the exception

25. pretending

BUCKLE UP WILDCATS! ITS BOUTTA BE- well to be fair its not EXTREME or CRAZY. but u get answers.

Ricky's pov

{Wednesday}

It's six in the morning and I'm in my bedroom, getting ready for school, while Nina is asleep in the guest bedroom. I'm still wondering what happened...and she's yet to tell me anything. But, while I wait for her to be ready, I have another problem. I pace around my room as I wait for Kourtney, Carlos, and Seb to pick up the facetime call. After minutes of waiting, they all finally pick up.

"Ricky! It's six in the morning!", Carlos yawns, rubbing his eyes, "I could've had my 15 more minutes of sleep!"

I roll my eyes, "Guys! I have an urgent problem. And you're all my friends now so...you get to hear it!"

"Gee...can't wait...", Carlos sarcastically replies.

"Ignore him, he gets grumpy in the morning. What's up?", Seb smiles.

"Okay....so uh- how do I say this...I uh- I..."

"Use your words, Ricky! I don't have all day.", Carlos whines.

"Okay uh- so...Nina...I-"

"Omg did she tell you what happened?!", Kourtney eagerly asks, interrupting me.

"Would you shut up and let the man talk! We're gonna be here all day!", Carlos complains.

I take a deep breath, whispering, "I think...I- I think I'm in l-love...with...N-Nina. Or at least...h-have uh- some f-feeling...t-towards her..."

They all stare at me, wide-eyed. It makes my heart race out of my chest. I know they're her best friends and all...and I'm probably just known as her bully and guy who hurt her. But, I hope they're not gonna be upset. And, I'm not even sure if that's what I feel towards her....but I'm pretty sure it is. After seconds of silence, their faces all go normal again and I give them a confused look.

"Uh- guys?", I clear my throat.

"Yeah?", they respond.

"You have...anything to say?"

"Oh! Not really. Ricky, we knew that a looong time ago.", Kourtney chuckles.

I furrow my brows, "W-what?!"

"Yeah...when you first asked for our help...we could already tell!", Seb explains.

My cheeks turn a faint color of red as I try to hide my face out of the frame. Seb chuckles a little, along with Carlos. But, Kourtney seems to stay quiet, until she speaks up.

"Just Ricky-", Kourtney speaks, "I-if you...if you two end up becoming something more...p-please don't...hurt her..."

I take a deep breath, "I'm not. I promise. I...I'm aiming for only making her the happiest girl alive."

They all give me sweet smiles before we bid our goodbyes. I take another deep breath, smiling to myself, before I shove my phone in my pocket and I head down the stairs. To my surprise, when I walk downstairs, I see Nina sitting in the kitchen, typing on her phone.

"M-morning...", I greet.

She jumps and quickly turns her phone off, slamming it face down on the table.

"Oh uh- Ricky! Hi!", she frantically says back, tucking hair behind her ears.

"Y-you good?", I chuckle.

"Mhm! All good...", she sadly chuckles back.

"Do you feel like going to school today or-"

"I probably should...I haven't been in a long time. Luckily Makenna has been back for a couple days...so I can have a break from working. Although I kinda need the money-", she chuckles.