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When Nini and Ricky were 8, they were basically inseparable. They almost did everything together except for when Nini wanted to do more “girly” things like play with dolls or when he wanted to rough house with his guy friends.
A few weeks before Halloween, they had been at his house watching the Mickey Mouse Club House whenever she thought of an idea for their costume. “Hey Ricky! I finally know what I wanna be for Halloween!” She shook his arm roughly.
“What?”
“I wanna be Minnie! And you can totally be Mickey!” She suggested.
He beamed. “Oh I like that idea! And I already have a Pluto doll upstairs to match. We gotta tell our parents to buy it.”
“Let’s tell Momma C since she’s really good with making costumes.”
That same night when Nini went home, she had asked her mom to make them and of course she thought it was such a cute idea. Nini made a disgusted face when her mom made a comment about how they were gonna look like a cute little pair.
She could never see him as more than just plain old Ricky. When Halloween finally came around, the costumes were all prepared for them. Ricky had come over so that Nini and a few others could walk with Momma D.
Kourtney and Big Red had automatically began to snicker when they saw Ricky and Nini as an iconic couple. When the kids began their trick or treating, many of the adults handing out candy also kept stating how cute they were together resulting in both of their faces to redden.
When they got back to Nini’s, Kourtney had pulled her aside for a second when both Big Red and Ricky were trading candies on the couch. “Nini, can I ask you something real quick?” She asked in a low tone. Nini was beginning to become worried. “Yeah of course.”
“Did you purposely choose Mickey and Minnie for you and Ricky because you liiikkkeeee him?” She questioned with a smirk on her face. Nini grimaced at her question, and she noticed that her face got a little warmer.
“No! I don’t liikkeee him like that! We’re just friends, and I thought it’d be cool for us to match that’s all!” She whisper yelled.
Kourtney’s smolder did not budge. “Mm hmm sure Neens.”
Nini rolled her eyes as she turned around to walk back where the boys were with Kourtney close behind her.
When she sat back down by her candy bag, the boy’s looked at them. “What were you guys talking about?” Ricky asked.
Nini began blushing again while Kourtney began snickering into her palm. “It’s nothing! Let’s just trade candy. Do any of you like Almond Joys?” Nini said hoping to change the subject.
They all gagged at the mention of that abomination of a candy bar, and Nini put it in the reject pile. Ricky was curious what made her so jittery, but decided if she wanted to tell him she would’ve.
When it got later in the night, Red and Kourtney had said their goodbyes leaving the pair to themselves. Since it was a Friday, Ricky had asked to spend the night.
“Hey wanna watch a Halloween movie and eat candy until we pass out on the couch?” He asked.
She nodded and turned the TV on. “We should watch Halloweentown!” Nini suggested.
“Yeah sounds good.”
She turned on the movie and they sat and enjoyed their candy, but all of the sudden Kourtney’s words began to haunt her brain.
She stopped focusing on the movie and had found herself sneaking gazes at Ricky. She watched as he was stuffing his face with as many m&m’s as possible. She smiled and shook her head to attempt to clear her thoughts.
Nah they were just friends. Nothing more nothing less.
***
Their gang had added new members since elementary school. Along came Gina, Ashlyn, Carlos, Seb, and EJ over the years. They had all met each other in different ways, and when they all came together they realized quickly that they all got along perfectly.
They were all currently in the cafeteria of East Middle School talking about random things as usual at their table. While the rest of the crew was talking about an upcoming film they wanted to watch together, Nini and Ricky had been in their own world at the end of the table.
“Nini I’m telling you that you’re crazy! Under Pressure is ten million times more iconic than Seven Nation Army. There are no if's, and's, or but's about it. And that’s on that.” He said taking a sip from his drink.
She rolled her eyes playfully. “Oh please, Seven Nation Army is superior. Ask any person in this entire building, and they’ll agree.”
“Okay listen here missy, Under Pressure is more iconic because the beat was so damn catchy that Vanilla Ice used it to get famous. And it is also performed by the legendary Queen, so ha!” He sneered at her.
“Okay I see your point there, however you can’t go to one sports game without the beat of seven nation army playing in the background to motivate the players and hype up the crowd. I mean have you been to the high school games recently? That song never fails to uplift everyone’s spirits.”
“Hmm sounds like a lot of hoopla, but sure for the sake of not wanting to argue I will agree with you this one time Sal-Robs.” He smirked since he knew she hated when he let her win. She slapped his arm playfully.
“I’m not going down without a fight Bowen!”
He turned away from her and pretended to ignore her. He tried his best to hide his smile, but he found it was impossible.
