the school day went by slowly. ricky and nini tried acting normally, but they couldn't help but act different towards each other. they wouldn't argue and ricky wouldn't give attitude towards her, but they didn't necessarily speak either.
now it was the end of the day and their friends knew that something was up.
***
"neens!" kourtney calls after her
"hey kourt." nini smiles as she turns around to see her friend approaching her
"were all hanging out at ricky's today. you coming?" she asks
nini feels her heartbeat accelerating. she didn't really know if she could survive spending more time in a room with ricky because the awkward tension was just too much
"i-i don't know-"
"nini." kourtney pleads "i promise it's going to be fun!"
nini takes a deep breath and sees the desperation in her eyes
"o-okay. fine."
kourtney squeals in excitement and hugs nini
"great! we're all going over in an hour okay?"
nini nods and watches her friend walk off in the other direction before going home.
when she arrived home, nini heard her phone buzzing with ej calling her
she takes a deep breath and answers it
"hey babe!" he exclaims
"hey. what's up?" she asks
"i was wondering if you wanted to hang out today?" he suggests
"i can't today. i-have homework." nini lies
"oh! that's fine. how about tomorrow? we can go to this restaurant i'm dying to try." he suggests
nini nods "sure."
"perfect. okay, i'll let you get back to work. love you!" he exclaims
"m-me too." she says before hanging up the phone.
she sighs and heads over to her closet to put on a jean jacket in case she gets cold.
"momma c i'm going to ricky's with the others so i might not have dinner here." nini announces as she opens the door
"alright honey, be careful!" carol's voice is heard from the living room
"i will!"
nini closes the door behind her and walks through the familiar road to ricky's house
when she arrives she shakes her hands nervously before hesitantly knocking on the door
muffled footsteps are heard and soon enough, the door opens to reveal ricky
"hey." he smiles
nini feels her heart flutter but she pushes it down and smiles back as he lets her in
"the others aren't here yet, so you can just make yourself comfortable-" he says awkwardly
nini nods and keeps her arms folded as she walks around his living room
"it's all the same." she points out
the boy nods "yeah."
nini looks over to the mantel and sees the picture frames of the both of them when they were smaller
"oh my god." she laughs as she reaches over for the small wooden picture frame at the back
ricky walked over to her interested to see what she was laughing at and that's when he felt a smile form on his face
"that was the summer at that lake remember?" nini giggles
"how could i forget? you pushed me in the lake when you knew i was scared." he groans
nini continues to laugh before gasping and taking another photo
"ricky i still can't believe you kept this!" she exclaims
"that was because you said that there was no way i could fit in a shopping cart anymore-"
"but you proved me wrong." she finishes
ricky nods proudly "oh definitely"
"you do look like you're suffering though." she smirks
"i don't." he says quickly taking the picture
"mhm."
"okay i'd like to see you fit in a shopping cart-"
"but i've accepted the fact that i can't." she giggles
"yeah sure." he says with a smile
nini shakes her head with a smile and sees her favorite photo as she takes it in her hands
ricky nervously scratches the back of his neck and she smiles up at him
"this was my favorite night." she says
"yeah mine too." he replies
flashback
"okay, see nini that's a shooting star-"
"oh my god!" she squeals as she sits up and closes her eyes
"what are you do-"
he gets cut off with the girl putting her hand up in the air
after a few seconds, nini opens her eyes and smiles
"okay you want to tell me now?" he asks her confused
"ricky it was a shooting star, you have to wish for something and then it'll come true." she says
"well i don't really have to wish for anything if i already have everything i want in life." he says
nini blushes and looks down at the grass
"what did you wish for then?" he asks her
"oh i'm not telling anyone that-"
"nini!" he whines
"i'm not going to say it otherwise it won't ever come true!" she whispers
ricky laughs and they both sit up with nini leaning her head on his shoulder and him leaning his head against hers
he looks up at the star-lit sky and says quietly "i love you."
nini looks up at him with her eyes shimmering and smiles softly "i love you too."
end of flashback
"we had some good memories didn't we?" she asks, leaning against the wooden mantel
ricky nods "yeah."
the two stay there in a comfortable silence and hear the doorbell ring
"that must be the others." nini says
ricky walks over to the door and he opens it to see carlos, seb, ashlyn, big red and kourtney.
"how did you guys all arrive late at the same time?" ricky asks confused
nini approaches the doorway and sees them all looking at each other weirdly
"uh- we-we all messed up the timing!" carlos lies
nini raises an eyebrow in suspicion and they all nod
ricky rolls his eyes and opens the door more to let them all in
"so, what did you guys do?" kourtney asks with a smirk
"we just talked." nini answers simply, following the others back into the living room
"more like nini made fun of me sitting in a shopping cart-"
"okay no! that's not what happened, what happened was that you got all defensive about how you couldn't fit in a shopping cart." she exclaims
"no i didn't-"
"guys! we're still here." ashlyn announces
ricky and nini both look down embarrassed before seeing seb with a pack of 'spicy uno' cards
"let's play." nini says quickly, sitting down on the floor
everyone smiles and nod, while ricky sits next to nini normally and they all play together
"that worked i guess?" big red whispers to gina
gina smiles at the view of ricky and nini playfully arguing about a card he put down for her and nods her head
"it definitely worked."