stolen

34. you did this?

everything goes black.

Nini can feel herself being restrained and she begins to panic.

"Ricky?! Ricky! Somebody help please!", she cries.

As she feels herself getting pulled by somebody, she continuously tries to fight her way out, but it was no use. Eventually she hears a door shut behind her and she can hear noises from traffic. She was outside? She gets pushed into a car and hears the door slam shut. Her arms were free now, so she carefully unties the piece of black cloth that was around her eyes. Her heart drops when she sees everything. She was in the back of a van, staring out of the back window as the car drives down the roads.

"N-no...no, no, no, p-please no...", she whimpers, "T-this can't be happening. N-not on my b-birthday."

Tears manage to slip from her eyes as she rests her hand on the window. After a few seconds of holding back the tears she breaks down, letting out sobs and screams for help.

She stares out of the window, "R-Ricky...please help..."

Nini felt her whole world crashing down again. She was regretting ever letting Ricky save her from running into the traffic. If she had just ended it there, she wouldn't have to live in fear...or be in this position right now. This time everything seemed to hurt even more. She was certain she was never going to see her friends again. But more importantly, she was never going to see the boy she loves again. Nini was longing for Ricky right now. She was longing for the sense of comfort and safety she felt from him. But she couldn't get it. She was all alone. As she continues to let her tears fall, she feels the van come to a stop and she checks outside the window to see her at the park. Specifically, the park she and Ricky came to the first night of being in LA together. The park that held so many memories of her and Ricky's friendship. The park where they would go watch the sunsets together. Their park.

Nini bites her lip, trying to hold back the floods of tears that might fall any minute now. She jumps at the sound of somebody fidgeting with the lock on the back door of the van. She looks up to see a tall black-haired lady. Nini backs up as she swings the door open.

"Put the blindfold on!", the lady speaks, firmly.

Nini quickly ties the cloth back around her eyes, so everything goes black again. She feels hands grip onto her arms as she gets pulled out of the van. She begins walking down a path, still in this random lady's grip. Eventually, she comes to a halt. It was quiet, which made Nini more nervous. The blindfold gets ripped off and Nini squints her eyes as she adjusts to the bright light. As her eyes adjust, she catches a glimpse of a curly haired boy. She also sees other figures standing there too. Once her eyes focused, they were attracted to one person. Ricky Bowen.

Nini's jaw drops open as she runs over to the boy, jumping onto him, wrapping her legs around his torso, as she engulfs him in a hug. She lets happy tears run down her face as she refuses to let go. She feels the boys arms wrap around her too, holding her up.

"Hey there", he whispers, setting her down on her own two feet now.

She blankly stares at him with her red, tear stained face, unsure of what to think right now. She looks to her right and left and sees all her friends standing there. She takes a step back and looks around the area.

"...happy...birthday...?", she mumbles to herself.

"Surprise!", Gina awkwardly exclaims. The rest of her friends awkwardly smiling too along with sad jazz hands.

Nini wipes her eyes and sniffles, "Um...anybody...c-care to explain?"

Gina walks up to Nini, resting her hands on her shoulders.