𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 [𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮]

.09 | night hike

the remainder of the night passed in a blur. after miss jenn dismissed everyone to bed, the boys and girls cabins dispersed to their respective sides. nini didn't get the chance to see ricky before she had to usher all of her campers back to their cabin. however, she would've loved to tease him about how red his face got when jenn caught him in the act. was he really smiling over their texts? nini couldn't help but grin at the thought, but she quickly got distracted by the screaming and yelling of all of her campers.

"nini! did you see the way ricky was blushing back there?"

"he totally has a crush on you!"

"you guys were texting, right?"

all of the kids crowded around the teenage girl, peppering her with questions about the same curly-haired boy. nini rolled her eyes as she shooed them away, trying to create some space.

"guys, please, let's go to bed, okay?" nini offered, trying to calm them down since it was nearly 11 pm already.

"if we go to bed, will you tell us a story about you and ricky tomorrow?" one of the girls said, her big smile showcasing her bright pink braces.

nini bit the inside of her cheek before reluctantly agreeing. if this was the only way she could get them to drop the subject, she'd take it. besides, they'd probably forget about it once they fell asleep.

"sure," nini offered a close-lipped smile before kneeling down to their height. "now, time for bed."

it took another thirty minutes to settle everyone down before obnoxious snores filled the space. by the time she finally managed to get every single camper to fall asleep peacefully, nini was utterly exhausted. her eyelids grew heavy as she fought the yawn that crept up her throat.

suddenly, her eyes jolted awake when a knock on the window startled her. she rubbed her tired eyes as she reluctantly stood up from her bed to investigate the cause of the noise. when she reached the window that was tucked at the back of the cabin, her eyes widened at the sight. she immediately unlocked the window and pushed it all the way up to meet a cheeky-grinned ricky bowen.

"hey! you haven't been returning my texts," ricky said as he leaned his chin on the window frame.

"shhh! you're going to wake the kids," she whispered, placing her index finger over her lips.

ricky leaned to the side to peek inside the dark room, where he saw lumps under cozy blankets and sprawled limbs that threatened to fall over the edge of the bunk beds. he snickered at the sight before turning back to nini's annoyed face.

"what is it?" nini asked, crossing her arms as she tried to decipher ricky's expression.

"let me guess. it took you thirty minutes to get them to fall asleep?" ricky asked, raising a cocky eyebrow.

"shut up," nini playfully punched his shoulder, rolling her eyes at the confident boy. she knew ricky always had a knack for being good with kids. it was a trait that was highly amiable, but it also made nini extremely annoyed. the two best friends were extremely competitive with each other.

ricky rubbed the spot where nini "punched" him overdramatically, staring at nini with a knowing look. "let's go," he said, slowly backing away and gesturing for her to crawl out through the window.

nini's lips parted as she stared at him, momentarily forgetting that they were supposed to go on their night hike together. after the chaos of getting over twenty kids to go to bed, her energy had completely depleted.

"oh, come on. don't tell me you're backing out now?" ricky said, drooping his lower lip in a playful pout.

"and don't tell me you're acting like one of my 8-year-old campers?" nini teased back, her previous yawn threatening to resurface. the voices of her friends and her campers appeared in her mind as she contemplated going on the hike with ricky. she never viewed the activity as anything more than friendliness, but now she wasn't so sure. the conversation she had with ricky over text at the campfire proved comforting, and she was quickly reminded how much she liked the boy. but with her campers, friends, and the idea of ej, it became hard to distinguish the line between her and ricky.