Luca and Giulia had reached their school. It was very large to the point that it was intimidating.
"Wow. It's…big." Luca said as the two stared at the building. "Do your palms feel sweaty too?"
"Ohhhh yeahhh," Giulia replied. But then she shook her head and body. Trying to shake off her nervousness. "Santa mozzarella! We're being ridiculous. Let's go, Luca." She grabbed Luca's wrist and pulled him into the school with her.
Once inside the hallway was basically like traffic.
Luca hid behind Giulia slightly. "We're gonna get trampled, I know it."
"I'm not gonna let that happen. We need to get to homeroom. Get behind me and follow me." Giulia said with determination in her voice and she walked on ahead.
Luca nodded and held onto one of the sleeves of Giulia's jacket that was tied around her waist as he followed her, making sure they didn't get separated.
They successfully made it to Homeroom.
"Alright! We made it!" She yelled a bit too loudly that other students and the teacher turned their heads towards her in surprise. Giulia looked back at them awkwardly. "Too much?" She sat down at the desk next to Luca's instantly. "Too much."
Some of the students snickered and whispered to each other.
"Uh oh," Luca whispered.
Giulia face-palmed. "Santa Gorgonzola. It's only Homeroom and I already have people judging me."
Soon, Homeroom was over. Luckily Giulia and Luca had their next two classes and their last class together, much to their relief. They had Math and Astronomy in the morning together and History would be their last class together. After lunch, Luca would have Art and Giulia would have Gym. They had both picked Astronomy instantly when choosing their classes. They both loved to learn about the world beyond their own when they were little. Gym class was a requirement. They both had to take Gym classes at least once during their high school years. Luca chose Art over it, promising to take part in it next year but he probably wasn't going to use the showers for obvious reasons. Giulia however had no problem deciding to take Gym her first year. She was very athletic and loved the rush she felt during obstacle courses.
Math class turned out to be a snore, at least to Giulia. Luca was great at it but Giulia not so much. She hated it but she wasn't terrible at it, Luca was just a bit better at it. Luca had promised her he'd help her with it when they would no doubt receive the homework in the future.
Astronomy was very interesting and intriguing. At that point in their day, it was the highlight. It gave them hope that the rest of the day would be fun.
Later, lunch had arrived. The two friends were starving to the point they were practically rushing to find the cafeteria and finally eat. They were doing okay for a good while until someone bumped into Giulia sending her to the floor, her jacket's sleeve slipping out of Luca's hand.
"Hey! What gives?" Giulia snarled as she angrily looked up at who bumped into her.
It was a slim boy with tan skin, brown eyes, and brown hair styled in a comb-over.
"Oops! I'm so sorry!" The boy said.
He offered her his hand to help her up. Giulia considered slapping it away but he did apologize so she accepted it.
Once upright, she immediately took back her hand and put it on her hip. "Jeez. Watch where you're going next time. We're walking here."
"R-right! We will." The boy stammered in embarrassment. Another boy with fair skin, brown eyes, and curly blonde hair, who was a bit chubbier, walked up beside the brown-haired boy with confusion.
"Good." Giulia said back.
The two groups were about to go their separate ways when Luca stopped Giulia before she could go any further. "Wait, maybe they know where the cafeteria is. Let's ask them."
Giulia looked back at her friend and then back at the two boys who were about to disappear into the crowded hall.
She sighed. "Fine." They turned around and chased down the two boys before they lost them. "Hey!" She yelled out to them.
The boys stopped and turned their heads. When Luca and Giulia reached them Luca spoke first.
"Hi. Us again. Uh, could you show us where the cafeteria is? We're kinda lost."
"Sure. We're headed there ourselves." said the curly-haired boy. "My names' Ciccio and this is Guido." Ciccio introduced.
"Thanks. I'm Luca and this is Giulia." Luca gestured to Giulia.
The four of them headed down to the cafeteria together.
"So, you two new?" asked Guido, starting the conversion.
"How'd you guess?" Giulia asked back with sarcasm.
Guido chuckled at that. "Just a hunch."
"Yeah. We're freshmen." Luca joined in.
"Ah, 'new meat'," Ciccio added. "You guys better watch out then."
Luca raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Let's just say some people at this school feed off 'new meat'."