“I’m not listenninnggg.” He plucked his fingers into his ears and humming loudly so that he couldn’t possibly hear any outside noises. He saw her lips moving and he felt her hands try to force his fingers out of his ears. He laughed as she struggled to make him put his arms down.
She finally was able to get his right arm down and she pinned her hand on top of his so he couldn’t put it back in. “Dang it Ricky stop acting so stubborn!” She tried to get the other arm down.
“I’ll stop when you admit you’re wrong.” He tried to bargain.
“Hard pass.”
“Oh my god, can you guys stop flirting? It’s making me sick.” Carlos said from across the table. They both had totally forgotten that they weren’t alone and was a little surprised at Carlos’ presence. They both released each other and began blushing.
“Geez can you guys just like kiss already or something? You guys have been flirting forever now.” Gina said.
“As a person who’s been friends with both for years, I can confirm that.” Big Red said. Ricky gave him a face of betrayal, and Big Red just shrugged.
“Oh my god, it’s not like that!” Nini said in a higher pitch than she usually spoke in. The others at the table all gave her a look that screamed “sure Jan.”
“Okay sure, you keep lying to yourselves.” Kourtney said.
“C-can we talk about something else?” Ricky asked. The others considered teasing them some more, but decided to give them mercy this one time.
“We were all talking about seeing the Winter Soldier this weekend if you two wanna join.” EJ said.
“Yeah sounds like a plan.” Nini said. They had all began to talk about the movie again trying to predict what was going to go down, but Nini had still been thinking about Ricky and her little play fight.
She had noticed he had looked down at her a few times, and she decided to pretend she didn’t notice it. He must be thinking the same thing as her. When no one was paying attention to them, he had craned his neck down to her ear.
“Just so you know, I definitely won that fight.”
She had let out a rather loud laugh and rested her hand on his knee. “Whatever you say Bowen.”
***
The gang was in their sophomore year, and their first homecoming all together was finally here. They hadn’t all gone last year since a few of them couldn’t attend due to busy schedules, so none of them went.
There had been copious amounts of homecoming proposals all across the school for an entire month, and though Nini loves them, she was very envious of them.
She had always dreamed of a guy wanting her to be his date for the night whether it was romantic or not because they were still thinking of you. A few of the gang members had already been asked. Red got the courage to ask Ashlyn using a tap dance and poster to ask last week.
Gina had just asked EJ by simply asking him with no big show, and he said yes. Carlos had asked Seb to the dance two weeks ago during a nice picnic he planned at the park.
That only left her, Kourtney, and Ricky. Kourtney had already said she didn’t plan on being the fifth wheel in their group when he asks her to the dance. Nini didn’t understand why Kourtney had assumed that Ricky would ask her out. She was pretty sure she was one of the last girls on his mind to ask to the dance.
“Girl what’re you talking about? I guarantee that man has definitely been planning on asking you for a while now.” Kourtney said as they both walked down the hallway. Nini was trying her best to put the thought of him asking her in the back of her head. If she let that consume her thoughts, it’d completely be the only thing she’d be thinking about all day.
Besides, it would get her hopes up and it would be a big stab to the chest if he ended up not doing it. “I’m telling you Kourt, he’d never ask me even as a platonic date. Even if he did, I’d probably say no since I would not hear the end of it from you guys about how we’re in love and blah blah blah.”
Kourtney was about to protest, but she stopped when she realized that that last statement was completely right. “Okay well we all mean no harm, and you can’t blame us for teasing you guys! I mean you make it so obvious that you like each other without realizing it. It’s both cute yet super agitating that y’all are so blind to it.”
Nini groaned at her words. “For the bazillionth time, he and I are just friends.” She had heard Kourtney mutter some words under her breath, but before she could ask what she said, she was interrupted by Ricky saying her name.
When he reached them, he gave them both a quick hug. “Hey guys, you have any idea what we’re all doing for homecoming? It’s pretty soon, and I have no idea what to wear since I don’t have a date to match with yet.”
“Well I heard that the whole gang wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory and then head there. We’re all gonna split off with our dates eventually though.” Kourtney said.
“Yeah Ricky since you don’t have a date do you wanna just join the dateless duo and make it a trio?” Nini said pointing between her and Kourtney.
“Awe so you don’t have a date?” Ricky asked.
Nini shook her head. “Nope, no one asked and you know what? I’m kinda relieved.”
She had noticed his small grin had dropped. “Oh really, why?”
“Well now I don’t have to really worry about like dressing really nice for somebody or them hitting on me or whatever. Plus, I get to hang out with my two best friends. What can be better than that?”
