Two weeks passed like nothing.

One more thing I'll have to admit: The night before the trip to the museum, I wasn't feeling all that easy.

I was worried that something crazy was going to happen to me. Like getting lost in the museum, or slipping on something in there and falling down the stairs, or accidentall sneezing on an important artifact, or... you get the point.

Just breathe, Luca... just breathe.

I've got the view from my bedroom to keep me company until morning.

Ah... that feels nice.

I already have my snacks and water bottle packed for the trip. I hope that would help me make it through.

"Good luck, Giulia," Mrs. Marcovaldo was saying to Giulia the next morning, as she tidied up the last details on her clothes. "And have fun."

"I will, mom," Giulia said back, smiling.

"Good luck to you too, Luca, and have fun as well," Mrs. Marcovaldo turned to me.

"I will."

After I said that, Giulia and I were both already on our way out.

"Goodbye. And be good!"

"We will," we both said at the same time.

Just as we turned around the corner to see the school entrance - we noticed Mrs. Bonucci was already standing there, with the rest of class already sort of lined up, talking among themselves.

"And try not slapping anybody on the head," she was very carefully telling one of the students as we approached her. Then, she noticed us too. "Oh, hello. You've arrived just in time."

She got us standing in that line the way all other classmates were standing.

"Alright, class, are you ready to go?" Mrs. Bonucci asked so we could all hear her.

"Yes, Mrs. Bonucci," the whole class answered.

"Great. Let's go, then."

The trip to that museum might have only taken 20 minutes, and only maybe 6 turns around the corner.

But it was so sunny and so hot, every second felt like an hour.

Every 10 meters that I walked felt like it was gonna last forever.

I was sweating the entire time, of course.

So once Mrs. Bonucci suddenly said: "Stop!" paused, and then said: "Here we are," we all immediately felt enormous relief.

She pointed to our right, and there was the entrance to the museum.

Almost everyone immediately ran inside - well, tried to run inside.

Turns out, the museum is not open yet.

"Phew," I sighed, acting all confident for not falling for that. "Luckily, I knew better than that. Isn't that ri-"

That, I was saying as I turned to Giulia. But I stopped when I saw that, somehow, the heat didn't take the better of her.

"How are you still chill?!"

"Uh, I have lived here my whole life," she answered, looking unfazed by such a question.

"Yeah, okay."

It was only a few minutes later that a guard came from inside the building and unlocked the entrance door.

Then, they all ran inside.

So did Mrs. Bonucci. Until she stopped; in confusion, I guess.

She must've noticed that Giulia and I weren't in front of her.

"Giulia, Luca?" she called out, and then turned around.

"Over here," Giulia answered. I too waved awkwardly.

Mrs. Bonucci sighed in relief.

Before we came in, the guard who had opened the entrance told me one more thing:

"Hey kid, try not to get too far behind your friends."

He and I stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds, enough for me to remember his face.

I gave him a thumbs up.

The museum itself was actually nothing special.

I was kinda expecting a little more from it.

We did buy some ice cream on our way out.

But it's what happened right after that visit to the museum that was the, uh, real deal? Yeah, I'll call it that.

Now that we were a little past the museum, we had to make a few different turns, so we'd find our way back to the school.

Now it was Giorgio and his few buddies that were behind the rest of us.

And we were walking right by the shore.

Next to the port, no less.

And Giorgio was running to catch up to us.

But he slipped...

And he fell into the sea!

Yeah... exactly.

Everyone else, Mrs. Bonucci included, ran up to the coast to see where exactly he was. But none of them, not even Mrs. Bonucci, dared jump to his help.

I just watched this from a few footsteps afar, and I wondered for a millisecond whether I should actually do it. Jump into the water to rescue him.

And I decided I would.

But halfway through making my first step towards the sea, Giulia grabbed my hand very tightly!

"Don't even think about it!" she whispered angrily.

"I have to," I told her. But she held it firmly.

"No, Luca, you can't expose yourself to them!"

"I have to! No else will do it," I told her, pointing at the rest of the class.

Giulia facepalmed, which means she just let go of my hand.

So I did my thing.

"Don't freak out!" I announced to the whole class.

They all turned to me. In a heartbeat, Mrs. Bonucci exclaimed:

"You can't be serious, Luca; you'll get in trou-"

"I said, don't freak out!" I repeated, loudly, but trying to sound reassuring.

And then... I jumped into the water.

Immediately after diving, I could feel myself turning into the sea monster I was born as. I looked at my hands just to make sure.

But more importantly, I saw Giorgio right in front of me.

And he was desperate for a breath of actual air!

I swam straight towards him.

But when he saw me swimming towards him, he clearly freaked out. Because he tried to get away from me!

I tried to make a signal with my hand, for him to not worry. But I don't think it worked.

I'm not sure if he knows that it's me.

But I couldn't hesitate. I grabbed his hand and immediately pulled him to the surface.

BUT...

I had to make sure that the class didn't actually notice that it was a sea monster who rescued Giorgio. I'm not sure if I succeeded.

I found a way to pull him out of the water so that I stayed submerged.

Unfortunately, I let my "deformed" hand out too for a second.

I saw the whole class run to him, but I also saw some classmates looking at the water. Something didn't feel right for them.

Just after that realization, I swam away, so they wouldn't notice me.

I found another deck, out of their sight, to climb back to the surface.

I shook all the water off myself just before any passerby could notice.

...And the next part is gonna be difficult.

I have to get back to them... and I don't know whether they figured out.

Well, I'll have to find out sooner or later, eh? We are all coming back to school together, after all.

So I came back to them.

"Guys...? Is everything okay? Is Giorgio gonna be fine?" I had to act a little confused.

Some of the students turned to me. So did Mrs. Bonucci.

"Yes, he's fine. But what were you thinking?" she started to scold me.

"What? I just tried to save him," I answered honestly, still not having figured out if she found out.

"I understand that, but it wasn't you who saved him in the end. It was... something else."

So, she saw me. But she hasn't figured out that was me.

And, judging by others' reactions, neither did the rest of the class.

"Didn't you see who was in the water?" one of Giorgio's buddies, Tibor, asked me.

"What?" I still acted confused.

"It was a sea monster," Tibor sounded very sure of what he was saying. "I saw his hand. I saw his hand when he threw Giorgio out of the sea!"

That last sentence, he said to the whole class. No one reacted to it.

But I could feel some sense of agreement around me.

At the same time that this happened, Giorgio was still clearly trying to catch his breath.

And while he was doing that... he pointed a finger at me.

He figured out!

I must act quickly.

"Relax, Giorgio; yes, you're still alive," I told him.

Giorgio managed to come breathing normally, but he didn't say anything else.

He did stare at me for a few seconds...

I looked away.

"Maybe it's time we get back to the school," Mrs. Bonucci told the whole class. "The trip to the museum is over, anyway."

And go back we did.