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Author Note: Well, here's another one.I must warn you, there is some Spanish in this chapter, so it might result quite annoying for those of you who do not speak such language. However, every word is translated at the end of the chapter, and it's nothing major anyway. Also, in this chapter Freddy might seem out of character, it depends on how you think of him. I gave him the background of a rich kid who has traveled all around the world, I hope that is not in too much contrast with your idea of Freddy Jones.

I also want to thank everybody who reviewed this story and my precedent one: thanks for spending your time telling me what you think, it helps me improve my writing (or at least I like to think so) and it is great to know that you appreciated a chapter. Please keep reviewing!

Enjoy.

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"Remote."

"Hum…Mando a distancia?" Came Freddy's uncertain reply. The following day there was going to be a test on Spanish vocabulary and for the past hour and a half they had been reviewing the most useless terms a student could learn. Summer had been sitting on her usual armchair and Freddy, who at first was in the one facing her, had been restlessly changing spots and was now lying on the carpeted floor in front of the fireplace, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Summer placed a checkmark on her list and moved on. "Armchair."

Freddy yawned. "Butaca. It's the third time you ask."

Summer glared at him. "Español, por favor."

"Sorry." Freddy said, bored out of his mind. "Es la tercera vez que preguntas."

"Porqué tu no lo sabías." She replied matter-of-factly. "Carpet."

"Alfombra." he translated, banging his head against the side of the armchair next to Summer. "Can we stop with Spanish, please?"

She looked at him with her eyebrows raised and he sighed, lying back down. "¿Podemos dejar Español, por favor?" he pleaded.

Summer pondered for a moment, glanced at her list and finally agreed. "Vale. Fine, we'll stop here."

Freddy leaped up, all his energy suddenly regained. "Great! I'll bet we are over-prepared for the test."

"There is no such thing as over-preparation." Summer argued, slightly offended. "Especially with you, Jones."

Freddy shrugged off the remark, and sat on the armchair next to Summer. "Oh please, Tink, I've been incredible, amazing, a prodigy!" he sensationalized. Summer laughed and he smiled at her. "Anyway," he continued with a little more seriousness, "I'm better than you think at Spanish."

"Oh, really?" Summer asked mockingly. "Mr. Rupp does not seem to agree."

Freddy leaned towards her, as if confiding a big secret. "I'll tell you, Tink." He said softly. "What we learn in school, all this vocabulary ad grammar and rules-they're ridiculous. And useless. C'mon," he added at Summer's skeptical look, "Do you honestly believe that you'll need to know how to say remote when you'll get to Spain?"

"Well… Maybe." Summer answered, just for the sake of arguing. "But I won't get to Spain very soon." She added in a lower tone.

"Why not? It's only a nine-hour flight." Freddy observed. "Now, Thailand, that takes forever. I remember this one time, when I was probably seven, and my parents had to go there for business. They thought I'll freak out without them, so they took me with them and it was the longest-"

"Wait, what? You went to Thailand when you were seven?" Summer asked incredulously.

"Yep. I told you, my parents had some business stuff going on. They have always taken me with them, until I started school. Then it was just during spring break or the summer. And sometimes we went skiing during Christmas, especially on the Alps. What?"

Summer had been staring at him, wide-eyed and amazed. "Sum, you alright?" He asked, touching her hand. She blinked and apologized.

"Sorry. It's just-wow, those places must be amazing! Where else have you been?" She asked, eager to know.

"Oh, let's see… My first journey was to Rome, but at that time I couldn't remember anything-"

"How old were you?"

"About three and a half months. My mom had just gotten back to work and she did not want to leave me. Then my dad was able to buy the company from his partner and the Smith & Jones hotels became simply the Jones hotels. And since we had free lodging all over the civilized world, my family started combining business with pleasure: my mom quitted her old job, and we started traveling the world. My first memory is of dad explaining to me that there was a real queen in Buckingham Palace. I think I was three." He glanced at Summer, who was staring at the armrest between the two of them. "Sorry, that's boring. So, what-"

"Oh, no. Continue please." Summer said, looking up at him. "It's so interesting to know about Europe from someone who has been there so many times, rather than just reading about it."

"You have never been to Europe?" Freddy was shocked. He had always assumed Summer to be in a certain way, and now, little by little, he was discovering she was very different.

Summer looked at him curiously. "No, what made you think so?"

