That Same Day - Evening - The Marcovaldo's Household
Still not fully dry from being in the ocean water, Giulia had finally made it back home, albeit shivering a lot less than before. When the redhead opened the front door Massimo, who had been in the kitchen making dinner, caught sight of her.
"Giulietta?" Massimo said, concern coating his tone and eyes asking for an explanation of her drenched appearance.
Giulia wasn't ready for a confrontation about what had happened and she wasn't sure if she ever would be. What would he think if she told him one of her friends who was a girl had feelings for her? Would he forbid her from ever talking to Luna again? …Did she even still want to face Luna again? She wasn't sure.
Without saying anything to her father, Giulia looked away from him and then ran upstairs.
"Giulietta!" she heard her father call out to her but she didn't turn back, she kept going.
Later, Giulia had taken a quick shower to get the seawater out of her hair. She had hoped the shower would also make her possibly feel better afterwards but it hadn't. Giulia put on her pyjamas, grabbed a cat plushie she owned and then laid on her bed, hugging the plushie tightly to her chest. She turned on her side, staring at nothing.
It all made so much sense now. Luna turning out to be a sea creature answered a lot of questions she had about Luna that seemed peculiar. A big one being why Luna didn't take gym class when she clearly loved being active. If other kids saw her all wet from the showers her sea creature form would probably get exposed as Luca had always feared for himself. Giulia couldn't believe she never figured it out herself. It made sense how Luca and Luna had become such good friends so fast too. They had probably bonded over both of them being sea creatures. But what hurt most was that Luna hadn't trusted her with this information a long time ago. Surely Luca had told Luna she could've. And that was another thing, Luca didn't tell her he knew and he was supposed to be her best friend.
In Giulia's reasoning heart she knew it wasn't Luca's secret to tell but right now Giulia couldn't bring herself to listen to reason. She was too hurt and shocked and Giulia couldn't even begin to comprehend that Luna had a crush on her. The confession had her flustered to a huge extent. Giulia's cheeks become redder just remembering it. But what had her worried was that her reaction to finding out that Luna liked her that way had been a lot stronger a reaction than when she had found out that Guido liked her that way.
Granted, she had found out through Luna that Guido may have liked her and then later, Guido confirmed that but that didn't seem as special as Luna confessing her feelings to her in person from the get-go. Luna doing that had made Giulia feel…special and…desirable.
Just as Giulia had finished that confusing thought there was a knock on her bedroom door.
"Giulietta, is everything alright?" Massimo asked slightly muffled on the other side of the door.
Giulia whimpered and pulled her bed covers over her body fully, hiding.
"Dinner is ready. Come down and have something to eat. We can…talk about whatever is bothering you." Massimo said.
"N-no, Papa, I-I'm not hungry and there's nothing to talk about, okay?" Giulia yelled out from underneath her covers.
There was silence for a few seconds until Massimo spoke up again.
"...Are you sure there's…nothing you want to talk about?" Massimo asked.
Giulia closed her eyes, holding her knees to her chest. "...No."
Another bit of silence passed before she heard her father sigh and slowly walk away. It killed Giulia to lie to her father and wished she didn't feel like she had to. She loved him but she feared that if he knew she was having non-platonic thoughts about her female friend, not to mention while already having a boyfriend, would he still love her?
Giulia shivered at the thought of losing that love from her father and the possible repercussions of him finding out. The redhead turned over in her bed and tried her best to find sleep so she could escape from all her problems for at least a little while.
The Next Day - Wednesday
Giulia hadn't shown up to school. When Luca arrived at the Marcovaldo's house so they could walk to school like usual, Massimo had told him Giulia was sick with a cold and that she had come home the night before soaked for reasons Giulia wouldn't tell him. The news had Luca worried. He hoped his best friend was okay.
It was lunchtime when Luna noticed Giulia wasn't in school and was nowhere to be seen in the cafeteria which lead Luna to conclude that that might've been her fault. Luna felt guilty. Maybe she should have just kept quiet about her feelings. But she knew if she hadn't ever done it, not coming clean would make her go nuts in the long run. It was a selfish act but it was necessary whether Giulia returned her feelings or not.
"Hey," Ciccio said to Luna, making himself known and breaking her out of her thoughts. "I wanna talk to you."
"...Okay," Luna replied, putting her guard up as the blonde boy sounded serious and off-putting.
Luna sat down at the table she usually sat at and Ciccio sat across from her. Ciccio's aura felt tense and his tone of voice didn't sound like he was wanting a friendly chat. Not to mention that she and Ciccio never talked just the two of them before.
"What did you do?" Ciccio finally said, sounding as if he was accusing her or something.
Luna blinked in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I saw you and Giulia at the beach alone together while I was taking a walk with Cianna yesterday."
Luna's eyes widened at those words. Did Ciccio see everything that happened? Was her sea creature form exposed to him?
"How much did you see?!" Luna asked, albeit sounding more suspicious by how taken aback she sounded.
Ciccio raised an eyebrow at her reaction then frowned as his eyes narrowed at her.
"Not much but, I gotta say, the time of day and setting seemed a little too intimate for two friends, no? And, from what I can gather from your reaction, I'm thinking I was right to be suspicious of what I did see."
Luna wasn't exactly sure what Ciccio was getting at but a certain word he used made her uneasy. "Intimate? W-what are you talking about?"
"Don't act dumb! I know you have a thing for my best friend's girl." Ciccio said, raising his voice a tad louder.