He just nodded and put his hands in his hoodie pocket. “Cool, cool, cool. Yeah um I’ll consider your offer. I’ll see you guys later.” He turned around and walking to his next class.
“Did he seem a little weird to you?”
Kourtney gave her a baffled expression. “Girl are you Helen Keller? Cuz you’d have to be deaf AND blind to not see that he clearly wanted to ask you out!”
Nini was flabbergasted. There’s no way he wanted to ask her out. “Oh shut up; he did not! I’m pretty sure he would’ve just asked if he wanted to.”
Kourtney sighed and face palmed herself. “You know for a girl that has a 4.0 GPA, you can be very dumb sometimes.”
The next day, Nini had been walking out of the school to go home when she saw a glimpse of Ricky with his guitar inside an empty classroom. She was wondering what on earth he was doing in there. She began to open the door until she saw that he wasn’t alone.
She examined the other person in the room and had noticed that it was a girl named Hannah Peterson. She was a very pretty girl and was very sweet. She overheard Ricky begin to play his guitar and sing what she assumed was an original of his.
That’s when Nini realized what he was doing. He was asking her to homecoming. For some reason, her heart began to ache as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.
When he was done singing, she saw Hannah nod and jump up to give him a hug. She felt her heart drop as he held her back. Nini didn’t understand why she was so upset. She didn’t have feelings for him and she had wanted to go to the homecoming alone. So why was she so...dejected?
She couldn’t look at them anymore, so she sped walked to her bus before she almost missed it. She definitely was not looking forward to homecoming now.
Homecoming night had finally arrived, and if she was being completely honest with herself, she didn’t want to go. She was only going to be around all of her friends...well maybe not all of them. Plus, if she decided to bail, she’d have to explain why. Ricky had told everyone about his proposal the following day, and they all were shocked that he didn’t ask Nini, but didn’t say anything else after.
Kourtney was the only one who wasn’t blind to her obvious crestfallen aura. All of the girls except Hannah were at Kourtney’s house letting her do their hair and makeup since she was the queen of cosmetology. While Kourtney was doing Nini’s hair, she was looking at her sad face.
“Neens, what’s wrong? You’ve been off all day.” She asked in a low voice just in case she didn’t want Ashlyn or Gina to know what’s up. Nini just shrugged not wanting to admit to herself that she had been upset about him not asking her. “Is it about a guy who’s name may or may not rhyme with Mickey Mowen?” Kourtney asked.
That had gotten a tiny smile on Nini’s face, which she saw as a victory. “Maybe...”
“You know, if you wanted to be his date you could’ve asked yourself. It’s not like he would’ve said no.” Kourtney finished up the bun on Nini’s head.
“Yeah I guess.” Nini said under her breath.
“Don’t worry Neens, you’ve got me. I’ll be your date for tonight. Hell, we can even slow dance if you’d like.”
Nini finally let a full smile graze her face. “That actually sounds amazing. I can always count on you to make me feel better.”
“Anything for you bae.” She winked at her through the mirror.
A half hour later, the girls all met up with the guys at the Cheesecake Factory instead of at Kourtney’s since they accidentally went overtime while getting dressed. When they arrived at the restaurant, the guys and Hannah were already waiting in their seats for them.
“Damn, it was about time! I thought we’d have to send out an amber alert if you’d taken any longer.” EJ said.
All of the girls either said their apologies or flipped off EJ as they all sat next to their dates. Nini couldn’t help but notice that Ricky’s arm was wrapped around the seat of Hannah’s. She was so focused on it that she was oblivious to the fact that he was looking at her.
“You look really pretty Neens.” He said.
She wasn’t ready for him to compliment her for some reason even though that wasn’t exactly irregular behavior for them.
“Thanks, you too.” She definitely meant it. One of her favorite things about him was that he always wore vibrant suits instead of the boring black and white suits like most men. He was basically the Harry Styles of the males in the group.
“Wow Ricky you’re not gonna compliment any of the other girls too after I spent countless hours on them?” Kourtney asked sarcastically.
Ricky laughed and held up his hands as if he was surrendering. “All of you lovely ladies look absolutely drop dead gorgeous tonight. There are you happy now?” He said playfully.
They all laughed and ordered their food. The dinner had gone by smoothly and Nini even got to speak to Hannah for a little bit. She figured she should at least try to get to know her a little more to maybe feel less like a shitty person for secretly disliking her for the past few weeks. She already knew she was nice, but she had actually been pretty cool as a person too.
