ricky and nini's realizations

chapter 37

ricky's pov

i enter the school side by side with nini. we immediately split ways like we would on a normal day. as she leaves my side she turns to give me a sweet smile then continues down the hallway. i cant help but smile to myself as i walk towards my locker. i must've been zoned at because i hear, "dude, ricky," while opening my locker. i look to my side to see big red, "oh hey." "i said your name like three time," he tells me. "oh sorry. guess i zoned out." "oh are you okay?" he asks me. i clear my throat, "yep," then try to contain my smile while continuing to empty some of my things into my locker. "okay then?" he responds. "how was your weekend? i never saw you after homecoming and you were pretty panicky." i close my locker and start to walk with him to class, "i had the best weekend ever." he slows his pace by a lot, so i turn to face him confused. he gives me a confused look in return. "what?" i ask him. "you had the best weekend ever? at the dance you seemed like you were really upset. did something else happen or am i remembering things incorrectly?" he asks me genuinely. then it hits me that i should've given him a fake answer. i think he saw the realization hit my face, "oh, right!" i continue to try and come up with something, "i uh. played this new video game that my dad got me and then he ordered a pizza which he hasn't done in a while." he starts to laugh some, "that's your idea of the best weekend ever? dang ricky, you're an easy person to make happy," he says patting my shoulder and continuing to walk again. i nervously let out a laugh, "uh huh. i guess so," i let my laugh die out. little did he know my best weekend ever was because of her and man did i want to tell him all about it. i want everyone to know that she's mine, but i also came to terms with what she wants. i'm okay with it. "so you and nini are good?" my head whips to look at him. "what ricky?" he asks at my expression. "what do you mean by good?" i ask him wondering how he could know. "well at the dance you guys weren't exactly okay. you haven't mentioned her, so i was just wondering," he informs me. i let out a breath. i'm just way too paranoid. "oh. we're all good. we talked in the parking lot and everything is fine," i assure him. more than fine actually. "well good. can you imagine how awkward things would be if you guys weren't on good terms," he says laughing. and i don't wanna think about the possibility of that happening. "yeah. definitely would be weird." we both make it to class and take our seats. i just countdown the minutes on the clock until i get to see nini again.

nini's pov

as i'm walking towards my next class, i feel the exciting butterflies swarm around my stomach. i know that i get to see ricky again in government. it works out good for me. i enjoy my government class and i have it with ricky. i make it to the classroom somewhat early and take my seat. students start puking in as i watch the door, but my eyes lock with greyson's as he comes through the doorway. i smile politely at him since we already made eye contact. i still think he's a nice guy, but ricky obviously disagrees considering his hostility towards him anytime greyson is near me. he takes his seat to my right, "hey nini," with a smile, "i never got to spend any time with you at the dance," he tells me in a rhetorical way. i let out an awkward, "hmph," i turn to engage in the conversation in hopes to keep it short, "yeah i left early." "i know. i was pretty bummed about it," he tells me while propping his elbows on the top of the desk leaning closer to me. i'm starting to feel just a little uncomfortable. not that he is necessarily doing anything wrong because it's not like he knows that ricky and i are a thing. but in the back of my mind i'm starting to realize that this boy has been lightly flirting with me. and is right now. "oh," i say, "yeah, i just wanted to get out of there," i inform him. i feel ricky's presence sit down next to me feeling relieved. i turn to my left to see him eyeing greyson sternly. i'm not oblivious to ricky's strong disliking of greyson after multiple encounters proving so. i scoot uncomfortably closer to ricky because i can just feel greyson trying to get my attention to finish the short conversation. ricky notices too. greyson starts talking after a moment of silence. all the while i just hope for the bell to ring, but instead i'm experiencing the longest 5 minutes of my life at the moment. "oh, how come?" he asks referring to what i last said. "i just felt like it," i say to give him the hint that i'm not giving an explanation except he doesn't take the hint. i'd rather not say 'oh yeah. i left the dance because my best friend upset me because of you' while sitting in between both boys. "yeah, but why?" "just because i guess," i say politely while shrugging my shoulders, but wishing he would lay off. "well that doesn't really answer my question," he laughs still pushing for an answer out of me. "she gave you her answer. lay off," ricky butts in without even knowing what we're talking about causing my chest to fill with heat from the unexpectancy of it. i don't want him to get angry again. despite how patient he is, he has none for greyson. "i think she can answer for herself just fine ricky," greyson says snarky. "yeah and she did," ricky says unamused. greyson opens his mouth to say who knows what, but the bell rings. the rest of the class feels so tense with both boys shooting darts at each other. i scoot as far as my chair lets me to ricky. he's fully aware, but knows not to do the same because of the whole down low thing we have going for us as of now.