𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢 - 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮

𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐳𝐞

NINI'S POV

my heart is beating; it's beating fast. my beating heart. all the beats in my heart. all the beats in my heart are beating. i don't like it, i want it to stop. 

WAIT NO, DON'T STOP I DIDN'T MEAN THAT LITERALLY. 

ricky and i awkwardly stumbled up from the floor, elbows and sides knocking as we faced very confused looking gina, madi, and ej. i could basically feel all the blood in my cheeks as my eyes glued themselves to my toes and i tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. this is NOT a good moment. not a good moment at all. 

"why are they looking at us like that?" ricky asked in a panicked whisper.

i glanced through my long eyelashes to see gina giving me one of the most judgmental looks i've ever witnessed, (and that's saying a lot because i own a cafe, and have to work with critiques.) madi looked confused as ever, (and that's saying a lot because she failed out of school.) and ej shifted uncomfortably in his spot next to gina, (that saying a lot as well because ej is a well payed model and his clothes are basically fabric heaven. far from uncomfortable). 

"because we were laying on the ground and look like tomatoes." i whispered back to the frozen ricky. "we should probably say something. fast." 

ricky opened his mouth, before quickly shutting it and swallowing hard. "you go first." 

i couldn't help but roll my eyes, muttering an 'ohmygosh' under my breath before walking towards my friends like nothing happened. "heY guys!" and there's a voice crack. keep pretending, nothing is weird right now. "how are you all?" 

"uh..." gina muttered, raising an eyebrow high as i pulled her into a tight hug. "we're good... are you good?" 

pulling back, i gave her my ✨signature✨panic eyes that tended to scream 'DROP THE SUBJECT I LOVE YOU.' "i'm great! absolutely great, i am fantastic." i exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly, causing the three of them and my entire soul to flinch. "i mean, i literally got a whole puppy!!" 

madi nodded exaggeratedly before whispering loudly into gina's ear. "i knew they put cocaine back in coca cola. you owe my five bucks." 

gina elbowed her hard in the rib, making madison grimace in pain, while i tried my very best to hide my completely embarrassed expression from the world. 

"what was that for?" madison shrieked, turning to gina with an angry expression, but gina didn't need to say anything; she just slightly gestured her head in the direction i'm guessing ricky was in and madi's head went right there. i watched with wince as madi's eyes widened and she looked ricky up and down. "now that..." she whispered. "is a fine specimen." 

wha- HEY! she's not allowed to think that!

i-i mean, she can... but like.... it's uncomfy. 

i felt warmth slowly approach me, and my face flushed even more if that was possible, knowing ricky was standing by my side. 

he cleared his throat, making me glance up at him for a second before averting my eyes to look literally anywhere besides someone else's eyes. "um, hi, i'm ricky bowen..." ricky said slowly to the two girls whose mouths were hanging open and a confused looking ej. "it's nice to meet you guys." 

i wish the tension in this room would leave and take me with it. 

when it finally donned on madison who ricky was, her eyes widened to the size of saucers. "oh my gosh, this is the guy living with you." she spat out bluntly, making me choke on my air. "this is the guy writing the story for you."