My One & Only

Ch 31: Estranged Encounter

Ricky feels as if someone was always breathing down his back, and it was starting to actually become a genuine problem now. Nini has been sleeping over every day since the night of the trampoline park since she knew he needed the company whether he wanted to admit it or not. He was extremely thankful for her, but it didn't fully erase that eerie sensation he gets.

He didn't tell Nini that the nightmares weren't the main thing bothering him; he knew she'd flip if she found out the real reason he was freaking out was because he can sense someone is stalking him. Now that he's reached a certain level of paranoia, he thinks it's about time he told her the truth.

Nini was sitting on his chair at his desk while he was sitting on the edge of his bed. Ricky stared  at her as she tried to find the guts to tell her what's on his mind.

He fiddles with his sweats' strings. "Um, Nini?"

She looks up from her homework and removes her earplugs. "What's up?"

"I uh, I need to tell you something."

She frowns since she could tell it was bad news based on his tone and body language. "Alright." She walks over to the bed and takes a seat beside him. She rested her palm on his thigh and rubbed circles into it. "What's going on?"

He doesn't meet her eye, resorting to staring blankly at the floor.

"Don't freak out, okay?"

"I don't want to promise that."

"Nini, please."

"Ricky, you're scaring me."

He roams his hands down his face before looking her in the eye. "I feel like somebody's watching me."

Nini's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

"I can't explain it, but I can feel someone's eyes on me at all times. It's freaking me out a bit, but I don't have proof. So, I know I'll sound crazy if I report it. I thought maybe it was all in my head, but I'm not so sure now."

"You seriously expected me to be calm about someone possibly stalking you?! Do you know who the hell you're speaking to?!"

"Yeah, that was probably a dumb thing to say."

"Ricky, I need you to buy pepper spray, mace, or a taser. Hell, buy all of them. Matter of fact, I'll buy them for you. I'm getting them first thing tomorrow morning."

"You don't need to do that. Plus, I don't want you skipping class."

"Fuck my class. You're ten million times more important than my GPA."

"Nini..."

"No, don't Nini me! I'm definitely gonna take this seriously! I'm lending you my pocket knife until we get to the bottom of this."

"Nini, you need that too. You are still a woman on a college campus."

"I have some pepper spray too; I'll be fine. Right now, my main concern is your safety."

"You don't have—"

She shushed him with her finger. "I do what I want, and I want to ensure you live to see the next day. I don't want to experience a world without you in it."   

"Well, technically, one day you will."

She slaps him with a pillow. "That's not fucking funny."

He dodges her hits. "Okay, alright, sorry! I was just tryna lighten the mood since it was all tense."

She finally tosses the pillow aside. "Well, you failed. Why are you not taking this more seriously?"

"Because joking and trying to remain calm are helping me from having a full blown panic attack right now."