Luna's mouth opened agape and she started to get nervous when kids not too far away turned their heads at them due to Ciccio's accusing voice. She hoped nobody heard the boy. She wouldn't be able to handle rumours
"H-hey, quiet down." Luna hissed. "Whatever you think happened didn't happen, okay?"
Ciccio's hands curled up into fists. "I said stop acting dumb. I'll quiet down if you admit to it!"
More kids turned their heads at the outburst. Luna's anxiety was rising so she grabbed onto Ciccio's wrist and pulled him outside of the cafeteria and into an empty classroom then shut the door.
"Are you insane?! What are you doing?!" Luna shouted at him.
"I'm trying to make it so my best friend doesn't get his heart broken! Guido and Giulia had a good thing going on until you started being weird and looking at her the way you do. You tried to make a move on Giulia at the beach, didn't you? That's why Giulia didn't answer any of Guido's calls last night and why she didn't come to school today! Am I right? "
Luna stiffened. "I…look you don't-"
"Oh andiamo già! Admit it!"
"OKAY! Okay!" Luna yelled. She then took a breath and said, "Fine. I…do like her…like that. But all I did was just tell her how I felt about her. That's it."
"I knew it. I knew you did something. How could you do that when she's already together with Guido? Guilia doesn't even like girls that way, obviously! You tryin' to confuse her?!"
"Shut up!" Luna shouted again. Her heart ached at his words. "Just…shut up…Giulia hasn't broken up with Guido so none of it matters. She doesn't return my feelings anyway."
"Then why is she avoiding everyone?"
"She's…probably just not feeling well."
"Gee, I wonder why? "
"Just leave me alone, you jerk!" Luna turned away from him and started heading to leave the room.
"...I will if you promise to stay away from Giulia."
Luna stopped in her path in shock. Then she slowly turned back around to face him.
"Excuse me?" Luna crossed her arms at him. "And if I don't? "
Ciccio hesitated for a second, seeing the dirty blonde's challenging glare. But he refused to let Luna intimate him. He had to protect Guido and if what he said next was what he felt was the only way, so be it.
"...Then…I-I'll tell everyone that you're a lesbian." he threatened.
Luna faltered and her crossed arms loosened. Her heart had almost stopped and she felt like throwing up. Luna couldn't believe it. Ciccio was blackmailing her.
Third Period - Art Class
Luca's concerns hadn't simmered down at all. They only grew when he hadn't seen Luna anywhere in the cafeteria. Luca wondered if Luna had even come today at all and since they had no classes together he couldn't be sure.
Suddenly Signora Vitale clapped her hands together to get the class' attention.
"Alright, class," She started. "I have a special surprise announcement. I, along with a few others, be hosting an art competition and display which will take place next Wednesday. It is up to you if you want to participate. Those who enter must submit their very best art piece of their choosing and it will be in the running for recommendations by myself and two other judges, for a promised spot in the best art school in Genova. When the winner graduates those recommendations with be taken into effect. The other two judges are affiliated with the school so you will be ensured a spot when that happens."
There were a quite few whispers of excitement among the class. Luca looked at Alberto beside him and saw in his expression a sign of interest in what she was announcing.
"But remember class," she continued. "for this competition, art has to be your passion. This is a huge opportunity and the winner needs to want this. Art submissions are due next Monday."
The students nodded in understanding. Luca lightly nudged Alberto with his elbow, getting the older boy's attention.
"Are you going to enter?" Luca asked. "You totally should. It'd be awesome if you went to the best art school in the big city of Genova. I want to study at a college in Genova too."
"Oh…well…I don't know…" Alberto replied, unsure. "I don't think art school is for me…"
"What? Sure it is. I could totally see you just like Giulia's mom who is one of the most famous artists in Genova."
Alberto blushed a little at the praise but, at the end of the day, art wasn't his future. The gang was. And Alberto knew Bruno would see to that. But he didn't want to drop that information onto Luca. He wouldn't understand. So instead, Alberto said the only thing that would make Luca satisfied enough to drop the topic.
"I'll think about it," Alberto said with a weak smile.
The rest of the day for Luca went the usual route but without seeing Giulia for History class. Then afterwards helping Alberto study his butt off for his upcoming test. When tutoring was over he tried to see if he could catch Luna and Guido at the soccer field. Usually by this time they'd be packing up to go home. Guido was there but there still was no sign of Luna. So Luca assumed Luna also hadn't come to school that day.
On Thursday Giulia didn't appear at school again. Luca did see Luna around at lunchtime but she had requested to be left alone. Luca had wanted to ask why but he knew when something was wrong with Luna she would tell him when she was ready. Tutoring went no different than the day before other than the fact that Alberto was feeling more anxious that his test was the very next day. So Luca taught him some breathing exercises to calm him down and to use before he took the test.
Then Friday finally came. Once again, Giulia was absent which Luca found even more concerning. He hoped Giulia would come to school on Monday. Her school record would start to be on thin ice if she didn't. Luna had sat with Luca at lunch but Luna wasn't very talkative.
After doing the breathing exercises Luca had taught him, Alberto took his math test and tried his hardest on it, not wanting everything that Luca had taught him to be for nothing and when he was finished he hoped for the best.
Luna, however, had a hard time focusing on her test, her mind was on other issues in her life which made the math test seem less important. The last few days hadn't been easy seeing as she had been blackmailed by someone she thought was a friend and had made changes in her life caused by said blackmail. But to the best of her ability, she completed the test.
