Outside the building, though, it was totally different. The dorm was situated on a narrow, twisting alley only steps from a sun-drenched piazza filled with bustling tourists and tiny café tables. Tall buildings lined the square, adorned with wrought-iron balconies and red tile roofs, and each one older than anything that California had to offer.
"Students," called the mousy-looking professor who was leading the program. She clapped her hands and the silver bracelets on her wrists jangled loudly. "Students, over here please! Our tour of Rome will begin in a few moments."
Connor followed her to where the tour bus was parked, not paying much attention to what she was saying.
A group of squealing kids ran by in Catholic school uniforms, and Connor smiled. On the far side of the square, a bar was decked with neon signs for beers he'd never tasted. A bakery window was filled with sweets that looked more like something from a movie than something you'd actually eat. And everywhere he looked, Connor saw gorgeous girls. The Italian girls all wore tight capri pants and high heels, with too much eye makeup; the girl sitting at a café table near the tour bus was much more his style. She was dressed casually in faded khaki pants and a simple blue shirt, but her clothes clung to her curvy frame in just the right places, and her hair hung down her back in a shining brown curtain. She looked up and caught his eye, and Connor smiled at her. She probably wouldn't want to have anything to do with him, but for a second he thought about skipping out on the tour anyway, just to find out.
His thoughts must've showed on his face, because the girl smiled at him. looking amused the way that the girls back home used to look in eighth grade when he'd been trying to show off on his skateboard. iOr the way they would've, if that had actually happened/i, he thought bitterly. Suddenly, ditching out on the tour sounded like an even better idea. The farther away he could get from his old life -- either of them, or both -- the better. He'd grab the girl, and… He looked back at the girl, but she was gone.
Resigned, he walked toward the bus and climbed in. At the top of the stairs, he stopped. Sitting there in the first row of seats, talking to his gray-haired professor, was the girl he'd seen outside. She looked at him with the same amused look on her face, and he quickly remembered himself. The seat across the aisle from where she was sitting was empty, so he slid in.
As they sat there, Connor wondered who she was. He tried to listen to her conversation with the professor, but he couldn't make it out over the din of the other students' conversation. They were definitely speaking English, though. That was good. Connor's Italian was definitely still in the 'beginner' stages, so this way they'd have more to talk about on their date.
Connor smiled to himself. He hadn't even said two words to this girl, and he was already planning for their date. The city was filled with pretty girls. Why was he all worried about this one? Still, there was no denying that there was something special about this girl. He couldn't define it, but she had a certain something… Something about the way she carried herself, the way she seemed so alert, so aware… Well, that and the fact that the girl was undeniably hot.
"Students." Professor Strathmore was standing at the front of the bus now, and the girl was standing with her. "Pay attention, please!" She clapped her hands, and her bracelets jingled again. "This is Dawn, and she will be our guide today, on your introduction to the city that will be your home for the next three months."
Dawn. Connor repeated her name in his head, so he would remember it.
..o0O0o..
The tour stopped at the Coliseum to let everyone get out and explore, and the guy from the front row approached her. Dawn wasn't really surprised. After all, he'd been staring at her for pretty much the entire tour so far. She didn't mind so much -- it was a little distracting, but then he was cute.
She was standing near the entrance to the Coliseum floor, where the gladiators had fought each other thousands of years before, at the end of a long tunnel. He came up from behind her, and she heard his footsteps crunch on the sand as he approached. He stood next to her for a moment, looking at the tiers of white marble around them and at his classmates as they explored the enormous structure.
"Dawn, right?" he asked finally.
"Yep," she said, content to let him speak. She got hit on a lot in this job, but it wasn't always a bad thing. And this guy was standing in direct sunlight and not turning into a little pile of dust, which was always a big plus.
"I'm Connor," he said, extending his hand to shake. She shook his hand, which was big and firm, and somewhat more callused than she would've expected for a college kid.
"Could I take you out to dinner sometime?" he asked.
She smiled up at him, squinting a little bit in the direct light. "Prefer the direct approach?" she asked teasingly, intentionally not answering his question.
He shrugged, and raised one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile. "We have to get back on the bus in a minute," he said.
She adjusted the pink ribbon of her watch and looked at the dial. "You're right." She turned and walked back down the tunnel, and after a moment's hesitation, he followed her.
He didn't say anything while they walked through the tunnel, and neither did she. She considered his request instead. She was busy now, with the tour guide work in addition to the research she was doing for Giles, and the occasional all-night research session for Buffy. Plus she was still hoping to gain access to the library at the Società Quinquatria, which would take up even more time. There wasn't a lot of room for dating in between all that stuff.
She snuck a look at him from the corner of her eye. He was tall and kind of wiry, and his brown hair fell in his eyes. His face was good-looking, but really he was nothing to write home about in terms of looks. There was still something about him that attracted her, though, something that made her feel like this guy was different. Maybe it was the way her skin tingled all over when he stood close to her, or maybe it was something in his eyes that made her think he was a little more aware of the real world around him than most people, or maybe it was something else.
She couldn't be sure what it was, but she reached in her purse anyway and pulled out a little slip of paper and a pencil. In an unsteady hand, she scribbled her phone number on it as she walked, and beneath that, her name: Dawn. No last name, no extra explanation. She was just Dawn.
When they reached the bus, she folded the little piece of paper in half and handed it to him. "Dinner would be good," she said. "This weekend, maybe?"
He smiled at her then, not the funny little half-smile he'd had on his face before, but a full-wattage grin that lit up his whole face. "Sounds great," he said. He reached out to take the slip of paper from her, and as his fingers brushed hers she felt a jolt of electricity travel up her arm and down her spine. He must've felt it too, because she saw a surprised look crossed his face. He didn't say anything, though: just tucked the paper into his pocket and smiled.
"I'll call you," he said.
..o0O0o..
After the tour was over, Dawn rode the bus back to the touring company with the driver and picked up her paycheck. It was not large, but it was only her second paycheck of any kind, and so she cashed it right away. Then, her pockets full of money, she wandered down the main streets in the general direction of the apartment she shared with Buffy, looking in the windows of the shops along the way.
She lingered over a cute skirt that looked as though it had been made from a silk scarf, and passed by a display of glittering bracelets and earrings. There was a time when she would've slipped one or two of them inside her purse and walked away with them, but now, she was content to just admire them in the case.
Just before reaching the apartment, she cut through a small square. On impulse, she bought a copy of Italian Vogue and took a seat underneath a bright green umbrella. A waitress brought her a tiny cup of coffee and Dawn sat watching passers-by and reading her magazine. Whenever she got to a word she didn't know, she circled it in blue pen. When she got home, she would look them up. It was getting to be fewer and fewer words recently, she realized.
"Hey, you."
Dawn looked up in time to see her sister plop down into the chair on the other side of the table. Buffy looked like the stereotypical American girl, with her sunglasses on top of her head and her fluffy blonde hair. She signaled the waitress for a bottle of Perrier and then turned to Dawn with a conspiratorial grin on her face.
"Connor called," she said in a sing-songy voice.
"Yeah?" asked Dawn. She was trying to play it cool for Buffy's benefit, but she couldn't help the corners of her mouth from turning up a little bit.
"Who's Connor?" Buffy asked.
"Mind your own business and drink your overpriced water," Dawn retorted, by now grinning like an idiot.
"I'll have you know this is premium water," Buffy said. "Are you gonna go out with him?"
Dawn thought about the shiver that had run down her spine at the barest touch of Connor's hand earlier. "Mmmm, definitely," she answered.