She could understand why Ricky would want to spend his night with her. Nini was no competition. She didn’t want to compare herself with her, but it was really hard not to. When they finished eating, they all had gotten into their designated cars with their dates and drove to the dance.
When Kourtney and Nini parked, Kourtney looked over at her to make sure she was still okay. “Hey Nini you’re fine right?”
Nini looked over at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Yeah I’ll be okay. Maybe tonight isn’t going to be nearly as miserable as I thought it would be. Let’s have a good night.”
Kourtney smiled at her friend and they both hopped out of Kourtney’s car. The crew had gotten to the dance about 20 minutes late, so the dance floor was already lively. They didn’t separate like they all thought they would. The couples all danced by each other, but they all remained in the same circle. Nini was honestly having the time of her life as she danced with all of her favorite people.
She was glad she didn’t let her stupid feelings get in the way. After a few minutes of the energetic songs, the dj had begun to play Forever Young. All the singles basically vanished from the dance floor and couples stayed and slow danced with their partners.
Kourtney bowed in front of Nini holding a hand out for her. “Madam would you do me the honors of dancing with me?”
Nini chortled, took her hand, and curtsied back at her. “It would be an honor.”
She wrapped her arms around Kourtney’s neck while Kourtney rested her hands on Nini’s waist. They both giggled and sang along to the iconic 80’s bop and were genuinely having a good time. But like all good things, it came to an end.
Nini had let her eyes wonder to look at her other friends and saw Ricky and Hannah dancing rather close, and they were definitely not leaving room for Jesus. She didn’t mean to watch them, but she couldn’t pull her eyes away. She watched as Hannah played with the curls on the back of his head like Nini did whenever they would lay together on her couch.
He seemed to have liked it since he didn’t pull back. She watched as Hannah slowly began to close the space between their faces. Nini felt her body stiffen, which caught Kourtney’s attention. “Hey Neens, what’s up?”
Nini didn’t answer wanting to see if she ends up kissing him. Hannah finally gets on her tippy toes and meets her lips with his.
Nini felt herself fall apart. She has no idea why she felt so heartbroken over something that had nothing to do with her. It felt like she was watching her significant other cheat on her when it wasn’t the case. She could feel herself about to combust, so she let go of her friend and ran out of the dance.
She heard Kourtney yell her name, but she didn’t turn back. She just kept running until she was fully out of the building. She didn’t run to the car since she didn’t have the keys so she just ran to closest quiet place she could find.
When she saw the courtyard, she popped a squat on the bench and just let herself cry. She felt so stupid for feeling this way. There was no reason to cry right now. Ricky can kiss whoever the hell he wants without her approval.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Nini?!” She heard behind her.
She wiped her tears and looked behind her. “Ricky?”
He began jogging to her. When he got to her, he sat down and wrapped his arm around her. “What’s wrong? I just saw you jot out of the gym all of a sudden.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just stressed.”
He gripped her a little tighter. “Nini, I’ve known you way too long to know when you’re not actually fine. Why don’t you wanna tell me?”
She turned the opposite direction of him not wanting to look at him because she knows that’ll make her cry more.
“I’m just acting dumb. Ignore me and go back to Hannah. You guys seemed to be hitting it off pretty well.”
“I’m not leaving this spot until you tell me what’s wrong.”
She sighed; she should’ve known he wouldn’t go down without a fight. “I-I wish it were me.” She said quietly. Her words didn’t make sense to him.
“What do you mean?”
She finally diverted her body towards him and looked him in the eye. “I wish you had asked me to the dance.”
“Well I was about to, but then you said you wanted to go alone, so I asked Hannah.”
She was astounded. Kourtney was right! She was totally oblivious to him. God now she really felt stupid. “Well, I guess that’s my own fault for not noticing all the signs you were giving me and for not just asking myself.”
“Yeah I thought I was being obvious, but I guess not. But uh are you okay now?”
She wiped her remaining tears and nodded her head. “Yeah sorry about all of this.”
“It’s nothing. You know you are one of my top priorities.”
He got up and held out his hand for her to take. “Now let’s get back to the dance. I’m pretty sure Bohemian Rhapsody is about to play, and we both don’t wanna miss that.”
She smiled, took his hand, and stood up from her spot.
“I bet I can sing Freddie’s parts better than you can.” She challenged. He laughed fervently.
“Oh you’re so on Sal-Robs.”
***
Every year, their friends always teased them for having a friendversary. They had known each other the longest out of everyone in the group. Today marked their 13th year of being best friends.
They usually ate at some restaurant of whoever’s turn it was to choose that year right after school every year, but this year Ricky had claimed that he wanted to spice things up a bit. He had kept everything secret from her, and she tried her best to find out what on earth he was scheming up.
