the flaw in being perfect - rini au

thirty nine

Ricky doesn't know how to react when he sees EJ's text to the football group chat.

EJ
don't be surprised when you see me leaving parties w nini salazar roberts from now on— she wants to go on a date this weekend and y'all already know she won't be able to get enough of all this

He stares at his phone for a few minutes before Red nudges him.

"What's up, dude?" Red asks.

"Nini is going on a date with EJ."

That's all Ricky can say.

"I thought things were going well there." Red confusedly mentions.

Ricky scoffs. "Apparently not."

"Are you upset?" Red asks.

"Why would I be upset?" Ricky shrugs it off. "We're just friends."

"I thought you liked her." Red bluntly states.

"Red, it's not a big deal. Really. I just think she's stooping pretty low with Caswell, is all."

"Okay," Red submits. He knows Ricky is lying, but he also knows that he'll be honest when he's ready to be.

"I have to get to class. I don't want to be late."

"Isn't Nini in that class with you?" Red asks as Ricky starts to walk away.

"Yeah," Ricky responds monotonously.

With that, Ricky goes to his classroom and sits down, trying not to talk to anyone.

Just before class is about to start, his phone lights up, showing he has a message.

Nini
hey, can we talk? i wanna explain the date with ej

Ricky stares at the message. He really doesn't know how he's supposed to respond to that. To be perfectly honest, he feels like he'd be better off with some space right now.

After a while of thinking, he types up his response.

there's nothing to explain lol, it's not like we're a thing

Ricky sighs, turning off his phone. The bell rings soon after, meaning class is starting.

Ricky is so busy thinking about how not to let Nini know he has feelings for her that he takes a while to notice that Nini isn't in class.

Ricky looks around, confused. Nini never misses class.

He wants to text her and make sure she's okay, but he's not sure that's the best idea with everything going on. All he knows is that he needs to get it together before the game tonight. His team is counting on him for the win. His dad is counting on him for the win.

Ricky's dad comes to every game he plays, and sometimes, if Ricky plays well enough, he won't drink himself to sleep. Sometimes Ricky can distract him from his sadness by making him proud.

Ricky isn't going to let a girl stop him from getting his dad out of the hole he's in— even if it's just for one night.

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trouble in paradise?? 😳

-jenna