rainbow connection | rini

six

"Nini, have you ever been with a guy? Like with him," Sarah asked after practice once.

"No, I have not, Sarah," she said, laughing a little.

"Is it because you like girls? I've heard that," Ally said.

Nini laughed even harder. "No," she told them, "It's just because I'm abstinent."

"Oh yeah," another girl said, "Your parents are like, super religious, right?"

"Yes, and I made a promise to them, myself, and God which is why I always wear my purity ring and abide by it."  She smiled a little and saw Gina roll her eyes.

"It's called being a prude, Nini," she said. "It's not fun at all."

"I don't mind it," she said.

"Besides," Gina began, "EJ is super into you. Isn't it obvious?"

Nini looked over at EJ who was running on the field. "Really?" she asked. Several girls nodded. "I find him rather annoying."

"What about Ricky?" One of them asked. Nini eyed Gina cautiously.

Without a second thought, she said, "He's twice as annoying as EJ. Honestly, Gina, I don't know how you do it."

Gina laughed, her tone completely foreign to Nini. "It's the sex." She looked past Nini and at the guys on the field and Nini assumed she was eyeing her boyfriend. "Which is why I think you should go for EJ. It may be worth it."

"Gina," Nini sighed, "I'm serious, I'm not interested in sex."

She gave Nini a look that said she didn't believe her statement before asking, "So you've never been horny?"

"Not that I know of," Nini said. "I don't suppose I'd know, though. Or that I'd know what to do."

Gina giggled and moved her head in the direction of the field. "EJ is watching you again."

She looked back at him and he waved. She gave him a small smile. When he began to make his way over to the girls, Nini regretted her choice. She pushed herself up to her feet.

"Hey," he said. She smiled. "We're going out tomorrow, you should come with us."

Gina smiled. "Yeah, pizza and a movie downtown. Wanna come?"

Nini thought about it and ultimately decided that it couldn't be too bad. "Sure," she said, "I'll be there."

On their way out of practice, EJ stopped Nini. "Do you think I could get your number?" He asked.

"Oh, sure," Nini told him. He handed her his phone and she quickly typed her number into it.

"Thanks. I'd ask you to sit with us at lunch tomorrow, but I don't think we have the same lunch. I never see you there," he explained.

"It's okay," Nini said with a small smile, "See you tomorrow."

At home, Nini thought for a long while about her plans for the next day. Once her parents were in bed, she went to them.

"What's up?" Her mom asked.

Nini sat down with her legs crossed at the foot of the bed, her eyes shifting between the two people before her. "I wanted to ask if I could go out with the cheerleaders tomorrow. They're going downtown for pizza and a movie."

Her parents looked at each other with a smile. "Yes, you can," her stepfather said.

"Okay, cool. There was also something else." Her words seemed to drag and her mother raised an eyebrow at her.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Today, the girls told me that one of the football players likes me. And after practice, he asked for my number, so I gave it to him. I wanted to check with you guys on how you felt about me dating." She twisted her purity ring around her finger out of nervousness and her parents both seem to have thought about it a lot.

"Nini," her stepfather said, "As long as we're all on the same page about your abstinence, it'll be okay."

"Dad, I promise, I'm not going to mess that up over some boy. I just wanted to make sure you guys didn't mind. Besides, I'm not dating anyone yet." She smiled at her parents and told them goodnight before going to bed.

At the pizza place, EJ hugged Nini. She actually hugged back. She and all of his friends took a seat in a rounded booth. She noticed that Gina seemed more attached to Ricky than he was to her. He looked uncomfortable, almost.

"Okay," EJ said after a while of chatter around the table. "What kind of pizza does everyone want? Nini?"

With all eyes on her, Nini turned a light shade of pink. "I'm good with anything, really."

EJ nudged her with his elbow and said, "Yeah, but what do you want?"

"I really like veggie pizza," she said quietly. The people around her seemed to exchange shrugs and glances.

"I'm cool with that," EJ said. The table seemed to agree, so that was what they ordered.

Nini placed her hands on the table as the group continued to chat while they waited. After a while, EJ put his hand on top of hers. They stayed that way for a while and almost no one seemed to mind. Nini pretended not to notice Ricky's eyes on her hand which was covered by EJ's larger one for extended periods of time.

"Nini, you're a really good cheerleader, right babe?" Gina nudged Ricky and he looked confused.

His eyes left Nini's hand. "Oh, yeah. I mean I guess," He stammered. "I don't pay much attention to her." At least three people at the table knew that was a lie.

"Well, I guess you can attribute that to all the dance and gymnastics I took when I was little." She laughed nervously for a second and then said, "But thanks."

"We know that you dance now, but do you still do gymnastics?" Sarah asked.

"No. It started interfering with stuff at church, so I quit," she explained.

"Is there anything you value over your religion?" Gina asked.

Nini thought for a minute because she wasn't sure. "Yeah, my parents. I'm just really invested in God."

"That's really cool," Gina said. "That's cool, right, Ricky?"

Nini couldn't understand why Gina kept doing that, but she could tell it wasn't a good thing. Ricky hummed an affirmative and began to drink his soda. The night was definitely going to be long.