Gianluca Ginoble and I

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

          I was still a little achy, but I rolled out of bed early and crept downstairs. I ate a quick breakfast, then raced out the front door and down the porch steps…and froze when I saw Gianluca’s tennis shoes at the bottom.

          I looked down at the bruises on my legs and pictured Gianluca, cold and tired from searching for me.

          I pictured the beach, the mountains, the forests and fields, and smiled and inhaled, ready to go out and lose myself in them.

          “I’m sorry, Gianluca. I shouldn’t have left without my phone.”

          “And without me.”

          “Oh, Gianluca…”

          “Don’t ever scare me like that again, okay?”

          Oh, man…what was going on?

          I sat on the steps, longing to go out, but not wanting to upset Gianluca. He didn’t want me to leave without him, because he was worried about me.

          But I didn’t want him to be scared for me all the time!

          The wind was calling me, and the internal battle raged.

          Maybe if I picked a place to go to, and then left him a note... But I still needed to get my phone…

          I stared longingly into the distance, itching to leave, my feet pleading to run.

“Naomi, you scared me so bad last night…I didn’t know where you were, or what was happening to you. I was imagining all these horrible things that could be going wrong!”

I rubbed my eyes and held my head in my hands.

My heart wanted to go out and be alive in nature, but then my heart also listened to the words of Gianluca, being pulled in two directions, unsure of what to do.

          I sighed, and looked up at the sky, a breeze rustling my curls.               “I just want you to be safe, Naomi,” he whispered.

          “Don’t leave without me, Naomi, please?”

I slowly turned to go back inside, unsure of myself.

          I raced up the stairs and quietly entered Gianluca’s room.

          He was lying on his back, one arm hanging over the edge of the bed, the other over his eyes.

          I went to sit next to him on the mattress.

          “Gianluca?” I whispered.

          He moved his hand, saw me next to him, saw the sun coming through the window…

          He sat up quickly.

          “What, Naomi? What’s going on?”

          He reached for my hands, confused, oblivious to my internal struggling. I was looking wistfully out the window.

“What’s wrong?”

I looked into his handsome eyes and admitted defeat.

          “Can we go out now?”

          “Can we…? Naomi, I don’t understand what’s going on.”

          I was quiet, and he got up to get his phone.