A few hours before the gelato outing
Luna had just come out of the shower, now clean from soccer practice. She sat down at her vanity. She had bits of her pink scales left on her. She removed the towel that was wrapped around her hair, since it was mostly dry already, letting it flow down her back and bringing the towel to wipe off the wetness from her face. Now rid of her scales she rested her chin on her palms, her elbows on the vanity table, now absentmindedly staring at herself in the mirror.
Luna's eyes drifted to look at the phone in her room that was behind her through the mirror. Once again, she found herself debating whether or not she should call Giulia. She had planned to call Giulia today but after avoiding her the whole day, she wasn't sure how Giulia would react to her 'sudden interest' in talking to her again.
Luna hadn't avoided Giulia of any ill will exactly. She still liked Giulia but, because Luca had told her that Giulia had sea creature hunter ancestry, it had...frightened her. Well, she was a sea creature. Must be an instinctual reaction, she assumed. She knew that surely not all people who that type of background could be that bad. She just needed the day to have her space. To fully take this new information about Giulia in. Time to process. She just hoped Giulia hadn't been bothered by the whole thing. She didn't seem all that bothered by it. She still had Guido to talk to and he even asked her out. Or at least that's what it sounded like to her when she had overheard them. A twinge of... something negative seemed to spark inside her when she heard them. Luna honestly had no idea where that feeling came from, but it wasn't a good feeling.
Regardless, she told herself she couldn't let herself be afraid about it anymore. She still wanted to be friends with Giulia. She couldn't afford to lose any more friends. So she picked up the phone and called Giulia.
She had explained to her, vaguely and not entirely truthful on why she had been distant and luckily Guilia took it well. Luna brought up that they should hang out sometime but she didn't expect Giulia to invite her out with her and Guido. Luna was hesitant on agreeing but didn't decline. If Giulia invited her it must've not been a date. But when Luna had arrived at the gelato place with Giulia, she immediately sensed that, to Guido, Luna wasn't exactly a welcome new addition. Or at least she felt that way.
Now she was stuck in a position that felt awkward beyond belief. Guido was acting polite, sure, and Giulia seemed to act like everything was normal, but something definitely felt off. Guido had barely said a word, not very present in the moment and would only nod every once or so. And when he did speak it was only to answer a question that Giulia asked. Luna felt bad over it all even if she didn't like the idea of Giulia and him going out together alone for whatever reason. She clearly wasn't supposed to be there.
She didn't dislike Guido. He was nice enough to her. But Guido and Luna were, at most, mutual friends. Friends through closer friends. Aside from all that, they had their gelato, which was a pretty good and short-lived distraction considering how good it tasted and how fast it was devoured.
When they finished their gelato, Giulia stopped to go to the washroom. Luna and Guido were left alone.
"You and Giulia are close friends, right?" Guido asked.
"Yeah…?" she confirmed in a question, egging him on to continue.
"Well, I was wondering if you'd put in a good word for me?"
"On what?"
"Well...not that you're...imposing, there's no way you could've known but, uh…"
Yep, it was as she had suspected. Luna closed her eyes tightly in embarrassment. "This was supposed to be a date wasn't it...?"
"Well...to be fair, I guess I was too afraid to make it clear to Giulia...and myself, that I wanted it to be."
"So, you want me to tell Giulia you like her…?"
Guido flushed. "Well, not so straightforward like that! Just… maybe imply that I might or something. I don't want to freak her out."
Luna didn't know how to feel about what Guido was asking of her. She had been right all along. It was supposed to be a date. She had butted in, without meaning to of course. But she, in a way, knew what she'd might be getting herself into. But she had gone anyway. The least she could do was help him out, she supposed.
With slight reluctance in her voice and her hands fisting the hem of her skirt behind her, Luna replied "...Sure...I-I'll try."
"Awesome! Thanks, Luna." Guido said with a smile.
Soon it was close to everyone's curfew. Guido winked at Luna when Giulia wasn't looking before taking his turn in the direction of his house, leaving the two girls alone.
The two of them walked side by side with each other for a bit until Giulia spoke.
"Wasn't today fun?" she asked Luna.
"It was... something," Luna replied, awkwardly.
Giulia picked up on her tone but decided to bypass it. ' Probably nothing. ' she thought to herself.
"Well, I'm glad you agreed to come along," Giulia said with a smile, linking her arm with Luna's.
Luna looked down at their linked arms, blushing. She started to feel like tiny fish were swimming around in circles in her stomach. Why was she reacting this way? This was a normal thing that girls did with their friends right? Why was she so weird? She needed to move on the conversion fast. Guido had asked her to put in a good word for him. Why was she stalling? 'Spit it out already!' she thought.
"Heh, no problem. I just love gelato. How could I say 'no'?" an awkward chuckle escaped her.
"Everything okay?" Giulia asked.
Luna ignored the question and rushed to the point. "So, Guido. He seems like a pretty neat guy. Nice, polite, fairly good-looking. Like him?"
"Uh..., yeah… he's cool."
"'Like him' like you like Luca or 'like him' like you like, oh, I dunno, whoever your celebrity crush is?"
