Third Period: Gym Class

Giulia followed Guido to gym class. Giulia was thankful that Guido had gym this period as well. She'd never admit it, but without him, she'd probably get lost. But Giulia was confused about something.

"Wait, If you're a grade above me, how are we in the same class?" Giulia asked him.

"Oh, that. It's a multigrade class. A lot of freshmen don't sign up their first year so you might be one of the few first years there. But don't let that intimidate you."

"Please, I don't get intimidated by anyone. People get intimidated by me ." Giulia said in a cocky tone.

Guido admired her confidence. "Great, then there won't be any issues for you."

The two entered the gym. Guido was right. There were a lot of kids that looked taller than her and grades ahead of her but there looked to be 2 or 3 freshmen. Giulia took a deep breath and went in further. The two separated to go into the change rooms. Once out and dressed, all the kids came out and stood in a group in front of the teacher. The first gym class wasn't exactly as physical as Giulia had pictured but it was understandable since it was the first class. The teacher started by asking them all about how their summer went but they were asked to make it brief. Then the teacher went over the rules of class and what to remember. If you got out of line there would be 'strikes' given.

Strike 1: A warning

Strike 2: Refocus

Strike 3: Time out and a note home

The expectations were respecting yourself, respect others and respect the gym and its equipment. The teacher elaborated on those about more in detail but that was the gist of it. Once the rules were established the teacher had them run laps around the gym. Giulia was really fast and wanted to show off her first day so she picked up the pace. Guido saw her zoom by him and the other students and chuckled at her antics, shaking his head. It wasn't a race. She was just going to tire herself out real quick but he found her energetic personality humorous.

Others, including the teacher, saw her speed as well. Impressing them.

Later, as Guido predicted, Giulia became an exhausted, sweaty mess.

"You alright, Giulia?" he asked.

"Y-y-yeah…" Giulia replied in between heavy breaths, her hands on her knees. "Santa mascarpone..wh-why did I do that?"

"Well, it was impressive."

Giulia looked up at him from her bent-over stance and smiled. She stood up-right finally and looked around. She saw a piece of paper on the wall. She went up to it and read it. It said in big letters:

Soccer Tryouts!

Giulia loved soccer. She ripped it off the wall in excitement and turned to Guido.

"This school has a soccer team?!" She asked for confirmation.

Guido stood beside her to look at the paper with her. "Looks like tryouts are tomorrow after school."

"Oh mio Dio! Consider me there! I gotta learn more." She said jumping up and down.

Third Period: Art Class

"Okay, so, if you want to get to your art class the room is the very last door on your right," Ciccio said as he directed Luca to his next class. "Now, remember it's a multigrade class so not just freshmen will be joining you. But if art relaxes you you should be fine."

"Got it. Thanks, Ciccio." Thanked Luca as he waved him goodbye. Ciccio waved back.

Luca entered the room to see a bunch of art benches that circled a fancy plate of fruit. It looked to Luca like the first day's theme would be still life art. He couldn't wait to get started.

When the teacher finished introductions with everyone, they were told to get started on sketching the still life in the center of the room. They all sat down and got started. Luca was just starting to start his drawing when he saw Alberto entering the room. Luca started to get a bit panicky and his heart started racing in slight fear and...something else he could quite pinpoint.

' Oh no, not him. ' Luca thought to himself.

At that moment, as if on cue, Alberto spotted Luca from across the room. Luca pretended he didn't see him and went back to work on his drawing.

"Tardy on the first day, hmm, Mr. Scorfano? Not a good first impression." the teacher said to him as she shook her head. She sighed. "Take a seat."

Alberto knew exactly where he was going to sit. Luckily for him, there was an empty art bench next to Luca. Luca tensed as soon as he sat down. Alberto could sense that the boy was nervous around him but he didn't care, he liked seeing Luca's nervous reactions after what he saw him do at the water fountain. It wouldn't hurt to mess with him a bit more he thought.

As Alberto took out his art supplies and set them up around his canvas, every so often he would glance at Luca and Luca would look obvious in trying to avoid eye contact. It was hilarious.

Luca couldn't take it anymore. He had to say something. "Would you stop staring at me, please?" He whispered harshly.

Alberto acted dumb. "Staring? I'm just drawing fruit." He smirked as he started to draw.

Luca pouted. Though he may have found Alberto's voice kind of attractive now that he was hearing it the first time, he knew he wasn't crazy.

When Alberto saw him pout, he couldn't help but find it to look...cute. Che diavolo? What was that thought? Maybe he should tone down on the teasing.

Alberto quickly put back on his cool demeanor and quietly chucked. "Alright, alright. I'll stop."

Luca let out a breath of relief. He continued his drawing.

"Hey. What you said to Ercole in the cafeteria, very nicely put. Truer words have never been spoken." Alberto complemented.

Luca's eyes widened. He didn't expect Alberto to say anything else to him much less something nice. "Um...t-thanks." he blushed, not looking at him. Luca spoke again. "So...why are you sitting next to me? Didn't your leader say something like ' Don't talk to that loser. ' or something?" Why he was still conversing with him?

Alberto scoffed. "Please. That guy isn't the boss of me and he knows it. 'Leader ' my ass." he let out a huff and then he continued. "As to why I'm sitting here, it's because your reactions are hilarious to me. For example, what you did at the water fountain."

