Call Me By Your Name 2.0

Chapter 7

We entered the pavilion. It consisted of a large squared space, almost as big as a basketball court, with tables full of food and drinks scattered around the place and a small stage at the left. Immediately Alessandro and a bunch of other scientist friends walked towards us to greet me and my parents and introduce themselves to Oliver. I didn't say much, mostly I just stood there and said "hi" or smiled each time someone addressed me. Everyone looked so fancy in here, even me. All men were wearing colourful tartan prints and corduroy on their blazers and pants, and women wore fresh dresses with all kinds of designs. My mommy, the most beautiful of all, was wearing a fancy nightdress that tied behind her neck with a white and blue flower print and her hair was a silky golden waterfall falling on her naked shoulders. I saw Marzia approaching us with her two pugs, my heartbeat started to speed up in rhythm to her quick steps.

"Hello, Elio, you look so nice tonight."

"Y-you too", I muttered as I looked down. "H-have you met Oliver?". She was introduced to Oliver and they talked for a while, he was much more charismatic than me. I took advantage of that moment to look for a remote place where I could stand by myself like the loner I am.

I stood sulkily on a corner sipping my non-alcoholic drink, it had so much sugar, and looked around at the gathering waiting for Alessandro to give his speech (mmm... peach). My sight kept going back to Oliver, we exchanged awkward glances every once in a while, each time he looked back at me I would turn around. I saw him talk with many people wishing that was me. It sounded like he was having fun despite how boring this event was. Then he started talking to one girl who I'd seen him talking to previously. I noticed how they were giggling and looking at each other, my heart sunk. How much they were enjoying themselves, I felt pressure in my chest. That's when I realised Oliver didn't really like me. It had crossed my mind but now I knew it was just my imagination. Such embarrassment. To even think about liking this other man was sick. I didn't care anymore, I was over it. Who I should be focusing in is Marzia, a real woman. My mind was clearer now and i felt awoken.

Everyone gathered around the stage and Alessandro walked up. I fought my way across the science people until I found Marzia, who greeted me with a discreet head bow. Talking to her would have been nice but I didn't want to seem rude so I acted like if I cared about whatever her father was saying. We all clapped when he was done and a mob of people went to congratulate him as he tried to walk off the stage.

"I don't really know what he was talking about but I'm so proud of him", Marzia told me.

"Yeah, it sounds cool", I said. "Should we go grab something to drink?". She thought that was a good idea so we walked towards one of the tables with drinks. I poured some peach juice in two cups, one for Marzia and one for me like a true gentleman. She gave me a high pitch "thanks" and rubbed my arm with the palm of her hand, it was a bit aggressive. Once again my eyes were diverted towards Oliver, who was still enjoying the company of that woman.

"You keep staring at him", Marzia noticed. Her observation made my stomach feel icky.

"He's just... a bit weird. I don't know", while still staring at him.

"What do you mean?", she was now staring at him too.

"Like, the other day he sucked on my toe". Marzia said nothing. Fuck. Why did i tell her that. "Just kidding... hahaha", she laughed awkwardly too.

"Well I hope you had cleaned your toe", she said. I laughed very loud in response, almost manically. "Are you okay? It wasn't that funny... haha."

"Yeah, sorry, it may be the juice, it has a lot of sugar." She nodded. I stayed with her throughout the night. It was alright. She's kind of funny and laughs at my jokes, I like that. The more sugar I put into my system the more attractive she looked and the more touchy I got, but she didn't push me away so I guess she liked it. At twelve mommy waved at me from the door to the outside, it was time to leave. Before I walked away I turned towards Marzia and said:

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?", a big smile appeared on her face and she nodded frantically.

I got in the back seat of the car with my mommy, daddy was driving and Oliver was next to him.

"Marzia is my girlfriend now", I told them.