After Fourth Period: Grade 10 Math Class
"Mio Dio, niente in quella classe ha senso!" Alberto yelled to his fellow Scorpion, and the only somewhat decent person in the gang, Bartolo.
"Yeah. I hate that class." Bartolo agreed.
The two boys shared the same math class. Alberto was not the biggest expert on math. He never had been. He was just glad this day was finally over.
Bartolo decided to change the subject. "So, the plan today was for the gang to head over to the base. You in? You haven't been there since the beginning of summer."
Alberto wasn't into it. He found the base to be overwhelming and everyone there was a total tool. They were the expansion of the gang of all ages above his own. Young adults, middle-aged men, and even older men in their 60's which Alberto found to be pathetic. But the biggest reason he never wanted to go there was that Bruno, his dad was always there basking in his position as the leader. He never called him 'dad'. Alberto was convinced that the position and the gang meant more to his dad than his own son.
"I don't think so..." Alberto replied nonchalantly
"Your dad is gonna be pissed if you don't show."
"Bruno pissed at me? That never happens, " said Alberto, sarcasm in his tone. "Why is it so important I come? I doubt he's suddenly developed an interest in my life."
Bartolo shrugged "I heard from the other guys that he wants you to be around more so you can 'get a feel for what your future holds.' "
Alberto raised his eyebrows. "' What my future holds'? Really? Is it some 'rite of passage' bullshit?"
"Apparently it's important. You could get promoted. Maybe even knock Ercole off his turf at this school."
Alberto did like the sound of that. He would love to take Ercole's place as the leader at this school but he doubted he'd get promoted. Ercole was Bruno's favorite since Ercole put the gang above everything else in his life. Alberto's reputation in the gang wasn't the best. Not being very present at the base didn't help. He was only part of the gang because of his family status with Bruno. If he wasn't his son, his life would probably be very different. As a child, Alberto had been told by his dad that their family had founded the gang as a means to take suspicion off of them being sea creatures for years. Since then they have never been caught and humans had been none the wiser. As a Scorfano, this was a way of life for him. Alberto would often think of ' what ifs ' whenever he was alone but being part of the gang was all he knew. If he lost that, who would he be? But he still wasn't ready to show up there. He was tired and didn't want to be bothered with it all after today.
"That's tempting, Bartolo but I'm gonna pass. I'll show up tomorrow, I promise. Tell Bruno he's been heard." Alberto said as he walked away.
"Okay, dude. Don't say I didn't warn you." Bartolo told him.
With that, the two went their separate ways.
When Alberto came out of the building he noticed everything seemed a bit damp and not as sunny out as it was earlier in the day. He sighed in relief. It must've just finished raining and he just missed it. He wouldn't have been able to go anywhere if it was still pouring out. He could only imagine if it still was raining and had agreed to go to the base. All of them would find out his and Bruno's secret, that they were both sea creatures.
He wasn't sure if there were other sea creatures within The Scorpions and if there were, said sea creatures would never tell. But what he did know, is that there were some in the gang that had a background of sea creature hunter ancestry. A lot of them didn't give a shit about breaking the law and were extremely prejudice against sea creatures, or, as they would call them, sea monsters. It was considered a ' good idea ' to let those kinds of people into the gang so that they would never suspect their leader's biggest secret. He knew that there would be a chance that if everyone found out about them the rest of the gang could turn on them in an instant. It wouldn't matter if Alberto and Bruno's family were the founders of the gang, they'd rise against them and kick them out or worse, kill them. But Alberto was sure that, to Bruno, getting kicked out was worse than getting murdered. Bruno wore his status like a golden badge.
Alberto stepped into the parking lot. He could see the other Scorpions drive away on their motorcycles in the direction of the base. He waited until they all left and then he got on his motorcycle, put on his helmet, and then drove off in the other direction. Alberto drove to the edge of town where the beach was and parked his bike. He walked along the dock to its edge. He looked around to see if there was anyone around. Luckily he was in the clear. He dove into the water and let the water transform him into his sea creature form. It felt good for Alberto to do this after a long day. Just swim around freely in solitude, the water making his purple and indigo scales glisten.
Alberto made his way through the water towards the place he knew he could always relax and forget everything just for a little while, his secluded tower far from the town's shore. The swim there was quite a ways away but he was a fast and strong swimmer and making big leaps and jumps over the water made the trip there faster. Once he made it to his destination Alberto shook off the water from himself and climbed the latter into the tower.
The inside of the tower was a tad messy with how Alberto had set it up to his liking. It was where he kept all the drawings he had done. Some were on the walls and some were scattered on the floor. He loved art but he would never let anyone know that. It had a window with a view of the town, steps that rounded the tower up to the second floor where he could light a campfire at night.
