Chapter Text
Nini Salazar-Roberts loses her best friend on a Wednesday.
He doesn’t die or anything, but he does move away, and Nini thinks that it probably hurts almost as much. Ricky’s mom got a promotion that moved her to Chicago permanently, and he and his dad are following her out there even though it’s the summer before junior year and he and Nini have had at least one class together the entire time they’ve been in school.
“I can’t believe she’s fucking doing this,” Ricky says one day in the middle of summer, sprawled out on Nini’s bed while she plucks at her ukelele aimlessly, “She just decided to say yes without asking either of us, you know? It’s not fair to ask my dad to pack up our entire lives and ship off to her just because things are better for her there.”
“Isn’t marriage about compromising?” Nini asks, strumming out the same chord for the third time. “Mama C compromised when Mama D wanted to come back here and take care of my Lola, and if they hadn’t done that we would never have met.”
“It’s not the same thing,” Ricky sighs, eyes glued to the ceiling, “Your moms have a healthy relationship. My parents should’ve gotten divorced 5 years ago.”
Nini strums another chord out and it comes out off-key. “Have you ever said that to either of them?”
Ricky sits up this time, “I don’t wanna move Neens, but I don’t have a death wish either.”
He falls back down, his head at the foot of her bed. “Who knows though, give it enough time and maybe I’ll finally snap.”
So Ricky moves to Chicago on a Wednesday a month before school starts, and Nini breaks down crying the second his car is out of view. She had made it through hugging him goodbye and waving to him as he drove off, but seeing him turn the corner of the street they grew up on was too much for her to handle apparently because a rush of hot tears force their way out of her almost immediately and she’s running back home before she even realizes what’s happening.
Luckily, her moms don’t say anything when she slams the front door or her bedroom door on the way to scream into a pillow, so at least there’s that. She isn’t totally out of a best friend either — Ricky might be a long-distance friendship now, but Kourtney is quick to remind her that she’s her best friend too.
“Obviously it’s not the same because we didn’t meet until middle school,” she says that night over FaceTime, “but I’m still here for you, okay? And whenever you feel better we can go bowling or roller skating or something else fun to close out the summer.”
Nini pulls her blanket tighter around herself. “That might just make me sadder.”
“Well then we’ll find new things to do,” Kourtney asserts, “and we’re gonna have to go bowling at some point because I am not about to let my Pac-Man high score get beat because you won’t go back to a place you used to hang out with someone you miss.”
They talk a little longer before Nini decides to go to sleep. She knows Kourtney is right, that she can’t cling on to something, someone who isn’t around anymore. She has to move forward eventually.
But that doesn’t have to be right now.
Gina Porter has never understood why school starts in the middle of the week.
Of the seven schools she’s been to in the last six years, East High is the only one to start the year in the middle of the week, and she’s not sure that she likes it. Three days isn’t enough to figure out everyone’s dynamic before the weekend hits, and even though she’s supposed to be at this school until she graduates — her mom promised her, for real this time because even though she broke the same promise with Gina’s last three schools she was going to make sure it didn’t happen again — there’s still a part of her brain that insists on her getting a read on everyone before everything settles down. She’s never been able to make any close friends bouncing around from state to state, but she’s always been able to find a friend group to insert herself into so she has people to sit with at lunch. Having shallow friendships is always better than everyone seeing you eat alone for a semester and not notice when you disappear.
She’s in homeroom half-listening to the announcements and trying to memorize everyone’s faces when the monotone voice of some ASB member on the intercom says something that grabs her attention.
“The fall musical this year will be Heathers . Auditions will be taking place this coming Tuesday after school, and our…wonderful drama teacher Miss Jenn would like to remind you all that you do not have to be a part of Drama Club to take part.”
“Neens!” Gina hears someone poorly whisper behind her. Kourtney, she thinks, but she’s not going to turn around to check, “That’s your dream musical! You have to audition for an actual part this time.”
“I do audition for actual parts, Kourt, they just don’t give them to me.” Nina , Gina thinks, no, Nini. She corrected the teacher during attendance, she goes by Nini. “I was only a lead at camp, and that wasn’t even -”
“Who cares!” Kourtney hits back, “You love the Heathers musical, you have to do this!”
“Ladies!” Their teacher calls, Mazzara, Gina thinks his name was, “Do you have something to share with the class?”
“No, Mr. Mazzara,” the pair quickly reply, leaning away from each other and straightening in their seats.
It’s at that moment that Gina decides that she’s going to do something for herself this school year. She’s been in dance since she was a kid and she’s good at it, better than anyone else she’s met at least, and she never has anything to show for it. If her mom is promising two entire years in the same town, Gina’s probably only likely to be at East High for a semester, but a semester is all she needs. Heathers is one of her favorite musicals too, and if she plays her cards right she can break into the friend group and snag a lead part with no problem.
She might not be around long enough to make it to picture day, but if she’s at the front of the yearbook cast photo, that’ll be enough.