ricky was standing in front of his locker after school when kourtney and seb approached him.

"hey," kourtney greeted.

"hey," he replied, putting his books into the locker.

he caught a glimpse of the short brunette as she walked through the hallway, making her way to her locker. she stopped to open it and she looked into the small mirror that was on the door and she fixed her hair as she flung the door open.

ricky admired her as a small smile crept on his face, one that didn't go unnoticed by his friends.

"so," seb chuckled, "how does it feel to finally admit that you have feelings for nina?"

"what do you mean 'finally'?" he mocked.

"he means, you've practically been attached to her and what she's doing since we had to do the science project," kourtney pointed out.

"i have not."

"yes you have. kourt even said in your chem class you wouldn't stop staring at her."

"that was only today."

"oh ricky," kourtney laughed, placing her hand on his shoulder, "it's been everyday."

he looked back towards the brunette and saw that she was laughing with her friends. she looked over and gave him a small wave before she walked away.

"have i really?"

"yep. big red and i talk about it all the time."

"do you feel any different now that you've admitted it?" seb asked.

"kind of? i mean, i guess you're right, i have been acting like this recently. and every time i'm around her i get this weird feeling in my stomach, one i haven't felt since..." he looked at his friends, "um," he cleared his throat, "one i haven't felt in a long time."

"so what are you gonna do?"

"i don't know, hopefully ask her to be my girlfriend?" he shrugged. "all i know is that i really like her and i do not want to mess it up."

his friends gave him awkward faces and seb scratched the back of his neck while he tried to avoid ricky's gaze.

"what?" he asked, confused, "what just happened?"

"um, turn around?" kourtney replied.

he turned around with a confused look on his face and his jaw slightly dropped when he saw the girl standing in front of him. she gave him a slight look of shock as he couldn't find the words to come out.

"gina," ricky said.

"hey... ricky," gina replied awkwardly.

"um, did you- uh, did you hear all that?"

she nodded her head slowly as she pursed her lips together.

"you like nina," she mumbled.

"listen gi, i'm really sorry, i-"

"don't be," she interrupted him, with a light chuckle, "i think you should go for it."

he was taken aback and shook his head lightly, trying to see if this was some dream he could wake up from. he turned to face his friends who were also in shock.

"what?" he asked.

"you should go for it," she smiled.

"is gina porter really letting ricky bowen have girlfriend that's not her?" seb asked.

"sebby, i'm not some psychotic girl that's obsessed with ricky bowen," she said playfully, waving her arms around, "i know my boundaries."

"really?" kourtney asked in disbelief, "then why have you been acting so... these past 11 years?"

"oof," she scrunched her eyes, "has it been 11 years?"

she looked at all their faces that were still in shock as they nodded slowly in sync.

"um, where to start?" she chuckled, "well first, i don't have a crush on you," she started, "well i did... in kindergarten. you were the first person who talked to me when we started school, and you were like really nice. how could i not like you?"

"okay..." ricky slowly said.

"then it just started fading? and i just started to ask you out and flirt for fun. you know, it was our thing."

"huh," he let out a breath.

"and i also saw you hanging out with eliza, the girl who moved away? um, i had cousins who used to live in your area so i always went there but i guess you were too busy staring into her eyes to notice- and i don't know, i wanted that friendship with someone, but i guess i tried too hard."

"eliza?" seb asked.

"oh shit, do they not..." she whispered, trailing off.

he shook his head lightly and turned to face kourtney and seb, "um, you remember the girl who i used to hang out with all the time? i think you met her once when you guys came over."

kourtney and seb nodded slowly, trying to remember the girl.

"yea, we kinda had a thing going on before she moved away," he finished explaining, "wait," he flung his head back to face gina, "so if you weren't trying to ruin my relationships, what about all those girls who had a crush on me?"

"oh my god, i have no idea where that rumor started," she replied in an exasperated manner. "i did not threaten girls to turn away from you, and i did not scare them away. i literally was just there. doing nothing."

"huh," he let out another breath.

"yea."

"so when we went hiking with nini and her friends, why didn't you talk to them?" ricky asked.

"yea, we all kinda just assumed you hated her and them," kourtney added.

"no, i don't hate them, they're really nice. and i told you while we were hiking, i just don't like letting new people in so easily. it's hard for me to make friends. that's why i was so attached to our dynamic."

a look of realization struck her three friends causing her to laugh.

"i'm serious though, i've seen the way you look at her and act when she's around," she started, "you're different. happy. i think you two would be really good for each other."

"thanks gina," he smiled, "you have no idea how much that means coming from you."

she smiled a little, flattering herself, before she went in to hug ricky, which soon turned into a group hug between the four of them.

"well, now that we know you're not crazy, we can tell you everything," seb said, causing everyone to laugh.

"oh no," ricky rolled his eyes.

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