AN: Hey, long time no see! So I actually really love this one, I hope you guys do too.
"Tu ... uh ... lo sai... how to get to, I mean... vai a Hotel La Genziana?"
Katherine fumbled her way through the sentence, knowing it probably made no sense. She'd been spending the summer in Rome, despite her fathers wishes, and on this particular afternoon, she'd gone exploring and now had no idea how to get back to her hotel. So, she'd resorted to going around asking locals.
"Stupidi americani! Sei il secondo turista che ho raccontato oggi, non so dove sia. Andate via, e raccontate a tutti i tuoi amici di smettere di disturbarmi!"
The man began shouting at her, and Katherine took a few steps backwards. She didn't have any idea what he had said, but she'd definitely heard something about a stupid American.
"Mi dispiace ... non parlo italiano. Hotel La Genziana, sì or no?"
"No!"
"Okay... grazie."
Katherine walked away despondently. She didn't know what she was going to do now. She couldn't exactly sleep on the side of the road - she'd learned very quickly that Italians were very reckless drivers.
"You made the mistake of asking him for directions too, huh?" Hearing a familiar accent, she whirled around to see a boy around her age with a mischievous look in his eyes. She gave him a wary smile.
"Yes, I guess so."
"He yelled at me earlier, too. You lost?"
"Very." Katherine let out a relieved breath, it seemed like she could trust this boy.
"Me too. Don't got any idea how I managed to end up all the way over here."
"My parents have always said I'm directionally challenged." She laughed. "I don't know how true that is, but I know that the only reason I can find my way around New York City is because the street signs are numbered."
"Yeah, that helps." The boy laughed as well.
"I'm Katherine." She held out her hand and he shook it.
"Jack Kelly." He gave her a flirtatious smirk.
Ah, so he's that type, Katherine thought amusedly. Whether or not his flirting would succeed depended on what else he said to her.
"Nice to meet you."
"So, do you wanna maybe get un-lost together?"
"Are you going to the same place as I am?
"Hotel La Genziana? Yeah, I was supposed to meet my friend back there about... half an hour ago now, by now he's figured out I ain't gonna make it on time."
"Then sure, I'd love to get un-lost with you."
They began walking aimlessly through the streets, holding each others hands for the sole purpose of making sure they didn't get separated - that's what Katherine told herself anyway. Once the crowd had thinned out a little, Jack paused and turned to Katherine.
"So, while we're getting un-lost, think you might wanna grab some dinner?"
She was about to decline when she suddenly realized how hungry she was. She nodded. "Sure, just nothing too fancy, I've been eating authentic Italian food with names I can't pronounce and questionable ingredients for weeks now."
"Lucky you're with me then." He grinned. "I'm not the type of person who eats a lot of fancy food."
"Then I think we'll get along just fine." She grinned back at him and they began the search for a familiar restaurant with a familiar name.
oOo
They wandered around for about a half hour, finding nothing like what they were looking for, and eventually they somehow found themselves standing in front of a McDonalds. Katherine glanced at Jack.
"Are we seriously about to have dinner at McDonalds?"
"Why not?"Jack shrugged. "We know what it is, we know what they have, they have them in America."
"I didn't even eat at one of these places when I was in America!"
"That makes it better! It's... foreign to you, I guess. Besides, they got ice cream here."
"Well, now I'm sold."
"Had a feeling that'd convince you."
Jack pulled her inside and told her to sit down and he'd order for the both of them. The last part of that statement made Katherine rather nervous, but she complied, and Jack returned after about ten minutes. He sat down across from her and handed her an ice cream cone and a box that seemed to contain a six-piece meal of chicken nuggets. He'd ordered that same thing for himself.
"I'd suggest eating the ice cream first, so it doesn't melt." He told her helpfully, already getting started on his own. She resisted the urge to laugh.
"Thanks for your advice."
Once they'd finished their ice cream, he pointed to the chicken nuggets.
"You said you've never been here before, right? So this is your first time eating one of these?"
Katherine nodded. "Are they any good?"
"I'll let you find out." He grinned at her and she just rolled her eyes. "Try one."
"Okay..." She felt a little silly with him watching her, but she picked one up nevertheless, and took a bite out of it. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment.
"And?"
"Not bad, but I really don't want to think about what goes into making one of these."
"Yeah, don't, you'll lose your appetite pretty fast." Jack laughed, and Katherine joined him, and they both continued to eat their chicken nuggets.
oOo
"I don't think I can remember a date that can hold a candle to this one." Katherine said, rather truthfully.
"A date, huh?" Jack smirked at her.
"What did you think it was?"
He shrugged. "Just nice to hear it. So, before we go back to looking for our hotel, do you wanna exchange numbers, maybe we can meet up tomorrow?"
"I'd love to."
They exchanged numbers and once they were finished, Jack stood up.
"I'll meet you outside." And he quickly kissed her on the lips and quickly made his way to the doorway, leaving her bewildered but grinning in an Italian McDonalds.