"I dunno." Freddy said thoughtfully. He knew the Old Continent wasn't exactly around the corner, but something about Summer had always given him the impression that she was a traveler. Maybe it was the way that, when discussing an issue, she always seemed very well aware that there were many other views on it and they were all valid in their particular context. 'Open-mindedness' was not exactly the word he was looking for, but worked well enough, even though he was not going to try and tell Summer what he meant. "I guessed just because you are very informed about it." Which was not a lie, since she knew almost everything about every major monument in each European capital.

"I just read, Freddy." She replied, but was glad that her knowledge was so extensive.

"So you have never been there?" Summer shook her head apologetically. "Never been to London? Paris? Rome? Dublin? Madrid?"

Summer now looked at him, incredulous and annoyed. "Would you stop, please? Where have you been, instead?"

"Oh, well…" Freddy began, trying to recall. "Let's see. Rome, when I was three years old and then four other times. Paris, at five, six and ten; London, at three then twice again, all summer long. Dublin, for a month the summer before freshman year; Barcelona, three times, Madrid, twice, and another summer in Andalusia. Which is why my Spanish is more than acceptable, despite my grades."

"How did you learn?" She asked. A summer did not quite seem long enough to learn another language.

"Oh, it's easier than you think. You see, there they can obviously speak English, but both my parents can speak Spanish quite fluently, so they forced me to try and do the same. When the only way to know what's going on around you is to understand another language, believe me, you learn it pretty quickly."

"Really? That's impressive. And it's probably the best way to learn languages, just traveling around…" Summer said. "Where else?"

"Oh, Provance. We drove around the south of France for six weeks when I was twelve. Then Florence and the Tuscan countryside; Greece, Athens and most of its major islands. We went to Saint Petersburg and Moscow, to see the tsars' palaces; to Stockholm, then around the Norwegian fjords, reaching the North Pole. This in Europe." Freddy looked at Summer and asked, a little concerned, "Are you sure this is not boring? And that it is not annoying to listen to ramble about it?"

She shook her head vehemently. "No, not at all. I'd love to hear more about those trips. Each place sounds so interesting and fascinating…"

Freddy smiled. Summer's eyes were shining with wonder and desire for adventure. It was easy to guess that, as he had been listing the places he had been, she had been dreaming about them as some unreal realm out of her reach. "Hey, Sum."

"What?" She asked softly, still pensive.

"What are you doing the summer of our senior year?" She looked at him confused and a little suspicious. "'Cause, you know, my parents would not mind to have a couple of rooms reserved in their hotels around Europe, a week here, another there…"

Summer was now staring at him completely in shock. Was he serious? "Freddy, I can't take such advantage of your parents' kindness-"

"Oh, please! They would be more than glad to give us a couple spare rooms." He took her hands, impulsive in the excitement of the plan. "We could spend the summer traveling around Europe's major cities, we would have a place to stay everywhere we'd go. It would be perfect." She still looked quite reticent. "Sum, you can't refuse," He said softly. "Don't tell me you don't dream about wandering the world."

"I do, but-" She started in a sad whisper, but was interrupted.

"This is a start, then. You owe this to yourself, Summer. You certainly deserve it more than I do." He added bitterly. But then smiled warmly and asked "What do you say, Tink?"

Summer struggled with herself. "Are you sure that your parents would not mind?" Freddy nodded eagerly.

She was unsure for a moment, only to smile widely back a second later. "Alright," She said, radiant. "But your airplane ticket is on me."

"Oh, c'mon, don't be ridiculous!" Freddy replied with a laugh. "There is no way you're paying for me, clear?"

Summer frowned. "We'll see." She surrendered, scowling mockingly at him.

Freddy laughed at her expression and she joined him. Then, suddenly more serious, she hugged him and whispered against the fabric of his t-shirt "Thank you, Freddy."

Pleasantly surprised, Freddy wrapped his arms around the petite girl and whispered back "De nada, Sum." She laughed softly against his shoulder.

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Some Spanish words and expressions that you'll probably never use

Mando a distancia: remote

Butaca: armchair

Español, por favor: Spanish, please

Es la tercera vez que preguntas: it's the third time you ask

Porqué tu no lo sabías: because you didn't know it

Alfombra: carpet

¿Podemos dejar Español, por favor?: can we stop with Spanish please?

Vale: ok

De nada: you're welcome (literally: of nothing, as in 'there is nothing you should thank me for')

You probably figured some of these out, didn't you?