The not-so-perfect story of an Italian Summer

Chapter 1

The plane finally landed with a not so soft thud that made me crash into my not-so-comfortable-anymore seat. Curse these stupid seats right on top of the wheels! I should have convinced Elisa to pick better seats, but since these were a bit cheaper than the others because of the inconvenience there would have been no way of convincing my mom to pay for another seat. Considering that it was already a huge miracle that my mother had allowed me go to Italy to spend the summer holidays, I had, wisely if I might say so, decided that arguing over the seating arrangement wasn't worth risking having her change her mind.

Nevertheless, I was definitely going to hold a grudge against my past self. How dare she put me and my amazing ass in a position were they would get roughly thrown in the air and then back down on something with the consistency of a very badly cut stone just because she didn't want to argue with her mom on how she was going to spend her money! I was totally going to get back at that dumbass by spending the money she 'saved' on some cute little ring or on food as soon as possible.

"Come on, get up, we're here!" my best friend interrupted my pondering. As I picked my stuff up and waited for my taller-than-me (which doesn't take much since I'm only 163cm) best friend to open the compartment on top of us and get our suitcases out, I decided that the spare money was definitely going to be spent on food.

Then we finally exited the flying metal box that had hurt my poor ass so much and boarded the navetta that would bring us from where the plane had landed to the Aeroporto Marco Polo. After leaving the airport and keeping my promise to buy myself food (those 10 chocolate bars suddenly made me forget all about the rough landing) we took the bus that would bring us to Jesolo, our final destination. The bus ride lasted half an hour, during which Elisa and I caught each other up on our lives some more.

Elisa and I had become friends 6 years ago, at the start of our 3rd year of secondary. We had been inseparable ever since, and not even going to Uni in two different country had been able to do anything to our friendship. Elisa is an amazing friend and had always been there for me. She's a half Italian, half German crazy idiot that I truly love.

The two of us know everything about each other and are as close as someone can be without being related. This might explain the amount of times we have been asked if we were siblings. We have come to take it as a compliment and a proof of how strong our friendship is. Nevertheless, we always crack up laughing when someone asks us that question. We don't even look that similar! Heck, we are the opposite: even though I am only one year younger than Elisa, I happen to be considerably shorter, my hair is a weird mix of all shades ranging from auburn to honey blond, my face looks like your typical "smoking hot" (Elisa's words, not mine) Spanish-Brazilian girl with my flat-slightly-muscled belly and not so flat booty. Therefore, I truly don't understand where people would see any similarity with the muscular, tall, flaming-red curly haired and truly amazing girl blessed with a large cleavage sitting next to me. The only thing we have in common is our brown eyes, even though mine tend be more a caramel brown with some green specks and hers are more chocolate brown. And we both come from large families.

The bus comes to a stop and I followed Elisa as she practically dragged me towards the exit of the bus station. Without warning, my previously buzzing-with-excitement friend came to a sudden halt leaving me to almost crash into someone. She didn't stay still for long though, and before I even had the time to realize who it was I had almost crashed into, she resumed fending through the crowd after shouting "Mi scusi!" over her shoulder. I only manged to steal a glance at the stranger before I was pulled forward into the crowd. The only thing I was able to see were his eyes. They were of such an intense ice blue that I felt shivers run down my spine. We only made eye contact for a few short instants, but when his eyes bore into mine, I felt like he was reading my soul. I would have been standing frozen on the spot if it weren't for Elisa. But she definitely wouldn't let me just 'sit around'. "Come on, it's not far! Move your lazy legs faster! I want to see if we can manage to go for a swim before sunset!" she shouted back at me without even bothering to turn around. I just let her steer me around as I was still shocked from that brief encounter. Who was that?

A few streets later, she finally stopped behind the 3-story apartment complex her parents owned. The Italian part of her family was venetian. Her grandpa had lived in Venice before moving to Mestre after marrying Elisa's grandma. They used to always come here during summer holidays and had decided to buy the very apartment they had spent so many summers in. After Elisa family had stopped going to Jesolo for bigger and more exciting trips to foreign countries, her family had started renting out the three out of six apartments they owned (the other three belonged to her aunt's family). This summer, they had allowed us to stay in one of the apartments – for free! Truth be told, Elisa and I had tried to convince her parents to pay at least a small amount of money for rent, but her parents just wouldn't hear of it.

As Elisa retrieved the key to the apartment we would be staying in for the next two months, I finally snapped out of my almost comatose state in which that boys stare had put me in. I could already hear the sound of the waves crashing against the sand and smell the salty ocean breeze. Our apartment was on the ground floor and not particularly big, but had everything we could need for our stay: two bedrooms each containing a double bed, a single bed and a gigantic closet; two bathrooms (sadly though, only one of them was provided with a shower); a kitchen and a small living room. The best part however, was the wide terrace with the most amazing sea-view. The terrace was divided in two parts. On the part closer to the apartment, which was on slightly higher ground and hidden from view by a magnificent magnolia plant, a small table and four chair stood promising nice dinners. The other part surrounded the first and was provided with deckchairs. The perfect place for sunbathing! Where the terrace ended, a promenade that went from one side of Lido di Jesolo to the other started. I will have to drag Elisa out of bed early one of these days to go run from here to the lighthouse which she said wasn't too far from here. This place is way closer to the sea than what it looked like in the pictures she had sent me!

I have a feeling this is going be one of the best holidays I ever had...

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Hi! Welcome to Lauras adventure in Jesolo. I hope you guys will like this story. Btw, the picture at the top is a partial picture of Lido di Jesolo. Lido di Jesolo is a part of the Venetian lagoon. If you liked this chapter and would like to read more, please don't forget to vote.
--Justabookworm26