Italy, Here We Come

Chapter 7: Moving Onwards...

It’s been a month since we came home from our…interesting summer vacation. The minute we stepped off the plane I had to meet Mama’s disappointed eyes. Her hair grayer than usual and bags underneath her eyes. I didn’t even stop to think that maybe the whole time we were gone she had been worrying about me nonstop. That thought had made me feel even more horrible than I was already.

She grounded me for a week. No T.V., no phone calls, no going out. Nothing… Delaney got off easy. Her parents just laughed it off and let her be. Once my punishment was up Del and I took to hanging out at the local café with our friends, going to a party or two every now and then. Neither one of us have heard from the boys since we came home. No surprise there. I kind of knew that would happen although I wished that I would be proven wrong.

Soon we will be in college, the time is approaching fast. We only have a month left before the first semester starts.

“Sky what do you think about this one?” Delaney’s voice brought me out of my thoughts as she pointed to the catalogue in front of her.

“That looks like an interesting University. What majors do they offer there?”

“Oh they offer lots of programs but the one that caught my eye is fashion design. Do you know how fun that would be?” She giggled as she resumed flipping through the pamphlet.

“You don’t have one creative bone in your body Del. So I think that major is a no go.”

“I suppose you’re right. Guess I’ll just have to keep looking around.” She sighed as she threw the pamphlet down in a huff.

“Relax Del…I haven’t even found out what I want to major in yet either.”

She flipped herself around on the bed and buried her face into my pillow. I hope she doesn’t slobber on it… “I really thought that Arden and Xavier were different. But of course like always they are typical males…Already forgetting about us and moving on with their lives.” She muttered through the pillow.

“I told you so.”

“Oh shush Skylar. I know you are just as disappointed as I am about it. Admit it. You really began to care for Arden.”

“Whatever floats your boat Del, Think what you want.” I replied. If I deny that I care for him a lot more than I should all she’s gonna do is jump up and down gloating that she was right…

“I’m bored. Let’ go romp around the Strip or something.”

“Sure.” I replied as I got up to grab my keys and slip on my flip flops.

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Licking the dripping ice cream off my cone I turned to Delaney and pointed behind her. “Look there’s James and Ryder. Let’s go see what they are up to.”

She turned around and waved frantically at our friends. “Hey Ry, James! Come here!”

Ryder jogged over, his shaggy bleach blonde hair matted to his forehead with sweat. The heat here is just unbelievable. I’m surprised he’s wearing jeans. I bet he is just dying from the heat. “Hey girls, what’s up?”

“How was your vacation?” James walked over and joined us. Was it possible for him to become even cuter than the last time I saw him? He is just a dream with his short spiked up black hair and piercing gray eyes. I still wish our relationship would have never ended last year…he was the perfect boyfriend. But all good things come to an end I suppose.

“It was ok. We had to come home earlier because of a prank we pulled in the hotel. The owner sure wasn’t happy with us.” I giggled.

“What did you two do now?” Ryden chuckled as he threw an arm over each of our shoulders and guided us towards a bench outside of the ice cream shop.

Plopping down next to James I replied. “Well….we kind of got paint all over these two guys we were hanging with and feathers all over the place… It was a harmless prank but I guess green paint and feathers all down the hallway of the hotel wasn’t appealing to the owner.”

James laughed. “You two are a trip. Leave it up to you girls to do something like that. Who were the poor dudes on the losing end of the prank?”

“These two guys Arden and Xavier that we met the first day we were there. Arden hit Skylar with a door in the hotel. We just clicked and became friends from then on and hung out the whole trip together.” Delaney replied as she brushed some lint off her shirt.

“Did they get kicked out too?” Ry asked.

“Yeah. They left and went home along with us.”

“Have you kept in contact with them?” James turned to look at me. Did I detect jealousy in his voice?

“Uh no we haven’t kept in contact.” I shrugged.

“Hmmm…”

“Oh well plenty of other dudes out there. It’s their loss.” Ryden chuckled.

“Yo Ry we better head out. Mom is expecting me home for dinner.” James stood up and leaned down to give us each a quick hug. “See you girls later, we need to get together with everyone and have one last party before we all leave this town. Don’t get into too much trouble before then alright?”

“No more trouble for me. Mama is still upset with me. I don’t want to get on her bad side again!”

“You two behave yourselves too.” Del teased as she gave Ryden a hug.

We watched them walk off down the Strip and just sat together in silence watching the sun go down. I’m sure going to miss this place once I leave for university. It’s so simple here. Everyone knows everyone and there is always something to do and someone to hang out with. After spending our whole lives here it’s seems scary to face a whole new place. But then again it will be a new chapter of life and one big adventure just like our trip to Italy. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for me. The little time I have left here is going to be jam packed with fun and friends. And taking the time to find out who and what I want to be and decide on where to go to college. Italy helped me come out of my shell and see that there was more to the world than just a small town and I can’t wait to see what kind of new things are out there. Look out College, here we come!