Translucent Melody || rini au

32

"alright seven to ten," the coach announces "ready?"

he blows the whistle and all of the boys run down the field, throwing the ball and doing their exercises as they did

ricky couldn't focus properly. it's only been the first day back and he was already slipping on his work and his practice

"bowen the ball!"

ricky looks behind him and tries to catch it but it drops from his hands and he sighs

the whistle blows again and the coach looks at the curly-haired boy angrily

"bowen, get over here now!"

ricky takes a deep breath and removes his helmet as he runs towards the man

"where are you?" he asks

the boy stays silent and clenches his jaw

"you're the captain of this team! you can't afford to lose focus or the others will lose focus. we have a rival game this weekend, did you forget that?"

ricky shakes his head "no coach."

the man nods "good. now, get back in there and focus otherwise it'll be abs for the next three hours"

ricky runs back to the field and puts his helmet on, seeing the boys talking amongst themselves

"hey bowen, what's this i hear about you and that diner girl?" jace, one of his teammates asks

ricky stays silent and takes the ball from the ground, throwing it to someone

"is it true then?" he laughs

ricky bites his teeth together "it's no one's business."

"well, i never thought that out of all of the girls in the school, it'd be diner girl, you're too good for her man-"

ricky felt the anger rushing through his veins "what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"relax dude, i was just saying-"

"well maybe don't say anything at all. dude." ricky snaps before running further down the field to continue the exercise

—

ricky walked home after practice, passing the diner on his way just to see nini

he saw her through the window, serving a few customers with a bright smile but he could see pain through it that she was hiding

he felt his heart sink and looked away quickly, walking his way home so that she wouldn't see him

when he arrives home, he hears the tv on and knows it's his dad watching the football game from yesterday

ricky made his way into the living room, putting his bag down as he sat on the couch a few feet away from his dad

"hey bud," mike smiles "how was school today?"

the boy nods "it was okay."

mike looks at him and takes a deep breath "you okay?"

ricky nods "yeah, why?"

mike chuckles, shaking his head "you know, i'm your dad so i know when you're lying. plus, you've been quiet ever since new years."

ricky swallows and looks down fiddling with his fingers

"what's up?" mike asks worried

the boy sighs "i ruined everything."

he looks up at his dad who has confusion displayed all over his face

"i lost everything good with nini because i couldn't just keep my mouth shut and anger down. and now she hates me-i just-i ruined it with her."

mike sighs "well, i didn't properly meet her. but she seemed like she really turned you around."

ricky looks at him "what do you mean 'turned me around'?

mike chuckles lightly "ricky, just because i'm at work a lot doesn't mean i don't know how you act at school."

the boy looks down and mike smiles

"she got you back into music and she made me see a ricky i didn't really see for a long time." he says "so don't stop fighting."

ricky shakes his head "she doesn't want anything to do with me dad. we're going our separate ways and that's how it is."

mike frowns as he watches his defeated son stand up and take his bag

"are you sure?" he asks

ricky swallows and looks down before taking a deep breath and continuing his way up the stairs to his room