𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. [ 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮 ]

first letter .02

"how'd you think you did?" ej asked ricky as everyone cleared off the basketball court. ricky grabbed his jacket out of his backpack and used it to wipe the remaining sweat off of his forehead.

"uh... okay i guess," ricky said with an uneasy voice and placed his sweater down on the bleachers.

"you seemed kinda off, everything okay?" ej asked ricky. the boy let out a deep sigh and smiled ej.

"yeah man, just kinda tired that's all," ricky answered. before ej could reply their coach started to yell at them.

"bowen! caswell! did you guys forget the team meeting in the locker room!?" coach fulton yelled across the gym. ej and ricky gave a quick glance at each other before getting up and sprinting towards the locker room.

"and... he's gone," nini said to gina and frankie as she watched ricky disappear into the locker room.

"well if frankie didn't insist on getting her three bottles of gatorade, you would've seen ricky," gina said and eyes frankie.

"fuck off, i get dehydrated easily," frankie told gina. the two of them started to bicker in the back as they made their way to the bleachers. nini spotted a jacket on the bleachers and picked it up.

"ew nini! that could be dirty for all you know," frankie exclaimed and backed away as nini held the jacket up.

"oh my god, can you guys chill out," nini whined as gina and frankie made disgusted looks at the jacket, "im gonna go drop it off at the lost and found section."

"but tryouts!" gina exclaimed and gave nini a look.

"look, just tell coach dee i had to go to the nurse real quick, please?" nini begged her two friends. the both of them glanced at each other before nodding their heads.

"fine, but hurry up," frankie told nini. the girl smiled at the both of them and quickly made her way out of the gym. as she was running down the hallway to the office, she heard something fall out of the jacket.

nini stopped in her tracks and saw a piece of paper fall on the floor, "oh, it probably fell out of the pocket," nini said to herself and crouched down on the floor to pick up the paper. the girl decided to open up the piece of paper to try and see if there was a name on it.

once nini opened up the paper, her eyes went wide as she read it. the girls heart softened and broke after reading what this person wrote to themselves.

she couldn't help but feel sympathy for the person and wanted to help them as best as possible. the girl grabbed a pen from her backpack and sat down on the floor of the hallway. nini turned the note over and started to write as fast as she can. when she finally finished, the girl left the initials "SR". she didn't wanna out the first letter of her actual name on the note, so the girl decided to use her last name initials to finish off the note.

the girl slipped the note back into the jacket and got up from the floor. nini ran as fast as she could to the lost and found pile, knowing that whoever's jacket it was would be returned safely. after she dropped it off, nini made her way back to the gym and continued with volleyball tryouts for the next two hours.

"ugh, coach said there's no jackets in the gym," ricky whined.

"dude, they probably didn't even look honestly. the girls are having volleyball tryouts today too," ej told ricky as they walked he school hallways.

"fuck then how am i supposed to get my jacket?" ricky whined. as on cue, coach fulton texted ricky. "oh, thank god!"

"what?"

"coach fulton said that one of the volleyball players brought it to the lost and found pile in the office," ricky told ej.

"oh sweet, you gonna go there now?" ej asked ricky. the boy nodded his head and the two of them stopped in the middle of the hallway, "alright, i'll catch you later bowen."

"see you elton," ricky joked before the two boys splutter ways. ricky quickly made his way to the office to find his jacket.

"hi... i believe someone dropped a black hoodie off earlier," ricky told the desk person. the lady nodded her head and grabbed his jacket.

"yay! i missed you," ricky said to his jacket as he held it in his hands. the boy walked out of the office and threw his jacket around himself. as he walked to his car, the boy dug his hands in his pockets and felt a piece of paper in it.

once he pulled the piece of paper out, he saw that it was just the note he wrote to himself during lunch earlier that day. ricky flopped the paper around and saw a whole other side - a side he did not recognize.

as soon as ricky finished reading the note, he ran back inside the school and into the office, "excuse me! do you happen to know who dropped off my hoodie."

"i barely remember," the desk lady told ricky and his face fell, "she was pretty quick at dropping it off. all i knows is that she played volleyball."

"volleyball.. okay. got it," ricky told her. the boy left the building again and stared at the note over and over again. he couldn't believe that someone out there knew how ricky really felt. even though the person didn't know it was ricky who wrote it, it still made him feel better.

the boy was excited to finally talk to someone without the title of being "ricky bowen." now he could just be a regular guy, and have someone to talk to his life about.

"looks like i gotta write another letter tonight," ricky said to himself.