Guido nodded, knowing exactly who his friend was talking about. They finally reached the cafeteria. "Well, here we are. We're in 10th grade. If you want, we'd be willing to try to protect you guys. Show you the ropes."
"We will?" Ciccio asked him, slight fear in his voice. Guido elbowed him in the arm. Ciccio changed his tune while rubbing his arm. "Oh, yeah. We will."
Giulia looked between the two, sensing the tension. "You guys don't have to do us any favors."
Guido shook his head. "No, we want to." he insisted.
"If you say so. I'm starving" Giulia and Luca headed on ahead.
When the two were out of earshot, Ciccio turned to Guido.
"'Try to protect you guys'? You into Giulia or something?"
"No! I just feel bad for them. You know what it was like being a freshman.
Ciccio sighed. "You're right."
"Hey, you two coming?" Guilia asked them, suddenly appearing behind Guido.
Guido jumped. "Ah! Uh, yeah, we're coming." He regained his composure and they followed the other two inside.
They got their food and trays and found a place to sit together.
"So, what are you guy's next classes?" Guido asked.
"Art." Luca replied.
"Gym." Giulia added.
"You have Gym too? I can show you the way there!" He said with excitement.
Giulia and Luca stared at him, their eyes wide.
"Real smooth…" Ciccio whispered to Guido.
"Shut up." He whispered back.
"Okayyyy." Giulia awkwardly said.
"I'm gonna go refill my water bottle. Be right back." Luca left, escaping the awkwardness.
Luca walked over to the water fountain. Once there, he put the opening of the water bottle under the tap and pushed down on the faucet. As Luca waited for it to fill he heard a table of boys laughing loudly. He looked over at the group. There was a fair amount of them. They all had black leather jackets on. He must've been staring at the group for too long because one of them looked back at him. The boy was slender and muscular with tan skin and light freckles. He had on a white shirt under his jacket and blue cuffed jeans. His golden-brown hair was slicked back. Luca also noticed he had purple eyeshadow, which complemented his skin tone and bright green eyes. It was a look he had never seen before but it intrigued Luca.
The boy side glanced at the others for a split second, none of them looking at him or Luca. Then he looked back at Luca and winked at him. Luca's face heated up at that, taking him by surprise. Luca quickly averted his eyes from the boy to look at his water bottle only to see that the bottle was overflowing with the water and some of it leaked onto his hand, making some of his green scales show up. Luca quickly rubbed his hand dry on his sweater vest. The boy saw this and chuckled at Luca's clumsiness. This irked Luca, making him feel even more embarrassed. He sped walked back to his table and was thankful that the boy didn't see his scales appear.
As Luca was making his way to his table the other boy was still staring at him, his eyes following him. Luca tried not to look back at him as he sat down next to Giulia but he couldn't help but stare back. Giulia, Ciccio, and Guido noticed the two boys staring each other down.
Finally, Luca spoke. "Who is that?"
"That's Alberto Scorfano," Guido answered. "He's second in command in their stupid little gang of assholes. He isn't the worst one but I'd still stay away if I were you."
Just then, another boy from the gang's table noticed Alberto's staring. He also had a slender build but he wasn't as muscular as Alberto, Luca noted. He had a straight-laced face, lightly tanned skin, a few pencil-thin mustache hairs, and his dark brown hair was slicked back like the rest of his group. He smirked at them, seemingly looking like he was about to have some fun. The gang all got up from their table and started to head towards them.
"Figlio di puttana," Ciccio said under his breath. "They're coming this way. Keep your cool, guys."
"Well, if it isn't the Cowardly Duo." The other boy, who seemed to be the leader of the group, said with a snicker.
Guido sighed. "Leave us alone, Ercole. It's the first day. I know you're still sore about last year but have some common courtesy."
"Yeah, we're literally just sitting here," Ciccio added.
"We're not here to cause any trouble," Ercole said sounding disingenuous. "My buddies and I were just wanting to say high to your new friends." He looked to Luca and Giulia. "You two must be freshmen because we've never seen you two before. Let us welcome you. Benvenuto nella mia scuola. I am Ercole Visconti. We're part of the Protorosso Scorpions and I am the leader."
Luca saw Alberto roll his eyes at that statement. The others looked indifferent to it.
