insomnia | ricky + nini (ON HOLD)

07. wins, angst and comfort

tw// anxiety attacks

9:15 pm

4th quarter, 10:15 left in the game, and the north high warriors lead the game by 10 points. ricky didn't have his head in the game. he struggled to get the ball to the endzone, always coming up short of the goal line. maybe it was because of how good north's defensive line is, or maybe it's because he is thinking about a girl he got so close with.

9:35 pm

23 seconds left in the game. the east high was able to score a touchdown with now north high leading the game by only 3 points, and it was east's ball. the goal for them was to get as close to the goal line as to either go for a field goal to tie the game or score a touchdown for a win. 

ricky throws the ball to ej and he catches it to the 10 yard-line completing a nearly 40-yard pass. coach signals ricky to go for the touchdown. 

east high sets up to go for the touchdown. everyone in the packed bleachers is standing up. if they make this touchdown, they win. if not, it will be the fifth year in a row where they lost to north high warriors.

ricky grabs the ball and looks for an opening and throws the ball to ej. ricky watches the ball in the air praying that ej catches the ball and it's caught. east high wins. the entire football team goes to the end of the field to celebrate, along with the entire east high fan section. 

while ricky was super relieved that he lead his team to victory against a tough north high team, his mind transferred back to nini. he wanted to be there for her but her mom obliviously did not like him. he was going to see nini again whether her mother knew or not.

~~

back at the diner, nini was having one of the worse nights of her life. her mom yelled at her in public in front of everyone in the diner after ricky left. after that, mama c had to go and do something, meanwhile nini is having another anxiety attack.

nini's anxiety attacks rarely occur now. if she had one, it was a bad one. this was one of the bad ones. she had to go outside to the side of the diner and breathe. she was having a lot of chest pain and trembling a lot. 

nini slid down the brick wall outside and cried her head off, not caring about who was watching her. she put her head down between her legs and tried to breathe. it wasn't working, only kourtney knew how to calm her down during her anxiety attack. she went to reach for her jean pocket only to realize that she left her phone inside and in her bag. 

nini was still trying to calm herself down by breathing in and out slowly when she saw a familiar brown curly-headed boy walking up to her.

"nini?" ricky asked.

"ricky?!" nini said getting off the pavement ground. "hey."

"are you okay?" 

"yeah I'm good." she faked smiled. "just needed some air before i finish my shift."

"are you sure?"

"i'm okay bowen. i'll see you on monday." she smiled before heading back inside.

"wait." ricky grabbed her hand. "please call me when you are home."

"why?" she asked

"because i know you aren't okay but i'm not going to push it. message or facetime me later tonight and we can talk about what's in the pretty little head of yours."

she looked down at her shoes and blushed. "you know me too well bowen. i'll call you later tonight." 

"bye nini" he kissed her forehead before heading back to his car. 

"bye bowen."

nini stand outside until ricky leaves the parking lot before heading inside to see mama d.

"hi baby. are you okay?" 

"yeah. just another anxiety attack. sorry, i'll get back to work."

mama d stops her. "hey. you've had a rough week. take your time. the diner is pretty dead right now."

"thank you mama d. i love you."

"i love you too baby girl." she kisses her daughter's cheek before heading back out to the front.

nini had a better relationship with mama d than with mama c. mama d was always a bystander in mama c and nini's encounters with each other. she always checked up on nini to make sure she was okay. nini loved mama d for that. 

~~

11:00 pm

mama d's diner was officially closed for the day. nini was relieved that the day was finally over. nini and mama d were the last ones out locking all the doors before heading into their seperate cars and driving home.

nini pulled up to her house grabbing her school bag from the back seat before locking her car and heading inside.

"hey. how are you?" mama c asked.

"doing okay. how about you?" nini set her bag down.

"good." mama c walked up to nini. "i just want to apologize for what happened at the diner. i just want you to succeed like we did, and ricky isn't going to help you get to columbia."

"i know mama. but he is also my friend."

"i understand but education comes before anything."

"i know."

"okay honey. get some rest so you can get up early and study."

sometimes, mama c was very comforting and more like mama d but then she has to turn in against her and call her out about her social life or her education.

she sighs, nods her head and grabs her things and heads upstairs to her bedroom. she sets her bag down by her desk, takes off her shoes and heads over to her bed.

nini decided to clean her room while she waited for ricky to finish doing whatever he was doing. she hears her phone ringing on her bedside table.

she smiled, runs to her door to close it so her moms can't hear it. she clicks accept and sees the curly-headed boy right in front of her.