Chapter One: Giacinta Alda-Bella Ramon
Once upon a time there lived a blah blah blah. You don't actually think my story starts out this way do you? That's right, I'm not a princess who is in distress and needs some male to come to my rescue. Well, maybe I do get into a little bit of distress, but I don't need rescuing. I am a normal 21st century girl. Well normal enough anyway, with the exception that I almost died.
My name is Giacinta Alda-Bella Ramon. It means young and beautiful, although I beg to differ on the beautiful part. Don't worry, most people call me Gia. I say most because my mother and father find it insulting to shorten a persons name just for the sake of pronunciation.
"Giacinta, you have such a beautiful name, why let anyone call you Gia? They should learn to say your name" is what my parents often say to me. I don't really mind what people call me, unless of course it's extremely offending. You know, like trollop. Who wants to be called that? What is a trollop anyway?
If you haven't already guessed, I am Italian and weird. But that's not important, what is important is how my story starts out. Actually, that isn't important either, but every story has to start somewhere.
It was a typical day I guess you could say. My whole family was at the house; just like they are every morning. I guess I should introduce my siblings so you can get an idea of the sheer size of my family.
Let's see, there is my oldest brother Giovanni who is 32 and his wife Belladonna and their four boys Alessandro, Angelo, Lucio, and Ilario. Then there is Luigi who is 30 and his wife Jolanda with his five kids (three boys two girls) Luigi Jr., Gino, Michelangelo, Isabella, and Madonna. Next is Nico who is 27 and his wife Nicole (how ironic) with their four girls, Magenta, Mimi, Mariabella, and Paolo. Then there is Orlando who is 26 with his wife Ophelia and their twins (boy and girl) Ottavio and Ottavia. Then there is Stephano who is 23 with his wife Susanna and their son Valentino. Last but not least is Leonardo who is 20 and the self proclaimed stud of the family. He still lives with my parents and I. You don't have to remember all that, I hardly do. Anyway, this morning Leo takes it upon himself to come into the bathroom while I am taking a shower.
"Leonardo, what are you doing in here? Can't you see I'm taking a shower?"
"So that's what goes on in this room?" I poked my head out and said,
"I'm not in the mood for sarcasm."
"I can see that. But I ate some of Aunt Lias spaghetti last night and you know what it does to my digestive system. In other words, I have to crap."
"You're sick!"
"Everybody poops."
" Get out of this bathroom before I come out naked!"
"Okay okay, but I must warn you-"
"OUT!"
This of all days was the first time I should have heeded his warning. Okay maybe it wasn't the first, but I'm stubborn and I hate admitting it. When I walked into the kitchen donned with a robe and towel I was greeted by my 29-member family. In the kitchen. Just one room; with 29 people.
"Giacinta, so lovely of you to join us!" said my Mama amidst some of my nephews and nieces screams. How I didn't hear this racket from my room I could never guess. Maybe I'm going deaf. I gave my brother a nasty look for not warning me about this and in turn he gave me a look that said, Hate to say I told you so.
"Look at your hair, it is all wet." Said my Mom.
"I know mama, that's what showers do, baths too. Water is amazing."
"You are too much my darling."
"Too much of what?" I said skeptically.
"Joy and sunshine. One day a boy will come along and steal you from me because of your quirkiness. And I will let him because-"
"Not this again mom!"
"What?" She asked innocently. Innocent, my butt. She's been plotting my marriage since the day I was born. That's what having five boys does to you.
"I don't think I'm getting a boyfriend anytime soon and besides-"
"That is just what I wanted to talk to you about this morning Giacinta," interrupted Giovanni while putting his arm around me, "I saw you last week when I was driving around with a boy."
"You were driving around with a boy?" I said in a mock shock.
"No well, yes, my sons were with me but no I saw you walking with a boy. Is there a chance I know this boy. Or could you possibly give me his name, address and phone number. And possibly-"
"No. You're weird. I know where I get it from now."
Giovanni looked at me appallingly and said, "I am your brother, your oldest brother. You are my only sister, my little sister, I have a right to know what boys you are dating and-"
"Dating? Giovanni, if you want to know all the boys I hang with, you should realize I have never had a boyfriend before and based on the conversation you so rudely interrupted between my mother and I, I will find someone who loves me for my quirkiness."
"We don't need you hanging around with boys. Not that any boy in their right mind would." Interrupted Leonardo.
Everyone turned and starred at Leonardo. I wasn't sure what he meant by that but I had a clue.
"Well that was rude. Oh wait, look who I'm talking to." I said while crossing my arms.
"What in the world is that supposed to mean Leonardo?" Papa asked.
"I'm just saying that no boy would want to date her right now." Leonardo said defensively.
"If you are trying to say that she is not pretty Ill have you know-"
"Pops, its not that. She's too stiff. She doesn't know how to have fun, and she's too serious about school."
"School is a very important thing to me, Leonardo. I want to get into a good school and do something with my life unlike SOME people." I stated.
"I think she was talking about you Uncle Leo!" giggled Isabella. Luigi laughed looked at his daughter and said, "Good observation. That was a great use of sarcasm. Here's a cookie."
Leonardo gave me a menacing look and was about to say something very nasty from the look of his face when Giovanni stated, "Alright you two give it a rest. As I was saying Giacinta who was the boy?"
