" THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING, RIGHT? "

"i'm surprised you're sitting with us." nini spoke with quite the attitude as she practically glared at kendall.

the blonde looked up from her lunch and shrugged her shoulders. "it's been awhile."

"exactly." nini nodded. "that's why i'm surprised."

"i needed a change of scenery." kendall stated.

"what did ricky do this time?" she rose an eyebrow at the blonde and kendall rolled her eyes.

"ricky didn't do anything, nini. not everything is about ricky." even though this was entirely about ricky she wouldn't admit that to anyone's face.

"okay." she turned her attention to ej and smiled.

kendall shook her head at the brunette and excused herself, making her way out of the cafeteria. she headed towards her locker and sat in front of it, pulling out her phone to scroll through apps. she felt someone's presence in front of her and looked up to see ricky standing there with his lips pursed and his hands shoved in his front pockets.

"can we talk?" he asked and the blonde only shrugged her shoulders. "okay, i'll talk." he sat on the floor next to her, looking straight ahead as he talked. "i'm sorry for whatever it is that i did. i didn't mean to and it'll never happen again." there was a silence between them before he tilted his head and looked at the girl. "what exactly did i do so i know not to do it again?"

"nothing." she shook her head. "you haven't done anything wrong, ricky."

"then why are you shutting me out? why are you sitting with nini and ej again?" he questioned.

"it's a long story." she used the same excuse that she had used on hannah.

"i've got time." he stated and the blonde mentally cursed. "does this have to do with all the stuff that's on your mind?"

"yes." she nodded, pulling her sleeves up so her hands were hidden. "it's just a lot for me to take in right now."

"you can tell me, ken." he turned his body towards the girl. "please, i want to help." kendall remained silent as she stared ahead, not wanting to look at ricky because she knew she would cave and tell him what was really going on. ricky let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "kendall, i can't help you unless you let me."

she blurted it out faster than she had ever spoken and she wasn't even sure if the boy actually heard her. "i like you, okay?"

"what?" he had understood her perfectly, but was completely shocked. he hadn't expected that to be what came out of her mouth.

"i'm not repeating myself." she said and he shook his head.

"i heard you; i just can't believe it." a smile formed on his face and he let out a laugh. "why are you upset about this? this is amazing. you know i like you too."

the frown still remained on her face. "i've never liked anyone before, ricky. i've never been in one place for so long. it's a scary feeling for me."

"oh." he put his back to the lockers again and stared at the wall. "that must be scary, i'm sorry."

she let out a small chuckle and hugged her knees to her chest. "it's okay, really."

the bell rang and they both rose from the floor. kendall grabbed her bag from her locker and turned to ricky. "you ready for class?"

"no." he shook his head and stepped closer towards the girl. "we should skip."

"what?" she tilted her head. "i've never skipped a class before."

"come on," he shrugged his shoulders. "there's a first time for everything, right?" he reached for her hand and a crooked smile formed on his face. "come on," he repeated, swaying their arms.

she playfully rolled her eyes and a smile grew on her face. "fine."

"follow me." he led her down the hall and towards the gym. everyone was in the locker room changing, so the gym was empty as they ran through and exited out the gym doors, heading for kendall's car. (kendall's mom had recently let her start using the car and she got rides to work since her coworker lived down the street).

"this is crazy." she mumbled as she started the car. "where are we going?"

"let's go get ice cream." he smiled like a small child would and kendall chuckled.

"okay, let's go." she put the car in drive and headed in the direction of the nearest ice cream parlor. she parked the car in the lot and turned to ricky. "what if they ask why we're not in school?"

"they won't." ricky shook his head. "i've done this before."

"fine." she huffed as she turned off the car and followed after the boy when he headed inside.

they each ordered their ice cream and ricky generously paid for it before the two found a booth and took a seat to eat it. kendall had gotten mint chocolate chip while ricky went with chocolate fudge brownie. they both got whipped cream on top and kendall poked ricky's nose with a finger full of whipped cream, causing it to coat his nose. she let out a giggle as he scrunched it up and quickly wiped it away with a napkin.

"so," ricky started, swirling around his melting ice cream. "when did you realize you liked me?"

"sitting in class after lunch yesterday." she pursed her lips, not really sure how to talk about the subject. "i was just thinking about how you had said you "kinda" like me and it made me realize that i "kinda" liked you too." she frowned. "that's why i rushed out of class and avoided you."

"gotcha." he nodded. "that makes sense now."

"yeah." she responded, taking the last bite of her ice cream. "so what's next?" she questioned. "what else does one do when they skip class?"

"i'm not sure." ricky wore a goofy smile. "this is my first time skipping."

her eyes widened and she laughed. "but you said—" she scoffed. "i hate you."

ricky only smiled more and shook his head. "no, you don't."