ricky and nini's realizations

chapter 8

general pov

nini kept her hand wrapped up for the rest of the school week, so there was no infection. she decided to stop wearing the wrap because it was annoying to her. she didn't like the looks of it and felt as though it was unnecessary. ricky told their friends what happened when they saw the wrap on her hand the next day at school. he felt like it was his fault, but nini just laughed as he told the story to their friends. she mostly wore it because ricky made sure she did. at the end of the week, ricky and nini spent their friday night together as always. it was now monday again. she didn't wear the wrap to school this time because her wounds were now scabbed over. her knuckles were a mix of blue and purple with scratches covering the back of her whole hand. she wore a hoodie to school that day, so she could slide her hand into the sleeve. she just didn't wanna get looks from people, even though she knew it was no big deal. then lunch time came around.

ricky's pov

we're all seated eating our lunches. mostly talking about all the homework we've been getting and other boring conversations of the sorts. i accidentally drop my spoon on the ground. i lean down under the table and when i'm coming back up i see nini's left hand resting on her lap. she has it tucked inside of the sleeve of her hoodie. it makes me wonder if she embarrassed by it, or something. i don't really know. i lean over and whisper, "hey why are you covering your hand?" she gives me a 'stop talking' look. i just give her a confused face back as a response. "i don't need to keep it wrapped anymore. but it looks gross. i don't want people to look at it," she tells me. "can i see it?" i question. "nope," and she gives me a very proud smile. "why would people look at it anyway?" i ask another question since she won't let me see it. i haven't seen what it looks like since it happened at the skatepark. "because it's gross. why are we talking about my hand anyway," and she laughs it off. that's when her and greyson stand up to go dump their treys. they come back to the table for their bags, "ready to walk to class nini?" i've been walking her to class that past 2 days now that ej and greyson seem to be becoming good friends. "yep let's go," and leads us out into the empty hallways.

nini's pov

"okay so now can i see your hand," he pushes. i give him a stern look, "why? there's nothing interesting about a hand." "okay seriously nini. just let me see it." "why are you being weird. just walk me to class," with that i start walking a little faster to where i'm a little bit in front of him. before i know what he's doing, he grabs my left arm yanking up the sleeve. his face drops so quickly, "shit. nini." i pull my arm away, "jeez ricky will you just stop. walk me to class." he looks like a puppy with his eyes so big, "i had no idea your hand was that bad." we just stand facing each other for a short moment in silence. "i'm so sorry," he says slowly reaching for my hand again. he gently holds my hand in the palm of his as he examines my bruise covered knuckles and scrapes. "ricky you did nothing wrong. it's just a hand. it's gonna heal and besides you would've gotten way way more hurt than this if my hand wasn't there. i'm not worried about it, so you shouldn't be either," i finish trying to pull my hand back a bit.

ricky's pov

i just walk her the rest of the way to her class. i didn't want to keep talking about it because i could tell that nini didn't want to. she truly seemed unbothered by it all, so i'm just trying to tell myself that it's okay. but it really bugs me that it was my idea to go skateboarding and i didn't stand firm enough to keep us from falling. but nini said it's okay and not to worry. that's what i'm trying to do.