After an hour or so of photos with Red and Kourtney's parents and a 'fancy' meal at their local Olive Garden, the group is finally at the front of the line to get into the dance itself.
Ricky hadn't invited his dad to take photos mostly because of the whole 'haven't met his girlfriend' debacle, but he's not sure if his dad would have even come even if the invite was there.
Maybe he would have, Ricky doesn't know. He doesn't think he wants to know.
"Hey, the King is in the house!" The girl managing the front of the line winks. Ricky honestly doesn't recognize her, so he grabs Nini's hand, giving the girl a tight-lipped smile as she scans his ticket.
Nini can't help but chuckle at the interaction.
"I need my hand to show them my ticket, you know," Nini leans up to whisper in Ricky's ear.
Ricky loosens his grip on Nini's hand, letting her take it to grab her ticket and give it to the girl to scan.
"Have a great night," the girl tells them, though she only seems to be looking at Ricky.
The two go inside and stand off to the side to wait for the rest of their friends.
"You don't do well with other girls flirting with you, huh?" Nini teases.
"I don't understand why they can't catch the hint," Ricky whines.
Nini laughs, wrapping her arms around his torso. "You're just cuter when you're mine, I guess."
Ricky rolls his eyes, but leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead. "Don't let it get to your head."
Nini smiles contently before leaning into him, pressing the side of her face to his chest.
"Don't ruin the makeup!" Kourtney calls as she enters.
Nini sighs, pushing herself off of him. "My bad, Kourt."
Kourtney rushes over to check that Nini's makeup is still intact before nodding in approval. "All good."
Ricky chuckles. "Is it going to be like this all night?"
"If she's going to rock a Kourtney Greene original look, she's going to rock it flawlessly," Kourtney informs him.
Ashlyn chooses this moment to swoop in and rescue the couple. "She took the photos, Kourt. The makeup will hold up just fine."
"Why are we talking about makeup?" Red asks as he joins the group.
"We're not." Nini laughs. "Let's pick a meeting spot for if we all get separated later."
"For if you and Ricky sneak off to have alone time," Kourtney corrects.
Nini rolls her eyes playfully. "How about the tables outside? Or by the water jugs. Take your pick."
"Water jugs sound good," Red suggests. "I'm gonna be working up a sweat on that dance floor."
Ashlyn shrugs. "Cool with me."
The others nod in approval.
Nini clasps her hands together. "Alright, perfect!"
"Your cheer captain is showing," Kourtney cringes.
Ricky snakes his arms around Nini's waist as he doesn't have to see her face to know that would embarrass her. "I think it's cute."
Nini smiles softly. That honestly made her feel a lot better than she'd have guessed it would.
"Red and I are gonna go grab a table. You guys want to come?" Ashlyn asks.
"Yeah," Kourtney agrees.
"I think I'm gonna look around a little," Nini tells them.
"I'll go with Ni," Ricky nods.
The group parts ways, Ricky and Nini heading towards the coat check area.
"I hate it when Kourtney says things like that," Nini mumbles.
"I know you do. She doesn't mean any harm by it, though. She thinks she's just teasing," Ricky comforts, grabbing her hand.
Nini sighs. "Yeah."
"We don't have to stay with them tonight if you don't want to. I'd be happy to sneak off with you."
"That's sweet. Really." Nini smiles up to him, squeezing his hand. "I'd feel bad leaving them hanging, though."
"You sure?" Ricky asks, moving in closer and tucking a strand of Nini's hair behind her ear. "Because if we're alone, we can do this."
Ricky leans down, placing his other hand on the small of her back and meeting his lips to hers.
Nini reaches up to loop her arms around Ricky's neck, leaning into the kiss.
After pulling away, Nini sighs. "As convincing as that was, we can't just ditch them."
"Why not?" Ricky pouts.
Nini laughs. "You're such a brat. We should go find them."
"Can we at least dance first?" Ricky asks.
"We'll dance later. I promise."
With that, the two head over to the tables outside. Their friends are easy to find, as most students are inside dancing, but the group isn't the most fond of dancing.
They talk for a while, enjoying each others' presence.
That is, until Nini hears a familiar song playing inside.
Her gaze shoots over to Ricky.
"Dance with me," she says in a hurry, getting up and grabbing his hand as quickly as she can.
Ricky laughs.
"We'll be back!" Ricky calls to their friends as he's dragged towards the sounds of Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble blasting from inside.
As soon as they're inside, Nini pulls Ricky farther onto the dance floor to prevent them from being on the edges, turning to face him with a huge smile, yelling all the lyrics to the song.
Nini can't wipe the huge smile off her face the whole song. Dancing to her favorite artist with her boyfriend? That sounds like the perfect night to her.
Once the song ends, a much slower one starts, and Ricky smoothly spins Nini around before pulling her close to him to slow dance.
"So, a Taylor Swift fan, huh?"
Nini laughs. "I'd say so."
A few songs later, Red, Ashlyn, and Kourtney come to join them in dancing.
"Hey! There you are!" Nini smiles as she sees her friends, grabbing Ash and Kourt's hands in her own.
Nini pulls the girls deeper into the dance floor, starting to dance with them as Red and Ricky watch them in amusement.
"Your girlfriend has way too much energy." Red shakes his head.
"She deserves to get to have fun," Ricky says, his eyes not leaving the girl in the white dress.
"Wah-ch." Red sounds out, pretending to have a whip in his hand.
Ricky rolls his eyes. "We get it, I'm whipped. No need for the sound effects."
Red bumps shoulders with Ricky. "Let's go dance with them."
The boys head over and join the girls, Nini immediately opening the circle for them when she sees them.
The song soon ends and they hear a voice over the microphone from the front stage.
"Good evening, EHS!" The voice booms.
The crowd cheers in response.
"It's finally time for the moment you've all been waiting for," the voice continues. "The King and Queen dance!"
To be continued...
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uh oh... didn't expect that?
-jenna