ALIVE - R. BOWEN

thirteen

"I think I made a huge mistake." Ricky stated frantically once Gina had opened the front door

How Ricky ended up on the doorstep of Gina Porter's house, he didn't know. All he remembered is that she had sent him her address not too long ago when she invited him to come hang out (to which he didn't not attend) and next thing he was plugging into his gps, driving several miles over the speed limit to get there.

"No hello?" Gina smirked and giggled to herself, but stopped when she realized that Ricky wasn't laughing. "Oh something serious happened, okay, I mean, come in I guess." She added and stepped aside, and Ricky walked through into the small entryway. Gina was waiting for him to say something, but he didn't. "Alright then... to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well I figured I owed you a random show up at your doorstep in exchange for the one from the weekend." Ricky quipped.

"Yeah okay, fair enough." Gina motioned for Ricky to follow her down the hall and he did.

"Howie isn't here, right?" Ricky clarified, not wanting to divulge all of the recent events to someone he was pretty sure didn't like him.

"No, why? Do you want him here?"

"No, I'm just making sure." Ricky replied and Gina led them into the living room, motioning for him to take a seat on the small, but cozy couch.

Gina sat across form Ricky on the small round ottoman, folding her hands in her lap and leaning forward onto her elbows. "So what's going on in your world that you deemed me worthy enough to talk to about it?"

"Well for starters you're the only person who knows about me kissing Nini, I'm not ready for Big Red to find out yet. But I think I made a huge mistake and I need to just talk it out." Ricky rambled.

"Yeah, okay, go on."

Ricky thought for a moment, the embarrassment of what he was about to admit bubbling up inside of him. "I- I'm joining the school musical."

Gina furrowed her eyebrows, "Huh?"

"I'm joining the school musical, Gina."

"Why the fuck would you do that? I thought you told Red you hated musicals and that you were talentless." Gina clarified.

"Yeah, well that was before I needed a way to get close to Nini!"

"Nini... did something else happen between you two?" Gina pressed.

"Yes, actually," Ricky started, "I ran into her ditching class when I was ditching class and it turns out that she liked the kiss... she wanted it to happen too."

Gina sat back, "That doesn't make any sense, she's literally in love with E.J."

"Untrue." Ricky replied, but then quickly thought about it.

Okay, she never said she was in love with E.J. , but she also never said she wasn't. She did say that she cared about him, so maybe Ricky was wrong.

"Okay, not untrue, but that doesn't mean she can't also have feelings for me." Ricky argued.

Gina stared at him in disbelief. "I can't believe this is your life." She laughed.

"Yeah, and I can't believe I'm telling you about it." Ricky deadpanned and shot a look at Gina for laughing, but she didn't stop. "So you're a girl, tell me, what should I do?"

"Well thank you for noticing but, uh, I don't really know what to tell you. I'm happy you're gonna be apart of the show and I'm sure Red will too, that is until he finds out your motives, but as far as what to do about Nini... I'm not sure." Gina stopped, processing what was going on for one final time and deciding that she wasn't actually sure if she was qualified to give Ricky advice on this.

She decided that she wasn't, and took in a deep sigh.

"Well?" Ricky prompted her to say something.

"Ricky, I- I don't really think I can give you advice one what to do with Nini. I mean I can't imagine being in her shoes and she's also one of my best friends. I feel weird knowing about this and by giving you advice I could be potentially wrecking what she has with E.J. and I'd never want to get in the way of someone else's happiness, especially knowing how happiness feels." Gina admitted, but she could tell by the change into Ricky's expression that she had said something to offend him.

Red hot anger bubbled up inside of Ricky and he clenched his fists at his side. "I see how it is. You'll do anything for Nini's happiness but mine doesn't seem to matter to you. Well that's fine, Gina." Ricky somehow managed to keep his outburst under control during that sentence, but once he stood up, it was all over. "No, you know what Gina? I didn't even like you that much, but you were friends with Red and Nini and were nice enough to introduce me to them so I gave you a chance. But you suck and your boyfriend fucking hates me so I don't know why I stuck around. I really thought I could trust you and come to you for advice and you just screwed me over." Ricky yelled.

Gina almost stood up to tell him off, but she knew this outburst, she had this exact outburst at least once in her life. So instead of trying to take him down, she let him go.

He was fuming. "Fuck this." He hissed before turning around and marching off straight out of Gina's front door.

"Well damn." Gina said out loud to her empty household before sitting down where Ricky had been moments before and turning on the tv, hoping he would come around.

☆彡

To say Ricky was spiraling over this whole Nini debacle was an understatement. The one person he actually trusted to give him advice bailed on him and he was screwed.

Did he not deserve to be happy too?

According to Gina, no.

He stood in the middle of the road, he huffed as he picked up his skateboard and starting walking in the direction of his house. If he was a cartoon character, his face would be red and smoke would be coming out of his ears, as a demonstration of how mad he actually was. What right did Gina have to say all that stuff to him? In his hour of need her turned to her and the best she could do was take the opposing side?

The temptation to kick one of the cars on the street was becoming to much to bare, so he just sat down in the middle of the street and pulled his knees up to his chests, resting his head onto them.

Okay, time to pack it up, Ricky.

He got up and brushed the dirt off his jeans (like any person ever who stands up off the ground does) and bent back down to pick up his skateboard.

He had cooled down, but he was still mad at Gina.

He wasn't going to call or text her throughout, and though he knew what he said was harsh, he wasn't going to text her and apologize.

What he was going to do was avoid her until he felt like it, whether she tried to apologize or not, she wouldn't be hearing a peep from Ricky.

a/n:

okay first of all hi, second of all THANK YOU FOR 6K ON THIS BOOK WTF?!?! ILY ALL SO MUCH AND I NEVER IMAGINED THIS BOOK WOULD REACH 5K LET ALONE SIX! anyways this chapter is not that good so I apologize but it's just a filler! more drama is soon to come!

-liv