Chapter Text

Caro Luca Paguro,

Today is going to be a good day and here’s why! Because-

Because-

Because-

Luca sighed. He had no idea what to write. He had no idea why his first day of third year was going to be just so amazing like his mom said it would be! It was probably going to be exactly like the first year of highschool, sitting alone with no one to talk to because he didn’t have anyone to talk to and he wasn’t comfortable talking to people in the first place because he always left a horrible, awkward impression. Especially when he was around Giulia Marcovaldo. Dio, he had a crush on her forever! She was always so kind and energetic and full of life! And he had the perfect opportunity to talk to her last year after the track race which he had gone to just to be able to introduce himself. Which he didn’t! Why?! Because he was worried his hands would be too sweaty when they shook hands which is funny, because they weren’t sweaty until he started worrying if they were. And then they stayed sweaty no matter how many times he wiped them on his jeans because he would just not stop worrying . He ended up going home early after that, missing Giulia’s win. 

He sighed. Yeah. This year was going to be just like every year. He would be too scared, too anxious, too terrified to make a new friend. 

He slammed his laptop shut when his mom barged into his room. 

“Breakfast is ready, sweetie!” She looked down at the laptop he had just closed and smiled. “Oh! Are you writing a letter to yourself!”

“Uh, yeah,” he answered. “I just started one. I think I’ll finish it at school.” 

“Oh, that’s wonderful, honey! Those letters are important!” She leaned against the door frame. “They’re gonna help you build your confidence!”

Luca shrugged. If he were honest with his mother, which he wasn’t, he would tell her these letters haven’t helped much. In fact, they haven’t helped at all. He still felt as anxious as the day he first started therapy. But that wasn’t something he could be honest about with his mom, who did everything in her power to make sure he was comfortable with life. “I guess.” 

“Ah, ah, ah! Nope!” She walked over to him, grabbed his shoulders, and lifted him up. “We are not starting the day like that. Try to have an optimistic outlook, ok? We are not giving today up before we’ve tried, alright?” 

He nodded. “Alright.” 

“Good!” She gave him a quick hug. “Now, go downstairs. Breakfast is ready and I still have to get your sister up. No doubt she was up all night playing robot blocks.” 

Roblox, Luca wanted to correct. And, yes, Amara had been up all night playing that game because his mom had forgotten to take her tablet away before going to bed after a hard day’s work. He didn’t say any of this though, not wanting to rat his little sister out. Instead he packed his laptop in his backpack and headed downstairs. 

“Morning, Bubble,” his grandma greeted from the table. 

“Morning, Nonna,” he gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. Luca loved his Nonna. He always felt like she was the only one who ever understood him, even when he was obviously different from other kids. His Nonna didn’t make him feel like that, though. In fact, when she was around, he almost felt like there was nothing wrong with him. Something she always assured him of, but he still had his doubts. 

“How’s that lousy letter coming along?” 

Another reason he loved her was because she also felt like the letters were useless. “Pretty lousy,” he laughed. “I can’t really think of one good thing that’ll happen today.” 

“I can think of one,” she said with a spoonful of scrambled eggs in her mouth. She swallowed. “Maybe they’ll have pizza for lunch.” 

Luca laughed. “Yeah, maybe! I’ll be sure to write that down when I get to school.” Right now, though, he just wanted to eat the stack of pancakes on his plate. He was on his last bite when his sister walked into the kitchen. He almost spit out his food. Her curls were going every which way and standing up like she had been electrocuted. 

“Morning, urchin,” his nonna greeted her. For some reason, Amara liked being called that. 

“Long night?”

Amara sat down and pulled a plate towards her. “This stupid boy kept killing me and when I killed him, he reported me. Now mama has to make me a new account!”

“I told you not to bully other kids in that game.” 

“He was bullying me !” She grabbed a pancake with her hand and ripped a piece off. “He’s lucky he doesn’t know me in person. I’d kick his but for real.” 

Luca chuckled. “I think you’d win.” 

