A Rome Affair

A Ferry Ride

Writing has sort of become therapy for me and I thought I should share with everyone the story that I'm recently working on. Please let me know what everyone thinks :)

                                                           Chapter 1: A Ferry Ride

It was a dark, cold night. It was windy, extremely windy as I stood at the stern of the ferry looking off into the darkness. The laughter and chatter of my school mates could be heard from the second floor, as they talked about how excited they were to be heading to Greece and starting this whole new adventure. I stood below, alone, just taking everything in. It was all so surreal. I’d been living in Rome, Italy for the past two months and I still couldn’t get over the dreamlike feeling of it all.

“What are you doing down here by yourself?” I heard from a slightly familiar male voice from behind me.

“Honestly?” I said without turning around as he joined me by the rail and interrupted my contemplative bubble.

“Honestly” He replied as he looked at me.

“I don’t want to go up there because I’m afraid I’ll be blown away” I replied as I turned my head to look at him. He was trying really hard to keep a straight face, but the hint of a smile was breaking through and I knew he wasn’t taking me seriously.

“Oh really now? I doubt that would happen” He replied still with a hint of a smile.

“You’d be surprised” I replied with a smile, a mental image playing in my head of the time the wind blew me off the wharf while vacationing in the Caribbean.

“Wait a minute. Has that happened before?” He asked as a bigger smile began to grace his lips.

“I shall never tell,” I said smirking as I nodded my head yes and he began laughing.

“I don’t think we’ve officially been introduced,” he said as he pushed his hand towards me “I’m Jason Silver”

“Rose Jackson” I replied as I shook his hand. “Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to head inside since I’ve already tempted the fates enough tonight” I said while pointing towards the water as he laughed.

“Would you mind if I joined you?” he asked as I shook my head in negatively.

We both walked inside, entering the bar area and found a group of people that we both knew and sat down with them. The conversation flowed smoothly as if we had been here all along. He sat opposite me, and occasionally I’d catch him looking at me. I on the other hand was in my own world, thinking about everything up until now. There had been unnecessary girl drama that had left me contemplating my relationship with those who were supposed to be close to me. My ‘best’ friends.

“So what are your plans Rose?” Amelia asked, snapping me out of my deep reverie.

“What are my plans for what?” I asked as Amelia shook her head knowing that I was constantly drifting away into my own world.

“Your travel plans for third weekend!” she said while slightly giggling.

“Oh, I’m staying in Rome. I was planning on travelling around the city a bit and exploring” I replied

“Oh that’s cool. I did that last weekend and I fell in love with the city all over again” replied Amelia, as a sweet smile appeared on her face “Caleb! Mark! I love this song!! Let’s dance” she said as she jumped up and grabbed their hands before they could say no. One thing about Amelia was that no matter who she was around, she was able to infect everyone with her hyperactive personality. I laughed as I watched them begin to do a interesting version of the Macarena.

“So you’re staying third weekend?” asked Jason as he slid next to me in the booth.

“That’s the plan” I replied while taking a drink.

“We should hang out, I’d really like to get to know you better,” he said with a genuine smile.

“Sure, like that I’d at least know one person that will be on campus” I replied laughing slightly.

“Okay then it’s a date,” he said before realizing what he’d just said, “I mean not a date-date but a hang out date.”

“Definitely not a date, but yeah we can hangout” I replied laughing at his awkwardness.

Amelia, Caleb, and Mark walked back towards us with Amelia talking a mile per hour.

“So guys what’s up?” said Amelia as she sat next to us.

“Not much, Rose and I have a date third weekend,” he said like it was nothing out of the ordinary to declare that we had a date when in reality we didn’t. Amelia’s face echoed mine, a look of semi-shock mixed with bemusement.

“It’s not a date, we’re just going to hang out with the rest of the people that will be staying back” I replied as I hit him across the arm, as Amelia began laughing and her attention switching to something else entirely.

“Hey Rose, ready to go?” my roommate Kelly said as she walked in.

“Yeah. Goodnight guys, I’ll see y’all tomorrow” I said as I got out the booth and walked away with Kelly. My mind drifting to the events of tonight, not knowing the adventure, heartache, and happiness that Jason Silver would bring into my life in the coming two months.