DAYS REMAINING: 44
LUNA COULDN'T CONTAIN HER TEARS after the night of the dance as she realized that she had finally found a good guy, but lacked enough days to spend with him. She had lied to him about how much time she had left, but couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. Instead of instantly telling him like she felt she should, she settled on telling him when it felt right- whenever that would be.
It had been a few days since the dance. The new couple had been texting, calling and facetiming every single day, multiple times. They hadn't hung out because Luna was trying to spend as much time with her dad as she could before his days ran out, which her boyfriend respected.
Ricky met up with Luna at her locker at the end of the school day, as it was the first time that they had actually been alone with each other all day. Miss Jenn had canceled the rehearsal for today, saying she had some personal matters to attend to, whatever that meant. Nobody questioned her as they all really needed a free day.
Ricky came up behind the girl, snaking an arm around her waist before placing a kiss on her cheek. Tingles started in the spot where his lips were just placed on her cheek. Butterflies erupted in her stomach at the gesture.
"Hi babe," he said in her ear, bringing goosebumps on her skin at the pet name. It felt weird that he was calling her that as she wasn't fully used to being in a relationship with him yet.
She closed her locker, whirling around to look at her brown eyed boyfriend. "Hey Ric," she smiled, laying a quick peck on his lips. "Ready to go?" He nodded, grabbing ahold of her hand as they walked down the hall towards the exit of the school.
The two were finally going to spend some time together, just chilling at her house for a bit after school. Ricky was going to attempt to teach her how to skateboard on their way to her house. She didn't live too far from East High, so they were okay with walking/ skating home.
"How was your day?" He asked, interested in hearing how it went since he didn't get to see her much.
"Not the most eventful, but it's better now that I am with you," she replied cheekily, bumping into his side. He placed his free hand on his heart, awing at his girlfriend's comment. "How about you?"
His face scrunched up a bit. "Kind of sucked. I got a C on my math quiz, which I was hoping I would do better on, but it's fine."
She nodded, knowing the feeling of not doing well on a school assignment that you thought you did good on. "I'm sorry, babe. I'll help you with it, if you want me to sometime."
"That would be much appreciated," he let out a little laugh, knowing his girlfriend was a math genius.
On their way home, he tried to teach her to skateboard, but she kept losing her balance on the board or freaking out if it went a little faster than she was comfortable with. It went better once he just held her hand while she stood on the board, not doing any work as he pulled her along.
When they got to her house, she hopped off the skate board and told Ricky he could leave it under her roofed porch. Entering the house, they immediately smelled some food being cooked. Luna was kind of surprised, not expecting her mother to be home just yet. Grabbing Ricky's hand, she pulled him into the kitchen where her mother stood beside the stove.
"Hey mom, I didn't think you would be home yet, or cooking," she added with a tiny smile. Her mom was a decent cook, but it wasn't surprising if they ended up having to order take out due to the meal not turning out right.
Mrs. Crawford turned her head at the voice, an immediate smile gracing her lips at the sight of her daughter with some company. "Yeah, I am cooking up a meal for us and your dad tonight. Your company is more than welcome to stay for dinner as well," she offered, wiping her hands off with a towel before moving on to cut some fruit.
The girl turned to her boyfriend, asking, "Would you like to stay for dinner? My parents really don't mind."
Ricky nodded with a smile, "Yeah sure, that'd be nice." The teenage boy hadn't had a home cooked meal in while, well, since his mother had left for Chicago all those weeks ago. Leaving Mike and Ricky Bowen to fend for themselves. The two people who never needed to cook their own meals because she would always do it for them.
Turning back to her mom, Luna confirmed that her boyfriend would stay for dinner. "He is going to stay for dinner, Mom." Her mother turned and nodded before raising her eyebrow at her daughter, waiting for an introduction that Luna had not yet given. "Oh, yeah. By the way, this is my boyfriend, Ricky Bowen." With a small smile, she grabbed Ricky's hand, intertwining their fingers. He smiled at the gesture, then offered a wave towards her mom.
A huge smile made its way across Mrs. Crawford's face. Even though she had a suspicion it was her daughter's new boyfriend, she wasn't sure until the words fell from the girl's mouth. She stepped forward to get closer to the boy, extending her hand out for him to shake. "It is so nice to finally meet you! Luna has told me so much about you," she smiled.
Ricky blushed a little that he was a topic in this house, but it was understandable since he was her boyfriend. Glancing at his girlfriend for a second with a smile, he then shook her mom's hand, extending his own greeting, "All good things I hope," he chuckled. "But it's very lovely to meet you as well, Mrs. Crawford."
Before her mother could potentially embarrass her in front of the boy, she spoke up, "Um, let us know when dinner is ready. We will be in my room. Okay, bye." Ricky flashed Mrs. Crawford another smile before being pulled away from the kitchen by his girlfriend. Her mother yelled for them to keep the door open a little, which caused Luna to turn red in the cheeks from embarrassment.
They flopped down on her bed after dumping their school bags by her door. With a sigh, she rolled over on top of her boyfriend, laying on his chest, and listening to his heart beat.
"What's up, Lu?" He asked, noticing the sigh. He had wrapped an arm around her, the other playing with a strand of her hair. She just shrugged from her place on his chest. "Come on, what is it? You know you can tell me anything."
Anything. The word bounced around her mind, echoing as if she would somehow forget it. The word reminded her of what she has not, and could not, tell her boyfriend. How many days she had left was something that terrified her, but also was something she couldn't talk about. Especially not to him. At least not yet.
She decided to take the conversation to another thing on her mind. The factor of his ex-girlfriend. "Have you told Nini about us? Like does she know?"
He knew this conversation would come up sometime. "I haven't told her, but who knows if word spread through the drama club. Why?"
Another shrug. "I just feel like she might get a little upset about it." His head drew up in confusion.
"What do you mean? Why would she get upset? She broke up with me and moved on," he pointed out. "I'm just doing the same as her."
"No, I know. But I don't think you realize that she still has feelings for you, even while she was dating EJ. It was obvious. The look on her face after we kissed at the party. Ric, she looked like she was trying to kill me with her glare."
He took what she said in for a second. Nini did look a little pissed at the party, he noticed that. But honestly, he hadn't put much thought into it. "Valid point. Again though, she had her opportunity with the Rickster," he said, referring to himself with a cringey nickname. A little laugh vibrated through his chest, which then vibrated her face that was resting on him. "And she called it off."
"Okay, never refer to yourself as the Rickster again, you weirdo." She laughed, which made him pout before cracking and joining in on her laughter.
When their laughter died down, Luna brought things serious once again. The room was silent, only their steady breathing was heard. He was still playing with her hair, which immensely relaxed her. "Are you over her, Ricky?"
He was taken back by her question. Of course he was over Nini. At least he thought so. He wanted to be with Luna more than anything so that should be a sign that Nini wasn't the one he wanted, not anymore at least.
Ricky pulled her head up off of his chest so he could look in her eyes as he spoke. "I want you, Luna Crawford. Not her, nor any other girl in this entire freaking world. You're the one who has my heart. Only you."
Luna bit back a smile. "Man, you give a boy a kiss one time and suddenly, he goes all soft." This sentence was a running joke between them, always being mentioned at the funniest times. Ricky rolled his eyes playfully, breaking out in a grin before he flipped them over.
"It has been more than one," he winked, before attaching his lips to hers. Just when they were beginning to enjoy themselves, her mother's voice rang through the house, announcing that dinner was ready.
[ this isn't my favorite chapter, it's kind of eh, but happy 4th of july everyone!! hope it's a good one!! plz vote and comment, don't ghost read ]