Luca didn't want any trouble so he tried to be polite by introducing them. "I'm Luca and this is Giulia."
Guilia leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, looking up at Ercole in particular. "Piacere..." She looked unimpressed. She could usually tell when someone was a bad seed. And Ercole was a bad one.
Ercole could sense her sass. He narrowed his eyes and then suddenly leaned closer to Giulia's face, holding himself up by putting his hands on the table, making Giulia flinch. "Listen, Spewlia. Take my advice. You don't want to surround yourself with these two traitorous cowards. You just might cause trouble for yourselves by association.
Luca didn't like him trying to intimidate Giulia like that. Luca stood up from his seat. "Hey!" Ercole turned to look at him with a nasty look, which made Luca almost back down. "I-uh-um-"
Ercole mocked his stuttering. "'I-uh-uh-uh'" he laughed "I love it. The little guy can't even get a word out." the other boys, excluding Alberto, laughed along with him. Alberto, with half-lidded eyes, just stared at Ercole who was laughing like an idiot. "Oof. And he smells like behind the pescheria."
That last comment was it for Luca to give him some of his nerve back. "Oh yeah? Well- at least I don't look like a catfish like you !" He yelled, putting on his brave face. The other boys in the gang looked at each other, not quite getting the comparison. "They're bottom-feeders, and they also have two sad little whiskers," Luca explained.
Ercole gasped, his hand covering his pencil-stache in embarrassment. Giulia, Guido, and Ciccio laughed. A few of the other students that overheard the exchange laughed as well. The other boys in the gang tried to suppress their laughter but were unsuccessful. Alberto smirked, impressed at Luca's comment, which made Luca smile. Luca wondered why impressing Alberto made him feel good. This was the first time they met and they hadn't even said a word to each other.
"Shut up!" he yelled in anger to everyone that had laughed. They all instantly stopped their laughter. Ercole turned back to Luca and slowly walked closer to him threateningly. "Listen, piccoletto, I eat kids like you for breakfast." He then raised his voice. "I dunk them in my ciocclata and…" He mimicked a chomping sound. "...finito!" Then he made a knife swishing sound and a 'slicing the throat' motion.
Luca backed away and gulped.
Ercole smiled sinisterly. Feeling like he had successfully put Luca in his place. "Come on, Scorpions. We've got bigger fish to fry." He, Alberto, and the rest of the gang walked away.
Luca could have sworn that he saw Alberto slightly take one last quick glance over his shoulder at Luca as he walked away. Luca decided not to dwell on that.
As soon as they were out of sight, Giulia cheered, hugging Luca. "Ha-ha! Luca! Bravo! You were amazing!"
Luca let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"Luca, why did do that?" Ciccio asked with concern in his eyes.
"Hey! That jerk deserved it." Giulia said back.
"Yeah, but now he has a target on his back."
"Psshh. That guy is a total scherzo. "
"Maybe to some degree, but still. You know Ercole is bullshitting everyone with that whole 'I'm the leader ' crap, right?"
Luca and Giulia looked at him with interest.
Guido continued. "Ercole is only in charge of the students that are part of the gang. There are way more people in The Scorpions. The real leader of The Scorpions is Alberto's dad."
"Then, technically, shouldn't Alberto be the leader here?" Asked Luca.
"It'd make sense but by the time Alberto entered this school as a freshman, Ercole was already calling the shots because he was a senior. But, Alberto was pretty much accepted into the gang by default because his dad is in charge. Lucky for him, his connections saved his ass from the hell that comes with being a freshman." Guido said with clear resentment in his voice. "I wonder if he even knows how it feels to be pushed around."
"I don't think Ercole and Alberto even like each other. I think they just tolerate one another." Ciccio added. "There's clearly a rivalry there."
"Why did Ercole call you guys traitors?" Giulia wondered.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask us that." Guido sighed. "We used to work for Ercole when we were freshmen. I wouldn't say we were part of the gang. We didn't get the jackets or anything like that. We definitely didn't get any respect. We stuck around doing their homework and helping them with shady shit in exchange for protection from bullies. We didn't realize that they were the ones who were bullying us until after the school year was over. We left. They weren't happy."
"Well, you guys have my respect for standing up for yourselves," Giulia said as she patted Guido on the back. "That takes guts."
Guido and Ciccio smiled at that.