"W-well, I-"
"Because I totally sense something there! Yep! You should give him a shot!" 'Mio dio, control your voice. You sound like a lunatic!' Luna mentally scolded herself.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Giulia asked.
"I think he might like you. You should definitely go for it."
"Oh…" Giulia unlinked their arms. "Maybe..."
Luna couldn't help but feel cold now that their arms were no longer linked. Maybe it was just the late September night air.
They then came at a crossroads where they would go their separate ways. They turned to face each other.
"I guess, I mean, if he likes me I could maybe give it a try..." Giulia said hesitantly.
"That's….great. I'm sure he'd be very happy…" Luna couldn't help the bit of passive-aggressiveness in tone. She tried her best to push it back. She was seconds from leaving for home anyway. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Mhm. Promise you'll talk to me at school again?" Giulia said jokingly.
Luna knew Giulia was just playing around but the comment did make her feel guilty. Before Luna could think twice about it, she suddenly hugged Giulia, making Giulia's body go stiff in surprise.
"I really am sorry about that…" Luna whispered into her ear, making Giulia shiver. Luna assumed it was from the cold air. She let go of her. "It's getting cold, huh? Hurry home and get warm."
"Yeah…I will." Giulia replied softly. "Ciao." she then turned in the direction of her house without another word.
"Ciao..."
Luna watched Giulia turn the corner until she could no longer be seen. She sighed and then turned in her own house's direction.
The Next Day: Morning
Luca and Giulia were walking to school.
"So, apparently Guido might 'like like' me," Giulia said out of the blue.
"Really? How do you know?" Luca questioned.
"Luna told me. I invited her to hang out with Guido and me yesterday." Suddenly Giulia stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened with realization. "Santa Asiago! You don't think yesterday was supposed to be a date do you?"
"Did Guido say it was?"
"Well no...but if he likes me like that it might've been. I just thought it was a whole 'friend' thing." Giulia ran her fingers through her hair. "Ugh, why is this so complicated? Now I'm starting to hope he doesn't like me like that just so I won't feel like an idiota."
"Well, you don't know if he does like you like that for sure yet. Luna could be mistaken. You gonna try to confirm it today?"
"I suppose so. If I don't ask if he does it might drive me crazy. I'm thinking about asking him at lunch. Rip it off like a bandaid." Giulia let out a breath.
Luca nodded. "So, today's the first day I tutor Alberto."
"That's right! Man. You nervous?" she asked.
"A little. Hope I don't look like an idiot not knowing what he's talking about. But, Signora Marsigliese did give me a short run down and notes on what their learning in their class. Spent almost all night studying it and it doesn't seem that hard."
"Well, you're a math wiz. I'm sure you'll do fine. I'm just worried about Alberto and him possibly not cooperating with you."
"Yeah, me too. Guess I'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure we'll be talking about it in art class."
Lunch Break
Luca and Giulia met up with Guido, Luna and Ciccio outside the cafeteria as usual. Luca, Luna and Ciccio headed inside but Giulia had stopped Guido before he could do the same.
"Um, could we talk in private for a sec?" Giulia asked.
Guido looked a bit confused but nodded. Luna turned her head, watching the two walk off alone.
Once Giulia had found a semi-secluded spot not too far away to talk, she started. "I need you to be honest with me, okay?"
"Okay, sure," Guido replied.
"Yesterday Luna told me you might 'like like' me."
Guido's eyes widened, taken aback by her forwardness. "Uhh, well, I…kinda, yeah..." he said, pulling slightly at his collar.
Giulia didn't know what to say for a second but she had to confirm her suspicions. "So, yesterday, was that supposed to be a date?"
"What? Pshh, nahhh," he said, awkwardly waving her off.
Giulia wasn't buying it. "I said to be honest with me," her hands on her hips.
Guido sighed. "Okay, well, at first I wasn't sure but I hoped it was going to be something close to that. But, that was my bad. I should have just come out and said it was." There was a short silence between the two before Guido spoke again. "So…, you wanna do something about it now that you know?"
"What do you mean? Like what?"
"Like, maybe going out on a real date or something this weekend?"
Giulia opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.
Guido continued, sensing the hesitancy in Giulia's voice. "You don't have to answer now. Just think about it. Tomorrow is Friday and if you don't give me an answer by the end of the day tomorrow I'll drop it and...we can continue our lives as friends, okay?"
Giulia nodded. The two teens then returned to the cafeteria to meet up with the rest.
Third Period, Art Class
The students' on their art benches, sat around a table with three yellow lilies in a vase on it. Luca couldn't help but admire the flowers' beauty before starting to draw them. Noticing this, Alberto leaned over to Luca.
"Ya like flowers, Signore Tutor?" Alberto whispered teasingly, breaking Luca out of his daze.
Luca was a bit embarrassed to be caught staring but quickly regained his composure. "Signore Tutor?"
"That's what you are now, right?"
"Well, yeah but, that sounds a little...dumb," Luca said with a face. "Just, Luca, please."
"Alright, Luca," Alberto said back, purposely saying Luca's name the same way when he said it for the first time, making Luca lightly blush.
"Maybe don't say my name like that?"
