𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 [a rini au]

one hundred and twenty-seven

"nini. nini. helloooo."

nina had been slacking off the entire weekend. with only two weeks left in her school year, finals were rapidly approaching and she was far from ready. between work and exerting all her energy into ap exams, she needed to be better prepared to go out of her junior year with a bang. in order for that to occur, she was determined to stop at nothing before securing that 4.0. she had been preoccupied with ricky ever since he showed up, so it was sunday night that she decided to open at least one textbook.

she settled on pre-calculus review while ricky was conveniently taking some phone calls. the girl sat comfortably on her bed, notebook and textbook sprawled across her bedspread as her eyes flicked between them. nina held her aquamarine ti-84 in her hands, typing in random numbers to satisfy the practice problems she conquered. she was feeling incredibly productive, so when a knock on her door pierced the concentrative silence, nina was set on not letting ricky distract her.

she looked up briefly after he repeated her name a few times during the announcement of his presence. the singer wore a goofy grin, his shoulder leaning against the doorframe with his crossed arms. nina narrowed her eyes. "what happened to your calls?"

"i was on the phone for over an hour," ricky reminded her, nodding in the direction of nina's set up. "you've obviously lost track of time due to that riveting homework."

nina focused on her calculator again. "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all," she lightheartedly replied.

she missed ricky roll his eyes. he left his post, making himself comfortable across from her on the bed. nina stared at him while he rocked back and forth, bottom lip between his teeth as he attempted to read her notes upside down. her brow scrunched. "can i help you?"

"sure," ricky smacked, head rising so he could meet her serious brown eyes. he placed his hands on her knees. "you can help me by putting the confusing math away and hanging out with me."

nina bit the inside of her cheek. "you gotta give me another hour," she answered, ricky's hopeful expression refusing to be bothered by her rejection. "you've been distracting me this whole weekend."

"and i will continue to distract you," he huffed, stealing her books and tossing them on the ground behind him. nina scoffed, plunging forward as if she could save her books from their fall. "ricky!"

ricky took the opportunity to grab the smaller girl, pushing her onto her back as he proceeded to tickle her sides. "no!" she shrieked, squirming beneath the boy. "s-stop! i swear!"

he didn't obey her giggling commands, devilish smile on his face while innocent laughs escaped her lips. ricky was secretly admiring nina as she tried to punch him in the chest, her bright smile contagious and her wavy hair falling on and off of her face. she was so delicate yet so fierce as she playfully fought his tickles that he now expanded to her neck and armpits as well. ricky thought about the possibility of nina breaking underneath him, but every time she whacked him with her fists and fiery words, he was certain nothing could take her down. "ricky, stop!"

when he was finally content with his mission, ricky flopped down beside her, both of their uncontrollable laughter causing the bed to shake. "there," he heaved. "that...that's all i wanted."

"that is not what i asked for."

ricky, now lying on one of her satin-lined pillows, turned his head to face her. nina reciprocated the gesture, eyes connecting with his. she reached her opposite arm across her body to flick one of ricky's loose curls off of his forehead. "all that and only one curl out of place," she exasperatedly sighed. "amazing."

ricky let the girl continue to mess up his previously coiffed locks, but he didn't expect her to say what came next. "i gotta get back to work."

he shook his head slightly. "why do you continuously put this pressure on yourself?" ricky asked genuinely, nina's hand on his head now freezing and falling into the space between them. her joyful expression melted slightly at the serious segue.

"i have to do well in school if i want to get into a really good college," she stated bluntly. "i can't let that slip away after all my hard work."

ricky didn't go to school long before he was catapulted into the spotlight. he was occasionally envious of nina's normal high school and future college experience. but, his lack of stereotypical education didn't make him oblivious to people that excelled academically, nina being one of them. "nini, you're literally a genius, and i'm not just saying that because i have to," ricky admitted, a close-lipped smile gracing nina's lips. "hell, the night i met you you were studying. you can let yourself have fun sometimes, you know. i promise that you're not going to lose everything that you worked for over these three years."

nina was silent for a bit out of appreciation. "i know," she started, "but it's just weird that i now have someone willing to pull me from my work. sure, i love ash, kourt, and ej, but they're so busy to the point where we only really hang out if we're completely free from demanding schoolwork and extracurriculars. i'm not used to someone being so interested in me at all hours of my life."

what the girl said reminded ricky of what she would talk about when they first met - how people didn't really pay attention to her. he was determined to give her all the attention she deserved until she was begging him to leave her alone. "you should get used to it, then," he said with total sincerity, wiggling closer to her. he cupped her cheek, nina sheepishly glancing between his gaze and his mouth. ricky took that as his cue, closing the space between their lips passionately.

when they pulled away, nina's face was beat red. "you're really putting me in the hot seat here, hollywood," she tried to laugh away her bashfulness.

ricky's eyebrows rose. "okay, compromise. you teach me some of your math stuff, then we watch a movie when you feel like you're prepared."

nina sat up almost instantly, hopping off the bed to retrieve her belongings that ricky disposed of earlier. "great, we'll start with imaginary numbers."

"there are numbers that aren't even real? since when?"