The Train To Nowhere

chapter 24 - Venice

The bath was warm and captivating as I held my head below the surface of the water. I don't know how long I stayed under there, holding my breath and letting my body float in the blue. But Isaac walked in just as my head emerged from the surface. There was unfortunately no lock on our door.

        "Abel, what?-"

        "ARGH! Isaac get the fuck out of here!" I yelled, rubbing the water out of my eyes and unsuccessfully shielding myself behind the side of the bath.

        "Shit! I'm sorry! Oh God, there isn't a lock!"

        "Yeah, that's why you knock," I replied angrily.

        "Okay, okay! I'm out." He shut the bathroom door behind him but spoke to me from the other side of it. "What are you still doing in there anyway? I mean, come on! This is one of what, three nights where we get time to ourselves? One of the only nights where the teachers leave us a bloody lone and we can do what we want. You wanna make the most of that, don't you?"

        "Yes!" I tied my towel in a toga around my hips. "But-"

        "So then why are you taking years in the bathroom? You're wasting time, mate! And we all want to leave!"

        "Yeah, Abel!" I heard Ahmed agree in the background. "We're in Venice, for God's sakes. I honestly thought one of the girls had sneaked in. Only they spend that long!"

         "Shut up, I'm coming out!" I snapped, "I was just a bit lost in my thoughts. We still have plenty of time ahead of us," I walked out of the bathroom.

          "So let's go." Isaac repeated himself a few times while I got changed and grabbed a few things. Then we left.

It was just before sunset when we left our bed-and-breakfast rooms. The whole of Venice was set in that beautiful, golden glow and it was a truly spectacular sight. We all found it strange coming down to the steps outside and seeing the central canal just a couple hundred yards from the doorstep, boats and canoes docked by the side of a building. It was a calming sound to hear the ripples of water surrounding us over the distant hubbub of voices over the city. Every week we were given two days to ourselves like a weekend, where the students could separate from the teachers, use our trip money and explore the city for ourselves. These days were the ones we looked forward to the most, because they were much more exciting. The curfew was also later (midnight instead of ten) and Isaac, Noah and I would always do something amusing together. We'd only had two leisure days so far, but they were both brilliant.

      "Quanti di voi stanno salendo su questa barca?" the old man managing the docks asked. I glanced around nervously because I had no idea what he had just said, but Noah had luckily learned a few useful phrases before he came on Duolingo. 

        "Tre per favore," he answered smoothly. "Grazie."

Isaac and I looked at each other with surprised and humoured faces.

        "He asked how many were getting in the boat," Noah translated with a confident smile. I nodded with a silent 'oh'. The old Italian man pulled a boat out from his far left on the other side of the dock that could fit six comfortably. "It's quicker going down the central canal if you want to go to a certain place, generally speaking," Noah elaborated, "I just thought we have to get the whole Venice experience, you know?" Just then I heard people approaching behind us. I turned out of curiosity and saw Nina and Rosie standing there with excited smiles on their faces. As Rosie caught my eyes her smile faded but her big blue eyes were busy.

         "Ah!" the man said with a smile of realisation when he saw the girls, "Che ne dici di sei?"

        "Um..." Noah hesitated nervously, trying to figure out what the man was asking now. He turned to Isaac and me. "I know sei means six, so I think he's asking if we're going to go with Nina and Rosie as a six?"