GIA BEGINS MY 'deguy-ifying' that same day.
After kidnapping me from my home, she keeps me hostage in the confines of her bedroom, shackling me to her bed with the aid of a hydrating sheet mask that she lightly pats into my face, gagging me and muffling my cries of help with a Ringo.
"Mmm...!" I say against my will, crunching on the soft cookie, pleasantly surprised by the creamy chocolate icing that melts onto my tongue.
"Better than an Oreo, right?" Gia comments as she takes a break from her ministrations to stuff one of the cookies she brought from Italy into her mouth.
I hear her shuffle around on her carpeted floor. Seconds later, I catch a whiff of a strong chemical scent and I realise she's opened a bottle of nail varnish.
"Is all this really necessary?" I ask when I feel a cold, tingly sensation in my toes. I lift off the face mask slightly and raise my head up to peek at Gia who has now proceeded to painting my nails.
"Don't touch the mask, it's supposed to stay on for another 15 minutes to be effective," she cautions, shooting me a warning look before she goes back to her nail art. "And yes, extremely."
I roll my eyes, but I do as she says, letting go of the mask and drumming my fingers on my stomach to a tune I make up in my head.
"As sweet as it is to see you getting along with your brothers, I can't let you become a tomboy," she continues in a serious tone.
I raise a sceptic eyebrow at that. She says 'tomboy' as if it's a bad thing.
"If I recall correctly, you were the biggest tomboy throughout the entire of middle school," I remind her, thinking back to those days with a slight chuckle.
"That's exactly why I'm saying this now. There has to be a balance to everything," Gia responds. "I need to be able to go shopping with you and have you give me an honest opinion on clothes without you whining about how demeaning the entire process is, or wanting to go to some guy store instead, or watch sports." Gia shudders.
"Are you sure you've had enough rest? Maybe the jet-lag is making you delirious."
"I slept like a newborn baby, thank you," Gia replies. "We flew in early this morning. I've been asleep for the majority of today. I think I must have woken up about an hour or two before I headed out to yours."
"Aw, well, I'm glad I'm so high up on your priority list," I gush playfully.
"Yep. Sleep first, annoying best friend second," Gia teases back.
A timer goes off, signalling the end of the recommended twenty minutes to wear the sheet mask. Before Gia can protest, I promptly take it off and sit up straight in her bed, wiggling my toes.
"What design are you trying to paint on?" I ask.
"Ducks. Isn't it obvious?"
I observe the mangled yellow splodges on my toenails. My face twists. Sometimes, I forget how awful Gia is at nail art. The only person who could possibly be worse than her at crafts or artsy things in general is Hayden.
"Those are the worst ducks I've ever seen."
"Hey!"
I draw my feet closer to me. "Pass me the striper brush," I instruct Gia as I swipe the two nail polish bottles she's holding. "Oh, and the dotting tool next to you."
Gia grudgingly does as I say, passing a basket containing her nail art toolkit to me.
"Maybe I was trying to recreate an ugly duckling," Gia grumbles as she watches me restore the design to something less horrifying to look at.
"Yeah," I reply sarcastically. "And magically one day, it will turn into a beautiful swan with lovely manicured French tips."
"A swan with French tips sounds terrifying."
I snort. Gia snickers. Perhaps it's a result of our sugar high from having one too many Italian candies, but the two of us are on the verge of full cackles when Gia's mother, Katrina, appears through a gap in the door.
"Hi again, Harvey," she greets me with a smile.
"Hi, Mrs Benedetti," I reply waving.
"Is Harvey staying over for dinner?" Gia's mum asks her.
"I invited her to stay the night," Gia says pointing to my things piled in the corner of the room. She'd made me pack them while she caught up with Hunter and Hayden and the guys, and then forced me to carry them on the public bus all the way to her place. "Is that okay?"
"Oh, that's true, you mentioned it before," Katrina verbalises. "Yes, that's alright. We're eating in about an hour, so you girls try to come down on time."
