what more can i say | rini au

2.

It was just Gina. But to be fair she could've guessed that. Big Red preferred driving himself when he was in a car, and Nini would much rather not have him drive her, so she was mostly okay with this current situation.

Mostly.

Nini was alone in the back of Ricky's (Big Red's) stupid orange car while none other than Regina Porter was in the passenger seat. She was in her spot for crying out loud. And yes, it was her idea to move, she had a feeling Ricky wouldn't dare disrupt tradition that way to ask her to, but that didn't make it easier to watch Gina sit there.

She just wanted him to be happy, and maybe Gina would make him happy. Even if it didn't always feel that way from Nini's limited perspective. But she has to give the girl a chance, even if she's running out of those.

Gina is his girlfriend. Even if she won't let anyone find out beyond his immediate social circle, it was definitely a thing. Plus despite Gina's reservations, he'd insisted on telling Nini and the guys and soon enough after that Aspen and Kourtney knew too. But as much as they all talked (Big Red and Kourtney especially), no one had spilled that little secret of their relationship to the broader Salt Lake teenage population.

Sometimes Nini wonders if Gina's okay with them knowing because she thinks no one would believe them.

And okay, sure, maybe their classmates wouldn't believe them. Wouldn't believe that Gina Porter, prima ballerina, would even consider dating Ricky Bowen the skate rat.

But regardless it rubs her the wrong way. Something about Gina's demands always rub her the wrong way, and she's just trying to be a good friend to him.

(Even though Kourtney likes to say she'd like Gina a lot more if she didn't have a crush on Ricky.) It's not jealousy she swears. Or at least it's not just jealousy.

So no, all that in mind, she didn't love watching Gina's hand resting on his bicep as he drove down the quiet streets, her smiling and laughing at his dumb jokes that weren't even that funny.

The girl's fingers tangle with each other on her lap as she struggles to find her place in their conversation, and she just can't. It's not right. Even other times when he takes those few chances to include her, it doesn't feel the same. She's taken her out of her element by the Gina of it all. But she sees the way he tries for her,

"Nini, did you want anything from Starbucks? I'm buying today so you don't have to worry about the cost." Gina's sweet voice calls to her from the front, shaking her from her distant mind.

She almost shakes her head, but offers the curly haired girl a smile. "Oh yeah sure, thanks Gina. Can I get an iced vanilla latte?" Nini runs a hand through her hair absentmindedly, trying not to think too hard about the accompanying commentary. Gina probably meant well. Just- hers and Gina's families lived very different lives.

"No whipped cream right Neens?" Ricky chimes in with a silly grin, craning his head back at the light.

"No whipped cream." She confirms, turning to Gina again. "I only get whipped cream-"

"-On hot chocolate." Ricky picks up the end of her sentence, causing the two to start laughing.

"You two are just the sweetest. It's so nice to have jokes with your friends." Gina interjects with a smile across her lips.

Nini never knows if it's genuine but on some level she thinks it is. If there's one thing she appreciates about Gina it's that she's never actually questioned Nini about her closeness with Ricky. If she was worried about it she'd never brought it to her.

It was nice, not being asked if she and Ricky had ever been anything. In part because they weren't, and in part because it showed some sort of respect for her place in his life. Nini never wanted to stop being best friends with Ricky, so the idea of some jealous girlfriend coming in and telling her to stay away from him rubbed her the wrong way.