Sink or Swim - Luca x Alberto

Avellino

The next morning

Luca's POV

The bedroom door flings open.

"Rise and shine, ragazzi!" I hear Giulia say.

Groaning, I roll onto my stomach. I look over at Alberto. Nearly half his body is hanging off the bed.

She flicks the light switch.

"Aaagh!" Alberto and I both cover our eyes and bury our faces in our pillows. That light is blinding.

"Time to wake up!" she announces, clapping her hands together.

I yawn and hug my pillow. I can feel the rings of the journal digging into my hand through the pillowcase. "What time is it?" I manage to mumble out.

"Crack of dawn."

I glance up at the window. The sun's barely even risen yet. It's too early to start the day, even for me. "Why did you wake us up so early?" I ask her, making myself sit up.

"We've got a big day ahead of us." She walks over to Alberto and yanks the pillow from his face, making him groan in protest. "I told you we had a surprise. Pack your bags, boys; we're going on a road trip!"

I sit up straighter, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "A road trip?" I repeat, a little more awake now. "Where are we going?"

"Please don't let it be school," Alberto complains, turning onto his back and laying his arm over his eyes.

Giulia chuckles at him, tossing the pillow down by his feet. "It's not school. And papà hasn't told me yet. But he says it's gonna be super fun!"

"Can't it wait?" I stretch my arms out, resting my body on my pillow. "Like, an hour?"

Giulia rolls her eyes. "Santa Taleggio. You can sleep in the car." She claps again—louder—which makes us jolt awake. "You guys have an hour to get ready. But I still need to pack some things, so no rush."

Alberto looks over at me, his eyes half-lidded and heavy. "Do you want to shower first?" he asks me.

I breathe out softly and force myself to move. "Yeah, I guess I can," I reply, scooting down off the bed.

"Awesome. More sleep for me." Alberto grabs his pillow and flops his face down onto it, squeezing it close to him.

Giulia shakes his head at him. Then she turns to me. "Be quick, okay?" She starts to head out the door. "Love ya!"

"Love you."

I follow her out into the hall and make my way towards the bathroom.

* * *

The shower really wakes me up. Once I'm out (and once I shake the scales off), I wrap a towel around myself, hang up another towel for Alberto, then walk back into the room. I change real quick so I can wake Alberto up. He grumbles when I shake him awake, but he gets up anyway.

While he's showering, I grab my backpack and start to pack. There are still things in it I haven't taken out, like sunscreen and a travel umbrella. I'll probably need those, so I leave them in there.

I end up packing bug spray, a comb, an extra change of clothes, and some money. Oh, and my journal... just in case. Then I throw my backpack on the bed.