ricky and nini's realizations

chapter 23

general pov

nini's walking to her locker when kourtney comes up to her side, "girl!" "yeah?" nini replies in a breathy laugh. "so homecoming is coming up soon," kourtney drags out the word soon in excitement while shaking nini's shoulder. "okaaay and?" nini says continuing to walk down the hallway. "we gotta go dress shopping of course! jeez girl. you should know by now that i'm a personal stylist," kourtney says rolling her eyes jokingly. "so when do you wanna go?" nini asks her. "why not today after school?" nini thinks for a moment, "but isn't it still like three weeks away?" kourtney brings her hand to her forehead shaking her head slowly, "oh nini honey. we go shopping now to have the whole look planned out. plus we don't wanna shop after everything has been picked through." nini giggles at her best friend, "sure today after school works then i guess." "alright girl i'm headin' to class!" kourtney shouts walking away from nini once they've reached her locker.

ricky's pov

lunch time comes around finally. nini seemed to be okay in the classes we had together even though she was kind of more quiet than usual. but i'm not too worried anymore. i see nini walking into the cafeteria with greyson like she normally does. i guess i just figured she wouldn't talk to him anymore after the incident. i know she said it wasn't his fault, but how could it not be! he brought her to the party, so he should've stayed by her the whole entire time! that would've never happened if he hadn't left her alone. plus he didn't even come looking for her with me. how do you explain that. they finally approach the table to set down their book bags like routine and go get their food. they weren't really saying too much to each other by the time they reached the table. after a couple short minutes they come back with their trays and sit for lunch. i look to nini obviously so that she would look at me to talk. when she looks over at me and when make eye contact i raise my eyebrows annoyingly looking to greyson for her to understand my facial expression. she just shakes her head lightly and returns to her food. i guess she let it go? but i can't.

nini's pov

after ricky and i's short interaction, he scoots as close as he can to me on the bench. he knows i noticed and i take one of his cookies. "hey!" he looks at me chuckling, raising one hand into the air at me. i just laugh a little and take a bite out of the cookie dramatically while facing him. he nudged my shoulder playfully and we both return to our lunches. then kourtney starts up the homecoming conversation again, "alright!" she says in excitement. homecoming is definitely the perfect season for this girl with her love for fashion. "are you boys prepared for homecoming yet? or do i gotta help you again?" i look around the table meeting eyes with ricky and ej waiting for them to reply. "ight kourt. if you really wanna be in charge of my hoco look i'm all for it. less work for me." ej says to her. "helpless boy," is all she says and we all let out laughs around the table. "i was just gonna wear the same tux as last year. i laugh just before kourt begins talking because i know that's not what she wants to hear. he looks at everyone shaking their heads or laughing at him, "what'd i say," ricky asks timidly. "please please tell me you're trying to make a joke or something," kourtney pleads. "um no?" everyone breaks out into laughter. he looks to me for help, but i cover my mouth with my hand to quiet some of my laughter instead. "you cannot be serious. you can never. ever. ever. wear the same outfit you've already worn to homecoming! we only have four of them. that's no time to repeat outfits." kourtney scolds him. "so i guess you're in charge of my clothes as well then?" he asks her hopefully. "of course i am. i don't trust you to make your own outfit choices bowen," she tells him. he fakes a look of hurt on his face. i'm lost in the moment i'm enjoying with my friends when greyson speaks up to me.

general pov

"so who are you going to homecoming with?" he asks nini. "oh um. we've all gone as a group every year," she informs him. ricky picks up on the conversation listening in as the other half of the table continues speaking about homecoming. "what if someone asked you to go?" he slightly pushes. "oh i'm not really sure. i guess it depends," nini replies unsure of what she would actually say if someone did. she's always enjoyed being surrounded by her friends and was looking forward to homecoming with them again. ricky wonders to himself repeating the words it depends in his head. does that mean that she would go with a date and not them he wondered.

nini's pov

the rest of the school day flew by and right at the bell i made my way to my car to meet kourt. after a short drive to main street, we made it to the many strips of stores in our town. "okay which store are we going to kourt?" i ask her knowing she wants to take charge of this time. "follow me girl," she tells me with confidence exiting the car. i walk quickly to keep up with her. we approach a dress store opening the door to hear a ding. a worker kindly greets us right away, "hello girls. shopping for homecoming i presume?" i smile politely as kourtney says, "sure are." the lady clasps her hands together, "perfect. would you like me to start you off with some dresses today?" "actually i think we're just going to look around today," kourtney tells her, so we can look at all the dresses we want. "okay. let me know if you have any questions or need any help," she tells us smiling before she walks back to the desk. i actually don't need kourtney's help with this kind of stuff, but i know how much she loves it. plus we have a good time doing girly things like this together, so it doesn't hurt to have her give her opinions. i start looking through the racks with my size pulling out dresses i might be interested in to try on. kourt goes to the back, while i do so, to look for things for ej and ricky. i didn't really ask, but i'm assuming it's things like bow ties and their colors or dress pants and stuff. hey kourt i'm gonna start trying these on if you wanna see them!

general pov

kourtney claps her hands together walking quickly to the bench outside of nini's fitting room. nini comes out dress after dress. neither girls really loving any of the dresses. "i'm kinda losing hope here," nini says giggling defeated. "at least finish the stack of dresses in there with you and then we can try another store down the street," she tells her hopefully. "okay," nini agrees walking back into her fitting room. nini slips on the next dress on the small rack in the room with her. she examines herself in the mirror admiring this dress. she feels really pretty and turns in all ways to see the dress from every angle. she slowly opens the curtain with a big smile plastered on her face to reveal herself to kourtney. "oh my gosh!" kourtney exclaims matching the way nini is feeling about the dress as well. "like it?" nini asks smoothing it out against her hips. "yes! it fits you like a glove and matches your light tan skin tone perfectly." "thanks," nini says a bit quieter as she gets lost in thought looking down at her dress with rosy cheeks. "i think this is the dress," nini says confidently. "oh defiantly," she confirms for her, "i saw some things i want to get for the boys. i'm gonna go grab them while you get changed and meet you by the register." nini nods her head and closes herself back up in the fitting room looking at herself one last time before she has to take off the dress. the light pink satin dress fits tightly to her nice form with the open lace up back. it's the perfect length to show off her legs, but avoids coming up too high to show too much. with the skinny shoulder straps that come around her shoulder leaving her collar bones perfectly accented. she's already coming up with ideas of what she could do with her hair.

nini's pov

i meet kourtney at the register as i lay the dress that's now mine on the counter. i give her a strange look after i realize she didn't look at any dresses, "wait you got the boys their clothes, but nothing for yourself?" she rolls her eyes knowingly, "sweetie i already got my dress. i'm way ahead of the game." "right of course," i says laughing at her and reaching into my wallet for my card. we finish up at the store after a successful shopping trip and head to grab some food.