𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐋 | 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 | 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐈 was currently parked in the driveway of her boyfriends house, waiting a few minutes before heading inside. she didn't know why she was so nervous; ricky had asked her to come over after the news of the musical and to hang out somewhere, but it felt different. nini didn't know how or why, but something was telling her, this can't be good.

taking a deep breath in and out, the brunette girl knocked on the boys front door, fiddling anxiously with her fingers and her phone in her hands. not long after, the wooden door burst open, revealing a curly haired boy with a monotonous smile on his face. if nini noticed it, she didn't mention anything and just flashed him a smile back, muttering a 'hi babe' and walking into the lounge like usual. what she didn't expect to see, though, was a tall-curly haired girl sitting in her spot. regina porter.

"o-oh, hi, gina?" nini greeted in a questioning tone, simultaneously looking back into the entrance way for ricky, trying to find an answer to the problem she was solving in her head. what is gina doing here? wait of course gina is here, ricky and her are best friends.

"hey! nina? or is it nini? sorry, i'm bad with names." gina chuckled, trying to start up a genuine conversation with the girl, since, well, they never really talked. despite their friend groups being impossibly close, they never found a reason to. if she was being completely honest, nini didn't mind that, she was never a fan of this girl.

"well, my name is nina but everyone calls me nini-" she was cut off by the sound of the curly haired boy entering the room, with a rather large box labelled 'nini' in his hands. "oh, hey, what's in there?" nini asked, pointing towards the brown, cardboard box.

"i'll tell you in a second, um, gina do you mind going upstairs for a bit?" ricky asked politely, causing nini to quirk an eyebrow at him, but not bothering to say anything. "i need to talk to nini." and with that, gina jumped out of her seat on the couch, rushing upstairs into ricky's room.

this was gonna be a long talk, nini thought.

𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐘 was nervous as hell. he felt as if he was in some alternate universe with no way out or something crazy like that. he knew this day would come, he just didn't know when. ricky couldn't bare to leave nini in the dark in this situation, but he also knew bringing her into the light would leave everything a crumbled mess. better late than never, right?

ricky had been deep in his thoughts for about two whole minutes now, and it was itching at nini's skin for some reason, her just wanting to find out what he was going to say. "ricky? hello?"

the boy shook himself out of his head, refocusing on the situation at hand. oh yeah, right, i have to actually tell her, he thought to himself. he looked the brunette girl in the eye for a maximum of two seconds before averting his gaze back to the ground.

"babe, i can tell something is bothering you. what's up?" nini had zero idea of what was about to go down within the next few minutes, and she kind of wished she never found out.

"i-i um, this box is full of all your stuff that you ever left here. like, in the past year or so." the girl just nodded hesitantly at his statement, unsure of where this was going. "and i um, i just thought you would want to have it, after wh-what i'm about to tell you." and at that, nini's mind lost control of itself, wandering to places she never thought it would. no, it can't be.

the brunette girl was stumped. she didn't know what to say or what to do, so she didn't do anything. she did nothing but stare at the curly haired boy in confusion, feeling herself burn alive waiting for an answer. hoping that it wasn't the answer she was expecting.

"okay," nini dragged out the last letter, making ricky aware of her nervousness. "w-why are you giving it back to me? especially now?" her voice cracked for the very first time that evening. it was at this moment, she knew, it was over.

"i-i've been s-seeing someone else." ricky admitted, barely speaking above a whisper. if it wasn't for the uncomfortable silence in the room, nini wouldn't have heard him. but she did. unluckily. and she did not take it very well.

a crestfallen tear trickled down the girls cheek, her immediately wiping it away with the sleeve of her (his) sweater that she had borrowed a while back. she should've saw this coming from a mile away, like the hundreds of missed phone calls? the constant bailing on plans because of an important 'school project'. let's just say this was more than an important school project.

"o-oh." was all she could say. 'oh' was the only reaction that seemed appropriate to her in the situation. this whole time, the whole time that she thought he was just working a school project or helping his dad out with his shop, he was out cheating on her. the boy who she loved so much, was cheating on her. she knew asking was a bad idea, but she needed to know. "w-who?"

𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐘 didn't want to say it. he knew it would just deflate her mood further but she was asking him. the look in her eyes was merely filled with disappointment, to which he presumed it was disappointment in him. disappointed that he had the guts to cheat on her, disappointed that he didn't tell her earlier. to be honest, ricky would be disappointed in himself too. knowing the question wouldn't go long without an answer, he just decided to tell her right then and there.

"gina."