The weeks passed by as the school year continued. Ricky and Nini were just as inseparable two months into the school year as they had been their first week as best friends. Their afterschool play dates had continued, including some visits to Ricky's house on the weekends, and Nini enjoyed her time at the Bowen's as Ricky did at her home. To them, the room always lit up a little bit brighter when they could see their best friend smiling at them.
Today was about halfway through October, and the most common gossip in Mrs. Haaland's classroom was what every student's Halloween costume was going to be in a few weeks, but today when Nini skipped into the classroom she was practically vibrating with excitement thanks to the news her moms had shared with her last night, and she absolutely couldn't wait to tell her best friend all about it.
"Good morning Nini." Ricky waved to her in greeting as she sat down beside him at their desk. "So last night I was thinking and I finally decided what I'm going to be for Halloween."
"Oh yeah? What is it?"
"Spider-Man."
"Really? But you always play with Batman when we play barbies and superheroes."
"That's because I know Spider-Man/Spider-Girl is your favorite, and since I'm your favorite best friend, I thought I should dress up as Spider-Man."
"Awe, thank you, Ricky. I can't wait to see your costume. Did you and your mom buy it yet?"
"No, we're going to go to the store this weekend. Do you know what you're going to be?"
"No, not yet. But Ricky, I have super-duper giant news! Way more important than Halloween!"
"No way, what could be more important than Halloween?" Ricky asked, "Well, besides Christmas."
"Even bigger than Christmas! It is absolutely positively amazingness!"
"So what's your news?" Ricky practically shouted back, whenever he or Nini were as excited as this, their emotions just seemed to bounce off of each other and multiply.
"It-"
"OK boys and girls, it's time to begin our day. Everyone come to the carpet for the morning meeting." Mrs. Haaland called out.
The rest of the class started walking over to the carpet, but Ricky and Nini, were still seated, or well honestly they had been on the edge of their seats for the past five minutes, and with how Nini was acting, Ricky didn't want to go until he heard her story.
"So, Nini, what is it?"
"It's-"
"Ricky, Nini, can you join the rest of us?" Mrs. Haaland called out since the rest of their class was already seated in their spots.
"I'll tell you at recess," Nini promised and stood up from her chair.
Ricky frowned for a minute. Why did she have to get him so fired up and excited, and then tell him nothing?" Now he wasn't going to think about anything else all morning. For the first two hours of the day, all he could think about was the mystery of what could possibly have Nini so excited, and declare her news was more important than both Halloween and Christmas.
He tried to catch Nini's eye throughout the morning and convince her to talk to him some more, whether they were supposed to be working on schoolwork or not. If it was so important, it was surely more important than phonics.
But even if she outwardly appeared to be focusing on her schoolwork better than he was, he couldn't miss the excited twinkle in her eyes whenever their eyes met, and her lips were stuck in a permanent grin. He had even noticed her humming songs under her breath, but not any that he could recognize.
After an eternity and a half to Ricky, it was finally time for morning recess, and like usual they were glued to each other's sides as they made their way out to the playground.
"Nini! Can you tell me what the super big important news you have is? It's been killing me all morning!" Ricky whined.
"Yeah, but we should find Kourtney and Red first."
"Or you could tell me first, and then we can see if we can go find them?"
Nini couldn't help smiling at seeing Ricky just as fired up as she was without even knowing what she was excited about, "Are you that impatient Ricky?"
"Of course I am, you've made me super excited, and I have no idea what you want to even tell me."
"OK." Nini shrugged her shoulders but finally revealed a giant smile she had been holding for most of the morning. "We can find Red and Kourtney later because I want to tell you first."
Together, they ran over to an area near the fence where hopefully they wouldn't be bothered by any random balls rolling their way, or random kids running past them. This was a spot they often went to when it was just the two of them and they wanted to dance, sing, or play imagination games together.
"Ok, we're here now can you please tell me?"