No one had ever been up here but himself. Others believed the place to be haunted for years. He had found it when he ran away for the first time. He was 12 years old at the time. He and Bruno had had a terrible fight when his mother passed away. Alberto blamed Bruno because he had always been neglectful to him and his wife and Alberto believed that if he had been around more he would have noticed something was wrong with her health. Bruno, who had turned to alcohol that night, had resented Alberto for believing that. In a drunken rage, Bruno had threatened Alberto with a switchblade knife and had slashed at him, not meaning to give actual impact to Alberto's skin. Nevertheless, the blade had cut young Alberto's arm, giving him the scar on it that he had today. After the blade had cut him, the boy cried out in pain and told Bruno that he was going to ' run away forever and never come back '. He stayed the night at the tower all by himself. He had heard it was haunted and maybe a part of him had wanted something to just swallow him up and he would never see the light of day again. But nothing ever did. He had awoken the very next day, hungry. The 12-year-old had to get back home sometime so he swallowed his pride and went back home. It was a memory Alberto hated revisiting.
He dropped himself onto the hammock hanging on the wall, a calming sigh escaping from him. Doing this was always peaceful, the only thing to be heard was the sound of the ocean's waves.
Alberto laid down staring at the roof. He didn't expect his first day back to school to be that eventful. He expected to just go through the motions, a less exhausting version of his freshmen year. In his freshmen year, he was practically thrown into The Scorpions of the school as soon as he entered the building. Beforehand he had expected to go through the hellish rumors he had heard about that apparently came with being a freshman. But he never had to. Thanks to his connections, he was set. At first, he was relieved. He had received instant respect but he knew that half that respect from his peers was also fear. But Alberto never cared, he just hated following Ercole around and some of the others of the gang did too.
When Guido and Ciccio had entered the picture his homework problems were solved but due to them doing his homework for him he had stopped paying attention in classes he didn't care about, such as math class, thinking that there was no need to listen. When Guido and Ciccio left, that had screwed him over big time. He had missed a whole year's worth of knowledge and was most likely going to fall behind this year. He had realized that while leaving his math class. He honestly had no idea what he was going to do.
That was the reason the school day had exhausted him. The day wasn't all bad though. It took no time at all for Alberto to find his entertainment for the rest of the semester, Luca Paguro. The wink stunt he had pulled in the cafeteria was priceless. He wasn't entirely sure what drove him to wink at Luca but the reaction it got him...Alberto had no regrets. Luca's facial expressions were just...truly something to behold. As soon as he saw Luca in one of his classes, he thanked his lucky stars that he was basically bestowed on to Alberto to torment, but not to bully him, Alberto wasn't into bullying other kids even though a lot of the gang did so. Bullying others took way too much energy. Teasing was more his thing. He had only just met him and he already loved making Luca's soft-looking cheeks go red. It was hilarious. But it had stopped being fun when Luca started to ignore Alberto when he had denied the wink. He knew now that he was going to have to play his 'teasing' cards carefully with Luca in the future if he wanted to keep his attention. School was dull so he might as well hold on to anything that would entertain him during it.
Thinking about all this made Alberto lose track of time. It was starting to get dark. He got up from the hammock and started a campfire on the second floor. The embers coming from the fire relaxed him as his mind started to drift. Alberto had really liked it when Luca saw his finished still life drawing. He liked the way Luca's big shiny brown eyes got bigger, astonished at what he saw. It had made Alberto feel really awesome inside. He made a mental note to display the drawing in the tower when he got it back. If it made Luca's eyes go that wide in amazement, it had to be one of his best drawings yet. However, Alberto was a bit bummed that he didn't receive verbal praise from Luca. Maybe if he did even better on his future drawings in class, Luca wouldn't be able to resist giving a compliment.
After Fourth Period: Grade 9 History Class
History class felt like it took forever to get through. Giulia was mortified and angry after having that drawing of her thrown at her. She was aware of how she smelt. She didn't need juvenile assholes to remind her. She was just happy she had Luca by her side through most of the day.
" Santa Ricotta! I am so glad today is over." Giulia stated. "Let's go home, Luca."
Luca nodded and they headed out the school exit. While in History class they had noticed it raining. Luca was internally freaking out for obvious reasons, knowing he was going to have to leave the building when class was over. He prayed the rain would stop before then. Luckily his prayers were answered by the time the class was over.
The two started on their way home.
"So, Giulia, how was Gym class? I didn't get a chance to ask before." Luca started.
"Well, aside from making a total fool of myself showing off, it was pretty good, I found out there's a soccer team!" she said excitedly.
"Really? Are you going to try out?" He asked.
"You bet!" her voice filled with exhilaration. "How was Art class?"
Dannazione! Luca was hoping she wouldn't ask. At least not this soon.
"It was...alright. Today's theme was Still Life. That was pretty neat." Luca reported.
"Cool...So, why was that Scorfano kid all up in your face like that? Do I need to beat him up for you? I'll do it, you know I will." Giulia asked while lightly punching her palm.
Luca believed her. He knew she meant well but she could be impulsive and he wasn't looking to cause any trouble. "You don't have to do that, Giulia. But thanks anyway."