We responds with eager nods and hums of agreement until Gia's mother slips out the room again, shutting the door behind her.
I turn to Gia. "Do you know what we're having? Is it pasta? Your mom's carbonara is the bomb. I've been craving it for weeks now."
"God, no." Gia shakes her head vehemently. "I've eaten over twenty varieties of pasta in the past month. I think I'll have a breakdown if someone so much as mentions the word spaghetti right now," she says. "Besides, I don't think anyone is in the mood to cook tonight."
"So what are we having?" I ask, confused.
Gia rises to her feet with a grin, rifling on top of a drawer until she finds a takeout menu and passes it to me.
"Chinese."
><{{{(•>
The Benedetti's make eating takeaway seem like a classy affair.
Their sleek, modern dining table is decked out with an array of silverware and their finest white china set out neatly for five persons. The centrepiece comprises of a stack of emptied-out white takeout boxes, and dotted around the table are a numerous amount of side dishes, transferred into more aesthetic dinnerware.
"Dad, this is too much," Gia dead-tones as she settles into her seat.
"Your nonna never let me contribute in the kitchen the entire time we visited, it was driving me mad," her dad replies in a jovial tone. "Hello, Harvey. Nice to see you again."
We met at the front door when Gia and I first arrived at her home, but Gia had ushered me so quickly up the stairs, we didn't have time to exchange proper greetings then.
"And you too, Mr Benedetti."
"It's Tony now, remember."
"She still calls me that too," Gia's mother says with a sigh as she takes her seat. "Even after all these years... I've just learned to let it go."
"I just really like your last name," I say jokingly, grinning at Gia's parents. In truth, the habit of addressing Gia's parents formally was just too hard to break, given that they were both teachers at my high school and each had taught me at one point.
"Can we eat now?" Isabel, Gia's nine year old sister asks, looking at all of us expectantly.
"Of course, Bella," Katrina replies, passing her youngest a plate full of dumplings to take her pick.
We all begin to dig in, selecting our favourite sides from the selection and adding to our plates.
"Did Maria not come home with you guys?" I ask the family, referring to Gia's eldest sister.
"She took a connecting flight back to mainland," Gia explains as she picks up a spring roll. "She doesn't get a lot of holidays with the company she works, so she had to go straight back."
I nod in understanding.
"She left some things in our luggage, so we'll be taking them over to her this weekend," Gia's mother says.
"You're going to mainland?"
"Not for very long. The main reason is Isabel's appointment," Katrina elaborates. To her daughter, she inquires, "Bella, how's your implant?"
"I still can't hear out my left ear," the nine-year old replies with a shrug. "It's just ringing."
Katrina nods curtly then sighs. "It's ridiculous there are no ENT specialists in this entire town."
"It's what comes from living in a small town, mia cara," Tony reminds her calmly. Then while looking at Gia, he says, "I trust we can leave you safely on your own. The house will be empty, so you'll be able to have your party—"
"But nothing too crazy," Gia's mother interjects, "otherwise there'll be no more partying altogether. Here or anywhere else."
"Yes, yes. Of course," Gia says with a beam.
My eyebrows furrow. "You're actually having a 'welcome back' party?"
A few weeks ago, during one of my 'I Miss You and I'm Bored' calls to Gia, I told her that if she came home on time I'd throw her a party because it had been so long since I'd seen her face. I didn't think she'd take me seriously. By the mischievous grin she throws me now, I know she was banking on that.
"Well, you're the one who suggested it, so yeah," she replies simply.
"I thought we were joking about that," I answer back in a quiet hiss.
Gia's grin broadens. "I wasn't. I got it on recording and everything."
"Wait, really?"
Gia breaks apart a strip of chicken with her chopsticks, then pops it in her mouth. With a knowing glance back at me, she says, "I'll play it back for you later."
><{{{(•>
"Gia's throwing a party?" Hayden asks in a manner that starts off surprised but abruptly changes to convey a tone of disinterest.
