From London to Rome

Chapter 10

It's a strange feeling to miss someone you only met a few days ago. Luca and I didn't see each other anymore after he left my room on Monday afternoon and he got on a plane to LA later that day. We have been texting non-stop for the past 48 hours. Talking to him is as easy as talking to my siblings. It feels like we have known each other forever. It's just like the time in the garden, we can talk about anything, for hours on end. This morning, after he landed in LA, we called for about two hours without falling into silence once. It sucks that he had to leave right after we started hanging out, but it also gives us an opportunity. In the past two days, I've already gotten to know him so much better. He told me about how he always felt a lot of pressure to be the best because he is the eldest. His parents were often away for work and he would take care of Adrina as much as he could his entire life.

For me, getting to know each other via text is so much easier. I don't constantly get distracted looking at his biceps, or his tattoos, or his abs showing through his shirt. And it also means I don't have to worry about my own looks as much. I have always been self-conscious about my body and how I look and getting this close to somebody feels really scary to me. Especially because I've been crushing on that person for over a year from a distance.

"Earth to Skylar," Tess and Madison look at me, confusion on their faces. "What's the matter with you? For the past three days, you've been acting weird and distant. All you do is look at your phone."

"Yeah. And you didn't want to go shopping with us last Saturday. You never pass on the chance to drag us into any bookstore." Apparently, my friends noticed that my mind is somewhere else. Now I have to come up with an excuse. I know them well enough to know that they won't let this rest until I give them a decent explanation. I wish I could tell them the truth, but I don't want to risk anyone finding out about Luca and me. The more people know the faster the news spreads, especially because Madison would scream loud enough for the whole lecture hall to hear. And my gut says both Luca and I don't want any publicity about us being together just yet.

"Well, there is something I need to tell you." Both of them look terrified. Oh, God. I am so bad at this. "Nothing bad. Just that I met a guy, went on a date Saturday and have been texting with him non-stop since then." I try to act as casual as possible, but I don't even believe it myself, so I'm positive my friends won't believe it either.

"You what?!?" Madison is almost screaming and everyone in the room looks up to see where the noise is coming from. It's almost like I can predict the future. Tess hits her on the arm, telling her to keep quiet. "So, who is the lucky guy." I didn't think this through. Why did I tell them without getting the story straight?

"I won't tell." Madison looks disappointed. "I know you are just going to stalk him if I do tell you. And I want to keep him to myself a little longer. At least till I know where this is going."

"That's fine. As long as you tell us every detail of your date. How did you even meet McDreamy?" Luckily Tess is a little more easy-going than Madison.

"McDreamy? How did you get to that nickname?"

"Well, he seems to have you in your daydreaming state all day, so I think it's rather fitting. Now tell us everything!"

"So you remember the guy I ran into at the coffeeshop last week? I ran into him again later that day in the bookshop. We talked, he gave me his number and that's it."

"Naha! First of all, fate is really out here working for you, Sky. Secondly, you won't get away with saying you've just been texting. We said every detail so talk young lady or I'll unleash Madison on you."

"He gave me his number, I texted him that evening after overthinking it for way too long. We texted for a bit, we talked on the phone almost every day after that. Talking to him is so easy, it feels like he understands me without needing many words. We both love books and reading, and coffee. He took me out to a garden in the city on Saturday and we spend the entire day together. We also spend yesterday afternoon talking before he had to catch a plane for a work trip."

I hope this is enough detail for them. I don't want to leave too many parts out, they are still two of my best friends. I also don't want them to find out who it's I'm seeing so I have to be careful about which details I share with them. I cleverly left out the part where Luca came to my room drunk and spend the night sleeping in my bed.

"You mean to tell me you went on a date with him without informing us?"

"I guess so-"

"We could have helped you get ready! We want to be there spying on you from a distance."

"I don't even know if it really was a date. We got coffee and pastries and talked in a public space. It could just as well have been completely platonic."

"Okay, let's get to the bottom of this. Did he complement you? Did he try to find ways to subtly touch?"

"No, I don't think so. We just talked and laughed I guess."

"Okay, what about yesterday? Did he say or do anything non-platonic?"

"He said he would miss me when he's away. He said he wants to get to know me better. But I'm not good at this whole guy thing, you know that. He probably just wants to be friends or something."

"Girl! Stop diminishing this! He said he will miss you and wants to get to know you better, that's big. You don't tell everyone that. Especially since you've only met like what, a week ago. If he just wanted to be friends I don't think he would have said those things."

Maybe they are right, maybe this is something bigger than I thought it would be. But where does that leave me? I've never been someone who dated, I preferred to keep my distance from other people. I have no idea how the whole dating scene works, I'm as clueless as can be. And it doesn't help that my friends don't know the whole story. I wish it were easier and I could just tell them everything.