ricky and nini's realizations

chapter 25

general pov

ricky comes jogging down the stairs like every school morning to greet his dad for breakfast. he doesn't quite make it to the kitchen though when the front door opens revealing his mom. "mom?!" he says excited to see her, but surprised by her sudden visit. she's been away in chicago for work for what felt like forever. ricky hardly sees her he feels like. and when she is away at work, she doesn't call to check in. ricky walks quickly to meet her in the entryway for a hug as mike speed walks out of the kitchen to see lynne to his surprise. still in their hug, ricky hears his dad begin to speak in a low voice with his arms now crossed across his chest, "you didn't tell me you would be back today." ricky pulls himself out of the hug with a scrunched up face towards both his parents. lynne puts on a smile, "didn't know i needed your permission to come home mike," she says coldly. this causes ricky to focus his attention on his mom as he grows uncomfortable. he could feel the tension between his parents which he didn't like at all. "no you never do, do you lynne," mike says with a cold smile through somewhat gritted teeth. "is it a problem that i wanted to come to my own home?" lynne fires back. "so glad you could finally join us then," mike says to her trying to keep himself from yelling. after a pause she doesn't say anything so he adds in, "took you long enough. must've been one long, busy work trip." ricky senses that he's missing some information that his parents are withholding from him, "what's that supposed to mean?" he asks with a lump in his throat. his parents look back to one another, but are saved from their own embarrassment by a ding from ricky's phone. he reads the text from nini, "hey are you on your way? we're gonna be late," he reads to himself. shoot. i've gotta go to school he mumbles to his parents pushing past them and out the front door. he grabs his skateboard from the porch and types out a text to nini, "leave w/out me. sorry if i made you late." he felt badly for leaving her clueless and sitting waiting for him, but he didn't have it in him to worry about it. his mind was racing with thoughts of his parents from just minutes ago. ricky rode his skateboard to school to clear his mind. at this point he was already late, so he didn't stress about taking his time skating to school.

nini's pov

i read ricky's text unsure if i should ask what was going on, but i didn't want to push. and besides it could just be that he overslept or didn't wanna ride with me today. who knows, but i make my way to school responding to his text with an, "okay." i get to first period and still no sign of ricky. we always know why the other misses school whether it be that they're sick or had a silly dentist appointment. as i'm lost in thought working on my worksheet in the quiet classroom the door opens slowly revealing a run down looking ricky. i see him hand a pink late slip to our teacher and take his seat next to me. i keep my eyes on him and i'm sure he knows it, but doesn't bother to acknowledge me or anyone for that matter. he plops down in his seat and places the same worksheet in front of him. he has one hand holding his head up and the other holding his pencil. he's not concentrated doing his work though, he's just sitting staring blankly at the page. my initial thought is that he overslept and that's why he looks slumped with red, puffy eyes. i go back to working on my worksheet until i hear ricky's phone buzz on his desk. he leaves it face up on the desk as he opens his phone which gives me a clear view of his screen. i swear i'm not nosy in that way, i just happen to look over already paranoid about his distant behavior. i read the text message from his dad, "your mom just went back to chicago just so you know." i didn't even know that his mom was back home. it seems like she's never around anymore. he shuts off his phone and shoves it roughly into his pocket. his right leg starts to bounce like it always does when he's anxious or nervous. i go back to writing down answers on my worksheet. still seeing his bouncing leg out of the corner of my eye, i place my left hand on his leg comfortingly.

ricky's pov

i'm just staring off into space when i feel nini's hand on my leg that caught me off guard. i freeze for barely even a second from her touch. i look over to her, but she's just focused on the work in front of her. i stop bouncing my leg and allow myself to relax for the first time this morning. i feel so overwhelmed with emotions from my mom's unknown return home to why my parents were so passive aggressive towards one another right in front of me about something that i feel like i'm in the dark about. and now my mom isn't even in salt lake. just like that. my mind is racing a mile a minute when her thumb starts to rub in circles on my still slightly shaking leg. i allow myself to relax from her touch, but still can't focus on my work. no way is that a priority for me right now. i sit for the rest of class with my head resting in my hands and her hand keeping me calm by the touch.