, and that's part of why I love her. I do. I mean, I always have. She's my fate. I know that. But looking at her right now, it feels a little off, and I don't know why. 

That thought sticks in my head as I'm driving home from her house later. Lately, I haven't felt the same. Being with Nini was awesome as always, but it almost felt like it was missing something. It was missing the intensity that it used to have, the pressure that made my heart beat faster, the lasso that roped my mind into only staring at her. But nothing has changed. I don't think anything has changed. She's still every bit of amazing that she always was. She's still the same person whom I believed I would fall in love with and stay in love with for life, the one who I knew was written in the stars to be with me. 

As I slow to stop at a fork in the road, I suddenly have a thought intrude on my internal dialogue. In that instant, I decide to turn left, but it's crazy. She's probably not even there. I don't know why I'm bothering to check. But I'm curious to see if maybe she is there. 

After parking in the gravel lot, I get out and start walking alongside the fence that looks out over the mine. Soon, a shadowy figure begins to show in the moonlight, and I'm glad I came, because she is here. 

Gina looks up at me, her eyes following me as I settle down on the grass beside her. 

"What are you doing here?" she asks. 

"I was just driving by and thought maybe you'd be here. Are you doing homework?"

She looks down at the notebook in her lap then back up at me, saying, "Um, yeah. I have a test tomorrow."

"What subject?"

"History. It's on the Great Depression."

"I remember learning about that. Though, to be honest, most of the stuff I learnt in grade ten I purposefully forgot over the summer."