𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗰 [𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗮𝘂]

bruises .26

the week went on and each day, ricky took someone's pain.

tuesday it was seb and carlos. the couple was always fighting about something,

wednesday it was ej. he didn't get into duke but he got a scholarship to play lacrosse at UCLA. but it wasn't enough for his dad.

thursday morning it was kourtney. she got into FIDM in san francisco but is having financial issues to afford it.

thursday afternoon it was red. he wants to go to college but his parents want him to stay home and take over the pizza shop.

it was friday now. their final lacrosse game: senior night. ricky was drained. the boy was basically dragging himself everywhere. it didn't help that lacrosse practice has been tormenting since they have to win their final game. jack was also being an asshole to the boy any chance he could get.

he still had bruises and cuts all over his body. he looked terrible.

"baby...you okay?" nini softly asked as she glanced at the tired boy. she put her hand on his head and checked his temperature. ricky forced a smile and sipped on his coffee.

"yeah yeah! lacrosse has just been kicking my ass lately," ricky half lied. nini bit the inside of her tongue. his forehead was so cold.

"you're so cold?" nini exclaimed, "are you sick? have you been sleeping?"

ricky let out a soft chuckle and quickly pecked nini's lips, "i'm fine, bubs. don't worry," ricky whispered to her before pulling away.

he focused on nini's homework. he pointed at the problem, "number six is wrong by the way," dodging the entire conversation.

nini looked away from ricky's eyes and at her homework. she erased it, "what is it?"

"sixteen."

"how do you know?" nini asked. ricky adored his girlfriend and put his arm around her. he softly explained the steps to the math problem and watched as nini's eyes lit up.

"OHHHH! i get it know," nini said with excitement. she started to erase all her answers, "haha... gotta restart the whole thing now, oopsie."

ricky chuckled and admired his girl friend. nini slightly stuck out her tongue as she thought to herself. he watched as nini slowly did her math homework with ease and the boy felt proud.

all the pain he obtained from his friends were nothing against nini. she made him feel safe.

hopefully, he won't have to take hers.

+

the lunch table was depressing. everyone was quiet.  the angsty teenagers played with their food and kept their mouths shut. the occasional cough would come once in awhile but that was it.

"wow wow wow... who died," jack cooed as him and his friends circled around the table. jack went behind ricky and pushed his head down, "you look like shit, bowen."

ej quickly stood up from the table, glaring at jack. "ej–"

"—don't really think that's smart, caswell," jack said in a condescending voice, cutting off ricky. the curly headed boy balled his fists, fighting the urge to lash out on jack.

nini and gina exchanged looks of annoyance and fright. jack continued, "don't wanna lose your scholarship now, huh, buddy?"

ej let out a scoff and sat down. gina held onto ej's hand under the table as they all eyed jack and them.

"you're just mad you couldn't get any," carlos spoke out, arching an eyebrow at the boy.

"i got into columbia," jack stated with a proud smile, "do you really think i care?"

"yeah, because your daddy paid for it," ashlyn spat back, "you're lucky ricky didn't call the cops on you guys or you wouldn't haven't gotten in anywhere."

jack and ricky glanced at each other. jack quickly looked away and shrugged his shoulders,l.

"whatever. see you on the field later boys," jack announced with a sly smirk before walking off. nini glared at lily who eyed the brunette girl with annoyance.

as soon as they left, ricky let out a sigh. he unclenched his fists. he looked at the palm of his hand and saw he was bleeding. the boy's nails were digging to hard into his skin.

"oh my god— ricky??" nini exclaimed and put his hand in hers. she examined his hand, "....what did you do?"

"geezsus dude," red breathed out as they looked at ricky with shock, "what the hell?"

ricky quickly grabbed a napkin and wrapped his hand. he stood up from the table, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "i gotta go."

"wait, wait," nini chased after the boy into the hallway, "ricky! ricky!"

"neens, i gotta go home," was all ricky said before exiting the school.

"you can't skip school!" nini yelled after him, "if you skip you can't play in your senior night game. do you really wanna do that?"

ricky stopped in his tracks and turned around to face nini, "maybe that's best then."

"you also won't be able to go to prom," nini reminded him, raising her eyebrows at the boy.

ricky sighed. she was right.

the boy did this to himself too. the only way he was gonna be able to keep doing his job was if he kept challenging himself. 

nini anxiously waited for the boy's response. her foot tapped on the floor as nerves fled her body. ricky nodded his head and slowly made his way back to nini. the girl wrapped her arm around his waist and walked with him down the hall.

"come on," nini softly said, "let's get you cleaned up."