Luca and Alberto's tutoring session did not take place that day since they had been told by Signora Marsigliese that once the math test was taken they'd get a break from tutoring the following week as a reward for making it as far as they did.
After classes had ended, Luca had wanted to check up on how Guido and Luna were doing without Giulia but he had only seen Guido on the field. Luca asked Guido where Luna was and the older boy had told him that Luna had quit the team for some reason. The news had taken Luca by surprise. Luca knew that Luna loved being on the team. Why would she quit?
When Luca came home he had tried to call Luna to ask why she quit but Luna's father had answered the phone instead and told Luca she wasn't home and that she was still at her new job at a small nearby coffee shop. Another piece of news that had shocked Luca. Luna's father seemed proud that his daughter had gotten her very own job. Why was Luna making all these sudden changes, Luca wondered.
Saturday Afternoon - Agostino Property
The first real sign of snow had started to fall. It fell lightly but the winds were getting colder every day.
Luca decided to pay a visit to Luna's to ask about why she suddenly got a job and why she quit the soccer team. He had called and asked Giulia if she wanted to come with him before he left to go but Giulia declined, saying she still didn't feel well. Luca didn't completely buy that though. She had sounded distressed but not sick and the coughs she had let out sounded fake. Luca hoped that, whatever Giulia was hiding, she'd be honest with him about it soon.
Luca now stood at Luna's front door and knocked. Luna was the one to answer to door.
"Luca?" Luna said in surprise, not expecting his visit.
"Hey, I..uh…just wanted to see if you were doing okay today," Luca explained. "I'm also a little worried about you…"
Luna gave him a look that didn't seem all that thrilled. "You know I don't care for surprises…"
"Yeah, I should've called but you didn't return my call yesterday night so I wasn't sure if you were…purposely not answering my calls…you know?" Luca admitted sheepishly.
Luna was annoyed that Luca just came to her house out of the blue no doubt ready to shower her with questions she didn't want to answer. But seeing as it was cold outside she let the boy inside.
"Man, it's getting colder outside, huh?" Luca said while taking off his coat and shoes, trying to start off with a casual conversion before getting to the root of the real reason he came.
Luna sighed at his attempt and leaned against the wall. "Luca, I know you did not come here to talk to me about the weather."
"W-well no but I…" Luca scratched the back of his head, embarrassed he had been called out so fast.
"Please just get to the point," Luna said calmly.
"...Why did you quit the soccer team?" Luca asked finally.
And there it was. The question Luna knew that she'd have to answer at some point. But she could never figure out exactly how to answer it. How could she? What was she supposed to say? That she did it to stay away from both Giulia and Guido because Ciccio blackmailed her? How could she honestly tell the truth without ruining everything? Luca still saw Ciccio as a friend. If Luca knew what Ciccio did, he'd undoubtedly defend her and confront Ciccio about it possibly making him even angrier. If that happened then what? Ciccio could tell everyone her secret anyway out of spite. And Luna wasn't about to put spitefulness past Ciccio at this point. Sure, she could tell Luca not to make a big deal out of it all but he'd most likely snap at Ciccio sooner or later. No. She couldn't tell Luca the truth. Not without possibly risking her social life at school.
"I just…don't think it's for me anymore. That's all." Luna answered.
"But you love soccer and being on the team with Giulia, don't you? And It's the closest thing you got to taking gym class."
"It's just a school sports team, okay? Not the freaking Olympics. Being on that team would've done nothing for my future in the long run anyway. It's not a big deal." Luna lied. "Giulia and Guido are better players than me anyway. The team will be fine without me."
Luca raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Do you really mean that? This doesn't have anything to do with Giulia and Guido as a couple…does it?"
"No…of course not. I'm getting paid after school now instead of smelling like sweat. I'm fine where I'm at."
"...If you say so," Luca said, giving up.
Luna could see that Luca was troubled by her answer. He probably didn't believe her. If things weren't so complicated she'd be honest with him but she was too afraid of what could happen if she did. Luna knew Luca was just a concerned friend and didn't mean any harm regardless of his less than subtle prying.
Luna gave him a warm smile. "It's sweet of you to check up on me though. I'm sorry I didn't return your call. I was just tired when I got home. Wanna stay for dinner?"
Luca smiled appreciatively at the offer and nodded.
Sunday Night - At the Tower
Alberto was laying down on top of the tower with a fire burning. He considered himself lucky that it hadn't snowed that day so he didn't have to worry too much about the water freezing over yet though that was going to happen eventually which he hated having to deal with every year. It only made it harder to travel here and get away from everything. So hard that after a while he would just stop coming to the tower and wait until spring came back around. This was the only place he felt safe.
Alberto had spent the whole weekend around the gang and Bruno. He hadn't had any time for himself all the while not being able to help but think about what grade he might've gotten on the test. He did want to pass the class but getting a passing grade wasn't the only thing that was important to him anymore. Alberto also wanted to pass for Luca. To show Luca that having to deal with him for months on end, and till the end of the semester, was all worth it. That their time together hadn't been a waste. Also, maybe he wanted to show off for Luca as well.
The night sky had been cloudy for a while but the clouds finally disappeared and allowed the stars to appear. The sight of them looked like a stunning work of art. It was inspiring. It then reminded him of what Luca had said about him participating in the art competition. The fact that Luca believed that Alberto could be more than what he was going to be forced to be only had him crushing on Luca even more. He didn't think that was even possible. Only Luca could say all that and truly mean every word. Alberto was starting to worry that if Luca kept doing that it would lead to him completely falling for the younger boy. Though he had never fallen that hard for anyone. He'd heard the word 'love' thrown around many times in songs and movies and sometimes in his comic books but he never really believed it existed. What would that even feel like? And if that did happen then what? He didn't know but the option of dating Luca was unrealistic even if Luca felt the same way.