"How come we have to give it a rest and you don't? Besides, you should know who it is; he comes over here all the time. Almost more than you, it was Lloyd. He was walking with me because Roxy couldn't walk home with me."
"I think he likes you; you should stay away from him. If he does anything to you, you tell me. I'll take care of him."
"Mafia style. See Isabella? You got it from me." laughed Luigi who was trying to stop Gino from biting off Isabella's fingers.
"That was good Luigi. You want a cookie too? The whole town already thinks were stereotypically Italian because we own an Italian Restaurant!" I exclaimed.
"Well what do you expect us to own, a Chinese one?" Nico asked me with a puzzled look on his face. I stuck out my tongue at him when it seemed Papa had a sudden epiphany.
"AH HA! Giacinta! You remind me. Today I need you to pick up the new menus from the printers after school"
"I'll do it Dad" Leonardo said quickly while standing up.
"No, I want Giacinta to do it. I need you to stay at a restaurant," My Dad said. Leonardo's scowl deepened. That didn't help our relationship at all. Then my heart started beating faster as I realized something. The copy shop?
"Oh…ok. Can I take the car?" I stammered.
"Why?"
"I can't walk with all those menus!" Plus I needed somewhere to scream after the encounter with the print shop.
"Ok baby, I was just teasing you." My father said as he handed me the keys and the checkbook. He kissed me on the forehead and told me to get dressed.
I love my father. He is probably one of the few people in the world who understands me. He's a quiet man and doesn't say much, but when he does everyone listens. He's perfectly content with me not dating anyone; I think any father would be. He knows how I feel about it anyway because I tell him everything and I mean everything. My mom on the other hand, I love her but she is not content on me being single. She says I'm too old to not have a boyfriend and apparently at this rate I'll never get married. I'm only seventeen!
Then I realized what my dad said about getting dressed and I realized if I didn't hurry I would be late. So I called my friends while I was getting dressed telling them I would be picking them up soon. Then I was out the door.
The town I live in is small so my family's Italian Restaurant gets a lot of business. Some people just can't get enough of Italian food. My whole family works there and my two best friends work at the Ice Cream Parlor next store. Those two friends would be Lloyd and Roxy. And I know for a fact Lloyd doesn't like me because he is always talking to me about Roxy. Its Roxy this and Roxy that. I'm waiting for him to ask her out but he just won't do it. It is really kind of double standard of me really.
We're all seventeen and were seniors at Academy High School. I like my school, and enjoy going to it and Roxy says there is only one reason for that. She thinks she knows everything about me. And she probably does.
I picked her and Lloyd up and we were on our way to the school when Roxy says, "Hey Gia, are you going to do what I told you about the whole Operation Griffin project?" I sighed loudly and said,
"His name is Alexander, Roxy. And I don't think wearing low cut shirts would work."
"Whatever, everyone on the Lacrosse team calls him Griffin. I think it's because he glides on the field like a bird."
"Dear God not this guy again!" Lloyd screamed. I smiled sweetly and said,
"So Roxy I heard this guy at school likes you. Want to play twenty questions and find out who it is?"
Both Roxy and Lloyd opened their eyes in shock. Roxy clapped her hands gleefully and said, "Oh this is so exciting! I love new boys! Is it someone I know?"
Lloyd's eyes narrowed as I started to say, " Oh you know him very well. In fact, he happens to be-"
Lloyd threw his hand over my mouth and said, ""First of all, you can't answer a question if it hasn't been asked when playing twenty questions. You never got that; you always want to tell a story. Second of all," He turned his head to Roxy "What kind of girlfriend are you? She completely steered you off the topic of Alexander the Great. You've had plenty of boyfriends. She hasn't"
Roxy gasped in realization as Lloyd took his hand from my mouth.
"You're sneaky." She said as she wagged her finger at me in shame.
"You foiled my plan!" I wailed while glaring into the rearview mirror at Lloyd. He smirked at me and mouthed the words, "Ha ha I win again"
Roxy sighed dramatically and said,
"Gia, you've liked this guy for so long and you have yet to make any actions on it."
"I don't want to, maybe I'll grow out of it."
"No, I mean come on Gia. It wouldn't kill you to be the one to step up. Besides, it's been like four years. I don't think you're going to grow out of it…"
I sighed. I know I've liked this guy forever. She doesn't need to tell me. The only girls he goes out with are the tall pretty model looking types. I'm not saying I'm ugly, I mean I am of fairly decent height, and my hair is a nice dirty blonde, my eyes are green. But it seems to me that I'm only another human to him and I always look pretty bad when I see him anyway.
Not that I think he's all about looks or anything. He's a great guy. Sweet, charming, a little cocky but in a good way. Plus he is so beautiful. His hair is brown, but not just brown, there are so many shades in there. And it's curly and falls perfectly around his face. His eyes are the deepest blue I've ever seen. Oh whom am I kidding I still like him and probably always will. And Roxy is probably right; I'll never get over it unless I do something. I focused back on what Roxy was saying just in time for her to say,
"And Lloyd's right. You've always been bad at twenty questions. And I have nineteen more to go. Does he know me?"
I grinned mischievously at Lloyd and said, "Oh yeah, I think he even wrote a couple songs or poems about you…"
What do you think? Leave a review to let me know. xoChel