Stars Are Stupid | Rina

Part 8

Gina's POV

I'm upstairs when I hear the doorbell ring. I hurry to finish tying my hair in a bun before rushing out of my room toward the stairwell, but I hear the door open and peak down to see that Nolee has gotten to the door before me. 

She looks Ricky up and down then says, "Why do you look like a One Direction Wannabe?"

"Nolee!" I hiss, running down to take her place. 

She steps aside but stays to watch my interaction with the boy at the door. He just laughs and glances to her then me. 

"You must be the one who likes the metal music," he says to her. 

"Yup," she replies. "And who are you?"

"This is Ricky," I tell her. "He's my..." I don't want to say friend, but I know I can't say boyfriend. "...my castmate," I say. 

"You don't look like a drama geek," Nolee responds. 

"Give it another year," Ricky says. "I'm sure I'll get there."

His eyes shift toward me, sparking, although not from the lights behind me. 

"Um..." I try to get my head to focus on speaking although that's hard when he's looking at me like this. "What are you doing here?"

"I was skateboarding and stopped at the 7-Eleven, and I accidentally bought and extra Kit Kat bar."

"Accidentally, eh?"

"Yes," he says, "and I had to think of who to give it to, and I knew you love Kit Kats, so I thought it only made sense that I come here to give it to you."

I smile and hold out my hand. 

"Okay, but," he goes on, not giving me the Kit Kat, "I ate it."

"You ate it," I repeat. 

"So I came here to ask you to walk with me so that I can buy you a new one."

I nod slowly, looking at him skeptically, but he just stands with a goofy smile, which I couldn't turn down even if I wanted to. 

"Well, I'm not gonna turn down a free Kit Kat."

He says a little "yes" as he grins, and I grab my jacket off the hook before going outside to join him, closing the door behind me. 

I stroll alongside him down my porch and onto the sidewalk. It's not dark yet, but it's getting there. The air is chilly, but I don't mind it. Ricky's walking close enough that I feel the heat coming from him into me. His skateboard is held snug under the arm farthest from me, letting me get closer than usual. 

"So did you actually want to buy me a Kit Kat?" I question. 

"Well, I'm not going to take back my offer," he responds. "But I mostly just wanted an excuse to hang out with you."

"You know you don't need an excuse," I say. "I like hanging out with you."

"You do?" 

"Yeah," I confirm. "I do. Although walking around after it snowed earlier isn't my ideal activity."

"I like walking around, or skateboarding," he replies. "I just like going places."

"Yeah, places are nice," I say. 

"Like, I've always wanted to see Europe and Africa and Asia, and basically everywhere," Ricky goes on. 

"You're going to be one of those people who take a year off to travel after you graduate, aren't you?"