Nini smirked playfully, "I don't know…what's it worth to you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You seem pretty eager to know my super secret."
"Yeah because my best friend is taking forever to tell me some clearly life-changing news. So can you tell me?"
"OK, ok. I'll tell you." Nini walked up close to Ricky and cupped her hand over his ear to whisper, and he instinctively froze as she did. "They made a third High School Musical movie!"
Ricky waited in anticipation for her to say more, but that was it and she stepped slightly away from him, still with the ever-present grin on her face.
"OK, and? How is that bigger than Halloween and Christmas?" Ricky didn't see how that was a big deal, and Nini just looked back at him like he was the crazy one.
"Ricky Bowen! Don't you remember our first day of school?"
"Of course I do. It was the best day of my life because I met my bestest friend ever."
"Remember in music class, I sang a song and told you and the whole class it was from my favorite movie High School Musical?"
"Um, not really. All I remember from our first music class was how you were such an amazing singer."
"Ok, I forgive you." Nini smiled and patted his shoulder. "But High School Musical is my favorite movie, and High School Musical 2 is my second favorite movie. And now there's going to be a third one in like a week!"
"Oh, ok. I don't think I've ever seen those movies."
"What? How could you not? They are so amazing. You know what? I asked my moms last night when they told me, and we for sure have to do it now to catch you up."
"Catch me up on what?"
"On the movies. I asked my moms if I could stay up late to watch both High School Musical and High School Musical 2 this weekend. And I also asked if you could stay for a sleepover so we can watch them together."
"You did? And what did they say?"
"They said I should ask you if you wanted to have a movie sleepover with me, and then we could ask your mom tonight when she picks you up."
"Ok, I've never been to a sleepover before, other than my Grandma's house."
"Same. It'll be so much fun. We can have popcorn and candy and stay up all night singing and dancing and watching the movies. And we can make a blanket fort, and then we can have pancakes for breakfast and then spend the whole Saturday together too!"
"Yes, absolutely to all of that yes." Ricky agreed immediately. "So what are the movies about?"
"A high school musical silly." Nini giggled.
"And what happens in a high school musical, besides singing and dancing like we always do?"
"I think there's a lot more drama." Nini said. "So the two main characters are Troy, a basketball player, and Gabriella, a super smart girl who's like Albert Einstein. They meet each other and fall in love at this party, and then when they go to school they try out for a musical play, but all of their friends don't like it because there's a championship basketball game coming soon, and an aca- something smart marathon, I'm not really sure. But basically, everyone is telling them that singing is stupid and tries to make them stop, and then Gabriella gets mad at Troy but then they make up and end up winning everything."
"Really it takes two whole movies to do that?"
"No, that's just the first one, the second one everyone is on summer vacation, but they all have to get jobs."
"Really? They don't get to play all summer?"
"No, they have to pay for college and stuff."
"No way, not for me. I don't want to go to high school then, because I don't want to lose my summer."
"Yeah, I guess that would be pretty bad, especially if you had Troy's job. They all work at this…pool/golf course/restaurant thing. I don't really know what it is, my moms said it's something that rich people go to out in the country. But Sharpay decides that she wants to be Troy's girlfriend I think, and tries to keep him away from all his friends and he ends up acting kind of mean so he and Gabriella break up in the saddest song ever. I don't think I've ever watched that song without crying. But then Troy apologizes and Gabriella comes back and everyone's happy."
"Woah, and why do you like these movies so much?"
"Because I know all the songs and they are all super fun to sing. And it is funny, and romantic, and just so good. So Ricky, do you want to have a sleepover and watch the movies with me? And then next weekend we can go see the new one too."
"Of course. I will always say yes to anything I get to do with you." Ricky promised. "And if you love these movies so much, I'm sure I'll love them too. Just like I know you like Spider-Man."
"Yeah, because I know like him so much Ricky. OMG! We're going to have a sleepover! We need to plan out everything we want to do tomorrow tonight."
