Diamond: The Original

Chapter 59 "Coraline"

~Iria~

I yawned as I tried to focus on Mr. White's lecture without much success, I was leaned against my suitcase, fighting my eyes that wanted to close. It was very early and I think I had jet lag...

"Ethan? Ethan Jones?!" Someone screamed with Italian accent using a high pitched voice that I suspected its owner was a girl.

When I say all of us turned to where the girl's voice came from, I mean that the seven of us turned around. I fixed my eyes on Ethan for some seconds, he left his suitcase behind when he gave some steps forward as he narrowed his eyes, trying to distinguish the shape of the girl that stood some yards away from him.

"Coraline?!" He let out in a surprised tone that I couldn't say if it also had traces of excitement.

The following happened too fast, the girl suddenly started running towards Ethan, he had time to walk a couple of steps towards her and when they met, they melt in a hug. Ethan hugged Coraline so strong that he lifted her feet from the ground as they turned on their axes.

The hug eventually broke but those their smiles didn't fade, as soon as Coraline's red cowboy boots met the ground again she brushes her hair behind her ears and started speaking in Italian hastily and excited, the big surprise for the group was how Ethan chatted with her in the same language. Coraline had big emerald eyes and her head was rather round though not much, you could notice some very light freckles on her nose that were the perfect accessory to her blonde extremely straight hair that fell over her back, covered by an oversized gray hoodie with the word 'Milan' written on it in red. She also wore some black leggings under the denim and wasted shorts.

"Oh mio Dio! È passato un bel po' di tempo dall'ultima volta che ti ho visto!" She exclaimed excited for had met Ethan. "Non ti vedo da..." And Coraline shut up for a second, she gave Ethan a different smile than the one she had when she ran to hug him, she put her lips together in a shy smile before following again the thread of the conversation. "Sì... da quello... Comunque, guardati! ti sei fatto anche un tatuaggio!"

What just Ethan knew was that I spoke Italian, actually I spoke more than nine languages fluently, that's why I frowned when Coraline didn't want to specify when they last met and instead asked Ethan about the tattoo on his arm.

"You speak Italian?" Tristan got surprised beside me, making the old friendship focus on us for first time since Coraline arrived.

"Excuse me, I am very impolite..." Coraline brushes again her hair behind her ears, I think it was some kind of nervous tic. "My name is Coraline, Ethan and I used to be neighbors." She introduced herself giving us all a friendly smile.

I didn't expect Coraline to know how to speak English for the way in which she first started talking Italian but she didn't speak badly, her English was sprinkled by a funny Italian accent, however you could say she struggled with some words.

Chrystal and Ruby tried to ask Coraline a couple of question but she didn't hear, or she didn't understand them, actually I felt as if she had her eyes fixed on me.

"Are you Ethan's special friend?" Coraline clearly looked at me with curious eyes.

Ethan laugh at the double meaning that Coraline's apparently innocent words had. I focused on keeping my head held high when my body wanted to shrug.

"It's the brunette one but I think you didn't mean that, Cora." He mocked earning a nudge from her when she realize what she had said.

"Scusami..." She giggled now that Ethan kept chuckling. "I didn't mean that kind of friend..." Her voice slowly left aside the kidding tone. Coraline had left the sentence in the air, struggling with finding the words to express herself in English. "How did you called it, Rosso?" She turned to Ethan and I giggled when she used the Italian word for 'redhead' as a nickname. "Ha qualcosa di speciale dentro che non capisce o non controlla."