euphoria. [ rini au ]

chapter ten.

Ricky tucked the stapler into his pocket on Thursday morning after pounding several stables into the bulletin board and smoothing his hands over the official list of the Junior Varsity and Varsity basketball teams for both the boys and girls teams. Ricky's face lit up each time he saw both his and Nini's names in opposite columns. Although nothing would be official until the first game, she had earned herself the temporary title of Co-captain with Katie.

Hearing the warning bell ring, he stepped away to head to his locker. The charity ball board caught his attention and as Ricky glanced at the sign-up list, his belly burned at the sight of Nini's name on the list of eligible students going up for auctioning. In the spur of the moment, Ricky decided to fish out a black sharpie marker and pulled off the cap with his teeth before drawing a line through Nini's name. Beside it, he simply wrote 'unavailable'.

Voices swirled around him as people flooded out of classrooms and entered the hallway. Hastily shoving the marker away, he took off down the hallway before he was late. The grin was still on his face as he slid into the seat he occupied in front of Nini in Biology class. She gave him a confused look at the expression on his face, but he didn't give her an answer when she asked.

She would find out soon enough, he told himself, a little afraid of her reaction but brushing it off. Giving her a sweet smile and brisk kiss before turning to the teacher at the front of the room, Ricky hummed happily under his breath as he anticipated the reaction of East's male population.

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Nini first caught the first whiff of the rumours in the girls' washroom when a freshman asked her if the charity ball was still going to happen. Confused at first, Nini had assured her it was still going on. Her second was a comment by Gina that caused Nini to blush.

"So that date last night with Ricky must have been quite the dinner and movie," she quipped before brushing past after homeroom. Nini pause to try to process what she meant, but came up empty. Their date to a quiet restaurant and a talk on Ricky's porch swing after had been a welcomed break from the drama and action in their lives, but nothing quite ground breaking.

Her third and final hint at something wrong came from Miles Lennon from the football team when he asked about if she could fix the auction to make sure he didn't get bought by an underclassmen. When she looked surprised, his comment had been: If you can weasel out of it, I should be able to. That had been the final straw and Nini turned on her heel, marching towards the lobby of the school where her bulletin board resigned. She scanned it with furious eyes as she saw the black line where her name used to be and the familiar writing that spelled out Ricky's opinion on the matter.

Anger burned through her veins like poison. She wanted to strangle him. Hitching her bag higher on her back, she starting walking loudly through the halls towards his locker. She wanted him to hear her coming. She was furious and vengeful and fully irritated that he had refused to talk it out with her instead. He had the chance to the night before, they were even talking about her ideas for the charity ball, and never a word. Which meant it had been on impulse but she didn't care.

The doors in the hallway slammed behind Nini as she continued to walk towards Ricky's lockers. Everyone in the hallway looked shocked, then surprised, then terrified. Throwing horrified looks around, anyone who realized they were in a direct path to Ricky Bowen, threw themselves out of the way as Nini pounded her way through the path.

"Holy shit man, what did you do?" Big Red said as he saw Nini marching down the hallway, eyes focused on the curly haired boy.

"What makes you think it was me?" Ricky joked.

"It's always you. that look, that walk? Always you," Big Red reminded him. "Now what the fuck did you do to her?

"She's now unavailable for the charity auction," he replied, lazily.

"Why? Why would you do that?" Big Red hissed.

"Because I want people to know she's off limits," Ricky responded. She was his and that's that on that.

"You realize this was stupid, right?" Big Red asked, seeing Nini get closer, "Like asinine stupid."

"Uhh, maybe?" he croaked, giving her a weak smile before walked closer to him. "Shit."

"What the f-ing hell, Bowen," she seethed, waling towards him until she had him backed against the railing of the stairs. "What were you thinking when you decided to declare your possession of me? Am I an object? A toy? Something you can simply claim without asking?"

"I-uh, it was," Ricky stuttered, trying to get her to calm down because now that he thought about it, it had been really stupid. Not the romantic claim he thought but the actions of a possessive, jealous boyfriend.

"You what? Start talking now! Or did someone steal your balls for basketball practice and forgot to give them back. Man up, Bowen! Why did you do it?" she screamed, one hand on his chest.

That was what broke Ricky's apologies. It was second nature to them. First fight, contemplate later, then continue fighting. The fourth time Nini slammed her hand into his chest, Ricky reacted as he had a thousand times before. One large hand slid over her wrist and pulled her to him, the other hand landed on her hips and with a perfectly executed spin, their positions were reversed.

"I think you are perfectly aware of where my balls are, Sal-Robs," he sneered. "Just like I know what this is doing to you." His face dropped lower, his lips torturing her as they hung close enough to touch but their fury with the other too much to simply jump into his arms and forget about it.

"Don't touch me," Nini was growling. "I don't care why you did it, you should have told me. You should have said something more than a passing comment. I wanted to hear the reason from you before the whole school found out. I would have done it gladly if you just had said it. I've actually been waiting for you to say it and you won't."

"You know what I'll say? You're vicious," he taunted. "I shouldn't have to say it, you shouldn't be so willing to get up and offer yourself to anything and anyone. Or is that what you want? You've tamed me and now who are you going to go to next?"

He knew it went beyond what was considered allowed. He knew she was angry and it was the only way they both knew how to lash out but it didn't stop him from bashing her with every ounce of his being. God, he loved her but right now he needed to see her crumble and admit it.

"Well if that's really how feel," she seethed even more, "I'll leave it to you, please continue. Let everyone know what you really think of me. About us. What about you? Couldn't get any of the girls in Colorado and settled for the only one stupid enough to think you were different?"

"You know what, Nini? Fuck Colorado. fuck camp. Fuck summer. Right here, right now - you're mine. You belong with me and no one will stand on that stage and hand me money to buy you out for a night. I refuse to let that happen." Ricky's breath wad ragged as he gasped at the end of his confession, watching her face fall from angry to disappointed.

"You had no right. None whatsoever to do it behind my back." Her voice was cold. Quiet. "So fuck you to think you can control me like that. I'm nobody's toy. No one's." She took another step away before spinning on her heel and storming out.

"Nini? Neens!" Ricky called as he tried to follow her. She turned at the door and stopped before she met his eyes again.

"Don't follow me. Not now. Not ever. Not until you understand that even if I had stood on that stage and left with someone else, I would have still been yours. Would have. Now? God only knows what we've done here."

Then she left.