Teenagers were bustling about the bomb shelter, costumes and props in their arms. The energy coursing through the room was palpable; so much was happening at once and it was hard to keep track of it all. Nini looked around the bomb shelter in search of a specific person, spotting his curly brown hair and white shirt from the corner of her eye. He was talking to Carlos about certain dance moves and she couldn't help but give a small smile at how hard he was working for this.
"Hey, can I steal Ricky for a bit?" Nini asked Carlos, avoiding the look said boy was giving her.
"Of course. We start in ten!" Carlos reminded.
Nini pulled Ricky aside as Carlos was called over to tend to last-minute choreography practice.
"What's up?" Ricky gulped.
"Here," Nini whispered excitedly.
Nini always gave out opening night cards to everyone, no matter what part of the show they worked on and honestly, Ricky wasn't entirely sure he'd be getting one. Things had been tense between him and Nini ever since they broke up and he joined the musical to win her back, but with the show nearing closer and closer, things were starting to work out between them. He should've known better. Nini would never exclude anyone despite personal relations. Ricky was grateful to call her a friend, but he couldn't help but long for more.
"Thanks, Nini," Ricky said softly.
Their eyes met and seemed to stay that way for a few minutes. The possibility of Nini reciprocating his feelings consumed Ricky's mind whenever the two shared a prolonged look, or their hands brushed together. Was it so unlikely that maybe, just maybe, Nini loved him too?
No. It was opening night-- nerves were high, emotions were all over the place, but this is the time everyone had been waiting for. And so much work was put into this musical.
I'm not going to ruin this. I can't, not this. Ricky thought,
"Places, everyone!" Miss Jenn's voice could be heard from across the bomb shelter.
Both Ricky and Nini looked down, awkwardly chuckling before Nini lightly touched his arm.
"It's no problem," Nini smiled. "Break a leg."
Ricky chuckled, "Yeah, you too."
After giving each other one last smile, they took their places. Ricky unconsciously moved his hand to where Nini's hand was on his arm, missing her light touch. God, what is wrong with me, Ricky groaned inwardly. He looked around at everyone and it was clear that they were smiling more than they ever had. Even EJ.
It felt like he was in a movie, and this was the climax. Everything was about to happen, everything had been leading up to this. And just like in a movie, Ricky was seeing everything in slow motion.
He looked to his best friend, who grinned and gave him a big thumbs up. Carlos was running around making sure everything was in place, but he gave Ricky a quick smile with a look in his eyes that said 'You got this.' Seb was beaming, it was impossible to not feel a bit better seeing him look so happy. Kourtney and Nini were talking, probably exchanging pep talks, and even Gina was here.
Gina. Ricky thought at one point maybe they could've been something. The car talk the night of homecoming, singing When There Was Me and You to her, the knitted hat; there were so many moments that could've turned into something different. But it was always Nini.
The girl who wrote a song to tell him 'I love you,' the girl who gave everyone, no matter what, a card on opening night. Nini was the one person he could talk to despite everything, from kindergarten to junior year, that fact never changed. They would always sing songs together in her bedroom, play Guitar Hero at the arcade, every moment with her felt like being on cloud nine. Her talent was one in a million, but so was she.
