𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 [𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮]

08. | caught smiling

nini powered down her phone and set it face down on the table, her fingers gently massaging her temples. she couldn't bear any more of the day's drama. she had just lied to her boyfriend, concealing the truth about the rumors circulating at camp regarding her and ricky. how could she explain to her own boyfriend the constant speculation about their relationship?

thankfully, ej seemed to be understanding, and hopefully, by morning, nini would be in a better frame of mind to have an honest conversation with him, without the awkwardness lingering. 

nini and ej had started dating during their sophomore year, and their relationship had been relatively stable until now. they'd had their fair share of arguments, particularly during the summers when nini spent most of her time at haven pines. their lack of time together fueled ej's paranoia about her and ricky. it wasn't until ricky got a girlfriend of his own last year that ej finally eased off, but the situation didn't improve much for nini.

the remainder of dinner passed in a haze for nini, lost in her thoughts and hesitant to confront ricky about them. with her own friends seemingly taking sides against her, she began to question where she stood.

finally pushing aside her overthinking, nini focused on her responsibilities. she couldn't allow this turmoil to interfere with her duties. rising from her seat, she guided the children toward the exit for the opening campfire.

just one more event, nini. one more event, and the night will be over. 

===========================

"earth to ricky?" jake shook ricky's shoulder, causing ricky's head to jerk up, abruptly interrupting his thoughts. he shifted his gaze toward jake, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"what's up with you? i said your name three times," jake complained, giving him a light push as he released his grip. "we need to head out to the campfire."

ricky mentally slapped himself in the face as he shut his eyes in frustration. "right, yeah, sorry. can you take the kids there now? i promise i'll catch up," ricky said, rising from his untouched plate and scanning the busy dining hall for a particular brunette.

"jesus, i have to do everything," jake mumbled under his breath as he began yelling at the kids to form a single-file line.

rolling his eyes at jake's comment, ricky decided to ignore it as he maneuvered through the crowds of little kids. he offered apologies as he pushed through the group, feeling disheartened when he failed to spot those wavy, brown locks.

"RICHARD!" jake's aggravated voice called out.

"coming!" ricky yelled before groaning and jogging to catch up with jake and his campers.

everyone settled into their respective sides of the campfire, girls on one side and boys on the other. they formed a thick circle with jenn standing in the middle. as always, she delivered a welcome back speech and a few words to the new campers. time seemed to drag on longer than usual as ricky desperately wished for jenn to hurry up.

ricky strained his neck, trying to find his best friend among the crowd of children and teenagers. unfortunately, jenn seemed to instinctively block his view every time he attempted to move his neck. it was as if she were psychic or something. finally giving up, ricky decided to try getting nini's attention through text.

ricky attempted to conceal the grin forming on his face after his brief conversation with nini. he had been concerned that she might be upset with him for some reason, given her distant behavior during dinner. despite his efforts to catch her attention, she had consistently looked away. while relieved that his worry proved unfounded, he remained curious about what had irked her so much that evening. could it possibly be worse than what his own friends had done?

"ricky! would you mind sharing with the rest of us what you're smiling at?" 

ricky immediately froze, his whole body stiffened. he could hear giggles and whispers surrounding him as he slowly lifted his gaze from his phone to meet the stern look of miss jenn, her hands on her hips.

"he's texting his girlfriend!"

"you mean nini?"

"but they're not even dating!"

ricky gulped, trying to ignore the gossip as he struggled to formulate words.

"i-it's nothing. please, carry on," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

jenn glared at him for another moment before turning away, clapping her hands to regain everyone's attention. she cleared her throat and resumed speaking. ricky refrained from using his phone for the rest of the campfire, his cheeks burning with embarrassment as he hung his head low. however, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of nini's snarky smile as she shook her head in disbelief.

and that was all he needed—a smile.