Honey | Gini

Nine

Nini's POV

I know I should've prepared myself for all the stares I'd get when I'd go downstairs for breakfast, but I kinda of forgot I had even done it. I woke up later than everyone else, likely due to lack of sleep, meaning not even my roommates have seen my hair yet, until now, and the whole room looks to me with gaping mouths, except for Gina; she's grinning as she leans on the island and takes a sip of her orange juice. 

"Nini, you look—" Ashlyn tries to find the words "—I love it."

"Yeah, they're really straight," Carlos adds, coming over to me. "How did you do them so well?"

"Uh, I had some help," I say. 

My eyes flick over to Gina, but when they meet hers, she looks down at the countertop. It hurts. Not gonna lie. It's like the moment I realized I liked her, she started acting all weird. Can she sense it? Is she trying to get across the hint that we will never be a thing? 

"Excuse me, please move." Kourtney comes pushing through Ashlyn and Carlos to grab my arm and pull me away to talk to me personally. "Girl, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Why?"

"Because you cut your bangs. Nobody in a good mental state does that."

I shrug. "I just felt like I needed a change. Do they look that bad?"

"No, no," she assures me. "They actually look surprisingly good, which is part of what worries me, because it shows that you were dedicated to getting this right."

"Well, I'm fine," I say. 

"Okay," she breathes. "Now that I've got that out of the way, damn girl! You are absolutely slaying those bangs. But did you think about what your moms will say?"

No. No, I did not. 

"They always said I would look good with bangs," I answer. 

They said that when I was twelve, but hey, they said it. 

Ashlyn's voice pulls Kourtney and I back toward the rest of the group in the kitchen as she tells us what her idea is for the day.

"Okay, so I was thinking we could go to the lake. There's, like, never anyone there, so we'll have it to ourselves."

"Yo, sounds rad," Ricky responds. "I'm down."

"Yeah, what Ricky said," Carlos agrees, "but without the 'yo' part."

"Really? Awesome," Ashlyn squeaks in excitement. 

"Welp, looks like I gotta bust out that bathing suit again," Kourtney says to me, and I laugh. 

My eyes drift to Gina, but she doesn't notice me this time. That's okay. It gives me the opportunity to just imagine that she would stare back if she knew. I don't need to be disappointed. I shouldn't be anyway. We're only friends. And that's totally fine with me. If I can't be her girlfriend, being her friend is the next best thing. Yeah, that's fine. 

I let out a breath. Yeah. 

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Gina's POV

The lake is a sanctuary hidden in a ring of trees. A dock extends out from the sand on the shore into the water, but no boats are parked at it. The place is practically soundless, except for the water rushing down streams at the far end. EJ parks his vehicle at the end of the dirt road before the grass starts, and those who didn't ride with him drop their bikes down. The only reason he drove was so that we could bring food and things like a volleyball here, which Steph immediately grabs and starts bumping between her and Natalie.