Luca's POV
Oh, it feels so good to be back at the farm. I can tell that all the fish missed me (they wouldn't stop nuzzling me for ten minutes), and I really missed them too. Apparently one of our neighbors took care of them while I was gone, but they kept the place just as I left it.
Now I'm sitting on my little rock—the same rock that I was sitting at nearly one year ago. I was such a different person then. I'd never went to school, or gone above the surface... I didn't even know Alberto then.
I lean back on the rock, staring out at the farm. The grass moves so softly, like a constant breeze is flowing through. The fish are busy chewing or sleeping. Everything is peaceful.
... Then I sit up straight.
...
Where's Giuseppe?
I don't see him anywhere. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen him since I got home. Is he missing? Is he dead?
"Giuseppe...?" I say hesitantly, getting up from my rock and grabbing my stick. If he is nearby, I doubt he'll come willingly; I'll need to drag him back. "Giuseppe, where are you?"
Suddenly, some of the other fish look at me.
"Do any of you know where Giuseppe is...?" I ask them, examining each one's expression. Some of them glance at each other, while some just keep looking at me. I guess even if they did know, they couldn't tell me.
My shoulders slump. I should have known something would happen to him. I should have asked Mom to tell the neighbor about him and his weird desire to venture out. Now he's gone, and it's all my fault.
I hug my arms, trying to keep calm. Surely someone spotted him and took him in... right? I'm sure he's not dead somewhere.
This thought scares me, and I start to push my hair back. I'm at a loss at what to do, but just as I start to fall deep into thought, the sound of my mother's voice snaps me out of it.
"Luca! Lunch is ready!"
Looking back at the exit, I set my stick down by the rock. "Coming, Mom!" I quickly check to make sure all the fish are okay, then I swim towards my house.
Still, I can't get Giuseppe out of my mind.
"Luca," Mom greets as I meet her outside. "How are the fish?" I almost say something, but don't. She grabs my hand and leads me inside. "Come on. We made seaweed balls. Hurry before your father and grandmother eat them all."
She probably notices I'm quiet, because she soon turns back to look at me. I smile at her, but she doesn't seem convinced that I'm okay.
"... Luca?" she says in a softer voice. "... What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Mom, don't worry." I try to swim to my place at the table, where Dad and Grandma are sitting, but Mom stops me.
"Luca, I know you. Something's wrong." She lifts up my chin, but it still takes me a second to look up at her.
I know she'll listen, since all her focus is on me now. So I go ahead and tell her.
"... It's Giuseppe, Mom. He's missing. He's not in the herd anymore."
To my surprise, she doesn't say anything; instead, they all just exchange glances, like the fish did. Like they know something I don't. My stomach twists. What happened to him?
Finally, someone speaks. "If Giuseppe is that fish that likes to bump his head against rocks, then he's gone," says Grandma. "He's been gone since you left, Bubble. We don't know where he went."
"What?!" My jaw drops, and I turn to Mom in hopes she has another answer, but she just nods. "It's true, Luca. Once we hired Mr. Colombo, we did a count, and there was one missing."
My stomach drops now. A fish is gone... we lost a fish, and now he's probably dead. He's probably some bigger fish's dinner right now. This is all my fault. I don't know what else to do besides bury my face in my hands and hope I don't start crying. First Enrico, and now Giuseppe. I hate when this happens. I hate it.
"Oh... Luca, don't be upset." Mom wraps an arm around me, but I don't hug her back. The guilt and sadness is only letting me hide my face. I'm barely even listening to her. "I'm sure he's just fine. Who knows? Maybe he met Uncle Ugo in the deep." She waits a few seconds for my reply, then sighs. I'm sure she remembers how upset I was over Enrico. I pretty much reacted the exact same way for him, but with more confidence that he knew how to get by on his own. But Giuseppe? He can't survive out there.
"Why don't you eat your lunch?" Dad suggests, and I peek at him through my fingers. "It might make you feel better."