She had tried to trick Red or EJ into spilling what she was planning, but they both kept their mouths shut. He asked Carlos and Seb, but neither had been told about his plans since he knew they couldn’t keep a secret. She gave up after that and decided to wait. She couldn’t even bug Ricky during the day since he didn’t have classes in the last two hours of the day.
When the last bell finally rang, she practically ran to her car. The only thing he had given her was an address and a time. It was currently 2:10 and she was supposed to be there at 2:30. She had put in the address on her phone and began her quest. She felt her palms become clammy as she approached the destination.
After 15 minutes, she finally arrived at a meadow that she’s pretty sure she’s somehow missed. She had seen Ricky’s car parked in the shallower grass area and parked beside him. She got out and looked around the meadow and smiled when she finally saw a familiar head of chocolate curls.
She didn’t even realize she was sprinting to him until she had finally reached him and was out of breath. His smile matched her glowing one when she plopped down beside him on a blanket.
“Awe you made it just in time! You must’ve been eager to get here.”
She waited until she got her breath back before speaking. “Yeah well your secret keeping was kinda driving me crazy. Had to know what the hell you had planned.”
“Well I hope this will be worth you losing your sanity for a few hours. I set us up a special picnic with a special playlist.” He pulled out the basket and took out the contents.
“I thought it’d be cute to have the same dinner we had when we first made dinner at your place in second grade for Mother’s Day. Of course I made this edible though.” He let out a chuckle. She grinned at the memory.
Her and Ricky had made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a side of leftover bacon they found from the fridge as a dinner for their moms, and they attempted to make coffee (they failed horribly). The moms all were good sports and pretended to eat it when they were looking, but they were more than sure they threw it away when the kids weren’t paying attention.
“Awe Ricky, this is so sweet! You even used the same mugs we used all those years ago!”
“Yep, kinda surprised you remembered the mugs to be honest. Oh and also I brought Franklin. Can’t have a friendversary without the bear that brought us together.”
That bear had mended their relationship whenever they got in a big fight in third grade when Ricky had burned her Barbie in the microwave. As an apology, he gave her his all time favorite bear claiming her friendship was far more important to him than some bear. She had accepted the gift, but decided she wanted to share the bear with him. So they both treated it like their son.
“Awe yes it wouldn’t be right without our son.” She hugged the bear close to her heart.
He pulled out a radio and placed it in front of them. “And a quick flashback to 2017 when you forced me to see the Greatest Showman and I got us kicked out for continuously complaining. Sorry about that by the way.” He gave her a boyish grin.
He pressed play and it began playing the soundtrack to the movie. “I still can’t believe you got us kicked out. I was so embarrassed.”
“Yeah well if it makes you feel any better, musicals kinda grew on me after watching a bunch of them with you and the gang.”
“Finally came to your senses! This truly is the best friendversary we’ve had.” She joked.
“And last but not least, I got you a little something.” He reached into his pocket. He pulled out a red box, and Nini’s heart began to beat out of control. “I saw this in the store and thought of you. I knew I had to get it for today. Here open it.” He handed it to her. She took it and opened it.
It was a necklace made of real gold with a key chain that said mahal which meant love in Tagalog. “I remember you teaching me a little of Tagalog a few years ago and remembered that word. How convenient was it that it was at the mall?” He said awkwardly scratching the back of his head. She looked up at him adoringly.
“I love it.” She took it out of its box.
“Here let me put it on you.”
She gave it to him and let him place the jewelry on her. She began to fiddle with the object admiring the beauty of it. She turned to look at him again and noticed he had looked at her with the most intense stare she’s ever seen on him.
As she gazed into his eyes, she felt her heart glow. She has never felt this wave of absolute bliss and pure happiness until now. Right there at that moment alone in a meadow she had known.
Her heart was deeply, madly, and truly all his.
She found herself closing her eyes and leaning into him. She had peeked to see his reaction and was surprised to see he too was leaning in closer. She felt his hands rest themselves on her cheeks right before their lips touched.
The kiss was short and sweet, but it was the best kiss either of them have ever had. They rested their heads on top of each other’s, and she kept her eyes closed a little longer still caught up in the moment. When she opened them, he had already been looking at her.
As they admired each other, they both knew exactly how they felt about each other. They didn’t have to share their thoughts. So they kissed again and again until their lips were swollen whispering sweet nothings to each other, and afterwards they lied down on the blanket wrapped in each other’s arms admiring the sky.
He was her person, and she was his.
***
The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard but must be felt with the heart.