Make You Happy - a Rina story

Just for a moment

School was dreading on throughout the day. Ricky and Big Red surprisingly finished their Geography homework in time, so at least neither of them got in trouble.

Gina, however, was nervously tapping with her foot and playing with her pen the entire day. Some people have noticed her abnormal behavior, but nobody dared to ask about it. Sixth period came, it was time for Science, which she had together with Ashlyn, who also noticed her out of the ordinary behavior and wasn't afraid to ask.

,,What is wrong with you today?!" she threw her hands in the air, not being able to comprehend why Gina is acting like a nervous wreck.

,,Huh? Is something supposed to be wrong with me?" Gina asked, foot still tapping on the ground.

,,Seriously?" Ashlyn raised an eyebrow. ,,Are you just playing dumb or are you actually unaware of your body movements?"

,,Oh, I was hoping nobody would notice."

Ashlyn kept looking at her with one brow raised high.

,,I told Ricky we should talk this morning."

,,Wait, really? Did you finally get to talk?"

,,No, the bell rang. That's why I'm so nervous. I don't know what to say, what to do or how to act! How do I even bring it up?"

,,Maybe you should just go for it. Like: "Hey Ricky! Remember opening night? Why did you act like a prick?"" They both laughed.

,,Sure, I'll do that. Very classy." Gina did a fancy wave with her hand.

,,No talking!" the teacher shushed them for the rest of their class.

,,I think I'm sweating." Ricky told Big Red as they were going to their lockers.

,,Dude, relax. It's probably nothing. What if she wants to talk about theatre?"

,,Yeah, but what if she doesn't? It may be serious. What then?"

,,You'll figure it out."

,,Hopefully."

They put their things in the lockers, Ricky took out his skateboard and they walked out of school.

,,I'm meeting up with Ashlyn here." Big Red told Ricky.

,,That's fine. I guess I'm going to wait for Gina here with you. They should come together."

Big Red nodded and they started talking.

The girls arrived not much longer after them.

,,Hi!" Ashlyn greeted them both, giving Big Red a kiss. Gina and Ricky shared their awkward moment again.

,,Alright, we'll be going now. Have fun! Don't forget about-" Ashlyn looked at Gina, who shushed her as soon as she could: ,,Yes, yes, we won't. Bye!" and gently pushed her out of the way, giving Ricky an apologetic smile. Ricky smiled back even though he had no idea what  Ashlyn was talking about.

,,Want to go down to SLS?" he asked her, strapping his skateboard to his backpack.

,,I'd rather go somewhere more... calm. If that's okay with you." she said nervously.

,,Of course." Ricky replied as kindly as he could.

,,How about I show you my favorite place in the park?" he asked.

,,I'd love that." Gina smiled.

,,Here we are." Ricky said after leading Gina through the park into a tiny forest with a little grass field in the middle. The sun was shining through the branches, creating a small magical place with no one around.

,,It's beautiful here." Gina was amazed. Ricky sure knew how to pick his favorite place.

,,Come." Ricky gestured with his hand. They got to the grass field, he opened up his backpack and threw his hoodie on the ground, then sat down on grass right next to it. ,,Come on, sit." he invited Gina to sit on his hoodie.

,,I can't, it'd get dirty." Gina tried to argue.

,,I don't care, come on." Ricky chuckled. Gina hesitated for a second and then sat down.

,,Thank you."

,,No biggie. You hungry?" he asked.

,,I should probably pretend I'm not but kinda, yeah." they both chuckled.

,,Here, it's not much but it's something." he handed her a Snickers bar. ,,You're not you when you're hungry." he made a serious face, making Gina laugh.

,,It almost feels like as if you were planning this." she then said.

,,I wasn't. If I were, it'd be much more romantic. Trust me." he casually said while unwrapping his Snickers bar. Gina couldn't help but blush. She quickly turned her head so Ricky wouldn't notice.

,,Wait, there was something you wanted to talk to me about." Ricky said, biting into his chocolate bar. ,,What's up?"

,,Oh, heh. It's nothing." Gina didn't want to say anything because she knew it would ruin the moment.

,,No, it's not nothing. You wanted to tell me something?" Ricky sat up straight. ,,I'm listening."

Gina looked at him for a moment, trying to decide if she should mention it or play it off.

,,I don't want to ruin the moment." she sighed.

,,As if you could ever ruin anything." Why did he have to be so smooth? Especially now.

,,Alright, I'm going to regret this later, but here goes." Gina took a deep breath.

,,Do I mean anything to you?"

She could see the surprise on Ricky's face. He did not expect her to say that, or anything even closely remote to it.

,,You mean more to me that you could ever imagine." he then said.

Gina wanted to be flattered, but couldn't. All the memories came flooding back.

,,Then why did you brush me off like that?"

,,Like what? When?"

Gina really didn't want to continue this conversation, she could already feel the tensions rising and she was enjoying their previous moment. But she knew this had to be done in order to move past it.

,,After opening night? I came to talk to you after the show, remember?"

,,I remember."

,,Do you remember what I told you?"

,,You told me you wouldn't quit on us... if you weren't moving away." she could see the sadness in Ricky's eyes.

,,I meant what I said. I thought you knew that."

,,I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow. I know you meant it. You wouldn't have quit on the show, you wouldn't have quit on our friendship, you wouldn't have quit on our crew. I know that."

,,Our friendship?" Gina was a little taken back.

,,Well, yes."

,,Is that all it was to you? A friendship?" she was slowly leaning away from him.

,,I mean- Isn't that what it was to you?" Ricky was looking into her eyes.

,,No..." Gina whispered so quietly Ricky had to read it off of her lips.

,,Then what did it mean to you?" he pressed on.

,,I-" she didn't like being speechless, but she didn't want to speak. Ricky gave her a reassuring look.

,,I liked you, alright? I thought you liked me, too." she finally said.