in your reflection || rini au

05. slip away

"so, what are we doing tonight? i was thinking laser tag." seb grinned as he opened his locker

"or we could go to that new escape room place that opened up!" gina gasped "i heard they have this sort of mummy room where they put actual ancient artifacts."

"that sounds one hundred percent clickbait material." carlos said with a nod, everyone else chuckling as gina stuck her tongue out in a mocking manner

"well let's take a vote then." howie shrugged "nini, what do you think?"

the brunette girl looked up from her biology notes and opened her mouth, feeling a little uncomfortable with how to lie to her friends...she wasn't good at it. especially not to people she cared about.

"um...i-i can't..." she muttered quietly

the group all frowned and furrowed their brows together

"how come?" big red asked

nini looked at her best friend before quickly looking away - she knew she'd get caught at first glance by the red-head so she just looked down at the floor

"um...i...have to help my mom...with something." she said "it's-she's still in her binge watching new shows phase and she wanted to finish the first season of stranger things with me..."

big red raised a suspicious brow at that, choosing to stay quiet as the others just went with what nini had told them.

as the bell rang and they all split up to make their way to their classes, nini felt her best friend tap her on the shoulder

"what's up?" she asks calmly, looking up at him from her notebook once again

"you told me your mom was watching teen wolf at the moment." he inquired, his eyes squinted in suspicion

nini felt herself panic inside before she cleared her throat "um...she got bored..."

"with teen wolf?"

"mhm..."

"your mom? got bored? watching teen wolf?"

"yep! that's what i said!"

"really-"

"yes."

big red kept his gaze on her for a few seconds as they arrived at their spanish class, nini looking through her bag to get her textbook before sighing in frustration

"what's wrong?"

"i forgot my textbook in my locker." she huffed "save my seat, i'll be right back!"

before big red could even answer her, nini bolted off down the hall, the boy shaking his head in complete puzzlement

"first her mom gets bored with teen wolf, then she forgets her textbook-?"

+

nini panted as she fumbled with the lock of her locker, opening it up to get the book as quick as she could before shutting it close with a slam, turning around to rush back down the hall before she stopped in her tracks when hearing laughter further away

and she recognized that laughter. without a doubt, she knew whose it was...

she saw the curly-haired boy emerge from the corner of the hallway with a taller raven-haired boy beside him, the two talking about something that seemed careless yet it was enough to keep them distracted from her presence

nini took that as her chance to leave as quick as she could before he could see her

them being in her way, she decided to rush off in the complete opposite direction, clutching her book tightly as she took the long way back to her spanish class.

she felt her heart rate at an increased speed; forcing herself to believe that it was from the stress of being late to her lesson rather than being close to him again as she made her way down the halls

nini sighed in relief, arriving at her spanish class and opening it to see mr mazzara seated at the teacher's chair

"miss salazar-roberts. it's about time you join us." he said sarcastically, his eyes on a test paper he was marking as the class stayed silent on their computers, doing their work and watching intently

nini opened her mouth and looked around the classroom nervously "um...where's mr hernandez?"

"sick with the flu. which you would've known had you been on time for class."

"i-i forgot my textbook-"

"detention after school." mr mazzara sighed. he said the phrase so easily it was as though it was a routine sentence to say to any student.

nini widened her eyes "detention? but i-"

"you are late."

"i didn't-"

"and you're wasting mine, yours and your peers' lesson time too. so, sit down and do your work assigned." mr mazzara told her promptly, gesturing to the seat that big red had kept open for the girl

nini bit her teeth together as she held back any thoughts and replies that were itching to come out, frustratedly making her way to her table and sitting down

choosing to leave her alone for now, big red kept his surprised and (though he chose not to show it for his best friend's sake) slightly amused reaction as to what had happened to himself as the class fell silent once again.