"I'm not hungry," I mumble, moving my hands away and staring at the ground. Mom continues to hold me, rubbing my arm like she always does when I'm upset. Even if it doesn't help too much, I still really appreciate it.
Honestly, there's only one thing that will help right now.
"I want to go see Alberto," I add, finally able to meet their eyes.
"Uhhh." Mom hesitates, pulling away from me and scratching her arm. "I think they're still putting your bed together. Maybe you should wait a couple hours. Besides, you need to eat something, or you'll get cranky."
"He's got hands. He can help them," Grandma tells her, then winks at me.
Thank you, thank you.
Mom always gives in to Grandma's suggestions. This time it was pretty fast. "Well, you do have a good point." She looks back at me and crosses her arms, about to enter full Mom-mode. "Do you promise that you'll eat some weird human food up there?" she questions. "And that you'll help out Mr. Marcovaldo?"
"Yes, Mom." Hiding my eager smile is pretty difficult right now.
Please say yes, Mom. Please say yes.
She thinks about it a little more, then shrugs. "Well, I suppose there's no reason why you can't—"
"Thanks, Mom, love you, bye!" I smooch her cheek and exit the house, just like that.
Alberto will cheer me up, for sure.
G's POV
Daniela still hasn't gotten used to Luca's energy, even after fourteen years. Though as much as she's not used to it, she clearly realizes now that something is different with him.
She stares out of the door, looking perplexed. Luca's entire mood just switched; moments ago he was glum over the fish, but he left the house with the biggest smile on his face. Daniela obviously noticed it, but she doesn't seem to understand it. Probably a good thing for now, though. Gives the little man some time to figure himself out before she starts her abundance of questions.
"Mom." Oh, boy. Not me. "Do you think there's something Luca's keeping from us?" She looks at me with worry in her eyes. How is it that I can always read Luca better than she can?
I just shrug. I'm not going to narc on him. "Probably doesn't like the seaweed balls," I mutter, which isn't even a lie.
She scowls at me. Not surprising. She's always gotten annoyed easily, even when she was a little girl.
Then she just retreats to the counter with a frustrated sigh.
Lorenzo and I look at each other. He's been pretty quiet during all this. Guess he knows the truth, too.
I chew on a sea cucumber, smirking. Catching on fast, Lorenzo.
Luca's POV
I peek up the stairs. I can hear Alberto and Massimo up there, having a chat about one of their fishing experiences. I giggle to myself, finding it amusing how Massimo's soft voice contrasts so much from Alberto's louder one. I don't hear Giulia, though. I looked downstairs for her, but didn't see her. I saw her mess, though: a bowl of cereal with some bits still in it, and a chair that's still pulled out. Typical Giulia.
I start up the stairs, not wanting to waste any more time. I can hear the two go quiet, probably wondering who's coming upstairs.
Alberto comes out into the hallway before I reach the last step. "Luca!" He gets a big grin on his face when he sees me, and I can't help but return it. He looks just like Massimo right now. Energy-wise, I mean. He looks like he's been doing a bunch of work for a bunch of hours, and it makes him look really handsome.
"Hey! Umm... where's Giulia?" I ask, wanting to get that out of the way.
His expression drops for a single split of a second, but then he catches himself. "Oh, she's out selling fish."
"Oh." Still jealous, I see. But I can't say I'm not flattered.
"Yeah. Come see my room," he offers, reaching his hand out to me, which I gladly take.
He leads me into his bedroom, which immediately piques my interest.
His room is... it's awesome!
His bed looks a lot like Giulia's, but instead has a green and blue tiled blanket and some plain white pillows. There's a dartboard hanging above the bed, and a Batman poster on the side wall. Actually, there's a lot of Batman stuff in his room. I can name five things already: a comic book on his wooden nightstand, an action figure collection on his desk, a board game shoved under his desk, the thing on the windowsill that Alberto calls a "Batarang", and a drawing of a lady with a cat mask and ears, which is pinned to the right of the window with a thumbtack. His jacket from last night even has a bat symbol on it, which was really neat. Besides all the Batman stuff, he also has other knick-knacks and comics (but no real books, of course).
