My One & Only

Ch 16: Graduation

The group of friends couldn't believe it.

It was their last week of school, and it felt surreal.

The gang were all discussing their plans after graduation this Friday. Ashlyn is heading East to attend NYU for an education major. Gina is pursuing her dancing dreams in NYC as well at Juilliard, and Gina and Ashlyn plan to live together. Kourtney is attending Stanford for a law major and cosmetology minor, Carlos and Seb are both going to Boulder to the University of Colorado; Carlos is going to pursue directing while Seb will study choreography. Red is going to skip a year to help his parents out before heading off to the University of Utah for animation studies. Nini is going to attend University of Nevada to pursue sports medicine and become a sports reporter. She decided basketball just wasn't something she loved enough to make her whole life. Ricky was going to major in theater and minor in music education in case all else fails, or at least that's what he told his friends.

Technically, yes, he was going to major in those two things; however, he never said which university he'd be doing that in. He still hasn't made up his mind, and he only has roughly a month to decide. He did end up receiving an acceptance letter from University of Nevada, but he didn't verify with them that he was attending. After his acceptance came in, Nini and the rest of them assumed he'd be attending along with her, so they've all been very excited about it.

His heart was torn between what could be something great for his career or the possibility of being with Nini romantically. Both were extremely important to him, but he feared he couldn't have them both. This was such a headache.

"Ricky?"

The adorable voice of his best friend breaks him away from his thoughts. "What's up?"

She smiles. "So, I may or may not have made a schedule for us."

He raises a brow. "A schedule for what?"

"For all of the things we're gonna do together in college. I figured we should start planning since August will creep up on us, especially if we plan to share an apartment together. I've already found some places to possibly stay at that're like 2 miles from the school. I'll send you the link to all of them if you'd like. Maybe we can schedule a little tour or something."

Ricky felt the guilt rise in his body. She was in too deep, and he had no idea how he was gonna tell her if he decided to go to Scotland. He wouldn't put it past her if she yelled at him for waiting so long, and he wouldn't even be upset if she did.

Nini's grin falters a bit when she senses his tenseness. She rests her palm on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

He forces a smile. "Oh, uh...yeah totally. I'm just really stressed about graduation and all."

She could tell that he was lying about something and wanted to pry. "Ricky, come on—"

"You know what? I just completely forgot I left my textbook in the theater. I should go get it." He swiftly gets up from the table, leaving Nini bemused and worried.

"Oo, I think that's his last ever sudden storm out of the lunchroom!" Red says.

Nini scowls at Red and pinches his arm.

***

Ricky fiddled with the red cap's tassel while he looked outside of the passenger's seat window, watching cars fly by. Today was one of the most important days of his life. He was graduating, and it felt like he was dreaming.

He didn't realize how fast those four years were until he got to this point, but damn he was glad high school was over.

Mike glimpses at his son and smiles. "Hey kiddo, can I talk to you for a bit before we pull up?"