Nini didn't know it then, but she loved him.
And that was why little 6-year-old Nina Salazar-Roberts sat down next to Richard Bowen on the swings when she saw him crying.
Why she asked him a million times why he was crying.
And why she stayed even after he yelled at her ferociously to leave him alone.
And why she hopped off the swing and knelt down in front of him.
"Did someone hurt your feelings?" Her small voice asked him as he sniffled. His gaze was kept on his hands that were fidgeting in his lap. He shook his head and a tear slipped down his face. "Did they say something mean about you." Another shake. "About your clothes? I think your dino shirt is cool." A small smile that quickly faded and a shake of his head. "Your hair?" Nope. "Your name?" He froze. He lifted his eyes to meet hers and pouted slightly as he nodded.
She furrowed her brows in confusion as she stood up. She wiped the wood chips off her knees and sat beside him on the swings once more.
"You know," she began. "When I was littler... I couldn't even say my name. I mean, my own name, that stinks! I should be able to say my own name. I can now but it always bothered me, I don't know. Anyways, my name is Nina." She cleared her throat and focused on her shoes.
"My name is Richard," he whispered.
"I don't see what's not to like about your name. It's a nice name for a nice boy, and it's a lot better than mine."
Richard smiled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Thank you, Nina."
"No problem... Ricky." A giggle escaped from Nina's lips and she stood up off the swing, wiping down her new red dress. She turned to him, lightly kissing his cheek before running off to somewhere Richard didn't even notice because he was mesmerized by this girl. She gave him his first nickname, and the name he decided to go by from then on. And she gave him his first kiss from a girl he wasn't related to. Nina. He would never forget her.
Ricky would never forget Nina, but that was all he knew about her. He didn't know her real name or if he even went to school with her. It wasn't until his freshman year of high school that he finally realized who Nina was, and that she was lying right in front of him this entire time. That she had been his best friend for the past year. That Nina couldn't pronounce her a's when she was little, so she started to go by Nini. That Nini was the girl he was in love with. That he found his way back to her.