Alberto couldn't let himself fall for Luca but he did want to be able to show he appreciated everything Luca had endured with him. Maybe he could enter the competition to make Luca happy. He just had to not try in his submission so there wouldn't be a chance of him winning. Alberto could even submit something already finished since whatever he submitted was of his choosing. But what would he submit?
Alberto got up and went down from the top of the tower to where he kept his drawings on the mid-level. They were kept in a small box now instead of scattered everywhere since the winter weather could blow them away and into the water that surrounded the island. That had happened in the past and Alberto had lost a lot of drawings that he actually liked.
Opening the box he went through his options. Alberto wanted to submit something that looked like effort was put into it but not too much that it could possibly win, not that he even thought he was that good at drawing and he believed there were better artists than himself in the class, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious. Alberto kept flipping through the drawings until he got to his golden and blue flying fish drawing that Luca had seemed to really like the first time he came to the tower. It wasn't a bad choice. It was fully coloured and shaded. Alberto didn't believe it was his best work so it couldn't possibly win, but it was the first of his drawings to get a real critique from someone else, and a positive one at that.
So Alberto decided that, if he passed the test he would enter the drawing in the competition as a thank you to Luca. he wouldn't strive to win but he would be doing something Luca really seemed to want him to do. Heck, maybe he'd get second place and impress Luca as a perk.
Monday Morning
Giulia hadn't told anyone about Luna's confession. She hadn't interacted with anyone other than her father, the cats and the occasional call from Luca and Guido who called to check up on her. The redhead hadn't been answering all of their calls but it hadn't been so bad since they believed she was sick. Giulia had ranted about her dilemma to Mia a few days ago considering the cat was unable to tell people about it and she was a pregnant cat that mostly rested all day long so she didn't have anything better to do. Mia was going to have her babies any day now which Giulia looked forward to.
She had no choice but to go to school today. Giulia had already missed too many days of school and had mountains of homework to catch up on. She wasn't even sure if she would be able to focus on soccer or even be on the team at all with all the extra work. What would Guido and Lu- …Luna think of that?
Luna…It had been a while since the girls had spoken to each other. Being apart for so long. She had been having dreams of Luna that had been haunting her sleep and it was always the same dream. In the dream, Luna was always in her sea creature form. The sea creature's pretty pink scales would always be shimmering in the warm beaming sunlight and she would be swimming like a graceful sea siren in the ocean, beckoning Giulia to come and join her. Every time Giulia would comply but just before she would take Luna's webbed hand, Giulia would wake up from the dream.
The first time Giulia had had that dream she considered it to be a guilt-trip nightmare. A confusing fantasy. But the more she had the dream the more she called it such because she couldn't help but feel drawn to and comforted by it. It was almost as if she was being given a chance to live a 'what if' scenario without any real-life consequences. But whenever that thought passed Guido would then enter her mind and make her feel guilty for having these dreams.
Having to go to school would force Giulia to see Luna again. She was scared to but the time away from Luna had given her time to realize that she had to apologize for leaving so suddenly then. Giulia figured she owed Luna that much.
Instead of walking to school with Luca like they usually did, Giulia took her time getting ready for school and Massimo drove her there seeing as he could tell she was fragile over something that she wouldn't tell him.
Homeroom, along with their morning classes, Luca and Giulia went about it as normal even though the aura around Giulia didn't feel like her usual norm. Luca didn't ask questions but he had a feeling something must've happened between her and Luna that neither was telling him about.
Lunch Time
After paying for her lunch, Giulia looked around for Luna. She was having a hard time finding her. Giulia had heard Luna was at school but it was almost like she didn't want to be found it was so hard to find her. Luca had been sitting by himself, no doubt waiting for Luna to sit with him as that had been the new norm.
But just before Giulia was about to give up and get Guido to sit with Luca so Luca wasn't sitting alone, she saw her among the crowd entering the cafeteria. She didn't know if it was the time they had spent apart but had she always looked this beautiful? The older girl had her hair half up and half down and she wore a tangerine cream buttoned-up top that had bishop sleeves. The top was tucked into a matching floral pencil skirt with white boots.
But Giulia shook out of her daze before Luna got away.
"Luna…hey," Giulia said, approaching her.
Luna jumped the instant she heard the sound of Giulia's voice, her sandy brown eyes wide. "G-Giulia!" Luna looked from side to side as if she was checking to see if they were being watched before speaking again. "You're…back at school today."
"Well, …I kind of had to," Giulia said embarrassed. "Look, I wanted to say I'm sor-"
"Giulia," Luna suddenly interrupted. "…I…I don't really have time to talk right now." she lied. "I'm really busy these days."
Giulia felt almost hurt. It had been a while since her confession and she didn't even want to talk about it? Giulia hoped Luna was just busy and that was it.
"Oh…well, see you at soccer practice then?" Giulia asked.
"You won't."
"Huh? W-why not?"
"I…quit last week."
"What? Why?" Giulia asked, taken aback.
Luna had a look of longing "I…" then her eyes trailed away from her and found Cicco's observant eyes from far away, staring at them. Luna's fight or flight mode kicked in at that and she quickly faced back to Giulia. "I'll tell you some other time maybe. I-I really have to go."