"Or we could start now," Ricky suggested, but right as he said so, the recess monitor blew her whistle to call everyone back inside.
"I think we'll wait until tonight, but this is going to be so much fun Ricky. I just know you're going to blow your mind when you see how amazing these movies are." Nini promised.
The rest of the day was spent with the pair a bit more distracted than usual, as they spent most of the day whispering to each other about all their fun ideas they could do tomorrow to make their first sleepover the greatest sleepover in the history of ever! The recess after lunch they told their friends Kourtney and Red all about their plan, but Kourtney knew she was traveling to see her family Friday night, and Red had never seen High School Musical before either, and even with Nini and Kourtney hyping it up and explaining everything about it, he respectfully declined, plus his parents didn't even know Nini's parents yet so it probably wouldn't work out anyway.
Despite both Nini and Ricky wanting their other friends to join them, they were still more than happy that they were still going to have each other.
Later that night when it was Lynne arrived at the Salazar-Roberts household to pick up Ricky, both of them were watching through the living room window. Normally they dreaded the last few minutes before Ricky's parents arrived, simply because it meant their time together was about to end, but tonight they couldn't wait for his mom to get there fast enough so they could ask for her permission.
"Look! Look! That's my mom's car!" Ricky pointed out the window as Lynne parked in front of the house.
"Yay! She's here, we can finally ask!" Nini cheered and they ran to the front door to greet her as soon as she entered.
Lynne knocked on the door and Nini pulled it open so Ricky could run to his mom and trap her legs in a hug.
"Ooh, hello Ricky." Lynne sounded a bit surprised. "What's this? Normally you two are hiding upstairs to have a bit longer to play together."
"Oh, I just love you so much, Mom," Ricky said.
"I love you too, Honey. But is something wrong? Hi Nini."
"Hi Lynne," Nini replied with a wave.
"Oh don't worry, there's nothing wrong here, I think these two are trying to butter you up," Carol said as she and Dana walked into the living room with matching smiles.
"OK, what do you want to ask me, can you let me step through the door first?"
Ricky and Nini backed up a little bit so Lynne could close the front door behind her, and then both looked up at her with their best cutesy-puppy dog eyes.
"Mom, can I sleep over at Nini's house tomorrow night? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"
"And pretty please with a hot fudge sundae," Nini added.
"Oh, why do you two want to have a sleepover?"
"Because Nini's my best friend!" Ricky said loyally.
"And next week, High School Musical 3 is coming to the movie theater. Ricky told me he's never seen any of them, and they're the best movies in the history of ever! So we need to watch the first two together so that we can go to the movie theater next week."
"So please Mom? I promise I'll be good the entire night."
"And Carol and Dana approve?" Lynne looked past the two kids to the other parents in the room.
"Of course, we would be delighted to host their first sleepover." Dana smiled. "And you can blame us for telling Nini about the new movie, but we knew she'd be so excited."
"Don't worry, I wouldn't blame you for something like that. I think you two having a sleepover would be a whole lot of fun so Ricky, you can stay tomorrow. Would you mind if we have Ricky pack all his stuff tonight and then Mike or I can drop off his bag?"
"Of course. Whatever works best for you." Carol nodded her head.
"Great. Well then Ricky, we better get home, so you can get packing."
"OK! Thank you, thank you, Mom." Ricky launched himself forward to hug Lynne once again, and this time Nini circled to hug her legs from the other side.
"Thank you so much, Lynne! Have you ever seen High School Musical either?"
"Um…I've heard of them, but I don't think I've seen them, especially if we haven't watched it with Ricky."
"Do you want to join our sleepover too?" Nini asked.
"No, I think you two would have a lot more fun without me there. In fact," Lynne looked up at Carol and Dana, "if this goes well, maybe we can take turns hosting every so often, so all of us parents can have a break."
