Infatuation

10|

"Uno di voi stupidi ragazzi dà alla bella ragazza dei vestiti!" Nayla smiled politely even though she had no clue what was just said

"She can borrow some of mine" Lena spoke up, confused as to why her grandmother's would suggest one of the boys. They were after all, best friends

"She is uh...bigger, shorter than you bella" it was now that Nayla realised that nonna (as she preferred to be called) was probably telling one of the boys to give her some clothes

Everyone at the dinner table froze, Nayla smiled lazily. The truth hurts; nonna didn't understand what she said wrong. In her mind she was referring to the shorter girls abundance of curves. She wasn't calling her fat

"Nonna, that's not nice" Lena's oldest male cousin, Antonia, spoke up. He pushed his chair away from the table, taking Nayla's hand and taking her to his room.

He handed her a blue hoodie which she was certain would swallow her whole. She kept on her shorts, which were covered by the jumper anyway.

"You okay Bella?" Nayla just smiled and shrugged, it didn't bother her much, she understood that nonna's words were probably lost in translation. She loved elderly people
"No big deal Toni, she didn't mean it."

He gave her a crooked smile, allowing his arm to rest around her shoulder as they walked back into the living room. Nonna immediately started apologising, her English wasn't very good so Antonio translated the conversation. In the end nonna was able to convey what she was trying to say before, it was meant to be a compliment of sorts.

Nayla was content with the situation, after a delicious traditional Italian dinner of Bistecca alla Fiorentina and other Italian staples (including lasagna, Nayla's favourite) she sat on sofa waiting for her dad.

To her dismay all of the males say around her, flirting and asking her questions, she didn't mind as much - she figured that she may as well get to know them, she would be coming over to visit regularly.

The one thing that made her uncomfortable though was Luca. He sat a good distance away, just glaring at every one of his cousins who touched Nayla in any sort of way. He wasn't jealous, he thought, he just didn't like the idea of Lena's best friend dating someone in his family.

He wasn't jealous, he wasn't.

Nonna smiled creepily as she noticed Luca's jealousy, he felt challenged by Antonia, she could tell. Nayla had gotten quite close to the 23 year old in the short space of time. She was snuggled into his chest as he showed her some funny videos, his arm was wrapped around her waist, near her butt.

She took this as brotherly affection, she had always wanted an older brother. But Antonio's stomach erupted with butterflies every time she moved, he was probably too old for the 17 year old, but it didn't stop him admiring her beauty, brains and everything that came with it.

Only 6 years apart, he thought. Luca had always been nonna's favourite grand baby, she didn't hesitate to help ease his jealous fit.

"Antonia! vieni ad aiutarmi ragazzo" Toni stood up reluctantly, he had no other choice but to run to his grandmother's assistant, otherwise she would twist his ear. He hated that, a man of his build wasn't expected to be fearful of such things, but he was. Even at 6'8, with the body of a boxer, he was afraid of his grandmother's mediocre punishments.

Nayla had decided that this family was full of giants, except for sweet nonna, who was even shorter that she was. Even Lena stood at a proud 5'9, but was still much shorter than all of her male family members.

The bell rang, Lena welcomed Nayla's dad into her house. He ran into the living room, picking up his 'babygirl' and hugging her. He was so scared, he figured she would appreciate hanging out with her friend before he began babying her.

"Dad" Nayla whined, clearly embarrassed as her ears turned bright red. "Time to go home babygirl" she simply nodded, jumping out of her fathers arms to say goodbye to everyone.

She ran to the kitchen, bidding farewell to nonna and the group of parents. She gave Antonia a big hug as she noticed him sitting in the corner, helping nonna to write an email on her iPad. She then began to hug each of the males one by one, Lena smiled lazily and mouthed "call me later"

She was about to leave when she noticed Luca sitting on the staircase, on his phone "bye Luca", she didn't bother trying to hug him, she was certain that he hated her

He was disappointed, he was low-key looking forward to hugging her, he couldn't bring himself to tell her to hug him, he let it go. He looked up at her, scowling, "Bye." He just wanted a hug, he was unable to voice it, toxic masculinity.

Her eyebrows furrowed together, she didn't understand why he was was seemingly angry at her. She hadn't done anything to him, little did she know that was the problem.

The drive home was full of inner questioning, Nayla felt as though she needed to know what his issue with her was. She didn't care for him personally but she liked to know what was happening around her, especially if it involved her in some way. She was often hyper aware of numerous situations, a blessing as well as a curse. It was a trait she had inherited from her mother.

True to his thoughts, her dad coddled her, constantly checking up on her and asking "are you okay honey?", to this she simply nodded.

She was exhausted, tired of everything to be honest. When her dad allowed her to stay off from school for 2 days she was more than jubilant.

Her 2 days of 'getting better' soon turned into 2 days of doing whatever she wanted, meaning ordering loads of things, watching Netflix and eating.

Lena had dropped by a few times, carrying bundles from nonna and Antonio's number which was hidden at the bottom of the basket.