the flaw in being perfect - rini au

eighteen

It's once again lunch time at East High School, and Ricky sees Nini approaching the football players.

Ricky has no clue what she's here to do, but he knows that this is his chance to talk to her.

Nini goes straight to EJ, her normal huge smile plastered on her face.

"Hey Salrobs!" One of the guys, Landon, Ricky thinks his name is, calls.

Nini simply shoots him a smile before turning back to EJ.

She's been trying to be less touchy with the guys since Ricky pointed it out, and the best way to do that is to simply not be close to them.

Most of the table was caught up in their own conversations, but Ricky couldn't help but to eavesdrop on Nini's, as her plastered smile has dropped since her arrival.

"If you want to come over on Tuesday, let me know," Nini was telling the boy.

"I'll let you know when it comes closer. I think I might just stay home." EJ waves off.

"EJ," Nini says in a voice that's seemingly... worried?

What is so worrying about EJ being alone on Tuesday? Ricky thinks to himself.

"I'll be fine, Nini. Thank you for offering."

Nini can tell he's done talking about it and nods, starting to leave.

Ricky grabs his stuff quickly and gets up, following her. "Hey, Nini, wait up!"

Nini turns around to look at the boy, confused.

"Um, hey," she gets out.

"Sorry to bother you, Princess, I just wanted to know if you'd want to hang out with me anytime soon."

Nini blinks for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, did you just call me Princess?"

A smile develops on Ricky's face as he realizes that even though she didn't respond to his question, this is progress.

"Yeah."

"You called me that at the car wash too," Nini remembers, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

"That's tr—" Ricky starts, but Nini cuts him off.

"Don't call me Princess." Nini turns and begins to walk away.

Ricky falls into step beside her. "If you can give me a good reason why, I'll stop."

Nini huffs. "Because I'm not a princess."

"Not good enough, Princess." Ricky smirks.

Ricky is glad this banter exists. He enjoys teasing Nini.

Nini simply rolls her eyes.

"So, hang out with me?" Ricky offers again.

Nini is quiet for a moment, and Ricky honestly doesn't think she's going to respond.

"Tomorrow. Meet me at the cafe at 3," she decides, turning to walk a different direction.

Ricky just stops and smiles after her as he watches her leave.

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they're gonna hang out!!! how we feelin?

-jenna