Dana and Carol shared a look between themselves. "I think that would be a great idea, Lynne, as much as we all love our kids, it can be hard to schedule date nights."
"Oh, you're telling me." Lynne laughed back. "Mike and I may even take the chance to go see a movie of our own tomorrow. Although, it'll be hard to say if he'll enjoy_ as much as I will."
All three women laughed together, while Nini and Ricky were hugging each other tight and bouncing up and down in the middle of the room.
"Yeah! Sleepover! Sleepover! Sleepover!" The two were cheering together, mostly oblivious to their parents' conversations, otherwise, they'd probably be cheering even louder about the possibility of many more sleepovers to come.
"Alright, you too. Say your goodbye until tomorrow." Lynne reminded them.
"Goodbye, Ricky! We're going to have so much fun tomorrow night."
"I'm not even going to sleep tonight, I'm so excited," Ricky replied and hugged her tight once again. "Goodbye Nini."
"Bye," Nini replied, and after holding on a little bit longer, they let go and pretty much like normal she ran up to the window to watch Ricky and his mom return to their car and drive away.
After Nini and her moms had eaten dinner. There was another knock on their front door. When Dana answered it, it was Mike, bringing a duffel bag with Ricky's pajamas, clothes, and other things he would need for the sleepover tomorrow, including some of his toys that he and Nini had already planned on playing with.
"Why didn't Ricky come with you?" Nini asked Mike.
Mike just laughed and shared a knowing look with her moms. "If I brought Ricky back here, with his suitcase already packed for a sleepover, I think we all know you two would beg us to let Ricky stay tonight too, and then you'd both end up upset and pouting for the rest of the night when I took Ricky back home."
"No, we wouldn't do that," Nini said, but actually, the two of them did discuss the possibility of tricking their parents with a plan like that. She wondered if maybe Mama C had overheard them talking in her room.
"Well, this way we don't need to worry Nini. Ricky wanted to come, but Lynne sent him to take a bath first, and then I made the drive over here while he was busy. I know you two will have tons of fun tomorrow, but that's for tomorrow, ok?"
"Ok, Mike." Nini nodded, and after Mike said goodbye he returned home too.
"Mama C, were you spying on us?"
"I could hardly call it spying with how excited and loud you've been planning your sleepover all afternoon." Carol laughed.
"Ok, but you won't spy on us tomorrow night, will you?"
"We'll check in on you every so often to make sure you aren't up to any trouble. But from what I happened to overhear this afternoon, I don't think we'll have any problems with what you have planned so far."
"Including the blanket fort?"
"Including the blanket fort." Mama C nodded. "Mama D and I will bring a few folding tables upstairs tonight, but I think you should wait until Ricky's here so you can build it with him right?"
"Of course I will. He'd be so mad if I did it without him." Nini laughed.
The next day at school near the end of the day. Nini was intently staring at the clock on the wall as it slowly ticked to 3:29 and continued to move ever closer. "Sleepover, sleepover, sleepover." She whispered under her breath, quiet enough that only Ricky, who was seated beside her at their desks could hear her.
"Nini, what are you doing?" He whispered to her.
"It's something from the 2nd movie." Nini whispered back, "It starts on the last day of school and everyone is counting down the last minute until summer and then they burst into song."
"OK, so why are you doing it now?" Ricky asked.
"Because it's almost time for us to go home, and start our sleepover. So, I'm doing the same thing. Won't you do it with me?"
"OK." Ricky nodded his head and focused his gaze on the clock too. Sleepover, sleepover, sleepover. He began whispering in unison with Nini as the minute hand slid ever closer and then finally rang.
"OK Boys and girls, have a good weekend." Mrs. Haaland said with a bright smile and started getting everyone ready to leave.
Ricky and Nini didn't need to be told twice, they emptied their cubbies, packed their backpacks, threw on their jackets, and were out of the classroom within minutes, both speedwalking to reach the the front doors where they knew Mama C would be waiting for them.