I see my own bed parallel to Alberto's, with a sky blue blanket and matching pillow arranged neatly on it. My luggage is placed on top of it (I hope to the fish gods Alberto didn't discover the journal). I smile brightly and run over to the bed, hopping on it carefully as to not mess up the neatness.
Alberto grins proudly as Massimo pats his shoulder. "You can thank this guy here for picking out the bedding," Massimo informs. "He figured you'd like it since it matches your sea monster colors."
"Well, y'know, I'm kind of an expert," Alberto adds smugly, biting his thumbnail.
I giggle. Then I flop back on the pillow. It's so comfy. I'm going to fall asleep on this right away.
I look up to see Alberto walking towards the bed, sitting down on it. "So, I hear you're spending the weeknights here," he says.
"Yup!" I sit back up. "I don't think my mom's too happy about it, though. Just 'cause she'd probably prefer if I was home most of the week. But how can I say no to this place? The human world is still so interesting to me."
Alberto leans back on his hands, giving me a gentle smile. That's one of the things I love about him: he listens to me, as long as it's nothing he can get jealous over.
"So. Boys." We look towards Massimo. "Have you eaten lunch yet? I know Alberto had some juice, but that's not much to fill a stomach."
"Hey, yeah." Alberto faces me, grabbing my wrist. "Luca, please tell me you haven't eaten yet."
I shake my head. "Seaweed isn't my favorite thing. I skipped it, thank goodness."
"Good! 'Cause there's this new pasta place you have to visit." Not releasing my wrist, he hurries off the bed and heads to the door. "Come on. I've got some soldi on me."
"But-but Mom said I have to help Massimo." I look behind me at Massimo, who's picking up a broom that was against the wall. "Signor Marcovaldo, is there anything I can help with real quick?"
He slings a rag over his shoulder. "Oh, no." He chuckles. "Go have fun. You'll help by giving me some time to listen to my melodie."
Yes! Praise those fish gods!
Alberto's patience has run out. "Come ooon, Luca." He tugs at my wrist, urging me to keep walking. I can't help but laugh as his behavior. Maybe it's immature, but I still love it. Never change, Berto.
* * *
"So... Genova," Alberto begins, hands stuffed in his pockets as we walk alongside each other down Portorosso. The weather is warmer today, and quite a few people are outside to enjoy it. But the path down the shops is empty enough for us to have our own privacy. "Kind of a boring topic, honestly. But I'll listen, I guess."
"Don't worry. I'll save that for another day." I giggle at his sigh of relief. "But there is something I'd like to talk about...."
It's about Giuseppe, of course. But I think Alberto has a worse idea in mind, 'cause he immediately looks wide-eyed at me. "Oh, no. What happened? Did someone bully you? Did I do something? Did I insult you somehow? Is it something to do with Giulia?"
Woah. That was unexpected. I've not seen him concerned like that very many times. "No, no! Nothing like that!" I reach out and place my hand on his arm to comfort him. He relaxes. "No... it's about something else. Something kinda dumb...."
"It's not dumb if it bothers you. What is it?" he asks softly.
I'm about to tell him, but then we reach the door of the ristorantino.
Alberto thinks to himself a little, his hand on the door handle. "Let's get our pasta first, and then we can talk all about it."
"Alrighty." I nod.
We enter the pasta place, which smells like one of the fancy diners in Genova. Only this time, there's a hint of pepper and mint (probably oregano). Alberto orders for me, insisting that he knows exactly what I'll like. He orders Lasagne alla Bolognese for me (which looks like a little pasta cake) and some Trenette al Pesto for himself. I offer to pay half of the price, but he doesn't let me. He says "a true gentleman never lets the girl pay". Then he yelps when I punch him in the arm. Jerk.
