Y/n's POV
At this current moment, me, Luca, and Alberto are in the treehouse just outside Giulia's house. It's already dark, so we were probably going to hit the hay right now.
Just as I sat down on the wooden floor, I heard Luca's voice break the silence.
"Alberto? Y/n? I think I might've seen my parents," Luca tells us.
My eyes widen after hearing him say that. "What?" I say, starting to get a little freaked out.
"No way. I told you, they're not coming here," Alberto reassured to Luca.
"But what if they did?" I then asked out loud. "If they find us, they're going to send me and Luca to the deep."
"Listen, relax. It's never gonna happen," Alberto told me.
But before anyone could say anything else, in the corner of my eye, I see Giulia go out her window and walk towards us by using the tree branch. She then sits in between me and Luca as she starts talking.
"All right, guys. Pretty good today, but let's talk technique," She tells us.
But before she could tell us anything else, I hear Signor Marcovaldo open the gate door.
"Hey, ragazzi! I need help with the nets. You. The big, strong one. Andiamo," Signor Marcovaldo says, mostly to Alberto.
"I'll be right back," Alberto tells us.
Without that much hesitation, Alberto climbs down the treehouse and follows Signor Marcovaldo to the nets. Now it only leaves me, Luca, and Giulia.
But I noticed the way his expression was when he left. It looked as if he didn't want to leave me and Luca alone. I didn't really want to think that much of it, so I just lay back on the wooden floor of the treehouse.
"Hey, we're gonna win," Giulia tells me as she and Luca lay down as well. "And you guys will get your Vespa. Why do you want a Vespa, again?"
"Oh. Because it'll be amazing. Every day, me, Y/n and Alberto are gonna ride someplace new. And every night, we'll sleep under the fish," Luca tells Giulia as he points up to the sky for the last part.
"The fish?... Good," Giulia says with a dry chuckle.
"What about you? What will you do when we win?" I then ask Giulia as I look at her.
"I'll get up in front of everyone and say, 'Told you I'd win!'" Giulia answered.
"Yeah. And then what?" Luca then asks.
"Well, that's it. Look, during school, I live with my mamma in Genova. And every summer, I come here, and everyone thinks I'm just some weird kid who doesn't belong," Giulia explains to us.
I let out a sigh and look back up at the fish in the sky. I guess we're both in the same situation.
"I think I know how you feel," Luca tells Giulia.
"Right? That's why we gotta win. The town will cheer our names. Ercole's life will be ruined!" Giulia yells out as she sits up, but then covers her mouth. "Sorry. Too much? My mom says sometimes I'm too much."
"No. Not at all," I say as I shake my head while Luca sits up, making Giulia chuckle.
She then looks up at the sky, and then looks back at us.
"You know those aren't fish, right?" Giulia tells us. I make a confused look after she said that.
"They're not? But, Alberto told us that they were," I say as I sit up.
"Come with me," Giulia tells us.
I get curious. If those aren't fish, then what are they?
Timeskip
After a few minutes of climbing over rooftops, Giulia finally leads us onto someone's balcony where there is something that is being covered up by a cloth. Giulia then takes it off and reveals a long, metal tube just sitting there
"This is a telescope. Old man Bernardi lets me use it. It makes faraway things seem close," Giulia tells me and Luca as she looks through the smaller part of the telescope. She then steps to the side. "Look."
Luca takes a look first, and I could tell he was amazed to see whatever he was seeing.
"See any fish?" Giulia asks him.
"Then what are all those?" Luca asks as he steps to the side, giving me the chance to look through. And what I saw surprised me.
The small dots in the sky weren't actually fish, but they looked very bright and beautiful. I could literally feel my eye dilate at this sight.
"Stars. Like the sun. Giant, raging balls of fire!" Giulia tells us as I look away from the so-called stars.
"Whoa. So that means that Alberto was wrong," I say, mostly to myself.
"And stars are circled by planets," Giulia told me and Luca as she opened up her book, which I just realized she had with her, and revealed a picture of what looked like planets.
Luca takes the book from her as he and I look at the picture while Giulia readjusts the telescope. She then steps back and looks back at us.
"Look," She says, having Luca look through it. "That's Saturno. It's my favorite. It's the lightest of the planets," Giulia tells us as Luca give me a turn to look through. And the so-called Saturno looked so beautiful. "They say if there was an ocean big enough to hold it, it would float in it!"
I look away from the telescope and look up at the sky. There are a lot of things Luca and I don't know. Now I just want to explore more.
Timeskip
Now we are back in Giulia's room. She just finished up showing us a few things that we didn't know yet. I was so amazed at so many things we didn't know.
"So, this is how machines fly?" Luca asks as he points to a picture in a book that shows a flying machine.
"Sì," Giulia answers.
"And there are bid towns called cities?" I then asked with excitement in my voice.
"Sì," Giulia answers again.
"Like even bigger than Portorosso?" Luca then asks.
"Like Genova! Literally 20 times bigger," Giulia says,
"And we're all in a big round rock, floating around a star in the 'solar system'?" I then ask.
"So cool, right?" Giulia asks.
"And is there anything beyond the solar system?" Luca asks Giulia as he picks up the pick that shows everything about the solar system.
"Only a galaxy full of solar systems," Giulia tells us.
"Then what?" I ask.
"A universe full of galaxies!" Giulia then says.
"And then what?" Luca then asks out loud, getting just as excited as I am.
"And then... I don't know. But next year in Advanced Astronomy, I'm gonna use my school's telescope. So, maybe I'll find out. That thing's huge. I wish I could show it to you," Giulia tells us as I just stand there, already getting even more excited than ever.
"Just promise you'll tell me everything you see!" Luca yells out to Giulia, suddenly realizing what he just did. "Sorry. Too much?" Luca asks.
"Never," Giulia says as she laughs, making all of us laugh.
Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice speak from Giulia's window.
"Hey, Luca, Y/n, I've been looking everywhere for you two," Alberto says as he looks at us, but once he looks at Giulia, he frowns a bit. I wonder why.
"Oh, sorry," Luca tells Alberto.
"Just come on. Let's go," Alberto tells us as he walks on the tree branch and towards the treehouse.
"Could we maybe borrow this? Just for tonight," Luca asks Giulia as he holds onto the solar system book.
Giulia then holds a pencil and open the book. She then crosses out the spot that had her name on it and replaced it with 'Luca & Y/n'.
"You guys can have it," She tells us. She then goes over to the door and kneels down while facing us. "The universe is literally yours!" She tells us dramatically, making me laugh.
"Wow. Thank you!" Luca thanks her as I nod.
I then heard Alberto stand there at the window again.
"Luca! Y/n!" Alberto tells us.
"Okay, we're coming," I tell him as we were about to leave. But I could have sworn I saw him glare at Giulia before he left.
What's gotten into him?