Super Crush (BxB)

Secret Passages in Sorrento (S2)

Mom's vibes have changed. There is something new and fresh about her. She looks more awake than she has in months. Younger with a glow. I think getting off the train and running around Rome for a few hours made her realize we're actually here. A country that has meant so much to our family.

On our windy bus ride from the Naples train station to Sorrento, Mom has her face and phone glued to the window. She takes picture after picture of the coastline. Granted, the glow of the near sunless sky IS doing wonders for the lighting.

She points to fancy houses stacked along the mountainside and "ooows" and "aahhs."

"Look at that one!"

"Dang, that one has a big swimming pool!"

"Check out the garden on that one's roof!"

She looks like a kid in a candy store.

My attention is taken from my ecstatic mother when my phone lets out four different notification sounds at once. Between text messages, social media, and news sites I have been following, the alerts warn me something big is going on. I hold my breath as I unlock my mobile to find a picture of Abe.

Then I hear the live feed. "He is a terrorist! Alexander Abraham, codename Crimson Kid, is highly dangerous and wanted by the US government for seditious conspiracy and murder..."

My senses start to fail. I can feel panicky breaths take over my previously calm lungs. Abe said he would cooperate with the police and, though I have heard many unflattering things from no-names on news shows and video blogs, my mental shutdown spawns from the fact that Titus Mangrove, the US Secretary of State, is delivering this new message.

I page through Appendix F of the Going Crazy 101 textbook in my mind and land on the most important question: How did this situation flip-flop so badly?

"Noah," I hear my mom say as if my head has been sunken to the bottom of an aquarium.

My blurry eyes find her as she gargles my name again. I blink hard to reset my sight and hearing, but my voice doesn't get the memo.

"Hand it over," her hand is outstretched.

My brain hasn't rebooted yet either because I have no idea what she wants.

"Your phone. Maybe a little tech break is good for both of us."

I let out a laugh. "Mom, not really how this works. I'm not eleven."

"Not a choice, Noah." Her newfound giddiness is gone.

Before I can scoff or be more dramatic, I notice my tech band light up.

-·- it's okay -·-

By the time the message finishes circumnavigating my wrist, I hand my phone over to my mom. My mind is too zombified wondering if my Dad means giving up my cell is fine or if he means this new mess with Abe is okay. I am not sure what access he has to the news, but I also wouldn't put it past him if this bracelet has me bugged, keeping him up to date on my present meltdown.

The whole thing would have been mind-blowing if Dad hadn't sent me a half dozen other messages since I started wearing the band. He told me to fly to Milan. Take the train to Naples. Suggested a place to stay. And my favorite, to date:

-·- be safe i.l.y -·-

When Mom asked how I knew the path to Sorrento so well, I told her I Googled all the plans. She had no second thoughts about purchasing tickets or reserving a room at the cool but affordable hotel Dad told me to direct her to.

Thank goodness for off-season pricing.

But the buzz is now gone. A chill has floated in between Mom and me for the rest of the bus ride. When we arrive at the town square, I am too distracted by the whirlwind in my head to pay much attention to Mom's tour guide attempt to smooth things over. She points things out and gives me little blurbs about them.