I'll try to be non-spoiler in this comment as much as possible, but if you haven't read the chapter upwards, then don't read this comment:

Okay. First things first, I currently don't know what to feel about Rick's situation being treated like it was a Plot Twist. It rubs me off the wrong way when people use that thing as some plot device.

But I can definitely see and understand why it was written in this manner. And the very first reasoning I got was that we are following the story in Puck's perspective. Puck, who seems to be more interested in his own affairs and his love for Nova, would definitely be caught by a surprise. And two, I can't say that you should have hinted this for a long time, because there is no way you can tell someone is one, just by pointing out very trivial stuff.

So my final word for this recent chapter is that I am happy that you really moved Rick forward in terms of character and plot. And I am glad there is a roadtrip happening.

Hey-- I live in Cali!

NOOOO RICK IS MOVING AWAY??? When Rick told his part about Sam and Nova was all like, should she tell Puck or not, I could feel Puck's frustration because he was left in the dark and it also left me wondering what the heck is going on. But then something completely different took turn  because I thought Sam was a girl but it's actually a guy and it was really bad that he got beaten up because he was caught making out with his boyfriend :'(
I feel like I'm rambling right now so I'll just go ahead and say what I wanted to say : It's good that you've concluded the part with Rick because most of the times it was always Puck and Nova so I'm glad that the attention was brought to him. Love how some of the events in this chapter was unexpected (to me atleast, in the case of Rick and the moving away part)
I'm looking forward to their road trip! :D