Bad Timing

Quattordici

NOT EDITED

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I scarcely went on trips. Even if we had long weeks off of classes, I usually spent my days cooped up in Beaufort. Evan and I simply didn’t have the extra cash to spend on recreational activities. The only times I was lucky enough to escape Beaufort were the nights Paige and I went five minutes out of town to catch a movie.

But today I was more than lucky. I actually traveled approximately three hours out of town this time around. I was more than ecstatic, buzzing with excitement.  

Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, was bright with lights in the dark of night. Raleigh was also known as “The City of Oaks” due to the many oak trees that lined the streets. Tall and big buildings, unlike the small and dainty ones in Beaufort, towered above the few citizens that walked down the sidewalks. Raleigh was big and busy, bursting with energy and livelihood.

“Relax, Emmy. It’s just Raleigh,” Noah commented with knitted eyebrows as I pressed my face against the backseat window.  

Maia hooked her arm around mine, a bright smile on her round face. “Aren’t you happy I invited you? This will be so fun!”

Every other month, the Callaway’s drove up to Raleigh to visit Natalia’s brother and his family. The months that the Callaway’s didn’t go to Raleigh, Natalia’s brother came down to Beaufort. Natalia and her brother, Luca Bertolini, grew up in a close knit family and made it a point to see each other every month to keep in touch.

Once Maia invited me to be her partner on this trip because she didn’t have any female cousins on her mother’s side, I agreed right away. I practically begged Evan to let me go. I wouldn’t stop begging and pleading until he let me have what I wanted – a chance to get out of Beaufort and explore the world that was hidden from me for seventeen years of my life.

“Please let me be,” I said to Noah, my eyes glued to the different stuff I saw outside. “All I know is Beaufort. This is a new experience for me.”

Natalia glanced back at me from the front seat. “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself so far, Emma.”

Luca Bertolini’s house was located in a more urban part of the city, situated right where the road curved. It was a two-story beige colored house with bricked pitched roofs and a huge yard. Unlike the Callaway’s big and luxurious mini mansion, the Bertolini’s stuck with an average sized and common type of house.

We parked on the driveway, behind the garage. A freakishly tall and muscular man with graying hair and the brightest smile rushed out the front door before we could even step foot on their stone walkway. Behind him, a fit woman with curly hair and bright brown eyes followed with a baby in her arms.

“Luca!” Natalia laughed and hugged her brother tightly. “I hope you made food because we are starving.”

 “Naturalmente, sis! I made my famous pizza – everyone’s favorite!” He replied. He twirled Maia around when she ran up to him. “Hey, beautiful girl! Don’t have a boyfriend until you’re thirty all right?”

Maia rolled her eyes as she hugged Luca’s wife, but laughed slightly. “Yes, Uncle Luca.”

“Hey, Kate, it’s so good to see you,” Natalia greeted the woman next to Luca. She slightly pinched the baby’s cheeks. She cooed, “Hey baby Aaron. You’ve gotten so big. Where’s Gray?”

“He’s still in the shower. Oh, that boy. I swear he could be a pain sometimes,” Kate sighed in disappointed, shaking her head. “Where’s Paul?”