"Mama C!" They each started sprinting as fast as their little legs could carry them and both cannoned into Mama C's legs to surround her in matching hugs.
"Hey, there you two are. You seem to be in a hurry today. Is there something special going on?" Carol asked teasingly.
"Of course there is Mom. It's our first sleepover! We need to go home right away because we have so much to do tonight!" Nini cheered.
"Yeah, this is going to be the new best day ever!" Ricky cheered with equal enthusiasm.
"Alright, alright. We'll get going…you little wildcats." Carol joked, but Ricky and Nini were already running two steps ahead of her to reach her car.
When they arrived back home, Ricky and Nini set right to work to turn the living room into the ultimate slumber party. Step one on that list was going to be the construction of their blanket fort.
Carol and Dana had already set up two folding tables in the middle of the room, so they would have plenty of space to play inside their fort, Nini was pretty sure every pillow and blanket in the house that wasn't in her moms' room, and Ricky had even packed some of his blankets inside the bag his dad dropped off the night before so they really shouldn't worry about running out of supplies.
"So, how do you think we should do this Nini?"
"Really? I get to be in charge?"
Ricky shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, it's your house, so it's your blanket fort."
"No, it's going to be Ricky and Nini's blanket fort." Nini declared. "I want it to be completely dark on the inside, but we still need to be able to see the TV when we watch the movies later."
"OK, but how are we going to keep the blankets up?"
"Hmm, I don't know. Mom!"
Yes Nini, what is it? Carol asked, walking in from the kitchen to check on her charges.
"We need heavy things that hold the blankets on top of the tables. Do you have anything we can use?"
Carol thought that over for a moment, but then smiled. "Just hold on a minute." Carol walked away and then came back later with a big stack of books in her hands. She set them down on top of the table with a loud THUMP!
"I think these should work for you. I would suggest having one of you position the blanket and then putting the book on top."
"Thank you, Mom," Nini replied. "Ricky, I'll lay out the blankets, and you can pick up the books. They look really heavy."
"Not too heavy for me," Ricky said confidently. To reach the tops of the tables, they needed to borrow a few chairs from the kitchen to extend their height, but with them working together, they soon had all their blanket walls covered. Then they took all the remaining pillows and blankets inside their fort to make as comfy beds as they could underneath the table. After laying a base layer, they each laid out their own little nest of blankets they had brought from their own beds, plus decided to use their pillows to make comfy lounge chairs so that they would be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the upcoming movies.
By the time they were finished, over an hour had already passed and the sky was darkening outside, but they knew their night was only just beginning.
So next they got busy setting up all of Nini's Barbies, stuffed animals, and the stuffed animals and toys Ricky had brought with him all along the couch so they could watch the movies with them, and that turned into a game in itself as they played pretend that all their toys were excitedly attending a movie theater as best friends too.
When they had finished seating all their toys, they continued working on their sleepover setup. They closed the curtains on the windows to darken the room further, and Nini brought her nightlight that projected stars up on the ceiling to add to the room's comfy atmosphere and make it so they could still see everything but also make it feel like a real movie theater experience.
"So what else do we need to do?" Ricky asked.
"Hmm," Nini mentally ran through the checklist they had made yesterday. Blanket fort, check. Toy audience, check. Night light, check. "My moms said we could start the movies once Mama D got home too and after we had dinner but…"
Nini paused for a moment. "Do you hear that?"
"What?" Ricky asked, he quieted down to listen, and after a moment he thought he could hear something too.
"Ricky…does that sound like…?"
"Popcorn!" Ricky and Nini both ran excitedly to the kitchen to find both Dana and Carol already waiting for them.
Dana smirked at Carol, "I told you that would bring them running."
Carol shook her head lightheartedly. "Yeah, yeah, you were right."
"Popcorn! Popcorn! Popcorn!" Ricky and Nini cheered together, jumping up and down like they were the ones in the microwave.
