cruel summer. [ rini au ]

chapter seventeen.

Nini considered herself a fairly rational person. She solved calculus questions with logic. She approached her friends' personal problems with objectivity. Spontaneous thoughts or actions were only followed through when all the consequences were considered. Ricky Bowen was the one thing that she couldn't figure out.

Lying on her back on her bed, her mind was running crazy with every thought or memory of Ricky Bowen, the good and the bad, and yet they all led to the moment yesterday afternoon when his lips captured hers and she never felt so complete and content in her entire life.

That afternoon had been perfect. They remained in the park until meeting Dave back at the post office, discussing school and friends and college. It had been easy and so effortless talking to Ricky. There was no other kiss, but Ricky's hands never left her skin. The evening was enjoyable as the dining hall was decorated to resemble a fancy restaurant while the campers acted as hostesses and waiters. Later, there was an outdoor movie projected on the wall of the theatre and Nini tangled her fingers in Ricky's hair as he lay in her lap, watching her face instead of the movie.

"What if it's just this place?" Nini whispered out loud to herself, tears of frustration threatening. "What if it's nothing more than the effects of everything else and when we go home, he'll just toss me aside like some other girl."

She didn't have an answer for herself. turning on her side, she grabbed her phone, considering calling Kourtney. Feeling a tear slide down her cheek, she shook her head. Kourtney couldn't help her, she would just go off on how Nini didn't need a man to make her happy.

She was on her own.

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Ricky felt lost. He would be the first to admit that Nini Salazar-Roberts was a complicated person. Since they entered high school, he had accepted she had a multi-faceted personality. Pushing her buttons had been more than amusement, it was his way of proving that he still knew who she was. As long as he could get the expected reaction out of her, she hadn't become a complete stranger to him. This summer at Pineridge Falls stripped both their walls away and for the first time, they were letting each other in and making an effort. Ricky had seen the day before at the park as a milestone that showed how far they had come. But he had no idea what happened between last night, when she left to go to her cabin and right now, at the breakfast table.

She hadn't slept. There were dark shadows under her eyes and she sat there, pushing her eggs around her plate.

"You feeling okay?" he asked quietly, worried about the brunette.

"Headache," she answered in a low voice, and Ricky's frown deepened when she didn't even force a smile.

"You nervous about the Hairspray production?" Ricky asked, thinking maybe she was just stressing out.

"It's not like I'm in it," she pointed out, pushing her plate away,

"I know, I just thought that maybe-", he didn't get to finish because she was getting up from the table.

"There's just lots to do," she told him. "I'll see you later.

As she walked away, Ricky sorted through anything he had done in the last twenty minutes to make her angry, but he came up empty. There was no way to k ow, but something definitely had her thinking and on edge. There was nothing in the few words said between them to indicate the connection they shared the day before. Did she regret what happened yesterday afternoon?

Pushing his plate away, he got up and left the table, taking a path back to the cabins. He passed the theatre and heard the low murmur of voices and stopped.