just for a moment | rini

[3] meeting up

when she pulled up, nini could see that rickys car was already parked outside. she took in a deep breath and turned her car off. she slipped her car keys into the front pouch of her backpack. she stepped out of the car and slid her backpack onto her back and shut the car door behind her.

she slipped her phone into her pocket and opened the door of the coffee shop. she looked to her left to see some college students and an old couple. when she turned her head to the right, two tables down was ricky.

he was looking down at his hands. he was fidgeting with them. he did that when he was nervous. he had done it since elementary when their third grade teacher caught ricky taking candy out of the treasure chest. nini almost let out a chuckle at the thought. his right leg was bouncing up and down. nini walked up to the counter and ordered a medium Frappuccino. the barista said she would bring it to the table when the drink was ready. nini handed her four one dollar bills and thanked her.

she walked over to where ricky was sitting and he looked up at her. she had missed looking into his big, brown eyes.

"hi. uh- please. sit." ricky said gesturing to the chair across from him. he realized how awkward he was being after it came out of his mouth. he set his hand back down on the table.

"i know i haven't been a very good friend lately. truthfully, i haven't really been a good person lately." he said, continuously jerking his eye contact from ninis brown eyes to his fidgety hands. nini let out a sarcastic smirk and scoff at his overly obvious comment. a small frown spread across his lips. ninis intentions weren't to hurt his feelings, but he could see the damage that he had done.

"i'm just-" he stopped himself, trying to form his words where they wouldn't sound like an excuse. "i know that i was an ass to you. i'm really sorry. i was just going through some heavy stuff at home, i mean i still am, and i just didn't know how to handle it. i was scared nini."

he looked up at her, now holding the eye contact. "everything was falling apart and i just didn't want you to leave. so i pushed you away before you could. i never wanted to hurt you. i was angry, and upset, and i felt like everything happening in my life was completely out of control. and with everything that has happened, i feel the worst about breaking our friendship. nini, i'm so sorry."

nini could see the tears in his eyes. he was hurting just as much as she was, if not more. but nini had questions that she needed answers to.

"ricky, you have to understand, that i didn't know how you were feeling. so everything you did and said came out of nowhere. i felt like i did something wrong, like i was the problem. i wish you would have talked to me instead of just pushing me away, because what it looked like from my end, was that my best friend hated me all of the sudden. and it hurt like hell." ninis eyes filled with hurt, but they held strong with his.

"nini i could never hate you. and i want to fix things. please let me. i don't want to lose you for good." ricky said. nini paused, but she didn't even need to think about it. ricky was there for her through everything, they were going to make it through this.

nini nodded and ricky let out a sigh of relief.
"but talk to me. what's going on?" nini said, leaning forward. ricky to a deep breath in.

"my parents separated. or i guess they still are separating? i don't really know the whole process. my mom came back from all her business trips about a month before school ended, and my parents told me. they were arguing so much, about everything. money, living arrangements, me. i was just so angry at the world for letting my life fall apart. anyways, over the summer she moved to Arizona. but now she is back sometimes for legal stuff. honestly, it confuses me."

"hey, if things at home ever get a little too tense, i'm always right down the road. you are always welcome. day or night." nini reaches her hand across the table and laid it on his. their eyes always had a way of talking when their mouths couldn't.

just as they were looking into each others eyes, where it felt like things were momentarily back to how they used to be, booming voices came from behind nini. she turned around in her chair to see about half of the water polo team walking in. they were being led by EJ caswell, who they all praised.

nini turned back around in her chair. her interactions with EJ have been few and short. but she wasn't a fan of the guy. he walked around everywhere like he owned the place. she hasn't even spoken to him since last year.

as she was looking at ricky, his eyes were shifting. just then, EJ walked up right beside their table.

"hey. Nini, right?" he asked with a wide, white, perfect smile. they had gone to school with each-other forever, but she didn't know whether to expect him to know her or not.

"uh, yeah." nini said with a short nod and polite smile.

"well the barista was setting this down on the counter and i thought i would just go ahead and bring it over." he said, setting down her Frappuccino with a flashy smile. nini was honestly taken back by his kindness, but accepting of it.

nini looked surprised, but grateful. "oh, thanks EJ." she said sincerely, assuming that would be the end of the conversation. before walking away, he made one last comment.

"you know, actually there is this party tonight at my place. you should come. it'll be fun." he was staring into ninis eyes, and only broke away to look towards ricky. his flirtatious smile fell of his face, "uh, bowen? right? you can come to." he said. ricky thought his invite was mainly out of the small amount of politeness EJ could muster up. ricky just gave him a toothless fake smile with a nod. EJ flashed nini a smile one more time before walking away.

ricky and nini turned back towards each other.

"so how long has that been happening?" ricky said in a playful tone, hoping she wouldn't notice that his words implied that it has been quite some time since they opened up to each other.

nini gave him a smile and started to blush. "what happening?"

ricky did an over exaggerated eye roll, "EJ caswell putting the moves on you." he said and ninis mouth dropped and she started to laugh. she lightly hit is shoulder. "that is not what's happening! he's just being nice. anyways, that's not what you need to be focusing on, because we are going to a party tonight." nini said with a grin that filled ricky with excitement and suspense for the upcoming hours.

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Authors Note : hii! this chapter is kinda long, so sorry! please don't be a silent reader and please follow! i'm going to really try to update this soon, but my schedule keeps getting busier and busier!
xoxo, jo <3