Lost Lombardi

Chapter 35

Monday felt different for Dino. All weekend, he had been thinking about May. He didn't go to Kacper's place on Sunday because Pietro wanted to go to the club with him. This was the second time Dino had gone to the club with Pietro. Pietro had been busy, so he hadn't had a chance to go anywhere with Dino since they last went to the club. Dino had a great time at the club again. He even met some of Pietro's friends. Dino found Papa's friends interesting because they were all rich and sounded rich, too.

On Monday morning, Dino spent some extra time trying to look better. He used a new cologne to smell nice. He combed his hair differently and then came out of his room for breakfast. When he sat in his chair, Don was not there, but Pietro was already seated.

"You are late," Pietro said. Both Pietro and Don didn't like it when Dino wasn't on time for work.

"Sorry, Papa," Dino said, though he didn't really mean it. He knew that saying sorry made Pietro and Don happy. Pietro started to eat.

"Where's grandpa?" Dino asked.

"He's sick today. He'll have breakfast in his room. He doesn't want to talk to anyone, so don't bother him," Pietro replied.

"Who the hell wants to bother him?" Dino thought, feeling glad that Don wasn't having breakfast with them. Dino felt stressed when Don was around, but today he could enjoy breakfast without that stress.

After breakfast, Dino went to his car and saw Luca there. "What's that smell?" Luca asked with a smirk. Dino hated Luca's smirk because it made him feel like Luca knew his secret.

"What smell?" Dino replied.

Luca didn't say anything but kept smirking. "Do you want me to drive you today?" Luca asked.

"No, I don't," Dino answered.

"New hairstyle?" Luca said, smirking again as he looked Dino up and down. "Good luck then," he added before leaving.

"Idiot," Dino muttered angrily. He realized Luca enjoyed teasing him sometimes.

"Why did he say good luck? Does he know? Oh shit," Dino thought, feeling his cheeks flush at the idea that Luca might have guessed what was going on in his head. Dino got into the car and drove away.

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When Dino got out of his car after parking it in the school parking lot, he saw Helio getting out of his car, too.

"Hey, Helio! Are you planning to bully me this morning, too?" Dino said, acting scared. "Oh, I'm scared. Helio is going to bully me!" Dino changed his voice in a funny way and pretended to be scared. Helio looked at Dino with disgust.

"What's the fucking wrong with you, joker?" Helio barked.

Dino knew Helio would never bully him again. If he did, Don would take care of Helio.

Helio started to walk away from the parking lot after slamming his car door hard.

"Oh, don't hurt the car, man," Dino said. At that point, Helio was so mad at Dino that he wanted to punch his face. But he left, thinking about getting revenge during rugby practice.

Today was an annoying day for Kacper because Dino kept asking him about May. Kacper didn't like May, so he found it annoying to keep hearing about her. But if someone talked about Natisha, he would happily listen all day without getting bored.

"How does she go home after school?" Dino asked.

"Who?"

"May? Does she go with you or...?"

"No, she has another driver. Most of the time, she's at her mom's place. But these days, she's at our house. I think she had a fight with her mom. That's why," Kacper said.

"So what if I go near her school after school?" Dino asked with a stupid smile on his face.

"Well, I think she has dance practice most days after school, so..." Kacper said. Dino's endless questions were annoying, but Kacper answered them like a good friend.

"I have rugby practice today. Yes! After that, I'll go there," Dino said happily, like he just won the lottery.

"What if she doesn't like you? She's mean. You saw that, right?" Kacper asked, worried that May might humiliate Dino in front of everyone.

"Let's give it a chance. Hey, why don't you ask Natisha to be your girlfriend?" Dino suggested.

"I... I don't think she likes me. You know I'm a... I'm a loser," Kacper said, looking down.

"What the fuck, man? You keep calling yourself a loser. Look at that loser Nick. He's a total loser, but he never acts like one. That's why everyone treats him well. You're not even a loser, but you act like one. Don't you understand? Just go and ask her like a real man!" Dino gave a motivational speech to Kacper.

"Okay, I'll try," Kacper said in a lower voice.

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Dino was not as bad at rugby as he used to be, but the other guys with more experience were still better than him. The coach was also okay with Dino's practice now. He was surprised that Dino somehow survived.

However, today was a bit harsh for Dino because he realized Helio was attacking him often, and he felt it was personal. Then he remembered the morning incident and thought that might be the reason. Dino felt too shy to complain about Helio to the coach like a toddler. He worried that the other boys would laugh at him or call him a girl. So, he had to face Helio's attacks while grinding his teeth.

No matter how hard practice was, Dino decided to drive to Rosewood Academy. He took a shower, making sure he didn't stink. He even brought a good soap from home and some clean clothes to wear after the shower. He brushed his teeth while others wondered why the hell he was brushing his teeth.

"What? Never seen someone brush their teeth before?" Dino asked. He wasn't scared of the boys now. If someone tried to hurt him, he'd tell Luca, and Luca would act like a robot. He didn't care about what was right or wrong; he only wanted instructions to follow.