Ricki kind of stared off into the nothing as she sat on the bench outside, waiting for Tyler and Krista to pull up. She was half tempted to call Darren and just have him pick her up. Fuck the after party, she really didn't feel up to being social anyway. She rested her elbow on her thigh and then rested her cheek against her hand. She looked down at her phone, seeing Jared's car head off with Carl and Maureen in the back.
Girl... This sucks! The root of all evil is up front :((
Ricki's face cracked a small smile and she texted back. Sorry :(
She didn't hear from Maureen after that and soon she saw Tyler's car pull up and she hopped in the backseat. She saw Krista turn and look at her as she looked out the window. "You okay?" Krista asked, and Ricki just gave a nod. "You're going to stick around at the after party right?"
"For a while. Then I'll call Darren to come with me. I should have drove to the formal anyway..." she half mumbled the last bit to herself and Krista nodded and turned back forward. It wasn't a terribly long ride, and as soon as Tyler parked, Ricki got out of the vehicle and looked at everyone filing in. She didn't want to go in there. She had apparently waited long enough that Tyler and Krista had headed in. Well, that was good. She bit the inside of her cheek as she thought and looked at her phone.
"Nah..." she said to herself as she started walking. She didn't bother dealing with the part and decided that maybe walking home would help her clear her head a little better. It wasn't going to be a terribly long walk, she only knew because when Andy was in high school, he insisted she run with him. After a little while though, her feet started hurting, and she pulled off her heels and continued on. It made walking a whole hell of a lot easier.
Her phone went off, and she looked down. Three messages appeared simultaneously, one from Krista, Maureen, and Gabe. She rolled her eyes a little and ignored the text from Gabe entirely before she looked at the one from Maureen first.
Where r u?
And then Krista's...
Hey! Where you at??
She texted them both back, saying she changed her mind and decided to head home. She didn't bother to tell them that Darren hadn't come to get her and that she was walking. She didn't need them worrying about her. She took in a deep breath, the cool night finally registering to her as a shiver ran over her. "Maybe I should call Dare..." she muttered. She took up her phone, seeing that Gabe had messaged her again. She rolled her eyes and didn't even bother to read it once again. She dialed Darren's number and when she told him where she was, she made a face. He was going to be a bit, as he and Andy were in the middle of a game with their dad.
Well, this would be a fun wait, she thought, and she looked over, seeing a bus bench at the end of the block. She sighed and headed over to it, taking a seat and staring out into the nothing. Maybe it was a bad idea all around to just up and walk off without anyone, but what could happen?
--
Krista looked at Maureen once the two reunited at the after party, and they both texted Ricki. "It's not like Rick to just ghost out like this." Krista said, and Maureen shrugged.
"It's a good thing she didn't show up." Maureen said, her head motioning over towards Gabe. "She really does not want to deal with him right now."
Krista nodded. "I know, but I just worry. Hopefully Darren came and got her at least."
Maureen nodded and when she spotted Carl, who had gone to get her something to drink, she patted Krista's shoulder. "Call her if you're worried babe, but you need to have fun too. She's a big girl, and you know if she's not feeling something, she's not going around it. So, have fun. Tell her you'll tell her fun stories later." she winked and she headed off.
Not long after Maureen walked over to Carl, Tyler came back to Krista with a drink in his hand and she smiled up to him. Maybe Maureen was right... Maybe she should just let it be.
--
Darren sighed a bit as he grabbed his coat and another, knowing that Ricki had likely forgotten hers. That game had taken longer than he had expected and Ricki had called nearly a half an hour ago. He looked to his phone again and he didn't see a text or anything from her, so he assumed everything was alright. As soon as he got in the car though, something made his heart sink in his stomach. He had this horrible feeling like something bad was about to happen... Or had happened already.
He peeled out of the driveway and headed to where Ricki had said she was, and her lack of a call was now making him paranoid. Hopefully she was okay. Nothing had better have happened to her. She was a good 10 blocks from the house, in a weirdly set-up neighborhood, so it would take some doing to get there.