as nini saw the tweet she immediately looked up to see who was taking photos of her. she scanned the hallways and stayed as quiet as she can looking for the exposer, but no one was there.
"nini! there you are!" ej called out. nini watched as all of her friends ran down the hallway and sat down on the stairs next to nini. the four friends saw how watery the girl's eyes were as she bit her lip to try and hold back her tears.
"nini... im sorry," carlos softly said and as he rubbed his hand up and down her back. nini couldn't hold it in any longer. she felt her sadness wash out of her body and sobbed as hard as she can in carlos' chest. ej and ashlyn were quick to go to nini's side and comfort her as much as they can. the sound of nini's cries echoed throughout the hallway and it broke each and every one of their hearts.
gina quietly sat on the floor as she looked at her best friend. the longer and harder nini cried, the faster gina's eyes filled with tears. the two of them have always been close, ever since freshman year. so when they fight, it takes a toll on both of the girls.
"neens, im so sorry," gina softly said. nini slowly got out of carlos' grip and faced her best friend, "i've been a terrible friend to you lately and im so sorry. i wasn't there for you when i should have been... i was focusing on the wrong things. and even though you didn't love ethan, you still lost him and im so sorry for not being there for you."
"it's okay ive been a shit friend too," nini quietly muttered, "you guys are just looking out for me and i'm just so distant all the time..."
"do you know who could've leaked those messages?" ashlyn asked but nini just shook her head, "have you talked to ricky?"
"no.. i don't really know what to say," nini revealed ej got up from the ground and started to think to himself.
"listen nini... i don't wanna piss you off or anything. but don't you think it's kinda suspicious that once ricky starts acting all nice to you, you tell him everything, and the same day it's on the exposer?"
"mm.. i don't know. i haven't really thought about it," nini answered as she shrugged her shoulders. carlos was next to get up and followed ej's actions.
"ej's got a point," carlos stated as he indicated at ej, "i mean just a few weeks ago you and ricky hated each other. he always says how he hates people like you and now he has no problem inviting you to his house or giving you his sweater."
"how'd you know?" nini asked as she tugged at the hem of ricky's sweater. all of her friends gave her dead stares as nini looked at them with confusion.
"oh come on nini, since when do you dress like that," gina exclaimed as she laughed, "we been knew."
"yeah where'd he get that? goodwill?" ashlyn asked as the rest of them laughed. nini looked to the ground as she started to think about all the suspicions her friends were telling her.
"do you guys think ricky is the exposer?" nini hesitantly asked. the five friends glanced at each other before nodding their head, ".. wait it kinda makes sense..? right?"
"i mean he knew everything," gina exclaimed and got up from the stairs, "ricky was there at the parlor with you, he was there at the coffee shop with you, he knew that you had a falling out with us, it's your guys text messages that were leaked-"
"let's also talk about the fact that ricky is never targeted on the account," ashlyn quickly said as she cut off gina, "sorry gina, but i had to say it before i forgot. but think about it. it's always: what did nini do? where is nini? nini, say something!"
"and this all started the day you met ricky," ej added, "i mean sure the exposer has been here, but it hasn't been this consistent or obsessed with one story since ricky."
"and isn't his friend..the guy with the red hair," carlos started to say, "isn't he really good with computers? i heard he's in ap computer science and the robotics club. maybe he hacked into your phone."
"oh my god," nini thought to herself. all of their friends head shot up and they looked at her with worry, "the day ethan died... i threw my phone and the whole thing broke. somehow, kourtney found me and tried to comfort me. but anyways, i was just so upset that i left it my phone there, but my old sim card was in there. i have a new sim card with the same number now... do you think she grabbed it?"
"you think they're all in on it?" ashlyn asked.
"i mean they always talk about how much they hate us," ej said, "what if this is their way of showing it? ruining our lives?"
"guys.. this is crazy. we have to do something!" gina exclaimed. nini's phone rang and she picked it up and saw it was a text message from ricky.
"he texted me," nini said with a shudder, "ricky's texting me."
"fuck he's coming," nini quickly said. she grabbed her backpack off the floor and looked at her friends, "let's go!" the five friends started running out of the hallway and through the school doors. once they got outside of the school, they all started to sprint towards their cars until they heard a voice.
"NINI! NINI!" ricky yelled as he chased after her. nini stopped running and turned around to see ricky and his friends chasing after her and her friends.
"GO AWAY PARLOR BOY! I DON'T WANNA TALK TO YOU!" nini yelled once ricky got closer to her. ricky tilted his head in confusion and tried to reach for nini's arm but she yanked it away.
"she told you to leave man," ej said with a stern voice as he stepped in front of nini. gina watched as nini lightly held on to ej's arm and felt the jealousy build up inside of her body. kourtney saw gina's reaction and put a smirk on her face.
"i think your girlfriend over there is getting a bit jealous," kourtney spat as she slowly walked closer to them. ej looked back at gina and rolled his eyes at kourtney before walking away.
"ricky. just leave me alone," nini gritted throughly her teeth, "i don't wanna talk to you."
"what did i do wrong?!" ricky yelled in frustration.
"you know what you did ricky!"
"nini. i literally have no idea wha-"
"YOU'RE THE EXPOSER!" nini yelled as she cut ricky off. the whole parking lot grew silent as ricky looked at nini with astonishment.
"you think that's me? that stupid twitter account is me?"
"oh shut up ricky! this whole act that you pull off in front of everybody is not gonna work on me," nini exclaimed while anger boiled through her body, "you try to act like you don't care about me or my friends lives, like you don't care what people think about you, like you don't care about social media - when it's really the opposite. you wanna be us so bad. you're obsessed with us, our lives."
"OH MY GOD," ricky retorted with frustration in his tone. he rolled his eyes at the girl, "do you fucking hear yourself? you think i'm obsessed with .. you? your sad little life of toxic friends that bully you 24/7 and your parents who don't even know you exist. yeah nini, i want your life soooo bad."
"EJ DON'T-"
ej quickly stepped in front of nini and punched ricky right in the jaw causing ricky to fall backwards. ej was quick to get ontop of ricky, but the curly headed boy jabbed ej on the face before he could get pinned down. he seemed to laugh as his knuckles connected with ej's face, while he failed to get up. ricky got up from the ground, but was kicked in the back by ej's foot.
"EJ STOP!" gina yelled while everyone anxiously watched the two boys fight. ej walked over to ricky and gave him one last punch in the face. ricky's head titled backward as his body fell to the ground. before ej could do anything else, ashlyn and carlos pulled him away.
"you rags better stay the hell away from us," ej spat as they all walked away. nini gave one last glance at ricky who was laying on the floor as his friends surrounded him. before she could feel any remorse for him, she looked away.