" I CAN'T FINISH THE SHOW, KENDALL. "

kendall smiled at hannah as the brunette approached her with two tickets. "here." she handed one to the blonde and kendall handed over the money for it before the two got in line to enter the gym where the musical was happening due to a fire that had happened in the drama department a few weeks prior.

the two found their seats and watched as the stage crew started to put together the first act. it looked well rehearsed and everyone was doing a great job already. as the musical began kendall listened to ricky and nini sing together. it almost sounded magical, listening to ricky's voice. he had pure talent. it felt like the first time she had heard him singing.

"ricky's good." hannah complimented.

"really good." kendall nodded in agreement.

they finished the first scene and kendall watched as the stage crew put out the next scene. kendall couldn't get over how great ricky was doing and by the time "get your head in the game" started she was swaying along to the music. towards the end ricky froze and the blonde fround, following his gaze to a man kissing a woman's cheek. he resumed character and when the song ended he ran back stage.

"what the hell was that?" hannah questioned.

kendall quickly rose from her spot on the bleachers. "i'll be right back." she made her way out into the hall and headed towards the dressing room, spotting ricky talking to ej.

"you need to go on as troy." she heard him say and ej obliged immediately, no questions asked. he held the jersey he had just been wearing out for ej to take and when the boy grabbed it he left the room to inform everyone of the changes.

ricky ran his fingers through his hair and turned to see kendall standing by the door. "what are you doing back here?" he questioned.

the blonde raked her eyes down his body, seeing his toned torso before she looked back up at his beautiful brown eyes. "i wanted to make sure you were okay." she said as she stepped further into the room. "what happened out there?"

"my mom--" he paused, gesturing towards the gym. "she invited her b--" he shook his head, tugging at his hair as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. "her boyfriend is here."

kendall frowned as she stepped closer to him. "i'm so sorry, ricky." she pulled him into a hug and he gratefully sighed, hugging her back tight.

"i can't finish the show, kendall." his eyes were watering so bad and kendall didn't want to see him cry. she gently wiped his cheek as a tear fell and she sighed.

"let's get out of here."

"really?" he looked hopeful. "where would we go?"

"my house." she shrugged her shoulders. "let's go."

he nodded quickly before turning to grab a random shirt that was laying on one of the tables. he put it on and grabbed the girl's hand, leading the way out of the room.

"ricky!" nini's voice caused the boy to stop and he turned to see the brunette with wide eyes. "what are you doing?"

"i can't be here anymore, nini. i'm sorry." he didn't let go of kendall's hand and nini noticed. "you can do this with ej; good luck." he continued to drag kendall out the door and they made their way over to kendall's car. kendall drove to her house and the two climbed out, making their way inside. kendall's mom was at work, so they didn't have to worry about her questioning the two.

"are you hungry?" kendall questioned as he followed her into the kitchen.

"a little." he responded, leaning against the counter.

"want some mac and cheese?" she gave him a playful smile to which he failed to return. he was too upset about what had just happened.

"sure." he pursed his lips and the blonde frowned as she grabbed a box from the cabinet. she boiled the water and watched the boy as he stood silently tapping away at his phone. "my mom's texting me." he sighed, closing his eyes.

"i'm really sorry." kendall said as she stepped closer to him. "i wish there was something i could do to help you feel better."

"you're already helping." he smiled small, but kendall could tell it was forced. she leaned into him, hugging his waist again. he draped his arms over her shoulders and hugged her again. his chin rested on top of her head and a satisfied sigh left his lips as he watched the water on the stove start to boil more, showing that the pasta was cooking.

they remained that way, hugging each other for a few minutes before she turned to stir the pasta. the oven soon went off, notifying the blonde that the pasta was finished. she dumped it in a strainer before putting it back in the pot with some butter so it could melt. by the time the mac and cheese was done the two of them were officially starving and she served some to ricky before grabbing a bowl for herself. they both made their way into the living room and grabbed a seat on the couch, eating away.

they didn't bother turning on the tv as they ate and when they finished kendall took ricky's bowl, bringing it back to the kitchen. she placed them in the sink and started to put the remainders in a container when ricky entered the kitchen, leaning against the fridge.

"thank you." he spoke quietly and the blonde looked up from cleaning her mess.

"for what?" she asked.

he gave her a crooked smile, which she could tell was finally real. "for making me feel better."

"i try my best." she chuckled as she turned back to cleaning. when everything was done she looked back at ricky who was still staring at her. "what?"

"nothing." he shrugged his shoulders. "i'm just really glad that i met you."

she smiled at the boy and tilted her head a bit. "i'm really glad i met you too."

ricky's phone started ringing and he sighed. "it's nini."

"let me see." kendall gestured for him to give her the phone. she answered it and pressed it to her ear. "he doesn't wanna talk right now."

"i need to know that he's okay." nini sounded worried.

"he's okay." kendall confirmed.

she heard nini sigh. "good." there was a small silence before she spoke again. "ricky left his skateboard here."

kendall rolled her eyes, knowing the girl would go to any lengths to get ricky back to the musical. "he'll get it tomorrow."

"is he coming to the show tomorrow?" she asked, hopeful.

ricky shrugged his shoulders, being able to hear the two communicate. "i'll think about it."

"he'll let you know tomorrow; gotta go, bye!" she hung up and handed the phone back to ricky.

"nice." he chuckled. "what do you want to do now?"

"wanna watch a movie in my room?" she suggested and the boy nodded, holding his hand out for kendall to grab.

"lead the way."

i love this book
ok bye