𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 ~ 𝙝𝙨𝙢𝙩𝙢𝙩𝙨 (𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙞)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔.

Monday, January 27 

Kourtney: Hey Neeners, guess who will be playing Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors! Spoiler, it's me. It's your best friend! Ashlyn is playing Chiffon and Seb's Ronnette and I can't wait to get to hang with them at every rehearsal! Wait till you hear about the rest of the cast... Ricky's gonna kill it! I know you're probably a little sad about your part but we're all SO proud of you! Seb said he called you earlier so I better get a phone call with you soon too!

Ricky: Hey sorry it took me a few hours to get a minute to text you but we're all so proud of you Ni. and you were totally right about the musical it hasn't even started yet and im already glad you convinced me to do it. although i think ej wants to kill me for 'stealing his lead' again. call me when youve got a minute, love you

Tuesday, January 28

To Kourtney: IM SO EXCITED FOR YOU! And yeah I'm a little disappointed but don't worry about me, I'll be okay. <3

To Ricky: CONGRATS LOVE! I'm already so proud of you. Sorry I couldn't talk last night. Rehearsals are getting a little crazy around here, but I'll call you as soon as I have a minute!

Sunday, February 2

Voicemail from Ricky: *Nins, I am SO sorry I missed our call last night. The cast got together for some celebratory bonding and Red was my ride and I told him I had to be home by nine to call you and he promised he'd get me back on time and then it took until midnight for me to drag him out of there. I hope you're not too mad. Maybe we can talk tonight? I love you I hope you had a good weekend. Okay bye.*

Monday, February 3

To Ricky: Hey sorry I couldn't talk last night. I had pushed back plans with the girls to sunday so that we could talk on saturday... i can talk tonight, if that works for you. i love you. i miss you. Good luck at rehearsals today

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Falling into bed Monday night, after going another day without a phone call from Ricky, Nini couldn't help but be slightly frustrated with him. She knew it wasn't just his fault, he had every right to go out with friends on the weekend, and now that they were both in shows it made finding time all that much harder. Her rehearsals were most nights from six until eight or nine, their rehearsals finished at six. By the time she got home, they were already asleep or busy with homework and she was in desperate need of a shower before passing out in her bed. And every day Nini felt like she was floating a little farther out to sea. Every time she thought about calling Ricky, it was like she could see the life preserver in front of her, but she just couldn't trust that that life preserver would actually keep her afloat. What if by holding onto it she just pulled it under and drowned it with her? Still, it was exhausting to keep everyone pushed past arm's length.

On Tuesday morning, Nini was with the girls in the dining hall eating breakfast before classes. Nini sat on her phone while she ate, only half-listening to Layla while she went on and on about the difficulties of learning her lines for Riz. Meanwhile, Faith, who was appropriately cast as Patty Simcox, listened patiently rarely contributing a word.

Nini pulled up her Instagram and scrolled through her feed, liking and commenting on a few photos until she came across Gina's most recent post and felt her body go cold. It was a selfie taken by Gina with Ricky. They sat close together, both holding up their scripts and smiling brightly. Gwen seemed to have noticed the shift in Nini's demeanor, "You okay, Nina?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just- What do you make of this?" Nini asked turning her phone around for Gwen, and the other girls who were now paying attention, to see.

"He's kinda hot, but like, in a cute way. And she's gorgeous. They're a cute couple, I guess?" Layla said, always eager to share an opinion. Gwen and Faith, on the other hand, look more surprised. "Isn't that your boyfriend?" Gwen asked, confused.