After the dinner was over, I searched for Samantha and spent some time with her. We talked for half an hour or so, and deep down, I was hoping this conversation could last forever.
But unfortunately, Sam had to leave, to take care of some complicated time-traveler's business.
As to me, I couldn't keep avoiding Francesco and delaying my return, which is why as soon as Sam left, I got back to my room.
When I entered it, I noticed that my roommate was already here, lying on his bed.
He, surprisingly, just nodded at me, being the well-mannered guy that he was.
Not knowing what to reply, I chose to ignore him.
-"Rude much?" he observed, raising one eyebrow at me.
-"Oh, don't mind me, I was just trying a few of your Mancini methods. The impertinence and insolence, I mean. I thought that since you're a professional, you might appreciate them, but oh well. Life is full of surprises, sometimes."
I was expecting a "Very funny" or another snarky comment of this type, but all I received was a cold, arctic glare.
"Of course he would only scowl at me," I mumbled to myself, rolling my eyes mentally.
He was Francesco Mancini, after all; I should have known better.
I took my favorite pajamas out of the closet, picked up my toothbrush and other necessities from what remained unpacked in my bag, and went to the restroom.
When I came back, Francesco was outside the door, leaning against the wall, and tapping his foot on the ground furiously. He had, apparently, been waiting for me to finish and get out and was not so pleased with me taking more than half an hour inside.
But hey! There was a mirror in the bathroom. How could I resist? My reflection was one of the best things I have ever seen in my life.
I simply loved how my wavy light brown hair fell on my face, and— when times were rough, and the barbershop was closed— covered my equally brown eyes.
Francesco cleared his throat, which cut my day-dreaming short, and brought me back to the sad reality.
-"Get out of my way," he ordered. And, against my will, I found my legs moving forward, towards my bed.
I lay down on it, and the usual stream of thoughts that preceded my going to sleep came back, stronger than ever.
Only this time, they weren't about my past nor about the famous incident that broke me six years ago, but about today's events and the future that awaited me.
It was weird how, in the blink of an eye, everything in my life turned upside down.
Up to this morning, I had some doubts about my so-called traveling powers, as well as everything Amanda had told me yesterday. But after executing my first time-travel, this mysterious power had stirred something in me.
I felt connected to these people as if I had known them my whole life. I felt that I could, to a certain extent, trust them.
And that was wrong.
In this cruel world, trust was a foolish thing.
I pitied those naive individuals who trusted blindly every new person they met.
"Pitied? More like envied," my inner voice scoffed.
Envied? Nah. I didn't. Trust always lead to betrayals and heartbreaks. So why would I envy those people?
"Yeah," my subconscious added, with a touch of scorn. "Why would you envy people who trusted and cared for someone, and received the same love and care in return?"
I chose to ignore this little remark.
Thankfully, Francesco was back in the room now, and I could always use him to distract myself from the swirling thoughts in my mind.
-"So, how was your day?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.
-"Good."
-"The food was delicious, don't you agree? I could eat from this cafeteria for the rest of my life! I admit, time-travelers really know how to cook. They do an incredible job at it. I mean, first I try this chocolate bar, and it tastes even better than Aunt Smith's pudding, and then, they serve us this amazing dinner, with wine and... Umm, hello?"
No response.
Well, except for the light snoring that rose from the adjacent bed.
Ah, Francesco. I could always trust him to be silent and unresponsive.
"Here comes that word again," remarked my inner voice. "You always end up thinking about it. Pretty pathetic, for a guy who believes that trust is silly and pointless."
Damn it!
Trust was undeniably a dangerous notion.
My mind, however, didn't quite get that. It wandered through unknown and treacherous alleys and swam in dark and vicious seas, where loyalty was drowned long ago, and hearts were shattered, broken into a million pieces.
Looking one last time at my roommate, I couldn't help the murmur that escaped my lips before drifting off to sleep: "What about you, roomie? Do you trust these guys?"
***
I woke up the next day to a shirtless Francesco throwing a cup of water on me.
-"Hey! Dude!" I exclaimed, jumping immediately out of my bed. "That was low, Francesco. Very low."
-"I don't care. Get ready. Breakfast is in half an hour, and right after it, we have another lesson with Emma."
Great. Just what I needed to start off my day.
After picking up today's outfit and doing my morning hygiene routine, I followed Francesco to the dining hall.
The breakfast was just like yesterday, with everyone talking and gossiping, and me and Francesco sitting between them, clueless.
The lesson, later on, also felt like a déjà-vu. Both Emma and Francesco didn't miss a chance to mock me, whereas Lucas and James stuck by my side throughout the whole training.
Once the training session and the lunch that followed were over, I went searching for Amanda.
I found her in the atrium, staring at the giant oak tree.
-"You're finally here," she said. "I was waiting for you."
-"Huh? Why?"
-"You wanted to ask me something, right? So go ahead, shoot your question."
-"Oh, yes. I wanted to ask you if the lessons for today were over, and if..."
-"Yeah, you can go back to your apartment. After all, you do have work tomorrow, don't you?"
-"Yes! Thank you so much! You have no idea how grumpy and bad-tempered the boss is on Mondays. If I had stayed here for this night too, I would have been late to work. Arriving late on the first weekday would be equal to signing my death certificate."
-"Trust me, I know that," she stated, an amused expression on her face.
-"How do you...!? Ah, yes. Samantha," I remembered.
She shrugged as if to say "I'm sorry", but the playing smile on her lips was anything but apologetic.
-"So, I'll see you around?" I asked, hesitantly.
-"You sure will. From now on, you'll have lessons every afternoon, and during the weekends, you'll be staying here."
-"Yay, can't wait!" I muttered, a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
She stared at me, raising both her eyebrows in a "do-you-think-you're-funny?" kind of way.
-"I think you can go now," she told me, clearly desirous and impatient to see me leave.
-"Fine, fine. I'm going," I said, rolling my eyes.
***
By the time I returned to my apartment, the sun had already set behind the horizon, and little snowflakes had started falling, decorating the sidewalks with small white dots.
On my way home, I had bought a baguette from the bakery right across the streets. Having nothing else to eat, I immediately took it and, instead of putting it down on the kitchen counter, started chopping off small pieces and stuffing them in my mouth.
Once I was full, I picked up a book from one of my many bookshelves, settled on my main couch in the living room, and started reading.
I plunged in the fictional and fantastic world the author created and, without realizing it, soon started to doze off.