Our pasta comes in little plastic containers. We grab forchette and tovaglioli, then head outside to the back of the building. We sit down on the brick steps that lead to the back door.
"Now tell me what's up," Alberto says without hesitation. He opens his container and grabs his forchetta, but his attention never leaves me.
All of a sudden, I get sad again. I was able to distract myself for a while, but Giuseppe never really left my mind. "Um...." I open up my own pasta and take a bite, just so I can stall for a moment. Then, after swallowing, I let out a little exhale. "Well. You know how I run a fish farm?"
"Oh, yeah. I visited them once. They all looked confused."
"They always look like that. But anyways." I hunch forward a little, slicing another corner off the pasta cake. This time I actually appreciate all the flavors before swallowing. "One of them... Giuseppe. He's... he's... gone."
Alberto looks away from his meal, studying my expression. Then he scoots a bit closer to me. "Yeah?"
"Apparently he's been gone since last year. I don't even know if anyone looked for him, or if he's dead, or whatever." My appetite is suddenly lower, and I set the container on the ground. I hug my arms. "I just wish I'd told someone about him. How he always tries to leave. Then maybe he wouldn't have...."
Oh, jeez. If I start crying in front of Alberto, I'll never hear the end of it. I have no choice but to turn away when I feel my eyes heat up. I mean... it's just a stupid fish, right? I shouldn't be so upset. But... I am.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly, unable to hold back some tears.
But to my surprise, he doesn't mock me. "Hey...." He scoots even closer, and wraps an arm around me, pulling me close. He wouldn't even have to say anything else, and I would have already felt so much better. He's hugging me, after all. "Don't be sorry for crying. I know this means a lot to you."
I'd always noticed how Alberto wasn't a natural at comforting others. He always used humor as a distraction, or stayed quiet since he didn't know what to say. So this is new to me. New and amazing. I never could have guessed being comforted by Alberto was this nice.
But it's still hard to look at him, especially since my face is probably super red and my eyes are probably super puffy. "It's just that... he's so dependent. He needs constant guidance, and he'd never be able to make it on his own." I wipe my eyes, then snuggle closer against Alberto's warmth. I can't help it. And why would I want to help it?
His arm moves down to my side, and he rests his cheek on my head. With every little movement he makes, I get even more flustered. Sure, he's just comforting me, but friends would have pulled away by now, right?
No... don't get your hopes up, Luca. Just appreciate what you're getting.
"Hey," Alberto says after about a minute of silence. "I know what'll probably cheer you up."
I sniffle, looking up at him with the confidence that my face isn't so red anymore. "Yeah?"
Before continuing, he pulls away from me. I could just be fooling myself, but he looks like he really doesn't want to. I know I don't want him to, but I'm also relieved that now no one can catch us hugging like that. Still, I'm super glad we did. I feel so much better now. Alberto always makes me feel safe and protected.
"So, remember how I have a job as a lifeguard-human-saver-thingy?" He grabs his pasta that he'd set aside, and begins to eat it again. I do the same, my appetite returning. "Well, I work on Monday and Thursday afternoons. So I figured, since Monday's coming up...," he shrugs. "I dunno, maybe you could come watch? You can get to know Riccardo some more, too. And Giulia can be there with us. It'll be like a swim party."
That sounds like the best thing ever. My big smile answers for me before I can. "Uh, yeah I'd like to come! I've been waiting for something like this for a whole school year."
He smirks at me. "Well, then it's your lucky day, 'cause you're being personally invited by the party-maker himself."
I giggle. Alberto does seem like the kind of guy to like parties.
I place my palms on my knees and stare up at the sky, hoping that Monday will be just as pretty as today, with a big blue sky and little fluffy clouds and some chirping birdies. If it rains, though, I'll still go outside. 'Cause puddles are fun to jump in, and I like catching raindrops on my tongue. Plus, it's fun to be a sea monster above the surface.
