Lost Lombardi

Chapter 29

In the last period, Dino was checking the time nervously. He checked the time every minute and had difficulty focusing on what the teacher was saying. Dino realized that he had done something stupid, making Helio angry. But he couldn't live like a coward forever. Dino had already pictured how he had to avoid the morning fight and how he would run away as soon as the school bell rang.

Finally, the school bell rang, and Dino scrambled to pack his bag, eager to leave. He felt like it was taking an eternity to pack, even though he only had to put away the books from the last period.

"Hurry up, Kacper. We need to go," Dino said. Poor Kacper was also frantically getting his bag ready to run with Dino.

"Oh Dino, I need to have a word with you. Just for a few minutes," the teacher said, and Dino stared at Kacper in disbelief. Dino's heart was beating fast, ready to run away. His adrenaline was pumping, giving him the energy he needed. Yet, the teacher wanted to talk with him.

"Miss Bright, I... I need to leave early today. Can we...," Dino tried to say.

"Oh, Dino, it's just for a few minutes. I looked over your project, and it's impressive. You did it very well. But there's a little thing you need to fix. Come here, I'll show you," Miss Bright said with a bright smile.

Dino headed to the front of the classroom to see what Miss Bright was referring to. He glanced at Kacper helplessly. The teacher started pointing out a few aspects of Dino's project. And Dino nodded, pretending he was paying attention to what she was saying. But the truth was, he wasn't paying any attention. After a few minutes, the teacher closed the project.

"So, that's all. You did well," Miss Bright said.

"Thanks, Miss. Can I go now? I'm in a big hurry. I'm already late," Dino said.

"Oh, okay then," Miss Bright said, her expression reflecting disappointment at Dino's response.

Dino and Kacper hurried to the car park, but they were too late. Helio and his gang were already there. One of the guys was even sitting on Dino's car bonnet.

"Get down from my car," Dino said, his voice filled with anger. The guy stood up.

"So, you're late," Helio said.

"Looks like he's scared to fight," one of the guys said, and the others laughed like it was some big joke.

"Aren't you scared to fight, big guy? Then why don't you two fight?" Dino said.

"Oh, Dino, you are scared to fight, are you?" Helio said, looking into Dino's eyes.

"What's your problem, man? Just leave me alone," Dino said, trying to open his car door, but Helio grabbed Dino's wrist hard.

"We scheduled a fight," Helio snapped, looking like he was craving it.

"You scheduled a fight, not me. Now let me go," Dino said.

"Oh, what a coward," Helio's friends said, laughing.

"Why don't you pick on someone your size, Helio? Why do you always choose those who obviously can't fight you? Looks like you're the real coward here," Kacper said, trying to stop the fight.

Unexpectedly, Helio walked up to Kacper and slapped him. Kacper lost his balance but didn't fall. Poor Kacper's face turned red, and tears welled up in his eyes. Helio's friends started laughing.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Helio?" Dino said, and then he started fighting Helio. During the fight, both Dino and Kacper forgot about their backpacks, and Dino's phone fell out. One of Helio's friends snatched their backpacks, while another quietly picked up Dino's phone. Another one forcefully took Kacper's phone from his pocket.

"Hey, Helio, let's go," his friends said, showing what they had taken. Helio stopped fighting, and they ran to his car.

"What? What happened?" Dino, who had been focused on the fight, asked.

"They took our backpacks and phones and ran away," Kacper said sadly.

"Get in my car. Let's chase them," Dino exclaimed in frustration. Fortunately, his car key was in Kacper's other pocket and was safe.

Both of them got into Dino's car.

"I don't like this," Kacper said in a sad voice.

"Don't be a baby, Kacper. I need my phone back. If he sees my browser history, I'm done for," Dino said, and Kacper looked at him, surprised.

"Browser history? Are you not using incognito mode?" Kacper asked.

"What the hell is that?" Dino asked, and Kacper explained that it's a window where you can search without saving history. Dino didn't know about that since he had just gotten his phone about a month ago. But he was embarrassed to tell anyone. There were still things he didn't know, and incognito mode was one of them.

"Oh, crap. I... I think I forgot to use it," Dino said, not wanting to admit he didn't know about it, thinking it would be embarrassing.