Roller Coasters and Butterflies (Rini Through the Years)

2 (pov. Ricky)

We finally arrived in LA. One of the reasons I was excited to go to Six Flags was because it meant we would be traveling to California, and I've always wanted to go to California.

I don't really know why I've wanted to visit there. Nini would always talk about it as if it was some sort of dream. She would go on and on about how many celebrities lived there, and how Hollywood was known for its tv series and movie making.

It made sense why she would admire California because of those things. Nini is a theater girl. She's been singing and acting since she could talk, or so I've been told. She's dreamed of getting cast in movies and tv shows, and getting lead roles in plays. You know, theater kid dreams.

Part of me feels like that's why I've wanted to visit. Not because of the acting opportunities because let's face it, the arts aren't my thing. I'm a skater boy. I ride my skateboard, play video games, and watch YouTube. I'm getting into playing guitar though, but the whole world doesn't need to know that. I'm not even that good at it. The reason I've been excited to visit was because Nini made it sound amazing, and whenever Nini gets excited about things, I get excited too. Well, things that don't include the arts. It's really weird and I don't understand why I could care so much about the things she likes. She's my best friend so I guess that explains it?

We walked out of the airport a little after 8pm. We loaded our rental cars and drove to our hotel.

"So everyone agreed to ordering pizza for dinner right Lynn?" Asked my dad while my mom was searching pizza restaurants on her phone.

My dad kept his eyes on the rode, waiting for a response.

"Um personally I'm not feeling pizza but if everyone else wants that then we'll have pizza."

My dad sighed.

"Honey what was the sigh for." I could hear annoyance in my mom's tone of voice.

"Well it's just...you're being difficult again. You seemed perfectly fine with pizza when we talked about it while waiting for our flight, and now hours later you want to complain to me about how you don't want pizza."

"Mike, that's not true. And what makes you feel like I'm complaining? I'm fine with whatever. It's been a long day and I know everyone wants something quick and easy."

I was trying to zone out of their conversation until I could feel my mom's eyes on me. I looked up from the skateboarding YouTube video playing on my phone.

"Oh sorry. Did you ask me something?"

"I wanted to make sure pizza sounded good to you." Asked my mom.

I knew the answer was already set in stone, so my yes made the decision clearer.

My parents haven't really had many disagreements in the years past. Or maybe they have but I was never around to hear them.

It's started to become a normal thing though, at least once a day, in the most random of places, about the most random things. They disagreed about money, how to spend weekends, and how the other should go about doing things. What's worse is that when I do end up being around them during an argument, like right now, they always involve me to settle it. I guess whether or not I wanted pizza was the only way they would stop going back and forth about it. It's ridiculous.

I've always tried to zone out when it happens, because when I focus in on them and what they're saying, I tend to get stressed out. Nini said it's good that I don't get nosy about this stuff. She knows that I hate hearing people argue, and so if I put myself in their arguments, it could get worse.

I'm so glad I have Nini to talk to. My close friend Big Red is great for things that don't involve giving advice, and I haven't exactly told him about my family drama yet. It's kind of embarrassing. I just didn't want anyone to know that things weren't the best at home. I guess it was easier to talk to Nini about it because she made me feel like I could tell her about anything. I do tell her about everything. She made me feel at ease, and reminded me that she always had my back no matter what else was happening. She made me feel like everything would be ok.