“Yeah I would!” The nine year old seemed to finally be satisfied. With what, Luca didn’t know. But she happily ate her pancakes in peace after that. 

His dad walked in looking much like his daughter. 

“Morning, papa,” he and Amara greeted. It seemed like it was only ever his mom up before the sun could even shine a single ray into the sky. 

“Morning, kiddos.” He gave Amara a kiss on the forehead and ruffled Luca’s hair. 

There was a loud honk outside. 

“I think that’s for you, Luca,” his mom told him, walking in.

Luca nodded. Ciccio would drive him to school ever since he had started highschool, a deal between both their mothers. As long as Ciccio was nice to him, his parents paid for his car insurance. Though, Luca wouldn’t exactly say Ciccio was nice to him, more like he tolerated him. “Right, I’ll see you all after school.” 

He started walking towards the door. “Luca,” his mom stopped him.
“Be safe, ok?” 

“Ok.”

“And make sure you wear a seatbelt in the car-”

“I will.”

“-You don’t want to end up on the news like all those other reckless drivers-”

“Uh huh.”

“-Trust me, you still have your whole life ahead of you-”

“Yup.”

“-And I just worry, ok?”

“Thanks, mom.” 

She cupped his cheeks. “Look me in the eye.” He did so. “You know I love you, right?” 

He gave her a soft smile. “I know.” 

“Good. Have a great day at school, ok?” She looked down at his arm before smiling. “Oh, here’s an idea! You should go around and ask the other kids to sign your cast! Could be a great way to make friends! A nice ice breaker, doncha think?” 

Luca nodded. If he could actually gain the courage to just go up and talk to someone. “Sounds great, mom. I’ll see you after school.” 

Daniela watched her son go with an ache in her heart. She knew her son was different and it was hard for him to do something that simple. That’s what the therapy and medication was for! But she felt like it didn't actually help him. After all these years, he hadn't ever brought home a single friend. She hoped, no, she prayed this year was different. 

“ Santa mozzarella , Alberto! Are you kidding me?!” 

Alberto cringed at the loud, screechy voice of his adoptive sister. He turned to her with a look of confusion. She held up the empty milk gallon. He looked down at his bowl of cereal. Oh. 

“You finished the milk!” 

“Well if you hadn’t slept in and left the traps for me to check, you would be the one here eating this delicious bowl of cereal.” He shoved a whole spoonful in his mouth to prove a point. 

“Ugh!” She harshly threw the gallon in the trash. “Mamma! Alberto finished all the milk!” 

“I’ll go buy more today,” was her compromise as she entered the kitchen. She poured water into the coffee machine. “Just grab a yogurt. We have strawberries! I know you like adding them to it.” 

Giulia seemed disappointed that her mom couldn’t do more and, honestly, Alberto couldn’t care less. It was her own fault. Checking the traps wasn’t just his job. 

“Alberto.” 

He sighed. “Si, Helena?” He felt a pang in his heart at her hurt expression but he quickly pushed it down. She wasn’t his mother and he wasn’t going to call her that. 

“You’re going to school today.” 

“What?!” 

“You are not missing the first day! The first day of school is very important! You could learn something useful. Maybe make a friend.”  

“I’m more useful at the Pescheria than at some dumb school making friends.” 

“Hey! We pay good money for you to attend that school.” 

“I say just let him stay home,” Giulia commented as she chopped strawberries for her yogurt. “He’s probably high.” 

“I’m not high,” he vehemently denied. 

Giulia looked him up and down. “Look at those red eyes, mamma. Definitely high.” 

“I don’t want you going to school high, Alberto!” 

“I’m not high! I’m tired! Especially because some idiota didn’t wake up to help me check traps!”

“Mamma!” 

“What’s going on here,” A booming voice entered the kitchen. 