"Ok ok, settle down you two." Carol chastised them with a laugh. "If you two are ready to begin your movies you can start once the popcorn's ready."
"Really, but I thought you said we had to eat dinner first?" Nini asked.
"We changed our mind, and that was just a reason for you not to demand to start watching as soon as you two got home from school." Dana laughed.
"OK, so it's movie time?" Ricky asked.
"Yep, once the popcorn is done popping." Carol promised, "How about you two go wait in the living room? I'll bring it out in another minute or two."
"OK, let's go, Ricky." They ran off back to the living room and settled themselves comfortably in their makeshift loungers, ready to sit back and watch the movie.
"Summer, summer, summer, summer." Ricky started whispering repeatedly while smiling at Nini.
"Wait, why are you doing that?" Nini asked.
"I thought you said that's how the movie started. Right?" Ricky asked.
"No," Nini shook her head. "That's how the second movie starts. The first one starts and it's New Year's Eve."
"Oh," Ricky said. "And that's where Troy and Gabriella meet and sing for the first time?"
"Yep, and it's at a big ski resort, so when Troy goes back to his school and sees Gabriella, he can't believe his eyes…and then a bunch of stuff happens, but they decide to audition for the school musical, which doesn't make Sharpay happy at all."
"OK, I think I remember." Ricky nodded.
"Ms. Salazar-Roberts, Mr. Bowen, your dinner is served," Dana said playfully as she set down popcorn and apple juice beside them.
"Thank you, Mom."
"Yeah, thank you Mama D," Ricky added as his eyes were as golden as the buttery popcorn occupying his vision.
"You two are welcome. Now remember try not to spill anything, especially your juice. And if you two start dancing, pick up the bucket and cups before you begin, got it?"
"Got it, Mom." Nini promised, "Now can you please turn on the movie?"
"Sure thing sweetheart." Carol fiddled with the DVD player and remote for a few minutes, but then the TV screen lit up, opening on a dark but beautiful night filled with glittering snow and happy skiers and snowboards racing all around.
"See Ricky, isn't this so great?" Nini asked.
"Oh yeah," Ricky said, he was watching but he couldn't get invested at first as Gabriella was introduced, and then Troy. Troy seemed pretty cool as a basketball player. It wasn't until Troy and Gabriella began to sing that he started to see why Nini loved this movie so much, or at least Ricky got to see how much Nini loved it.
As Troy and Gabriella nervously began singing together at first, but gradually growing in confidence, Nini too was singing perfectly in tune, in fact, she was impossible for Ricky to ignore by the second verse.
While up until this point he had been watching the movie with mild interest and focusing mostly on the popcorn in front of him, he felt like he had forgotten everything else when Nini began singing, her voice just seemed to fill him up even better than the popcorn could.
Nini was lost in her own world as she sang, one of the reasons she loved these movies so much, was that she could melt herself into the music, and it was like she was actually standing on stage with Troy and Gabriella, and that was always more than enough to make her happy.
-the start of something new… Troy, Gabriella, and Nini finished.
"Bravo! Encore!" Ricky clapped excitedly for Nini as all the teens on screen cheered for Troy and Gabriella.
"See, isn't this movie amazing already?" Nini asked him.
"Um, yeah the movie sure is," Ricky said, suddenly feeling a bit weird about clapping for Nini for some reason, and feeling a bit safer that she didn't know it was for her.
But as the movie continued, Ricky and Nini continued to enjoy their time together. Nini was always happy to answer any questions Ricky had, just as long as he didn't try to interrupt a song, Ricky found that out the hard way during stick to the status quo when he wanted to know why everyone was freaking out about anyone being interested in doing more than one thing.
"I don't know." Nini shrugged her shoulders and finally answered after the song finished. "I think big kids are just weird because I like doing lots of things, not just singing."
"I know me too. I don't see why it's a big deal if a skater can play a cello."
"Exactly, but keep watching, Troy and Gabriella will fix everything, I just know it."
