The first day of school Annie prepared herself for the first day of art school. She packed her art supplies in her black leather back leather backpack. She combed her messy hair and wore it half tied, she was channeling her inner artsy French girl . She wore her dark blue mom jeans with a loose purple sleeveless shirt.
She made her way to university with Giamluca by her side. His messy bed and half open shirt made him look incredibly good looking while he ate his bagel. He was talking about the Uffizi Gallery and the magnificence of the art that they could see there but she wasn't listening. She froze as she watched the beautiful building of the university in front of her. She couldn't believe her eyes, it was a dream come true to be standing there. The crowd of people pushed her forward while she took Giamluca's hand afraid he would lose him in the crowded area.
Once they reached the main building he took her to the admission office to meet Pietro the one who would give her the grand tour. She nervously combed her hair as they awaited their turn. Giamluca could sense her insecurity when she made her way to the office so he give her a reassuring smile.
Once the tour was over and Annie started speaking a poor Italian with Pietro she was disappointed to find out that she would be placed in a different class form "Mr. Ricci" as Pietro called him. Her class was the first one on the right was all he said when he left her in the hall. She made her way there practicing her confident walk that didn't look confident at all.
When she arrived she sat in the only empty seat, the one near the professor's desk. She looked around to find the coffee eyes that hadn't lost sight of her since she walked in.
"Ciao"-she said smiling at him-"Sono Annie"
The brunette boy laughed as if her presentation had been a funny joke.
"Hi, I'm Dylan"-he said trying to hold his laughter-"American"-he said teasingly.
Annie could feel her cheeks redness coming up. She felt quite embarrassed, luckily the professor arrived after she turned around.
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"Professor Bianchi, professore d'arte"- said the gray-haired man as he placed his suitcase over the wooden table.
She could still feel the brown eyed boy's eyes on her as she began to take the art supplies.
Her first class had started and she was truly thankful to have had it in English. She wanted to avoid further humiliation. She felt pretty embarrassed.
The class focused on Italian renaissance one of her favorite artistic movements. She emerged as soon as Mr. Bianchi started to explain the history behind the greatness of the pieces.
The two-hour-class ended when she finished sketching her own creation following the artistic procedures the did in the Renaissance period.
She placed her sketched and her graphite in her backpack carefully, she would have to retouch once she was at home.
She walked fast paced to the cafeteria, she felt quiet uncomfortable in crowded places especially without Giamluca by her side. It took her a long time to figure out where the cafeteria was. When she did she scanned the tables looking for a familiar Italian face, she smiled to herself once she found him.
He was sitting near the window with a can of Fanta in his hand laughing at what the curly boy sitting in front of him was saying. She made her way to the table with a bright smile in her face.
"I take it your class went well"-he said as a greeting.
"I had class with Mr.Bianchi"-she said cheerfully.
"That old man steals every girls' heart"-he gave her a sandwich-"It's an egg sandwich,there wasn't salmon"-he said as an excuse.
She sat down in the empty chair next to him as she began eating the sandwich. She was uncomfortable when she felt the other boys in the table watching her and the discomfort grew when she noticed the same pair of coffee eyes that wouldn't lose sight of her in class.
"Hey 'sono Annie' you forgot to tell me where you where from"-he said as a lame excuse to start a conversation.
"Leave her alone Dylan"-said Giamluca short of breath.
"Don't you have enough with Valentina?"
That was all it took for Giamluca to get up and shoot him a death glare.
"Let's go Annie, you don't want to mix with this crowd"
She didn't feel like fighting him when he seemed right, so she got up. They left the cafeteria hand in hand heading to the students' office to collect her books.
"I'm sorry about earlier"-he said looking ashamed.
"You have nothing to be worried about Giamly"-was all she replied while hugging him.
She thought to herself how lucky she was to have him there otherwise she would be alone in the city. She realized how important 'Giamly', as she had nicknamed him, was for her. She felt secure against his arms and that was all she cared about while they waiting for her books.
They broke the hug when the a girl appeared with her books.
"Gracie mille"-she muttered as she blushed.
The girl looked amused but she said nothing as she disappeared behind the staff door.
"C'mon, I'll invite you to a mascarpone ice cream"-he said opening the door for her-"I promise you'll love it".
They sat in the ice cream shop watching busy people ran past the main architectural attraction, the cathedral of Santa Maria di Fiore.
"It's breathtaking"-she said amazed by its beauty.
She wanted everyday to be like this, watching the sun create shadows around the cathedral eating a pistachio and mascarpone ice cream with 'Giamly' by her side. And as she finished her ice cream, she thought about all the days that were to come in Florence for which she couldn't be more excited.
