Caught

f i v e

A/N: Happy Reading!

The next day we docked at Chivitavecchia, the port for Rome. I had really looked forward for Rome. And the Vatican. I loved Roman history and mythology. And don't even get me started on the Renaissance. But there was Florence for that. We had so much to see today, a part of me was anxious we wouldn't be able to see it all. We looked at the different tours and car rentals available, and then finally settled on one. It had all the sights I wanted to see and a minivan, so all of us fit comfortably. 

We went first to the Colosseum. At the port, we had bought these 'no line tickets'. But as it turned out, there was a line for that as well. Anyhow, we entered in about twenty minutes. The Colosseum was really cool. Well, at least what was left of it. After that, we went to the Roman Forum. It was huge. And so was the line. We walked around and saw the different temples and ruins. Halfway through, my parents decided to make a move, cause we still had to see the Vatican. But I implored for twenty minutes more, at least for me to run ahead and see everything quickly. I mean, it didn't make sense to come all the way and then see something only halfway. My parents relented. 

It was already lunch time after we had left the Roman Forum. I sat in the car chewing my lip anxiously. The parents had gone to get some sandwiches and they were taking a long time. At this rate, I wouldn't be able to see all the sights. There were still about five sights and a museum left. The sandwiches came, and I thought we'd eat them while in the minivan, but the driver didn't allow it. Which was reasonable enough. But the Tara's brother Neel wanted ice cream. And right then, of all times. I was pissed by the time we finally got in the car. When we got down to see the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, I walked fast. I couldn't afford to loose more time.

The ride to Vatican City was infuriating. I was squished in the back and between my brother and Tara. The seat belt buckle kept poking me. My mother noticed my frustration and stopped the car so that I could move up front. That was worse. My mom, Neel, his mother and I were all crammed together. And Neel was super annoying. He kept shoving me. I was on the verge of tears. And then they were streaming down my face. 

We reached the Vatican Museum soon, thankfully. The line was so long I almost cried. I was so annoyed. It was huge. And I wanted to see all of it. And read all the information given. My father kept prodding me to be quick. Time was get ahead of us. It seemed like it always was. Finally, in about an hour, I was done. 

We then went to St Peter's Basilica. But the line was far to long. And we had to be back on the ship in forty five minutes. So there was no way we could venture inside. We just took pictures from the outside. I wasn't very happy about that. And my mother noticed as much. So she strolled with me along the monument. "I know you're sad you couldn't go inside. But don't let that spoil your vacation. And others'. You can come here again one day. And see the museum for however long you want. You have a long life ahead of you. You won't enjoy it fully if you keeping mourning small loses," she chided softly, comforting me at the same time. She was right. I was privileged enough to go on a lavish cruise like this. Some could say even too privileged. I burried myself in my mom's arms. And then we ate gelato.

***

Today new passengers were boarding the ship. That meant more people. More teenagers. So, we were working on pamphlets to pass on to teenagers who we'd hunt for. 

"Your's is so pretty," I whispered to Mae. She had drawn Nemo and an underwater landscape on her handout. All of us ,Maya, Tianna, Arjun, Kris ,Beatriz, Mae and I, decorated three handouts each.  Rune hadn't come yet. We finished in about fifteen minutes and then went off to hunt for teenagers. We found a few, but then decided to go eat ice cream. 

Then, at around six, four new teenagers turned up, Alex, Blake, Eugene, Noah and Rune turned up. We started to play Majority Wins, where you were given a question, like, which is the most popular teenage brand and you'd get a point if your answer would match with one of the other teams'. We had questions like 'On an average how many minutes does a teenager spend on electronics?' Everyone wrote 300, that is five hours. Personally, I like to limit my screen time to three hours. Then there was 'Who is the most beautiful female celebrity?' I proposed to write Selena Gomez and my teammates agreed.  The other two teams had written Gigi Hadid.No one else in my team was much enthusiastic. I had Kris, Alex and Arjun in my team. Maya, Tianna, Mae and Blake were one team and Beatriz, Eugene, Noah and Rune another team. But they gave opinions from time to time.  We even got a movie quote, 'Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie'. When no one got it for a long time, Lucas gave out a clur that and actor with the name 'Emma' acted in it. My team thought it was Emma Watson and Mae suggested it was The Perks of Being A Wallflower. But the right answer was Emma Stone in Easy A. And I had watched that movie only few weeks ago.

Then I left for dinner. Today, I was going to have dinner at a specialty Italian restrautant. I had the best tagliatelle pesto and tiramisu ever. When I got back to the centre, they had already started playing Jeopardy. I just joined Mae's team. Mae told me I had missed a question on Game of Thrones, which I sighed at. I really loved Game of Thrones. When I joined the game, there were only two slots in TV shows, one in Geography and one in general knowledge. I was a bit sad I'd missed quite a lot of the game. 

After playing Jeopardy, we got into the same teams that were there for Majority Wins. Then, we were given lists of people with certain characteristics, like red hair, a pierced belly button, someone who was wearing all red and someone who had been skydiving. We had to go about the ship finding people with these characteristics. My team went to the same places we had gone to for Around the World, showed people the list and asked if they were eligible to sign for an item. It was easier than taking one item and going around asking people for only that item. We covered all of them except someone with braids and a belly piercing.

After that, we had Social Night in the centre. Lucas had told us there would be Wifi, but of course, there wasn't. 

"Talk to each other! Play games," Lucas drawled when everyone asked him for the Wifi password. There were banners saying Never Have I Ever and Truth Or Dare under which were a cluster of beanbags. Near on of the televisions was a bucket full of paper and we had to write anonymous notes addressing someone else. Like a crush confession. I doubt anyone did that though. I wrote nice notes for all my friends. Mae, Maya, Beatriz, Rune, Tianna, Arjun, and Kris. 

We played Never Have I Ever for sometime. You had to put up a finger if you'd done the deed. The stereotypical questions. 'Have you ever dated someone?' 'Have you done weed?' 'Have you ever gotten drunk?' I always had the least number of fingers up, a tie with Maya, but she went back to her room halfway. We also talked about where we were all from, for the benefit of the new people. Alex was from France and lived in Lyon, and had lived in Cannes earlier. I found that really cool. Noah was Australian but lived in South Africa. Eugene and Blake were brothers and were Canadian Filipinos, living in Ontario. We all danced for a while before calling it a night.

***

I think I am going to make this a short story because I have only about seven more chapters planned out. Do vote and comment,

Love,

Aarna.