Luca cringed. He had hoped Alberto forgot he did that.

"It only happened because you...winked at me…" Luca turned pink at the memory.

"I don't know what you're talking about. That didn't happen." Alberto said without looking at him.

Luca couldn't believe he was denying it. "Yes, it did!"

Some of the other students nearby turned to look at them. Luca blushed in embarrassment. After a few seconds, the other students returned to their work.

Luca repeated himself but in a whisper this time. "Yes, it did."

"Yeah, well, you can't prove that." Alberto said back.

Luca huffed. He was being such a jerk pretending he hadn't winked at him. It had put him in a bad mood and, for some reason, it had hurt him. They didn't talk for the rest of the class time.

When the class was over, Luca subtly turned his head to look at Alberto's drawing. It was really good. The shading was on point and incredibly detailed. Alberto noticed Luca looking at his drawing in awe. To say it flattered him was a bit of an understatement.

"Like what you see?" Alberto asked him grinning.

"Ye- Uh! What do you care?" Luca was thankful he caught himself before he gave Alberto a compliment he didn't deserve.

"Aww come on, you like it don't you?"

"You can't prove that."

That took Alberto by surprise. 'Touche' he thought. He could tell Luca was pissed at him for denying that he winked at him. At the time, Alberto couldn't help it. As soon as he saw Luca in the cafeteria, looking at him and his gang with his big brown eyes, which were probably magnified by his glasses, he couldn't help but wink at him. He looked so curious and innocent. Someone he could easily mess with. He just wanted to see how he'd react, that's all...right? He didn't know why it bothered him but he didn't really like the idea of Luca ignoring him. Maybe slightly frustrated at him, he did like the look of his pout but Luca actually being pissed he didn't like.

Luca, Alberto, and the rest of the class handed in their still life drawings and headed out into the hall for their next class. Alberto quickly spoke up before he lost track of Luca in the crowd.

Alberto slightly raised his voice. "Hey."

Luca sighed and turned to face him.

"Okay, so, let's say I did wink at you. I just wanted to see how you'd react. I thought it'd be funny and it was…" He noticed Luca roll his eyes. He was clearly expecting an apology. Something that Alberto did not do often, so he decided to go a different route. "Did you like it? Is that why you reacted like that?" It sounded like he was teasing him again but a part of him kind of wanted to know the answer.

Was he seriously doing this to him? Making fun of him some more? Did he like it? It put him in a state of panic that's for sure. But whatever he felt about it, he wouldn't dare answer him.

"Stop messing around," Luca said as he clutched his backpack straps. "You're unbelievable, you know that? Don't you have any manners?"

Alberto almost broke into laughter but held back. "You're asking me, someone of The Scorpions if I have any manners?"

"Well, it's not like we've been properly introduced or anything." They already knew each other's names but Luca still felt that he was entitled to a real introduction.

"Alright, fine." Alberto held out his hand to him. "Alberto Scorfano."

Luca looked at Alberto's out-stretched hand. He hesitated for a second then accepted his handshake. "Luca Paguro."

Alberto noticed how Luca's hand was so soft. It didn't surprise him that someone like Luca would have hands like that. Luca noticed that Alberto's handshake was firm but warm. It was kinda nice but Luca didn't get to think about that for very long when Alberto, while still having a hold of Luca's hand, pulled him in closer to his body so that they were directly staring into each other's eyes.

Alberto narrowed his eyes. "If you ever tell anyone from my gang that I take this class, you're mine. Got it?" Alberto said, with a threatening yet husky voice, which made Luca shiver and recoil, but he nodded slowly in understanding. Then Alberto let go of Luca's hand and put his own hands in his pockets but before he left, Alberto leaned in close to Luca's ear and whispered, "Oh. And for the record, I think you smell amazing ."

Luca was left alone in the hall, speechless and blushing like crazy. "Che cos 'era questo...?" He asked no one.

"Luca!" Luca turned to see Giulia run toward him. "Was that jerk threatening you just now?"

"Yes? I-I'm not really sure..." Luca replied, still shook. Did Alberto mean that or was he just messing with him again? If this is how it was going to be for the rest of the semester he wasn't sure he had the mental stability to make it. Suddenly, Luca got a whiff of a not-so-pleasant smell coming off of Giulia.

Giulia noticed this. She started to get embarrassed. "Yeah...I smell like sweat from gym class, I'm aware. I got a little carried away while we were running laps and I overdid it. Then I got distracted by an ad for the school's soccer team so my mind was on that and because of that, I made it so I didn't have time to shower. Plus, having our History class be so far away from the gym didn't help either."

Luca looked away, pretending not to notice to spare her feelings. "I don't smell anything..."

Giulia smiled. "You see, Luca? This is why we're friends. You are such a gentleman. But yeah, considering this issue I just hope History class goes well for me and no one notices."

They did notice. Midway through the class, a crinkled-up piece of paper hit the back of Giulia's head and landed on her desk. Giulia unraveled it and on it had an unflattering drawing of herself with the words 'Giulia Puzzi' above her. Giulia growled under her breath and looked in the direction it was thrown from. It was a person she recognized from homeroom. One of the few that laughed at her outburst when she and Luca had just made it in the room this morning.

So, to their dismay, Luca and Giulia's fresh start was pretty much a failure.