Back To You | Ricky Garcia

Chapter Twenty Nine

Charlene's POV

When I was nine years old, Ricky somehow convinced me to sneak out of Mr. Boreman's math class with him in the middle of a rainy day.

I remember staring at Ricky, who a seat away from me, with the most astonished look on my face when he told me about his horrid idea. He, of course, thought it was brilliant, considering Mr. Boreman was indeed a bore and it was math class. The only equation I could solve was Mr. Boreman + Addition = An unhappy kid who just wants to play tea party with her teddy bears. Plus, he was a few blinks away from falling asleep on his desk.

So I rolled my eyes like the diva I was in fifth grade and agreed to be his apprentice for the day. I mean, how bad can it be? When you have a partner in crime who had a perfectly admirable grin at this age, you could get away with practically anything. Seriously, adults are suckers for those types of things.

I sat back in my wooden chair and placed my pencil on the table, waiting for Ricky's big move. I distinctly remember him deviously mouthing "Watch and Learn" and grabbing his half eaten granola bar and his apple juice left over from lunch. He took the bar and juice into his mouth and chewed them up together.

And then he looked at me with a scrunched up face and winked discreetly. I threw both of my hands on my mouth because I was two seconds away from falling off my chair laughing. Ricky then proceeded to make a gagging noise and spit the now gritty, light brown slush from his mouth and onto the shiny floor. Every kid in the room shrieked, some even got up on the tables just in case the substance got close to them.

Mr. Boreman shot up from his seat, his rotating chair hitting the white board with a loud bang. Ricky groaned clutching his stomach, causing Mr. Boreman to look over to him and grunt in disgust.

"Ugh, these pesky kids," He mumbled not so subtly, although he thought he did. He wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine as you could already tell. "Are you alright, Mr. Garcia?" He spat in a rather posh yet arrogant matter. He never called us by our first names, thinking that it would make us feel more mature and adult-like. But again, I just wanted to play with my dang toys.

"I-I think I'm going to hurl, Sir." Ricky puffed his cheeks and shut his eyes tightly, his face slowly getting redder and redder. Mr. Boreman's eyes widened as he stuck his index finger out and waved it from side to side.

"Oh no you won't. Ms. Jones, please escort Mr. Garcia to the Nurse's Office immediately. Also, please do not allow him to make a mess in the hallways." He swung his finger over to point to the door. I nodded obediently and grabbed Ricky's arm, "helping" him get up from his chair in his desperate time time of need. Evan, Jon, and Francesca turned to us quickly, raising their eyebrows in confusion. Ricky sent them an almost-invisible wink, and hurried along the desks. Twenty eight pairs of eyes followed us out the door, which we slammed shut once we exited the dungeon. As we steered clear of the door's window, Ricky smirked and nudged me with his elbow.

"I'm a king. Say it with me, Ricky Garcia is the king of Everstone Elementary!" He chanted, hopping with every word he said as we walked down the empty hallway.

"Yeah yeah, you're the king, blah blah blah." I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh.

"You think I'm hot though." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer, our sides completely attached. I pushed his body away from me and glared at him. I think fifth grade marked the beginning of Ricky's flirty phase; one which he never really grew out of, one that he never will.

"The only thing that's going to be hot is your face when I slap it if you don't tell me what the rest of your plan is." I scoffed jokingly, Ricky holding his hands up in defeat. While his hands were up in the air, he took the opportunity to snatch a bobby pin from my hair rather harshly.