Luca Paguro sat at his desk, vigorously scratching at the paper in front of him. He still wasn't sure what it was, but it felt nice to experiment with what humans call "pencils". That was when Giulia looked over at Luca. Startled, the boy jumped and almost fell out of his chair.
Giulia laughed. "You OK, Luca?" she asked, giving him a hand.
"Oh yeah," Luca said, grabbing hers. "Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting anyone to pay attention to what I'm doing."
Intrigued, Giulia peeked over Luca's shoulder. "Whatcha drawin'?"
Luca blushed, crumpling it up. "It's nothing important," he said. "They're just a bunch of shitty scribbles anyway."
Giulia eyed him. "You're thinking about Alberto again, aren't you?" she said. "I knew you two had something special!"
Luca's face lit up red. "Yes, it's for Alberto. How the hell'd you know?"
"You're my best friend, Luca Paguro. Why wouldn't I know who you have a crush on?" Giulia asked.
"Please don't call me by my full name otherwise I'll start calling you Giulia Marcovaldo," Luca said. "Would you like that?"
"No, no. I'm sorry, Luca," Giulia said.
"No, no. You're fine," Luca said. "It's just that this thing I'm making... how do you ask?"
Giulia looked at Luca. "How do you what?" she asked.
"I'll ask you at next break," Luca said. "I promise."
"Alright then. I'll be right here!" she exclaimed.
As Luca made his way to his locker, his mind was racing about how Alberto was doing. What if he had found someone else? That couldn't be possible, right? He knew Alberto loved him, but he didn't know for sure until he came out and asked the stupid hot boy out.
Giulia finally caught up to Luca. "So, what class do you have next?"
"English," Luca replied.
"Well, good luck! I'm headed to P.E.!"
Luca was confused. "P.E.?"
"Physical Education," Giulia said. "A lot of kids also call it Gym class because it literally takes place in the gym."
"Well, tell me all about it later! I don't want any of us to be late!"
"Gotcha!" Giulia said. "Bye!"
Luca waved goodbye as he made his way to the Language Arts Lecture Hall. Holding his English book close to his chest, he could feel his hands get all sweaty and heart beating. What the hell is going on? Luca thought.
He brushed it off and went to class, not to forget his notebook and pencil. He'd figure everything out later- hopefully.