And just like that, without so much as waiting for Giulia to say anything, Luna rushed out of the cafeteria. Leaving Giulia at a loss for words.
Fourth Period - Math Class
Alberto, along with the rest of the class, was waiting in anticipation for their grade on the big test the week before. Signoria Marsigliese was handing them out one by one as she walked in between the desks, placing a marked test on top of each student's desk. Alberto ticked with nervousness, tapping his hands on top of his knees with anticipation.
Then he heard Signoria Marsigliese pass by him and the movement of her placing papers on his desk. Alberto opened his eyes slowly, looked down and then saw a big 'B' in red ink on the top corner of his test. Alberto couldn't believe it. He had passed the test and got a higher than expected mark!
Alberto was so shocked that he couldn't stop looking at it. As he scanned the front page of the test, under his overall mark in smaller writing was a comment from Signoria Marsigliese that said, 'An excellent improvement! You should be very proud!'
Reading that feedback, Alberto couldn't help but give a small smile. Now that he passed Alberto knew what to do right after class.
Once class ended and the bell rang, Alberto rushed to his art class, hoping that Signoria Vitale hadn't left the art room yet.
After finally making his way there, Alberto saw Signora Vitale in the process of packing up to leave.
"S-Signora *huff* Vitale!" Alberto shouted sounding almost out of breath.
The middle-aged woman gasped and quickly turned around in surprise, now facing him.
"Oh! Alberto! Young man, you can not sneak up on people like that!" she scolded.
"Scusa. I just needed to catch you before you left." Alberto said, his breathing gradually becoming more even.
"What for?"
"Well…," Alberto took off his backpack and fished out his flying golden fish drawing and then handed it to her. "I wanted to submit this in the competition."
Her eyebrows rose at his words. She took the drawing from him and looked it over. The art was very detailed. She always knew Alberto was very talented with a pencil since he had always handed in quality work on her assignments. However, Alberto never participated in things in her class before. It seemed very uncharacteristic of the boy to even think of participating in something as big a deal as the art competition.
" You want to take part in the competition?" Signora Vitale asked.
"Yeah?"
Alberto sounded unsure, making the woman slightly narrow her eyebrows with suspicion.
"It's very good. It may very well have a chance at winning."
"Heh…yeah?"
"Well, isn't that what you want? I must admit you wanting to take part in this big event is very surprising to me. I do hope it isn't some kind of joke."
"Huh? Wha- No!"
She sighed. "Alberto, I take art very seriously. I hope that, on some level, considering your talents that you seem to want to hide from the world, you feel the same. I need my participants to want this. Not enter for the wrong reasons. I know of your background and the kind of people you surround yourself with. I see you undermine how gifted you are in art and act as if your talent is an embarrassment to you because 'art isn't cool enough' to your peers. Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical."
She handed him back the drawing. Alberto was speechless at what she had said.
"Didn't think I knew about any of that did you?" the woman said slyly.
Alberto looked away. "Signora Vitale, I just-"
"Do you want this, Alberto?" She asked abruptly, asking in all seriousness.
She may not have known all her students' troubles in-depth but she could read people very well and she saw in Alberto, a boy who had been forced to suppress a lot of things, including a lot of his passions that were deemed unorthodox among his crowd no doubt.
"It's…" Alberto didn't know what to say. It wasn't as if the idea of going to art school had never crossed his mind but he thought that he was entering the competition just to please Luca, but now, Signora Vitale seemed to be testing him…was there another reason he felt the need to enter?
"Do you want to go to art school after you graduate, Alberto?" She asked again, wording her question differently but this time with sincerity and softness.
"...I…wanted to…but I can't…" Alberto said finally.
Her eyes searched his but Alberto wouldn't look at her. "What do you mean you can't ?"
"Because of all of them …my peers," Alberto said. He exhaled and now felt foolish. "You're right. I shouldn't be entering. I'm sorry I wasted your time."
Alberto went to put his drawing back into his backpack but before he could, Signora Vitale swiftly snatched it out of his hand. Alberto looked up at her, bewildered.
She looked back at him sternly. "An artist never lets anyone hold them back from their dreams. And you, Alberto, …are an artist in my eyes."
Signora Vitale then turned back around to packing, putting the drawing along with her other participant's submissions.
"What…? You mean…you'll take it anyway?"
"I hate to see wasted potential. Now shoo, shoo. I've had a very long day and would like to go home now." she said, waving him off.
"Heh…right. Well, see you tomorrow, Signora Vitale." Alberto said before leaving but then he stopped in his path and turned back around, forgetting something. "Wait!"
She groaned in annoyance. " Yes, Alberto?"
"Could you maybe put me down as 'anonymous'? Just for the people who come to the event."
She sighed again. "Alright, fine. I'll protect your precious image, Alberto. Now leave me."
Not wanting to push the woman any further and satisfied she was willing to go along with his last request, Alberto took his leave.
With no tutoring for the week, Alberto didn't really have anywhere to go but home for once. Bruno would probably be home. Alberto wondered what Bruno would think of his mark on the math test if he showed it to him. Would he care? Probably no but the tiny part of him that wanted approval from the part of his life that was the gang, hoped maybe he would to some degree.
A few hours later - the Paguro household
Luca was in his room laying on his bed staring at nothing. It had been an hour and a half since classes had ended for the day. On a regular day for Luca, he'd be just coming home from finishing up a tutoring session with Alberto. Luca had a feeling that during this week's break from tutoring he was going to be bored after school. He hoped that Alberto did well on his test the week before considering he and the rest of his math class got their marks back today.
