" I'VE JUST GOT A LOT OF MY MIND. "

kendall wasn't sure how to bring it up. she sat in the cafeteria with ricky and big red, eating her lunch, trying to figure out how exactly she was going to bring up the nini conversation. she wasn't sure if she should do it privately or in front of big red. she assumed big red knew everything, but she wasn't sure.

ricky excused himself to go to the bathroom and kendall slid closer to big red, deciding on asking him since she was too nervous to ask ricky.

"so what's the deal with nini and ricky?" she questioned.

"what do you mean?" big red asked, shoving a fry in his mouth.

"i mean," she paused, unsure of how to say it. "what happened with them? why did they break up?"

"oh." he frowned. "on their one year anniversary nini wrote a song for him." he shrugged his shoulders, "basically telling him that she loved him and i guess ricky didn't feel the same at the time."

"oh." kendall frowned. "so they broke up?"

"he wanted to go on a break." he concluded. "when school started again nini told ricky she was seeing ej and he got really upset. i guess it took him awhile to determine how he really felt about her, but she had already moved on."

"ouch." she frowned. "that really sucks."

"he's moved on, so it's okay." big red sent her a smile and she returned it, sliding back over to her seat as ricky returned.

"what were you two talking about?" ricky rose an eyebrow.

"nothing." they said simultaneously.

"okay." he chuckled, knowing they were lying, but not caring enough to figure out what it was. one of them would cave and tell him what they were talking about eventually.

the rest of lunch went by without a care in the world and once ricky walked kendall to class they found their assigned seats and got ready for the class to start. she was writing notes when she could feel eyes on her. she looked over at ricky to see the boy already staring at her. she sent him a smile and he returned it before she looked down at her notebook again.

she still couldn't believe that the boy had practically confessed his feelings to the blonde a few days prior. he had said he "kinda" liked her. she didn't know if that was a good thing or not. who "kinda" likes someone?

well, she guessed he did. but that was the thing... did she "kinda" like him too? it hadn't really been a thought in her head until that moment. she was always smiling around him and he made her way happier than she normally was. she felt like she had a connection with him because of his parents' recent divorce and things just always seemed okay with him around. shit...

her eyes widened in realization as she sat at her desk.

she did like ricky.

the bell rung and she quickly rose from her desk, grabbing her belongings. she practically sprinted out of the room and towards her next class, not feeling up to talking to ricky at that moment. how would she ever talk to him again? would things be awkward now that she knew she had feelings for him?

so many questions were running through her head and she couldn't think straight.

"what's the matter with you?" hannah's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"what?" a look of panic washed over her face as she turned to the brunette. "nothing, i'm fine."

"are you sure?" hannah rose an eyebrow.

the blonde forced a smile onto her face. "positive."

"where's ricky?" the brunette asked. "he normally walks with you to class."

"i'm not sure." she shrugged her shoulders. "i walked without him today."

"odd." hannah gave her a pointed look before entering the classroom with kendall following behind. they took their seats and kendall started putting her notebook from the last class away. she took out the current class notebook and textbook before placing her bag in between her legs on the floor. she watched as ricky entered the classroom with a frown on his lips. he looked in her direction and she quickly looked down at her stuff.

"seriously," hannah whispered from behind the girl. "what is up with you and ricky? did something happen?"

"not exactly." she muttered, turning to face the girl. a frown was on her lips and she didn't know if she should tell hannah about this newfound information or let it go for the time being. "it's a long story." she decided to say and turned back to face the front of the room as the teacher began their lesson. they didn't have assigned seats in that class, but basically whatever seat you choose on the first day was yours for the rest of the year and kendall got lucky sitting in front of hannah because someone moved away just as she had moved there.

yet again, kendall rushed out of the room and made her way to her locker, ignoring hannah's shouts as she sprinted down the hall. as she turned to head towards her last class she crashed into a body and cursed under her breath.

"what did i do?" ricky asked with a frown.

"nothing." kendall forced a smile. "i'm just really busy today."

"but we were fine at lunch." he stated. "and now you're practically running away from me."

kendall sighed, "i'm sorry. i've just got a lot of my mind."

"is there anything i can do to help?" he questioned.

"not really." she said. "i'll be fine; i just need time."

"if there's anything i can do to help, just let me know." he said as he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

she felt a blush creep onto her cheeks and looked down at the floor. "thanks." she mumbled as the bell rung and she sighed. "fuck, i'm late."

"just say you were in the bathroom." ricky shrugged his shoulders. "works for me every time."

"thanks, ricky." she chuckled before making her way down the hall, feeling ricky's stare on her back as she walked.