"Well yeah, because you've already seen this movie a bajillion times considering how you know every song already."
"OK, guilty." Nini giggled
"Also, who's that girl with the apple?"
"What? Nini asked, I never saw a girl with an apple?"
"She was right there, and I don't know, it looked like she was about to say something important, but then it just went to Sharpay again."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
They kept on watching until it got to the end, and Nini had a great idea. "Wait, wait!" Nini ran to where Mama D had left the remote on the couch and paused the movie right before Troy and Gabriella were about to go on stage in front of the whole school.
"What is it?" Ricky asked in confusion.
"Ricky! Can you please sing this with me?"
"How? I don't know the words."
"I can't believe I forgot, you can play the movie and it will show all the words so you can sing along. But can you please sing Breaking Free with me? It's one of my favorite songs ever. Please Ricky, pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top? I promise you'll be my best friend forever!"
Ricky scratched his head. "But we're already best friends, aren't we?"
"Yeah, but we can be forever!" Nini looked at him with her best begging puppy dog eyes.
Ricky could feel his resistance crumbling when she looked at him like that. "OK, but don't get mad at me if I get the words wrong either. You know we can't read yet. Wait can you read the words?"
"Well, I learned the song first by watching and listening, so I don't even need to read. Just do your best ok Ricky? It will make me super duper happy."
"OK, I'll sing." He nodded and pushed himself out of his chair on the floor. "But I don't dance."
"Oh boy, do I have another song for you to sing in the next movie." Nini giggled cryptically. She pressed a few buttons on the remote and then she pressed play again. "OK, we should be ready."
Ricky watched as Troy and Gabriella started singing on screen and tried to follow along as best as he could, the words helped, but by closing his eyes and just listening along, at the very least he could make his voice match the notes.
"We're soaring, flying, there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach."
"If we're trying, so we're breaking free." Nini sang back.
Thankfully the song started off slow enough that Ricky could somehow follow the melody for the most part, and as he and Nini kept going, singing together, he started to feel himself get lost in the song the same way Nini seemed to be doing all night.
Despite his declaration that he wouldn't be dancing, by the second verse, he couldn't help himself from dancing around in front of the TV with Nini, they didn't try to copy Troy and Gabriella's dance moves, but just let themselves have fun with it.
It was so much fun, before Ricky knew it, he and Nini were singing the final bars together, and perfectly in sync.
You know the world can see us, in a way that's different than who we are…
When they finished, neither of them was watching the screen, instead they were too busy getting lost in the sparkles of their best friend's eyes.
They were broken out of their reverie by a flash in the darkness. Both Ricky and Nini flinched back and glanced at the door to the living room where Carol and Dana were watching them, with Dana holding a camera in her hands.
"Moms? What are you doing?"
"Oh, we just thought it would be a good idea for you two to have a memory of tonight, especially since it sounds like you're having so much fun together. Are you ready for the next movie?"
"No, no way. We still need to finish this one, but you can put the next DVD in when we're done."
Ricky and Nini went back to their seats, and once again, when it came time for We're All in This Together, Nini once again managed to convince Ricky to join her in the final Wildcat Cheer at the end.
"OK, now we're ready for High School Musical 2," Nini told her moms, and they were happy to help get the next movie set up, and with the sing-along lyrics from the beginning.
The 2nd movie opened in Mrs. Darbus's classroom, and Troy looked immensely bored, as did most of his friends until one by one, they all started whispering, "Summer"
Ricky perked up, "Wait, is this the thing you were telling me about?"
"Yep." Nini nodded happily. "Summer, summer, summer…"
So Ricky shrugged his shoulders and joined in too. "Summer, summer, summer…"
Ricky and Nini were both enjoying the second movie, perhaps even a bit more than the first, in much the same way as before, although this time, Nini insisted on them singing and dancing together for every song that came on and if Ricky was honest, he knew he couldn't ever tell her no.