" Like what? "
Luca groaned, frustrated "Ugh, never mind..."
Luca wondered why Alberto continued to tease him like that. One of the reasons Luca was worried about taking the tutoring job was his concern over if this Alberto's teasing would get worse than it already was. He especially hated the way Alberto's teasing affected him. It made him feel confusing feelings which made him feel uncomfortable. He had tried to push back with teasing of his own but that only made Alberto's teasing worse for him. What Alberto had done in retaliation at his teasing in the darkroom was too intense for his liking. He swore his nerves had almost skyrocketed right then there. He was never going to tease Alberto again after that.
"So, to double-check, you wanted to meet in the library after school, huh? Barely anyone will be there. It'll be just you and me...all alone together…" Alberto whispered with a smirk.
Luca messed up on his drawing at that, making him go off course on one of the lilies he was drawing. He nervously turned his head to face Alberto.
"A-are you hitting on me?" Luca asked, trying his best to keep his voice down.
Alberto's smirk instantly disappeared at Luca's question. He cleared his throat trying to keep his cool. "Wha- No! Jeez, can't you take a joke!?"
"Quiet down, boys!" their teacher said to them sternly.
The two boys were quiet for a second before Luca answered his question.
"...Not if you say things like that …" Luca now felt embarrassed for assuming such a thing from Alberto. "Just...quit it, okay? I'm trying to draw here."
Alberto lifted his hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright."
"...But, yeah, after school in the library."
Alberto nodded and continued to work on his own drawing.
Fourth Period, Math Class
Alberto actually tried to pay attention in class this time, mostly to stop himself from thinking about how his teasing had put him in an awkward position with Luca in third period. He was thankfully able to hide it but he had felt embarrassed at how far he went with his teasing to the point where it came across as legitimate flirting to Luca. He had to stop doing that. Not teasing altogether by any means, no, but he had to stop and make sure that what happened in third period didn't happen again.
Unfortunately, his attempt at paying attention to the lesson was just nonsense to him still. Alberto was just grateful that this confusion was, hopefully, going to come to an end eventually now that he had a tutor.
Soon the bell for the end of class rang. Alberto instantly packed up his things into his backpack and practically sped-walked toward the direction of the library. He headed outside for a shortcut to the library which lead to a path that cut across to another door to the inside in the building, closer to the library.
He was almost to the other side when suddenly heard,
"Hey! Alberto, wait up!"
Alberto stopped and turned around. He saw Bartolo running towards him, clearly trying to catch up with him. Alberto waited for him.
Bartolo finally caught up. "W-where are you...g-going in such a hurry?" Bartolo asked while out of breath.
"I..uh, I'm meeting...a girl at the library. Yeah..." Alberto lied
Bartolo raised an eyebrow. "The library? Since when do you go to the library? What, is this girl a bookworm or something? I didn't know you were into that type."
"Oh naw, we're not meeting there to read if you know that I mean," he said with a wink implying something that Bartolo immediately picked up on.
"Ohhh! Nice...but uh…" Bartolo scratched the back of his head nervously "Don't kill the messenger but...well, you know how we didn't see Ercole at lunch today?"
"Yeah."
"Well, Ercole went to the base at lunch. He found out that one of the guys our gang loaned money to isn't keeping their part of the deal. He's past due on paying us back so…" Bartolo trailed on.
"'So' ...what?" Alberto pressed.
"So, they're gonna teach him a 'lesson'."
Alberto knew exactly what Bartolo meant by 'lesson'. He knew Bruno did this once or twice when this kind of situation popped up. Bruno rarely got his hands dirty himself and would usually send someone else in the gang to go after someone who 'didn't do their part of the deal '. He didn't like to imagine what happened during those confrontations.
"Ercole told a bunch of us that he, your dad and a few others are going to do just that and your dad wants you to come. Right now. He refuses to wait any longer. So you're gonna have to blow this girl off because, apparently, he's coming to pick you up any second."
Alberto's heart almost came to a stop at that. "Whoa, hey, I can't do that!"
"Hey! What's more important? Some random girl you barely know or the gang that has been there for you ever since you were born? Hmm?" Bartolo asked, judgingly crossing his arms.
Alberto looked down, anger and worry growing inside him. His hands making fists. He couldn't stand Luca up. But he also couldn't mess up with the gang no matter how much he wanted out of this. If he did, this guy who wasn't paying the gang back wouldn't be the only one being taught a 'lesson'. Maybe the confrontation wouldn't take too long. If he tried to rush it maybe he'd still have time left for his tutoring session. Sure he'd be a bit late but they'd still have time to cover something. Right?
Alberto sighed. "Fine… but it better not take long."
"You're gonna have to take that up with your dad," Bartolo said. "I hear where this guy lives isn't that far away."
Alberto wished he didn't have to do this. He just hoped Luca would understand. Though, if Luca knew what he was sacrificing their time for he probably wouldn't. He couldn't be specific to Luca in what he was doing if Luca asked why he was late.
Alberto and Bartolo suddenly saw Bruno pull up to the front of the school in his car. Bruno then made eye contact with Alberto, aggressively pointing to the passenger seat next to him.