"If you say so but why was he there in the first place?"
"Well...that class is a multigrade class and he is...in it with me." Luca said wearily, unsure if he should have told her that.
Her eyes widened. "Really? No way!"
"Just don't say anything about it to anyone okay?" He quickly said.
"Why?"
"Because it might be better for everyone if nobody knows."
Giulia was about to press on but they were interrupted by loud motor noises coming their way. Luca and Giulia saw it was The Scorpions, they couldn't see their faces due to their helmets being on, but the two recognized their jackets. The Scorpions were still a bit away from them when Giulia noticed a giant puddle right in front of them. Giulia instantly knew what was about to happen.
"Luca!" Giulia yelled as, without a second thought, she acted fast and jumped in front of Luca as the wheels from the many motorcycles splashed across the giant puddle, making the water from it splash all over onto Giulia, drenching her.
Laughter roared from the many boys as they all rode away, "Enjoy your shower, Spewlia !" one of them yelled, mocking Giulia.
"Mangia merda di cane, greaseballs!" Giulia angrily yelled back at them, her fist waving in the air.
Luca had stood still like a deer in the headlights when Giulia had shielded him from the water. It had all happened so fast. He had snapped out of it when Giulia had yelled after them.
"Giulia?" Luca's voice sounded filled with guilt.
Giulia sighed. This would be the end to her day. "Well...better me than you, right?" she said with a half-smile.
"You shouldn't have done that, Giulia. They were after me not you."
"I know. That's why I saw it coming." Giulia stated as she ringed out the worst of the dampness from her clothes but not all of it dried off. "Can I dry off at your house? I don't know how my dad is going to react if he sees me like this. You know how he is."
"Yeah, of course."
The two reached Luca's house finally. They really hoped that Luca's mother wasn't home. Whenever the two were in distress she tended to ask questions and they weren't ready to make up any lies. Lucky for them the only one home was Luca's Grandma who was playing cards by herself when they walked in.
They knew she was more easy-going and if she asked questions she would be calm about it. She noticed them walk in and saw Giulia state.
"Hey, nonna." Luca greeted awkwardly. Giulia said nothing but waved.
"Welcome home, Bubble. And how did this happen?" She asked gesturing to Giulia.
"Let's just say, sure we made some new friends but...we also made some enemies…" Luca answered. "Giulia protected me from getting splashed from a puddle that the 'enemies' drove over on their bikes."
"Do you need me to do something about it?" His grandma asked.
"We'd rather you didn't." Giulia finally spoke and played it cool. "We can handle them on our own. This was just a minor setback. We'll get em'"
"See to it that you do." Grandma Paguro smirked.
Guilia headed off to the bathroom. Luca's sad eyes followed her as she left.
"...If I weren't a sea creature this wouldn't have happened." Luca said, turned away from his grandma.
She got up from her chair and put her hand on Luca's hunched shoulder. "Don't feel too bad, Luca. Giulia is a good friend and she loves you. We're lucky to have her on this family's side."
"I know, nonna. I just wish it didn't happen every time I got wet."
She sat back down again. Luca sat next to her.
"Well, there is nothing that can be done about that, but very soon, you'll be able to become a sea creature on command." his grandma said as a matter of factly.
"Really?" Luca was wide-eyed. He never knew this. Not that he would have any idea since he didn't know any other sea creatures.
"Mhm. It happens to all sea creatures around your age. It's part of a sea creature's development. So maybe one day, you could give whoever is bothering you a scare whenever you want." she grinned devilishly.
"Oh, I don't know if that'd be a good idea, nonna." Though it was no longer okay for humans to inflict any harm to sea creatures, Luca was still terrified of the idea of anyone seeing him in his sea creature form. "How come mom and dad have never told me about this before?"
"Well, your parents are too afraid, therefore they can't do it. They live in fear and if they knew I told you about this they wouldn't be too happy, especially your mother. Either you would have found out on your own or you would have gone your whole life without knowing."
"That can happen?"
"It's different for some sea creatures. But, now you know."
Luca was hesitant. "Does it hurt to do?"
"No, all you have to do is think of your sea creature form and concentrate on letting it out. But you have to embrace your sea creature form first. Not fear it." she told him with a knowing look. She knew her family feared humans but they still wanted to live in the world above the sea. It was hard to be able to have it all as a sea creature. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I'm just telling you that you are capable of doing it." she caressed her grandson's face. "Don't fear the world, Luca."
Luca smiled at his loving grandma. "I'll try not to."
(A/N) Sorry, this took a bit to be posted but I was always writing a bit of it every day. I finally got some time to myself today after a week of helping babysit my nephew. But it's done finally and I'm thrilled.
So I've decided how I can implement sea creatures being able to transform on command which was part of numjumo's AU. I made it as a form of puberty for sea creatures. Hope you find that idea interesting.
Also, I have changed the term "sea monsters" to "sea creatures" instead so that the term "sea monsters" is a slur. I have gone back and edited the past chapters to that.