As Luca finished that thought he heard a knock on his window. It startled the boy since he was on the second floor. He shot up from his bed and looked out his window and there he saw Alberto outside it. Was he on a tree branch? Quickly, Luca went to the window and slid it open.
"Hey..." Alberto greeted softly, his usual confidence seemingly not present.
And then Luca saw why. Now that he was closer to Alberto he got a better look at his face and there on Alberto's right cheek, was a very painful-looking red bruise forming.
"Alberto, what happened to your face? Also, It's dangerous to be up this high in a tree." Luca said with worry.
"When has danger ever scared me?" Alberto said snarkily albeit halfheartedly. "Heh…it hurts a little but I didn't think it was showing," he said referring to his bruise.
"Get in, it's freezing out here," Luca said as he pulled Alberto in by the arm and then closed the window shut. Luca then turned to Alberto. "Why didn't you just use the front door?"
"Honestly? Your mom kinda scares me." Alberto said as he slipped off his coat and hung it onto Luca's desk chair.
Luca couldn't deny that. "You think she's scary now? Imagine how scary she'd be if she caught you up here."
"Heh…right…should I leave then?" Alberto didn't want to go. He needed Luca right now but he didn't want Luca to get in trouble.
"N-no…you can stay for a bit," Luca eyed the bruise on Alberto's cheek again. "Here, let me get something to help with that."
Luca hastily left his room quietly, to not attract any unwanted attention, and went to the bathroom. He then grabbed a face cloth, ran it under cold water and then rang out unneeded excess water from it. Then Luca came back into his room and locked his door behind him, not wishing to have Alberto be seen by any one of his family members that happened to pass by.
Luca handed Alberto the cold cloth. "Here, put this on your cheek. It'll help with the pain."
Alberto did as such, the dampness of the cloth, making his scales appear a little bit underneath.
If Luca was honest with himself, he didn't mind the sudden turn of events. Though Luca could've done without seeing Alberto with a face injury. Luca wanted to ask what had caused that but, knowing Alberto, Luca wasn't sure he'd be open about it. So instead he asked a different question that he probably would have asked first if Alberto's face had been clear when he arrived.
"So...how did you do on your test?"
Without saying anything, Alberto let out a small sigh. That put Luca on edge from Alberto's reaction so he held his breath. Alberto then took out the crumpled piece of paper from his coat pocket with his free hand and threw it to Luca who caught it.
Seeing the paper all crumpled up just made Luca more nervous about what the outcome of Alberto's mark was. No way Alberto had failed. They had studied like crazy for the test. Luca slowly uncrinkled it and there, clear as day, was a large 'B' on the top corner of the paper. Luca's expression instantly brightened seeing this.
"Alberto, this is great! You passed the test and did even better than you needed to!" Luca cheered. But then Luca's smile faltered when he saw that Alberto didn't look as happy as he should've been. "Alberto…, what's wrong? You did it…because of this you're closer to passing the class."
Alberto, not facing Luca, slowly shook his head. "It doesn't matter…none of this matters in the long run. I realize that now."
"...What?" Luca said, confused. "Why? What brought this on?"
"My stupid dad gave me a wake-up call, that's what. I showed him my mark and…nothing. No 'great job!' or 'Congrats!' . Nope. What he ended up saying was - 'Well, it looks like you actually can put real effort into shit.' " Alberto replied, his tone of voice deadpan.
Luca hearing this, just stood there, shocked at Alberto's father's remark. Alberto continued to rant.
"And then he went on to say, 'But don't work yourself on these things too hard. Sure, your mother wanted you to finish school but, at the end of the day, you won't need to know this crap in the future. Remember, the gang is the priority' …what a fucking asshole…"
Luca's eyebrows rose at that. He couldn't believe that Alberto's father would say all of that. It was so cruel. Luca noted the small part about his mother. Alberto never talked about his mother. He had assumed she wasn't in Alberto's life but, from how it sounded, that was because she must've been… It was then that Luca wondered what other painful information Alberto was holding back from him. Luca was about to say something when Alberto started again.
"But, he's right, you know…I mean...there really is no sense in me being in school. It's not like I'm going to end up in a fancy college like you. Not that I could. My future has already been planned out for me ever since I was born." Alberto's hands then curled into fists.
Alberto was starting to shake. This was a bad idea. Alberto wondered why he came here now. What could he expect Luca to even say about any of this? It wasn't like he could relate to him in any way.
"Alberto I-" Luca started but then was instantly interrupted by Alberto.
"I don't expect you to understand. I-I shouldn't even be telling you any of this. I should leave."
Alberto put the wet cloth, which was starting to simmer down in cold temperature anyway, down on Luca's desk. Then he wiped the dampness from his face, his sleeve causing his scales to disappear from his face.
"No, wait!" Luca yelled.
As Alberto went to grab his coat, Luca stopped him by grabbing onto his arm. The older boy didn't try to fight back but his arm tensed in Luca's grasp as he refused to look back at Luca, feeling embarrassed.
"Don't shut me out…" Luca pleaded. "I may not understand what you're going through and I know there are things you don't want me to know but…you can tell me things you know. We're friends. I'll listen."
Alberto finally turned to look at him. Luca's words of reassurance gave him a sense of relief. But Alberto hated that he was showing Luca a sign of weakness. He still wanted Luca to view him as a cool and strong person that didn't care about what anyone thought. There was no way Luca saw him like that now after the pathetic vulnerability he had just displayed. What was worse was that Luca was causing him to let down more walls the longer he stayed here but the look of clear sympathy on the younger boy's face didn't allow him the will the leave. Alberto needed Luca's kindness right now.