Alberto finishes up the rest of his pasta. I'd finished mine a moment ago, so he grabs my empty container and stacks our trash together neatly. Huh. He really is being a gentleman. I fake shock and look at him all suspicious. "Who are you and what have you done with Alberto?" I joke.
"Hey, littering is a real problem," Alberto replies, lazily throwing the containers in the trash can by the steps. He dusts off his hands and smirks again. "Just helping out the en-vire-ment."
I roll my eyes at him. It's quiet for a few seconds, but eventually we can't help but start laughing at each other. We're so different, and yet he always seems to bring out the best side in me. Even more than my family, and Giulia, and my other friends at school do.
I just wish we could hug again, the way we did a little bit ago. I almost want to feel sad again, just so I can feel Alberto's warm, caring hug in response. They're new to me, and honestly, I hope I never get used to it, so it can be always be that exciting.
Our laughter dies down, and we find ourselves looking at each other, neither of us knowing what to continue with. He has kind of a bashful smile on his face, and his cheeks are slightly red. I can only imagine mine are, too. He looks at my nose, then at my knees, then away. I can tell he's thinking about something, but I don't push it. I doubt it's what I'm hoping it is, anyway.
* * *
We were planning on leaving the steps right after that, but we sort of got distracted. We had some other little conversations, and skipped rocks across random tiny puddles. It's really peaceful back here, so I guess we're just trying to cherish it before we finish the rest of the day.
"C'mere, little birdie," I call to a small robin who made her way down to the pavement. She's only a few feet from us, so I'm trying to lure her over with a crumb of Lasagne alla Bolognese that was on the ground. I pat my knee really, really gently, trying to get her to trust me. Alberto's just watching the bird, arms crossed.
"It's not gonna come over," he says, like he knows everything.
"Shhh, you're distracting me." I stretch my arm out further, trying to get her attention.
The bird hops a little towards our direction, and I gasp. But she takes one look at us, then directs her attention somewhere else. I pout. Birds are really cool. I really wanna pet one.
"Told ya. Birds are just weird like that." Alberto rubs one of his eyes with his fingers, leaning back. "I mean, I've personally held a lot of birds, but they're really picky about who they like, y'know."
"Shhh. Shush. Seriously."
Just when I think she's about to visit us, she flies off from a bicycle that suddenly speeds around the corner.
"There you boys are!" Giulia exclaims, hopping off her bike and putting the kickstand up. She puts her hands on her hips. "I've been looking for you for ages."
"Hi, Giulia." I smile at her.
"How's it going, Giuls?" Alberto adds, giving a nod at her.
"Exasperating! Santa mozzarella, I've got twelve more fish with me, but the people aren't even home! What, did they not think about getting a mailbox?" Then she wiggles some of the anger out with her shoulders, and huffs in annoyance. "Oh, well. Still got enough money to finally buy Beezus and Ramona."
She hops back on her bike, motioning us over. We get up from the brick steps, stretch our legs a little, and hop on the back of her wagon.
"You know, we should do something super fun this summer," Giulia starts as she struggles to turn the bike back around. "Like go on an adventure or something. Maybe we can go into the woods to search for some werewolves. I wanna see if they're as ugly as everyone says."
We ride back into the main part of town. "I think we should make Giulia jump off a cliff with us," Alberto suggests, grinning at her teasingly.
"Nope. No way, no how. You try that, and I just might have to kill you to death."
Alberto laughs.
While they're having a much-needed catching-up, I take this time to gaze at Alberto. I keep thinking about that hug, and how nice it is to be around him. It's only been a day, and already a lot has happened. If this type of thing continues all summer, I'll either die of shyness or die of happiness. But I'd have to do it subtly so Alberto doesn't suspect anything.
My stomach flutters as I think about Alberto some more. As I look at his face, and his eyes, and his smile.
It takes everything in me to not scoot towards him and ask for another hug.