Quietly as possible, I unzip my backpack at the foot of my bed and feel around for my journal and the tiny book light. Keeping on my stomach and facing the end of my bed, I clip the light onto the cov...
What’s going on? Who is he?She pulls in another deep breath, then bites her bottom lip. Mauro.Mauro? I ask, attempting to roll my tongue to pronounce it correctly. Is that his name or an insult?Her ex...
About earlier--My attention shifts behind Darren to a little blond boy in overalls trying to push his head between the rods of the railing.Darren turns to see what I’m looking at and laughs. You’re go...
Chiara, Darren finally says. Everything okay?Greasy Guy looks Darren up and down with narrowed eyes and spits out what I’m guessing is a question. Darren responds, calmly, in Italian. It’s the most I’...
Room here, she says, proceeding to draw a line of the route. It doesn’t look too far.I stand, taking the map from her, and manage to get out a comprehensible , which my says is actually pronounced ....
Just the idea of seeing the ruins of Pompeii in person makes me ache deep inside. Then there’s Darren, no longer off limits. When an opportunity like this falls into place, you don’t hesitate. You GO....
Do you want to be a professor too?He shrugs. Maybe one day. I’d like to travel more first though, work on dig sites in places like Greece or Central America. Ancient civilizations are buried everywher...
I was prissy as a child. No dirt under these fingernails.You were prissy? I don’t believe it.If you knew my mother, it wouldn’t surprise you. I raise both of my hands in surrender. But I’ve grown up....
This Darren, Chiara finally says as we approach Riomaggiore, still huddled under the bright umbrella. Is he the same boy you told me about in Roma? The one you saw times two?Two times, I correct, and...
Matilde leads us into one of the apartment’s two bedrooms, obviously belonging to Bruno and Luca. Bunk beds are stacked in the corner and the walls are covered in soccer posters.You can have the botto...
Pippa, Dad chimed in with the even tone of a mediator. If you don’t want to go--Oh, she’s . Mom straightened as tall as she could get, towering over him with her power. Arrangements have been set. She...
You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?He smirks, resting his hands on my waist. Hoped.My cheeks ache from smiling, but I don’t care. I don’t care about anything but Darren and him kissing me a...
Darren, this is Chiara, the friend I was telling you about. Chiara, this is my--this is Darren. I don’t know what I was going to stick in there after Friend? Can you be friends with someone if you do...
Were you spying on someone? Darren asks, finally sitting in the chair next to me and pointing at the open compact on the table.What? Oh, no. I laugh, snapping it shut and pulling it and the journal cl...
Do you want me to get your back for you?Cringe. No, I’m fine.Okay, then could you get mine? I don’t really want the striped look you’re going for. A little too trendy for me. He laughs, snapping the l...
Too bad it was buried before Shakespeare, Darren continues. This stage never saw the likes of Romeo or Macbeth.I whirl around to face him in horror. No no no no no, don’t say the word!What word? Mac...
The short pieces of his black hair are spiked out every which way. The poor lighting from the singular bulb on the ceiling over the shower exaggerates the dark circles under his eyes. He looks rough.A...
I get it now. This is what kissing is really supposed to be. Any others before were merely run-throughs with understudies. Darren is a leading man.
There you two are, Nina calls.She offers a smile almost identical to Chiara’s when she’s up to something. Nina drops Tate’s hand and presses the power button on her point-and-shoot camera. She motions...
So theater, huh? Not sure I saw that one coming either.Why? My cheeks are warm, but I keep in front of him and look anywhere but his direction.The theater kids back at my high school were…a lot differ...
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