When Alberto didn't show any attempt of leaving, Luca, with his other hand, gently took hold of Alberto's other arm and pulled Alberto to sit with him on his bed.
Sitting where they were now made Alberto's heart slightly pick up speed. What the hell was wrong with him? He cursed his stupid hormones and forced himself to keep his mind out of the gutter. Luca was being precisely what Alberto needed right now - a friend that was there for him. He couldn't ruin this.
As for Luca, an annoying voice in the back of his mind was telling him that he was playing with fire just by sitting on his bed with Alberto when he had been feeling things for the taller boy that still confused him to this day. But Luca tried his best to shake out of those thoughts. He brought Alberto to sit on his bed to make Alberto feel comfortable and feel that he could be open with him.
Luca started. "Alberto, you can be more than what's expected of you. You're an amazing artist, so talented at it, and you are smart. You had put so much effort into studying that you were able to pass your math test. And…you're a caring person even though you, for some reason, don't seem to want people to think you are. And…you're really cool."
Alberto half grinned at the younger boy's last comment. Luca saw this and looked downward, avoiding Alberto's gaze, embarrassed that he admitted that. Luca continued.
"When I first saw you I thought, 'This guy's whole life is probably way cooler than mine. He probably gets to do whatever he wants and could probably get anyone he wanted.' now I feel bad for assuming your life was perfect. You were popular and I was the nerdy freshman. I wasn't able to see past that at the time. I'm sorry about that."
"It's the exact opposite actually. I got this today because I can't help myself and I talked back to 'the man' and tested his patience." Alberto said, pointing to his bruise. "I don't get to do whatever I want. I don't get to go wherever I want, do whatever I want, be whatever I wanna be or even love whoev-" Alberto immediately stopped himself at those words before he said too much. "...Never mind."
Luca's eyes had widened at those words though. Did Alberto have a crush on someone he shouldn't? Suddenly there was a tinge of jealousy that sprang up inside the younger boy but he tried to ignore that.
Luca berated himself in his head. 'Stop it. You're being weird and completely inappropriate, you idiot!'
"But don't worry about it. I prefer people think that way about me. It's better than the truth and that's the image everyone expects and wants from me anyway." Alberto then groaned as he leaned forward and put his head in his hands. "Why am I like this?"
It was more of a question Alberto was asking himself. Life had stopped making sense to him and it felt like the more the days went on the more his energy decreased. He sometimes wished that he actually wanted the life that was forced onto him. Then life would be easier.
Luca was unsure what to say to all that for a few seconds until he thought of something that he hoped would work to ease Alberto's dejection.
"You know…" Luca started, "Now don't tease me about this but, …sometimes when I feel really down…" Luca turned fully towards Alberto as he sat now with both of his legs on the bed sitting on them. Then he looked the older boy in the eyes. "...my mom would do this."
Luca quietly breathed in and then exhaled before doing what he did next, unsure if this next move would be overstepping any boundaries of Alberto's. So, with slow movements, Luca gently placed his hand on Alberto's cheek that didn't have a bruise on it, making Alberto's eyes widen as his eyes immediately focused on where Luca's soft hand was. He stayed absolutely still.
Luca proceeded with his actions as he said, "Then she'd say 'Look me in the eye.'"
Alberto did so.
Luca gave a sweet smile at Alberto. Luca continued. "And then she would do this," the younger boy then, seeing that Alberto hadn't stopped him so far, almost lost his nerve as he was about to do next what his mother always did. Luca, still slowly, delicately put his forehead to Alberto's.
The instant Luca had done that, both the boys' hearts started to beat faster. Luca was surprised Alberto hadn't pushed him away at this point. Luca's heart was beating so fast at their closeness, this was what his mother would do all the time to soothe him as a kid and he was just trying to make Alberto feel better by doing this because it had always made him feel better but doing this with Alberto felt...intimate. Luca then remembered he was in the middle of explaining his current, now might be deemed awkward, actions.
"...A-and she'd say… 'You know I love you, …right?' "
Luca and Alberto, both now red in the face, were just staring at each other. Both their eyes were half-lidded and they could feel the other's warm breath on each other's faces. Luca's nerve was starting to falter again, so instead of pulling away, he shut his eyes, no longer able to stare into Alberto's captivating green eyes for fear of getting lost in them again and coming across as weird.
But Alberto kept his half-lidded eyes open, unable to look away. As soon as Luca had put his hand on his cheek Alberto's heart had been thumping hard against the inside of his chest rapidly. He hadn't been this close to Luca since the Halloween dance but, instead of smelling like alcohol, Alberto could smell Luca's natural scent: the relaxing scent of the sea. Sure, Alberto had gotten a small whiff of it on the first day of school but now, with how close they were, it was even stronger and he really did smell amazing. More than he realized. Alberto flushed.
This was driving him crazy. Luca was here for him. Alberto felt safe. Though they had only known each other for a handful number of months, Luca had been there for him more than anyone else had in years. All the feelings Alberto had been harbouring for Luca for the past months, were heightened now. And with Luca's pretty face this up close to his, with Luca's long eyelashes and soft-looking lips, the older boy couldn't hold back anymore.
At that moment, it was as if all of Alberto's common sense had just abandoned him completely. His now heightened feelings took full control of his body causing Alberto to shut his eyes, tilt his head and allow his lips to find Luca's.
