𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗰 [𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗮𝘂]

where's nini .27

the boys were in the locker room. they were getting ready for their last game. ricky was wrapping his wrists with pre-wrap, knowing how brutal this game would be. winning this game wasn't an option. it was a necessity. ej was leaning against his locker, downing so many water bottles to try and calm his nerves down.

"don't drown yourself there, caswell," ricky said with a nervous chuckle. ej shakes his head and tosses the water bottle in the trash.

"not yet, at least," ej voiced. ricky let out a chuckle and threw his pre-wrap in his gym bag, sitting close to him.

"come on, ladies," their coach yelled as he ran through the locker room, blowing his whistle. ej pulled ricky up, and they gave each other a smile.

"last game together, bowen," ej pointed out with a soft smile, "after all those middle school years and these last four years go high school — this is it."

ricky let out a sigh and forced a smile at ej. "then let's make the most of it," ricky breathed out.

as the rest of the team left the locker room, jack stayed behind. he waited until ricky and ej were of sight and ran towards ricky's open gym bag.

the boy rummaged through ricky's bag, "come on, where is it?" jack muttered to himself. he finally found ricky's phone as a devilish smile escaped his lips.

"there you are."

as nini was getting out of her car, the girl felt her phone buzz. she saw a text from ricky, and her face quickly fell.

the girl immediately tucked away her phone and ran inside the school. the clueless girl ran through the hallways, frantic to find the boy. the inside of the school was so dark and empty, nini could hear her footsteps echoing down the hall.

the girl stopped in her tracks and scanned for ricky but still couldn't find him. she was starting to panic because the game would start soon. she dialled for his number one more time, but he wasn't answering.

"ricky?" nini called out into the silence. suddenly, she felt someone throw a trash bag over her head, and they snatched her phone out of her hands. nini felt someone pull her backwards and her back hit the cold, hard floor. she quickly took off the trash bag over her head and saw lily, howie, and antoine standing over her. "w-what the hell do you guys think you're doing??"

the three friends didn't say anything but laugh as they ran out of the supply closet. nini got up from the floor as fast as she could to chase them, but they closed the door on her. nini heard them lock the door and their footsteps get further away from her. her heart dropped once she realized they had left her stranded. she repeatedly banged her fists on the door and screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping someone would find her.

but it was the boys' senior night. prom game. and their last game of the season.

no one was missing that game.

+

"where's nini?" gina whined, checking her phone once again. the game was gonna start soon, and the girl was still nowhere in sight.

"maybe she's still driving here...? ...running late?" seb suggested in a happy face, "maybe ricky knows...?"
everyone just shrugged their shoulders and let out a sigh. ricky ran over to his friends with a cheery smile. he had his jersey in his hand for nini to wear for the last time.

"hey!" ricky greeted. he looked around his friends in search of nini but didn't see her. "uh... where's neens?"

"uh... we were hoping you knew..." kourtney answered in a wary voice. the boy's heart dropped and he shook his head.

"w-what? have you guys tried texting or calling her??" ricky asked, growing more anxious.

"yes, several times," carlos told the boy, "but don't worry ricky? im sure she's just running late or something."

his friends forced a smile at him. ashlyn chimed in, "she's gonna come, ricky. she always does."

ricky nodded his head and took a deep breath. he looked down at the jersey in his hand and handed it to gina. "make sure nini gets that when she gets here..please?"

"of course," gina softly promised. she gave ricky a reassuring smile before he ran back to the field. the boy took off his helmet and sat down on the bench. his leg was bouncing up and down as he looked around the area and bleachers for nini.

ej poked him with his lacrosse stick, "dude... you okay?"

"uh... i don't know," ricky answered, "nini's not here... she's not answering."

"what?" ej quickly asked, his face immediately dropping. "did something happen between the two of you?"

ricky shook his head, "no?! we were perfectly fine...or at least to me, we were."

"...she's gonna come, dude... she always does..." ej assured the his best friend, "nini even came when that one time when she was furious at you and said she wasn't coming... nini wouldn't miss your last game. no matter what."

"...yeah, yeah. you're right," ricky mumbled, trying to convince himself as well. ej patted his back and put his helmet over his head.

"come on, we got warm up."

+

it was the middle of the game, and there was still no sight of nini. ricky constantly checked the bleachers, but she was never there. gina clung onto ricky's jersey, hoping nini would show up. he saw how worried all his friends were getting. some of them coming back and forth from looking for her. he watched as they kept trying to call her but always ended up looking frustrated or worried. the boy wasn't doing too hot in the game either. his body was feeling weak from all of his friend's pain. now his pain and anxiety from nini missing were weighing on him too. the boy kept getting substituted out with jack.

it was a time-out. all of them were freaking out because of how close the scores were but not ricky. even ej was barely paying attention too. he started to realize the gravity of the situation and couldn't focus either. they were both worried about nini's whereabouts.

this wasn't like her.

she would've never missed this game.

no one did.