nini salazar-roberts was whisked away from her childhood home town at the age of 14 for fame. she didn't only leave her friends and family, but she also left the boy she thought would be the love of her life.
so what will happen when she has to ret...
the bell rang and ricky, seb and ashlyn walk out of school at the end of the day
"what are you going to do for the next two hours before work?" seb asks
ricky sighs "i guess i'll just skate around. maybe hang out at the skate park."
ashlyn and seb nod as they head off in the other direction
the boy puts his helmet on and kicks off on his skateboard, rolling down the pavement to the skatepark.
as he rolls through, he looks to his right, passing through the familiar wooden house.
he feels his heart sink knowing that he has to pass by it everyday.
suddenly, he sees something move in the right second-story window.
ricky stops and squints his eyes.
it was impossible.
he must be going crazy...
when he sees nothing else move, the boy shakes his head and continues his way to the park.
***
"moms, do you think i could go out today?" nini asks as she enters the living room
"aren't you tired?" carol asks her
nini shakes her head "i slept a bit on the plane. besides, i was supposed to facetime ej, but he's stuck at a table read."
dana and carol nod "alright sure hun, just be careful? we know that joe is lurking around to make sure you're safe but-"
"don't worry momma d." nini giggles as she takes her bag and walks out of her house
nini feels the fresh air hit her and smiles at the thought of not having any personal questions being yelled at her.
she walks through the pavement, admiring everything around her and she stops when she sees a restaurant. 'ferellie's'
nini decides to walk in for some food and when she does, she heads over to a table in the far corner, where she can barely be seen.
she sits down and takes her phone out to text ej.
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nini smiles at her phone and goes off of her app as she goes through her instagram, liking a few fan account posts as she goes
***
ricky arrived at the restaurant for his shift as quickly as possible.
he didn't want any free time to be able to go home.
"hey ash!" he smiles as he walks around the counter
"hey dude." she grins while looking her notebook
"what you writing?" he gasps when she closes it quickly "is it another ashlyn lester original?!"
she playfully shoves him while he laughs and sees seb come back from a table
"i think there's this girl at a table in the back of the restaurant waiting." he says
"i'll get it." ricky tells ashlyn, who he could see was busy.
he quickly puts his apron on and heads over to the table
nini senses someone approach her and she doesn't think much of it, so she keeps her eyes scanning the menu
"hey i'm ricky and i'll be taking your order." he smiles
nini freezes.
'his name is what now?'
she doesn't want to look up. the fear immobilized her and she was just staring down at the menu in shock
"hello?" he asks
"uh-i-c-can i have some pasta?" she mumbles
ricky feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up when he hears that vague british accent
he clears his throat uncomfortably before his eyes shift down to her wrist
that was when he felt his heart beat accelerate one hundred miles an hour
"i-i didn't hear you properly. y-you need to look up so that i c-can hear y-you."
'and see you. i have to be going crazy today right?!'
the girl hesitantly looks up and their eyes meet for the first time in three years
she sees the way his curls got longer and his dark brown eyes kept the same shine in them.
he notices how she got light golden highlights in her hair and how she wasn't wearing makeup, but still looked just as beautiful as he remembered
ricky feels like he lost his breath, the anger and shock overtaking him, and looks down at the blank paper
"pasta." he breathes. "got it. will that be all?" he grits out, determined to not let her know how much she affects him
nini opens her mouth to say something but closes it and nods
ricky turns around quickly and rushes to the counter where seb and ashlyn were talking about the school musical
"i'm leaving." he states as he rips his the piece of paper and his apron off of him, putting them both on the counter and breathing rapidly
"why?"
"ricky what's wrong?"
"th-she-i just saw-i need to get out of here." ricky mutters, running out of the restaurant, putting his helmet on and skating off somewhere. anywhere.
nini watched with glossy eyes at the curly-haired boy in the window passing by her
she looks back down at her hands and fiddles with one of the charms
facing the skateboard symbol upwards she reads the words engraved
'i don't not love you.'
a tear falls down her cheek, quickly wiping it away when she sees a familiar blonde-haired boy come towards her
"nini?!" he exclaims when setting her plate down
"seb?!" nini gasps, taking him in
"oh my god!" he laughs, pulling her in for a hug.
"i missed you." she smiles
"me too! how's everything? how's l.a?! did you meet jack white yet? or taylor swift?!"
nini giggles and shakes her head "unfortunately no, but it's good."
she notices seb smile sadly
"nini, he saw you right?" he asks her
the girl sighs and nods slowly "yeah."
"you can't blame him. you left without saying anything neens. no explanation, not even a goodbye. he had to be broken up with through your mom."
nini looks down at her hands embarrassed at how she left everything.
she knows what she did was awful. especially to ricky. he didn't deserve it.
"i know seb. i wanted to say goodbye properly and talk to him! but it all happened so fast. i didn't even get the chance to at least call or text because they changed my number right away and deleted my contacts." she frowns
seb understands where she was coming from. it must've been hard for her too.
"i'm sorry." he whispers "but you know that he won't just put the welcome mat out because your back. not many of the others will."
nini nods "i know."
it was harsh. but how she left everything was too. she just hoped that tomorrow at school wouldn't be too bad...