Luca's body then slightly jolted in shock as he let out a sharp intake of breath through his nose, his honey-coloured eyes wide and his hand instantly leaving Alberto's cheek like he had removed his hand from a hot stove as the older boy's lips continued to press against his own. Luca froze up. What was Alberto doing? And why wasn't he pulling away from the kiss as he should be? Did this count as his first kiss?
All these questions were popping into Luca's head one after the other. It sent him reeling…or was Alberto's kiss causing that? The longer Luca let Alberto kiss him the more the sensation sent him aflutter inside. His wide eyes slowly turned half-lidded. The feel of Alberto's soft lips started to feel really good on his. So good that now Luca didn't want Alberto to stop. He melted into the kiss, his eyes now fully closed and his lips were now instinctively starting to move along with Alberto's.
Alberto thought he was dreaming. Luca was kissing him back. They were actually making out! There was a tiny rational part of himself yelling for him to stop. But the feeling of Luca kissing him back was too tempting to pass up. Just a bit longer. Alberto heavily breathed through his nose just so he could try to keep the kiss going. Luca had surprisingly done the same right after which had to mean Luca wanted more too, right?
But though Alberto's lips had completely given in to temptation, his hands hadn't. He had been tightly gripping Luca's bed covers with his hands to keep from possibly losing control and not letting his hormones call the shots. But then it quickly became apparent that Luca's hands weren't going to do the same as Luca put his hands onto Alberto's arms.
Luca was actually enjoying the kiss which frightened him but he still felt the need to keep it going. However, Luca sensed Alberto's breathing getting quicker by the second which must've meant Alberto was eager to go further but trying his hardest not to because Luca hadn't felt Alberto try to put his hands on him. Which he was thankful for. Luca wasn't sure if he was ready to go any further than this. Kissing Alberto felt right but was it morally right?
But regardless, Alberto had made the move to kiss him and Luca figured that if this was what was going to make Alberto feel better and safer right now then Luca would continue to kiss him. That's all this was. Nothing else, …right?
To try to calm Alberto down Luca slowly slid his hands down Alberto's arms causing both their hands to meet. Gently, Luca took Alberto's hands in his, making Alberto let loose of the bed covers and Luca held onto them tightly between their bodies. The warmth of Luca's hands made Alberto's hormonal urges simmer down, allowing their kissing to stay slow and vanilla.
Alberto had never kissed someone this long or this passionately before and definitely not with another boy. He had only ever kissed one or two girls in his life and back then he had felt pressured to do it by a few of the boys in the gang while out screwing around with random girls and with those kisses he had felt nothing. But Luca had been able to set fire to his urges and seemed to be able to keep those urges under control with his soft and caring nature that Alberto had now completely fallen for but Alberto wasn't sure how long that would last until-
Wait…had Alberto just fallen for Luca? As in he had fallen in love with him? Was this what love felt like? No! It had to be just his hormones. And besides, he didn't have much to compare it to anyway so what did he know was love and what was just a spur of the moment? That's all this was, right? And no way did this mean anything to Luca. It couldn't.
Then within the sounds of their lips smacking against each other, Alberto heard Luca make a small mewling sound. A sound Alberto had liked a little too much. So much that it had re-lit the fire of his previous urges in a matter of seconds. This had to stop before Alberto did something that they for sure wouldn't be able to come back from.
So Alberto reluctantly slipped his hands out of Luca's and then proceeded to grip tightly onto Luca's shoulders and push him away from him, their lips finally separating. As soon as their lips broke contact they both were panting uncontrollably. Out of breath and eyes wide, both in shock at what they had just done. Alberto let go of Luca's shoulders. Both of their faces were redder than they had ever been before.
Luca was speechless and…a bit disappointed the kiss had come to an end the same way it had started - unexpectedly. Alberto's lips had felt way too good rubbing up against his own. It was probably a good idea that they had stopped before he felt even more mixed emotions. The fact that the kiss didn't disgust him at all was a relief but also another reason to dwell on how he felt about Alberto. What was going to happen now?
The fact that Luca had continued to say nothing drove Alberto nuts. Could they come back from this? In the moment it had felt like they might since Luca had been going along with the kiss and seemingly enjoyed it but the younger boy hadn't said a word since before they started making out. Did he ruin everything?
"Merda…" Alberto whispered under his breath.
Alberto rose from the bed and sped walked towards his coat. Luca kept his wide-eyed stare on him Alberto got his coat on fast and then went to the window and slid it open, cold air entering the room.
But before Alberto left he turned to face Luca again, ashamed of what he had just done to Luca. Luca had been too sweet and kind to push him away when he had stolen the kiss. Alberto had taken advantage of that. Taken advantage of Luca. "I'm so sorry, Luca. Just…forget this ever happened between us… please."
Luca's voice wasn't working. The whole scenario had just been so mindblowing that his voice wouldn't give sound. And now Alberto was about to leave, probably feeling like he was a terrible person for doing what they did or something. He had to tell Alberto that everything was okay. That he wasn't mad over any of it but his voice and nerves wouldn't let him.
It wasn't until Alberto was already gone with the window shut again that Luca had finally found his voice.
"Alberto..." he said shakenly to no one, now left alone.
Luca's fingers grazed against his lips. He flushed. The feeling of Alberto's kiss still lingered there. Alberto had stolen his first kiss and Luca didn't pull away. He had gone along with it and…liked it. And now Alberto had left him trembling, regrettably wanting more.