The whole movie was super fun, although Ricky didn't really like how Troy seemed to be dragged away from his friends, especially Gabriella, and that all culminated with Troy and Gabriella meeting outside the pool at night after Gabriella had once again gotten in trouble with the mean boss guy.
"Nini, what's happening?" Ricky looked over at Nini and was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "Nini, what's wrong?"
Nini sniffled, "I always cry for this song. It's just so sad."
"Why? What's happening?"
"Just watch. I can't even sing this one without crying." Nini answered without providing any more helpful details since she seemed to be so distracted.
So Ricky did as he was told, and watched as Troy and Gabriella sang Gotta Go My Own Way, and even Ricky could tell, they were breaking up as Gabriella gave Troy back her necklace.
By the end of the song, Nini was practically sobbing, and that was tugging on Ricky's heartstrings even more. He decided right then and there, he never wanted to see Nini cry. Thinking about what his mom and dad always did for him when he was crying, he scooted over to sit right next to Nini and gave her a hug.
"It's ok Nini. It's just a movie. You'll be happy. There's still so many good parts left that you told me about."
"I know. But, Ricky. We're going to be best friends forever, right?"
"Of course we are." Ricky nodded his head with certainty.
"So…no matter what something like that won't ever happen to us? We won't let anything come between us?"
"Not. I want you to be my best friend forever too. Nini, I couldn't imagine that happening to my best friend, or to me, because it's obvious how sad both Troy and Gabriella are, and I don't want to ever make you sad. You should always be happy Nini. I don't want you to cry." Ricky reached up to wipe away a stray tear from her cheek.
"Thank you, Ricky, you really are my best friend." Nini pulled back from the hug and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "That part always makes me sad, but I don't know right now I just imagined me being Gabriella, and you being Troy and I felt a bajillion times worse."
"Oh," Ricky's heart fell at even the thought of that. "Good thing something like that will never happen to us, because we are going to be best friends forever."
"You're right about that Ricky." Nini nodded. "Are you ready to keep watching?"
"Sure." Ricky returned to his spot, but as Troy already begun singing Bet On It, he always kept an eye on Nini, he was just happy to see her smiling and singing along as best as she could, even if she wasn't back in a dancing mood again quite yet.
But soon enough the 2nd movie was over. Troy and Gabriella were back together on screen and Nini's happy mood had returned with a vengeance, while Ricky was just glad to see her smiling once again, after their moment of shared melancholy.
"So what do we do now?"
"Now, I think it's well past both of your bedtimes," Carol said as she and Dana stepped into the room and grabbed the remote to stop the rolling credits.
"So, are you two sleeping in your fort?"
"Yep, that's why we built it," Nini said proudly.
"Alright then, you better go brush your teeth really good after all that popcorn." Dana reminded them.
"OK, come on Ricky let's go."
And so Nini led the way to the bathroom and they took turns brushing their teeth and taking care of everything else they needed before bed.
They then returned to their fort, and after Nini got a hug and a kiss goodnight from her moms, she and Nini settled down in their fort.
They agreed to keep one flap open so they could still see the light from Nini's nightlight shining above them, and they each settled down with their pillow and personal favorite stuffed animal in their own nest of blankets a few feet away from each other.
"Good night Nini, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."
"Bed bugs? What are those?" Nini asked, sounding scared for a moment and popping up from her pillow.
"Um… I don't really know, that's just what my mom and dad always say to me when they tuck me in."
"Oh, so bed bugs are just a story? Like unicorns?"
"I guess. I don't think you need to be worried. Would you rather I say sweet dreams?"
"Yeah, sweet dreams to you too Ricky. This has been my new best night ever."
"I know, because we both spent it with our best friend," Ricky replied.
They smiled at each other in the darkness for a few minutes, and they couldn't help but keep making funny faces and giggling at each other, but eventually, since it was past their normal bedtimes, both of them drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.