Fifteen

Dieci

After my Skype call with my siblings, I ended up getting very little sleep, playing Michael's words over and over again in my mind. He was right, of course: I would need to pick my timing perfectly and right now, it wasn't the right time. The longer I lay awake, thinking, the more I came to a decision. 

I am in love with Max and I strongly believe that one day, Max and I will be together. I've just got to wait for that day to come. Be it this year, or the next, or a few years or decades down the line, we will have our happiest ever after. 

Throwing the covers off me, I sneak out of my room and down the hallway, turning the corner and heading towards Nari's bedroom door. Knocking quietly, I wait for him to answer. After a few minutes of waiting patiently, I knock again. When a reply doesn't come, I make the decision to barge into the bedroom, heading over to where he sleeps and nudging him awake. I poke, I prod, I even shake him yet nothing stirs him. Clicking my tongue, I lean close to his face and blow into his ear, scuttling backwards when he jolts into the land of the living, looking around like a demented man. 

"Ah, good, you're awake," I smile at him when he finally focuses on me. "I just came in here to tell you that I've made up my mind about the whole Max thing."

Nari flops back down on his bed. "Yeah? Are you going to share or...?"

"I'm going to write him a letter," I announce. "If it could work for Lara Jean, it could work for me."

"I'm not even going to ask." Stretching out in bed, Nari sits up and leans against the headboard, patting the space next to him. I gawp at him before picking up the nearest thing to me and launching it at him. The deodorant can misses him by a mile. My aim was severely off. "You are such a crazy lady. Look the paper and pen is on the nightstand there, write your heart out because I know exactly what we need to do."

Despite being wary of Nari, I move to grab the pen and paper before sitting on the bed and starting to write the letter. Every now and then, Nari would look over and make suggestions, even going so far as to get me to write little titbits in Italian. Reminding him that I don't speak Italian, therefore, I cannot write in Italian, Nari decided to be a decent guy and spelt each word out for me, even going so far as to tell me when an apostrophe was needed. Within half an hour, my letter was done, signed off with, per sempre, Isabella. 

"Hey, Isabella, get dressed and meet me downstairs in ten," Nari cryptically says. "Don't question it, just do it."

Trusting him for once, I do as I'm told, sneaking back to my room to change into a pair of jeans and an oversized shirt before quietly heading down the stairs to meet Nari at the door. Looking at him, I frowned when I saw the keys to my Nonna's car dangling from his fingers. This was turning into such a bad idea. Like, really, really bad. 

Still, Nari insisted. Jumping into the driver's seat of the car, he winked at me as he put the car into neutral and let the car roll down the driveway until we were far enough away from the house and he could put the key into the ignition and start the engine. The car roared to life and soon enough, Nari was navigating the now familiar route into the city. Since it was early, there weren't many people around and no one cared enough that two teenagers had just stolen a car and gone for a joyride. I was pretty sure that it was illegal for Nari to drive in Italy. While he might have a license back in the States, it meant nothing here. 

"If we get caught, I'm telling them you kidnapped me," I tell him, not joking in the slightest. "Do you mind sharing your plan with me?"

Nari laughed. "I'll tell you when we get there. Five minutes, little bird."

Stopping at a set of lights, I looked out the window and saw the Castelvecchio bridge illuminated, looking mesmerising under the light of the moon. Smiling, I watched as the rest of the city drew me in. Sensing that Nari was prolonging the drive, I didn't complain, especially when we were passing the old Roman arena. Asking Nari to stop, he pulls over and watches as I get out of the car. Calling out for him, he joins me for a quick selfie. 

"I'm starting to see why you love this city," I commented as we passed Piazza dei Signori. The drive went on for a little longer until we finally came to a stop outside the same courtyard we'd visited earlier today. Or rather, yesterday. "Casa di Giulietta?"

Nari nodded as he got out of the car. "Just trust me, ok? Now, you don't have a major thing about breaking and entering, do you?"

"Just a little, Nari," I answered. Keeping a lookout, I listened as Nari picked at the lock of the gates that kept visitors out, only turning when I heard a triumphant 'a-ha' from behind me. "Seriously?"

"Come on," he smiled, sneaking through the gate and dragging me behind him. With all the tourists now gone and it was just us, I had to admit that the balcony and the statue weren't as bad I thought they were. I still wasn't sold on the idea of Romeo and Juliet but that's neither here nor there right now. Nari stopped near a wall and took a letter out of his pocket, rolling it up and tucking it into a crevice in the stonework. Reaching out his hand, he said, "Pass me your letter."

I shook my head. "It's for Max."

"We both know you're not going to give it to him," Nari correctly deduces. Reluctantly, I hand my letter to him and watch as he rolls it up and places it next to the one he had left. "They say, if you leave a letter here, you and your love will be together forever. Let's see if it works, huh? You with Max, me with Piper."

I give him a sceptical look. "You believe in all that?" He nods. "Well, ok. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

After a few minutes of hanging out in the courtyard, we decide to leave, stealing a glance back at our letters in the hope that the story was true. Nari locked the gate behind us. "So, do you want to see a little more of Verona by night? I can recommend this all-night cafe that does the second-best gelato in the whole of Verona."

"Do they have cioccolato all'azteca?" I asked, earning a surprised grin from Nari. Oh, yeah, my Italian accent wasn't so bad now. "Sto cercando di imparare a parlare italiano."

"Not bad, Isabella, not bad at all," he laughed. "You'll be fluent in no time. But in answer to your question, no they don't have cioccolato all'azteca. They have something much better. Andiamo!"