If Hayden is trying to sound like he doesn't care, he is doing a very bad job of it.
"Yeah," I confirm, leaning my elbows against the kitchen counter. "And she wants you three to help her set up."
Hayden and Jay look to their British friend. "Finn too?" Jay asks.
It's not uncommon for Gia to thrust the dirty work for organising a party on to Jay and Hayden, so they're pretty used to this by now; but I suppose Gia asking someone she's known for less than twenty minutes to help set up her party is rather strange.
I nod, briefly making eye contact with Finn. "She wants to get to know you too, or whatever," I respond as vaguely as I can, choosing not to mention the hours upon hours she spent last night, pestering me about all that has transpired between me and my new neighbour.
Hayden had been hanging out with Jay and Finn in the kitchen before I came in to deliver the news. Now, all caught up, he seems to be somewhat annoyed by this information.
"And she's above asking us for help in person?" he huffs. "When is this party — in two days? She's not really giving us a chance to decline. It's no wonder the two of you are best friends — you're both so bossy."
I raise an eyebrow at his remark and look to Jay, realising he is wearing the same expression that I am: the 'you're not fooling anyone' look.
"Alright then..." I respond. "She's coming over this evening, so you can get her to beg you for help then, if that's what you really want."
At that moment, Hunter pops into the kitchen, walking over to the fridge to get himself a drink.
"I heard you say Gia's having a party," he says while he peruses the refrigerator. "Will Hot Maria be there?"
"Who's Hot Maria?" Finn asks.
"Gia's older sister," I quickly explain. "And you guys need to stop calling her that."
"If there's a Mild Maria, there needs to be a Hot Maria as well," Hayden reasons. "It's only logical."
"Who's—"
"No one you care about," I instantly cut Finn off. "Plus, she's like seven years older than you, Hayden."
"It's just a force of habit now," Hunter says, donning a casual smile as he shrugs. He shuts the refrigerator, and comes to the island to observe us all. "You were saying?"
"No, she's not. Maria has work, so her parents are visiting her instead. That's why their house is free for Gia to throw a party. By the way, Gia also invited you, if you want to come," I tell Hunter.
Hunter simply nods. "Cool. Maybe Lance and I will pop over for a bit."
"Noted. I'll relay the news back to Gia," I say.
Hunter sighs, shaking his head in disapproval. As he walks past me, he lightly pats my shoulder. "No need to treat it so mechanically, Harv," he says with his lips quirked in a small, amused smile. "It's just a party, it's okay to relax a little."
A frown tugs at my bottom lip as I watch Hunter exit the kitchen. With the conversation seemingly at an end, Hayden and Jay go back to checking out something on Jay's phone, while I open a checklist on mine to see what other tasks Gia wanted us to get done in preparation. When I look up again, I notice Finn is staring at me with a confused look on his face.
"Yes, Blondie?" I say with a raised brow.
"I thought you didn't like parties," he blurts.
"I don't."
"So why are you...?" Finn looks more perplexed.
Hayden looks up. "Oh, didn't you know?" he asks Finn. "If there's one person Harvey would do anything for, it's Gia."
A smile plays on Jay's lips as he looks up to meet my eyes. "Even if it's a party."
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A/N:
This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer, but my muse the Sun has departed me, hidden behind a shroud of clouds and terrible British weather, so I haven't been as inspired to write this week unfortunately.
Nonetheless, I figured you'd appreciate an earlier update than having to wait indefinitely for the rest of the chapter. Like I mentioned in Ch 14, I released my other book 'Misfits' which also delayed the release of this chapter. So, sorry :(
On the bright side, next chapter will be all about the party. I think you guys will (maybe) like what I have in store 😇🌚
Oh! Btw if you were wondering what a Ringo is, check out the video in the media section. This chapter was actually sponsored by them (not really, I'm kidding ahaha).
♕ Carmen ♕