Dear Diary,

3

Dear Diary, my parents have gone to Spain for two whole weeks which is a huge relief because it means I can relax for once. No more feeling anxious or scared in my own home. Well, only for two weeks though. I went to a party last night, and I met someone. He seems nice, and different. But he seems like he has some secrets, and to be honest, I wanna find out what they are. 7:08am.

I ended up getting home at like...gone three in the morning. I was also pretty wasted, but one thing I do remember, I met a boy. He's one of those people who you want to get to know more about, but he seems so closed off and guarded.

I'm not gonna lie, I have shit social skills ha ha. And the results of keeping conversations going with that are quite tricky, then people get bored of me and leave. I'm just hoping I can keep talking to this guy. His name is nice too.

Antonio. It's such a pretty name. But it's unique and different, just like him. He's Italian too which kinda makes everything better by like 100% ha ha. I can't wait to find out more about him.

I'm still so tired, I haven't really slept since I got home, well I have slept, but only like two or three hours. My eyes start to feel heavy and I start to struggle with keeping them open. It's not long before everything around me goes dark and all the sounds of birds outside my window fade away to nothingness.

"Natalia wake up now!" I am startled as my bedroom door bursts open and Lance in standing in the doorway. "huh?" I mumble, everything is disorientated as I've just woken and haven't had time to fully wake myself up.

"You've literally been in bed all day, Mom's on the phone for you." dread instantly fills my entire body. I take Lance's phone that he's holding out to me. "Hey Lydia, how's your holiday so far?" I ask her.

"Good, why have you been sleeping all day then Natalia?" I huff internally, of course she'd ask about that. "I just had a lie in I guess, it is Saturday after all." I reply cautiously. After a couple seconds of silence she speaks again.

"Yeah well enough of that young lady, you can stop being so lazy and get up and help your brothers with the chores." My eyes close for a brief moment. "Yes OK, I'm sorry." I'm not actually sorry, but I seem to apologise for everything, even if it's not my fault.

"Enough of the attitude please." What the hell. "What do you mean? I don't have any attitude." I say, exasperated. "Yes you do. Anyway have to go now, don't misbehave." Before I can answer she hangs up. "Lance, your phone!"

-

I haven't heard from Antonio since I saw him at that party. Maybe I should text him, but what if he doesn't answer, or he doesn't wanna talk. Do I even have him on my phone? Or on Instagram.

I go onto my contacts and scroll down to see if I can see any new numbers. Ah yes, there's one. I click on it and type out a short message. 'Hey it's Natalia, is this Antonio from the party last night?'  I hesitate for a few moments, but then send it. What have I got to lose?

It's been 3 whole hours! Three. I've had no reply and if I'm honest, I'm regretting ever sending the text in the first place. Whatever, I knew it was too good to be true. I decide to take my mind off it by going to help out with dinner.

-

He messaged me back. Like right after dinner! I want to message back right now but I feel like I should wait for at least half an hour, otherwise he might think I'm desperate. I keep reading his text again. 'Ciao Natalia, yes it's me.'

Only six minutes have passed and I really can't wait any more. I'll just message him. 'Ah good, how'd you find the party?'  sent. Is that a dumb question? I bet he thinks I'm weird. "Nat, can you pop to the store to get some pasta sauce please? I'll give you the money." Kaleb asks me.

"OK," I reply, at least it'll give me something to do. I take the money my brother gives me and leave the house. I take my time walking to the store and back, although I probably should hurry up since Kaleb needs this sauce for dinner.

"Jeez you took ages, had to stop cooking for like ten minutes." I flash him a smile as I hand him the sauce. "Sorry I walk slow." He scoffs jokingly, "Yeah I know that." I chuckle lightly then decide to head back to my room.

I switch on my phone and see another text from Antonio the feeling of butterflies begin to grow in my stomach. 'It was good bambina, better once we met ;)' Hm, what does bambina mean? Can I also just say, my heart is RACING right now!

Wait a minute, I can't let myself be stupid and allow him to get into my head. I have a track record of getting attached way too easily when it comes to getting feelings for boys. I've only ever properly talked to two boys. The first was a dick and it lasted for a week, and the other one... well it lasted a while until he fucked me over. But anyway, I'm not gonna talk about that.

A sudden burst of confidence jolts through my body as I type back to Antonio. 'We should meet again. Would be fun.' Sent. What the fuck. I never ask to meet up with people. Especially boys! Ugh what if he says no?

'Yes it would be, when do you propose we meet up?' He texts back almost instantly. I wish I could have thought further ahead. 'Hm how about before the end of next week?' OK, that sounds fine.

'Is there a deadline or something bellissima?' a small smile creeps onto my face, 'yes, yes there is, I have overly strict parents, does that explain it?' I shoot him a super quick reply, hopefully he doesn't think I'm too forward.

'It does explain a lot, let's meet tomorrow Natalia.' Damn, tomorrow...earlier than I expected. Nerves begin to bundle up inside of me, I always feel so nervous when I have to meet up with people. After debating with myself for a whole fifteen minutes I write back 'OK, that sounds good. Any specific time?'

'Meet me at the back of that old church by the park with the fountain ;)' Oh. That doesn't sound too promising. 'Promise you're not gonna try and kill me?' The text looks a bit jokey but behind all that I'm lowkey being serious. 'Guess you'll just have to wait and see bambina, I'll see you at 3:30.' 3:30!? He seems like he's gonna intimidate me. Like he said, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

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