ONE LIFE, Ricky Bowen

[26]

"Yes, it is so nice to meet you! Nini was incredible in the show," she replied. Mrs. Salazar-Roberts thanked her before she ushered the two inside, telling them to enjoy the party.

Ashlyn cheered out when she saw the couple appear in the living room, being one of the last to arrive at the party. "Oh my gosh, hey guys!" She came over to hug both Ricky and Luna, taking them by surprise.

"Hey everyone," the couple greeted after their hug with Ashlyn.

Seb spoke up to fill them in on what they were doing. "We were just doing the 'Most Likely to' challenge, and one of the questions was who is most likely to get married first? We all agreed it would be you two."

A sheepish smile appeared on both of their faces. "Shut up," Ricky called out, his cheeks heating up. Luna's grip on her boyfriend tightened with an embarrassed smile.

The two split up to talk with different people. Ricky went to speak to his best friend while Luna naturally gravitated towards the kitchen where she saw Nini standing alone, tending to the food that was set out.

"Hey Nini," she called out. A friendly smile appeared on her face as she walked closer to the party's host.

Nini returned the smile, putting down the bag of pretzels she had in her hand to pull the girl into a hug. Slightly taken by surprise, Luna hugged back. "Hi, I'm so glad you made it! I'm guessing Ricky came tonight too? You two are like a package deal now," she teased. This caused the girls to let out a laugh.

Luna nodded once their laughter died down. "Yes, he's around here somewhere. But thank you for having us!"

The other girl waved her off, starting to refill the next bowl of chips. "Of course, it's no problem."

Luna offered to help the girl with food, which was gratefully accepted. She was handed a plate to put Ashlyn's cookies on. The two girls made small talk with each other about the musical, school, and the party. It was nice to finally have a nice conversation between them that didn't involve Ricky in any aspect.

"Can you believe it's over? This musical went by so quickly, and it totally changed my life," Nini stated. Luna shook her head, swallowing her food.

"I can't believe it. I swear it was just yesterday that Gina pulled me to go to the read through with her," Luna explained, feeling sad all the sudden at the mention of her friend who moved away. She saw her two days ago, but she was going to miss seeing her practically every day. The two best friends had established a rule that they would call at least once a day, maybe twice, to talk to each other. Gina was the one pressing this rule so that she was able to connect with the girl as much as she could before her days ran out.

Nini was also sad. Although Gina had tried to take her spot as the lead, she really was a sweet girl who was insanely talented, and deserved the lead just as much as she did. "Yeah, how is Gina by the way? I know she was just here two days ago, but I just hope she is doing alright with the move and everything."

With a shrug, Luna replied, "Yeah, I hope so too. She tells me that she is doing good, but I'm her best friend so I know better. I just can't imagine having to just up and move halfway through the school year. That's so insane."

The other girl pointed out, "Plus, not even being able to fully perform in the musical she worked so hard for." Both the girls sighed sadly. "I'm kind of surprised that Miss Jenn didn't ask you to take over as Taylor. When you sang with Ricky opening night, I was shocked. You have a great voice! You should really audition for the next musical."

Immediately, Luna shook her head no. "I could never do that— I don't have time for it." As she literally didn't have many days left to do it. "I'm not even good enough to land a role."