Before I Forget

Running up That Hill

The smell of Naples filled Sky's nostrils as she wandered through the narrow streets of the old town - the smell of powdered sugar and grease, the fish market, sweat and perfume, the dust-covered cobblestone streets, the overflowing trash cans rotting under the blazing sun.

Naples was dirty and loud, it was wild and chaotic, it was rude and crowded and wonderful in all the ways that called to Sky.

She knew Dad hated it here in the south - he liked the stylish, organized renaissance cities of northern Italy - but Sky had always loved the real, raw beauty you found in places like Naples or Sicily. She loved the smell of limoncello and citrus trees, the taste of fried fish and squid, the sound of the rich, rough-around-the-edges Italian language that surrounded her here. This was her city and she swam in it like a fish in the water.

It was their first day in here, and she was jetlagged as fuck - but had decided to ignore it and go exploring anyway. Dad had meetings - the filming would start tomorrow in Pompeii - but he trusted her enough to let her out by herself. After all, it wasn't their first time here. Sky knew this city like the back of her hand.

She sat down in a small, cozy restaurant and ordered some deep-fried seafood, tomato salad, and a glass of white wine - surprised that she actually managed to pull that off. The drinking age here was 18 but Sky knew she didn't look that age - maybe the Italians didn't care, though. As Dad always said, the Romans drank wine since the day they were born.

Sky's head was still buzzing and she was dizzy after all those hours in a plane, but it all kind of blended nicely into the chaos that was Naples. While waiting for her food she didn't think about anything, her senses just taking in her surroundings - the group of American tourists passing by, commenting on the smell of the city with their wide Texan accent, the heat of the sun that was still almost too much even if it would soon go down, the music that echoed from inside of the restaurant to the terrace she was sitting on. The sea wind made the hem of her white, floral patterned summer dress move lazily around her legs, her hair escaping from the loose french braid on her neck.

Absentmindedly she pulled her phone from her purse and connected it to the restaurant's wi-fi. She had snapped some cute pictures while walking through the old town and wanted to send them to Hawk, but the messages started flooding her Whatsapp the moment her phone found the connection.

"What the—?" she clicked on the screen and opened the app. There were dozens of texts from Sam, which was a surprise. Sure, they had patched things up after the Valley Fest but still, Sam had been a bit distant ever since so Sky wasn't really expecting to hear from her.

She started reading, and soon she forgot her wine, didn't even notice the cute waiter who brought her plates giving her a charming smile. It was as if the restaurant disappeared around her and all that existed was this dark hole of messages that sucked her in.

No, it can't be true. I can't believe it!

And yet, it was too easy to believe. She could almost see it with her own eyes - Hawk trying to kick Demetri's ass over some stupid Yelp review - and getting into a fight with Sam and Robby.

Sky could barely breathe as she read through the messages. Her wine got warm, her food got cold as they lay untouched in front of her, nausea making her stomach clench tight.

The worst thing was, that there were no messages from Hawk. Not one. Not even a reply to her texts that told they had made it to Italy and everything was okay. The horrible lack of communication from Hawk could only mean one thing - that all Sam had told was true.

"Tutto bene, signorina?" asked a smooth voice and Sky looked up from her phone. The cute dark-eyed waiter boy was eying her untouched plate rather worriedly, and Sky forced a smile on her lips.