Make You Happy - a Rina story

Different in so many ways

Ashlyn was giving EJ and Gina weird looks the whole time last night. Is there something going on between them? No. Maybe? Wait, no. No, that's just wrong. Her and EJ are friends, their relationship is very sibling-like, nothing more to see here. They had fun last night, EJ cheered her up and that's it. She called her mom to call the whole absurd move thing off before she went to sleep. They won't be getting rid of her this soon. And, since she properly made "new" friends, today should be fun!

,,Gina!" she heard just as she closed her locker. Not this again. ,,Ricky, I don't have time for your speeches today." she turned around. That was not Ricky. ,,Uh- Ricky talked to you?" Nini asked with a surprised and suspicious look on her face. ,,Yeah, he uh- He wanted to- um, to know-" What was she supposed to say? That Ricky came asking about her feelings towards him? ,,Oh, it's okay, I know already. Even though I'm not supposed to, haha." Nini laughed. What is happening? ,,Right, you do! Remind me of what you know?" ,,My surprise birthday party? I overheard him talking to Big Red about it, you don't have to hide it from me." ,,Yes. The party. Of course. Heh." ,,Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." ,,What's up?" Gina asked, not knowing what to expect. ,,Okay, so, miss Jenn asked me to do this top-secret thing for the musical - and I'm not supposed to say anything, but - do you think you could help me out?" That was not what Gina was expecting at all. ,,Depends on what the top-secret thing is, I guess?" she asked. ,,I'm writing a song. I know I've written songs before but I want this one to be perfect. Could I send it to you once I'm done and we could maybe, I dunno, work on it together, change some things up to make it better?" Nini said with a smile on her face. ,,Sure! Yes, of course. I'd be happy to help." Gina said, not knowing what to make of this situation. ,,You're the best! See ya at lunch!" Nini said as she was walking away. ,,Bye!" Gina replied, turning around and walking in the opposite direction to her English class. Why was Nini being so nice to her?

After class there were still no signs of Ricky. There were, however, multiple signs of EJ - like right now. Gina waved and EJ came over to her. ,,Hey Gina, wanna hang out after school again?" ,,Hey, sure, why not!" she replied. ,,Okay, cool, how about grabbing some pizza?" EJ asked. ,,Sounds good." Gina smiled at him. He smiled right back. They kept talking for a while about the play, then headed to rehearsals together.

,,Okay, people! Today I need you to concentrate all of your energy on the show. We will be rehearsing the dance number that Gina and I, after a long, tiresome discussion, agreed on!" Carlos clapped to grabbed everyone's attention. Gina stood up and went to stand next to him. ,,We will start with the hardest part and then move onto the easier one. Don't worry, you'll all do great!" she said with a beaming smile on her face. Her gaze glanced over to Ricky and Nini. Ricky looked a bit nervous while Nini was going on about something. He must have been nervous about the dance number; even though he mastered the dances last semester, he always had troubles with practice. ,,All right, split into two groups. I will teach one group while Gina will teach the other." Carlos commanded. Everyone started talking and going to different sides, Ricky obviously went to the same side as Nini did. ,,Nu-uh, lovebirds. You two cannot be together." Carlos said, surprising Gina. ,,Uh- Why?" chuckled Ricky, not quite understanding what's going on. Neither did Gina who gave Carlos a weird look. ,,You'd get distracted. Now off you go, to the other team." Carlos pointed on his side. Did Gina sort of want Ricky on her side? No. Yes. Maybe?

They were practicing for about thirty minutes before miss Jenn walked in and told them to start working on the scenes. Gina's group was doing pretty well, except for Nini who messed up a few times. Carlos came over to talk to her. ,,How did it go?" he asked. ,,Good, everyone got it really fast." Gina replied. ,,At least there are some good news." Carlos frowned. ,,What do you mean? Your group didn't catch on?" ,,They did. At least most of them did. Ricky is a different story." Carlos started talking. Gina straightened up at the mention of Ricky. ,,He was completely out of it, always messing up the steps, not paying any attention whatsoever. I told him to practice it at home, otherwise the show will be a disaster." ,,Let's not go there yet. I'm sure there's hope for him. He had troubles last time too and look what happened." ,,He chickened out in the middle of his performance, made EJ play his part and then suddenly came back into the picture again?" Carlos raised an eyebrow. ,,Now that you mention it, it didn't go so great." Gina laughed. ,,Anyway, I'm sure he'll practice and get it right next time." ,,He'd better. I told him he should ask someone to help him and we all know who he'll ask. I've seen Nini dancing today and it was not good at all. We're doomed if he'll ask her for advice." Carlos added and went back to rehearsing his lines. Gina wasn't sure if her nervousness was stemming from the fact Ricky might ruin the show or that he will spend even more time with Nini now.

After rehearsals ended, she went outside to wait for EJ. While she was waiting, she saw Ricky talking to Nini and Big Red in the corner of her eye. Great, he seriously asked Nini for help. The show truly is doomed. Then Nini and Big Red left, leaving Ricky alone. He checked his phone and then turned around to see Gina. Their eyes met for a split second. Suddenly he started walking towards her. ,,Gina, hi. I want to ask you something." he said as he approached her. If this is about Nini again- ,,And it's not about Nini. I've learned my lesson already." he chuckled. ,,Then what is it?" Gina said neutrally, trying to hide all of the emotions she was feeling at that moment. ,,I don't know if you saw me during rehearsals today or if Carlos told you, but I suck at the dance. Carlos told me to practice at home and to preferably ask someone to help me." he started. Gina crossed her arms. ,,I know you're probably really busy with everything going on, but do you think you could spare an hour or two to practice with me? I mean, you're a brilliant dancer, if you could teach me, I'm sure I would master it in no time." Ricky finished with a little laugh. Did her heart just skip a beat?