Massimo Marcovaldo. He was a big man with more muscle than he probably needed, bushy eyebrows that covered his eyes so one never really could tell what he was thinking, and a big, bushy mustache most men tried their whole lives to grow. The most prominent feature, or lack of one, was his missing right arm. When Alberto had first moved here, he told him the story of how he lost it to a Sea Monster. Alberto had truly been into the story until the man had laughed and explained that he was just born like that. He was the only person in the house Alberto truly respected. Angering or disappointing him was one of Alberto’s biggest fears. Especially because he always suspected it was Massimo’s idea to take him in. 

“Alberto called me an idiot!” 

“Only because she slept in and I had to check the traps all by myself,” he was quick to defend himself. “Again,” he gave her a pointed look. 

“Alberto-”

And there it was. The voice leaking with disappointment. He stood up abruptly. “I’m going to my room!” He rushed upstairs before anyone could protest. 

Helena sighed. She had no idea what she was going to do with that boy. She turned to her husband. “Can you go talk to him? He doesn’t want to go to school today. I don’t know why.” 

“If he’s not ready when the bus comes, I’m leaving without him,” Giulia commented. 

“Giulietta, sit,” Her papa commanded. 

She sighed as she sat down. “I know, I know. I have to be nicer! But he gets on my nerves on purpose, papá!”

“What did he do?” 

Giulia opened her mouth to answer only to stop. What really annoyed her was that he finished the milk, but she couldn’t exactly say he had done it on purpose. “Ok, so nothing today. But he will! I just know it!” 

“Giulietta, you have to give him a chance.” 

“I'm trying my best, papá! He hasn’t warmed up to me anymore than I’ve warmed up to him.”

“Giulia,” her mother’s stern voice made her flinch. “Can you imagine your entire world turning upside down, moving in with family you never knew existed, going to school with people you don’t even know. Do you think you would just warm up instantly?” 

“No,” she answered honestly. But Alberto wasn’t exactly the easiest person to sympathize with. Especially because it was like no matter what she did, he was already annoyed with her. It was the same for her too! Maybe they were more like siblings than she realized. “I’ll tell the bus to wait for him, but I don’t know how long it’ll wait.” She stood up to get some coffee only to remember that there was no milk. 

“That’s all we’re asking,” Helena said. “And please make sure he makes a friend this year.” 

“That’s not something she can control, mia cara,” Massimo chuckled. “But I can.” He rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll go talk to him.” 

She placed a hand on top of his. “Thank you.” She took a sip of her espresso as she watched her husband head upstairs. It honestly felt like years ago that she had come home for her travels to be able to be a mother to the boy, but it hadn't even been one. Even through the ups and downs, she didn’t regret her choice. Someone had to watch over that kid and it definitely wasn’t going to be Bruno. She turned to her daughter. “Hey.” 

She looked up with a mouth full of yogurt and strawberries. Helena thought it was cute. She honestly did regret leaving her child for her dreams as an artist. That expression would've been cuter on a 12 year old Giulia. “Thanks for trying, ok.” 

“I’ll try harder,” Giulia promised. Now she just had to act on that promise. Hopefully Alberto didn’t do anything stupid to make her regret this. 

“Come in,” he said when he heard a knock. He knew who it was. He put his sketchbook down and hugged his knees to his chest. He mentally prepared himself for his scolding. 

“Thank you for checking the traps.” Alberto furrowed his brows. That’s not what was supposed to happen. “And for letting Giulia sleep in.” 

“I wasn’t-” He tried to deny before Massimo held his hand up. He shut his mouth. He could see Massimo’s mustache lift a bit. He was smiling. 

“You don’t have to lie to me, figlio.” 

Alberto’s heart clenched at the word. Son. It wasn’t a title Alberto deserved. He deserved to be alone. Just how Bruno had left him. 

“I was-” He sighed. “I was ok with letting her sleep in, but then she started coming at me for stupid milk and I just lost it! Like! I’m such a horrible fucking person because I wanted a bowl of cereal.” 

Massimo nodded. Having two children in his house whose minds worked completely differently was sure to lead to misunderstandings. It wasn’t either of their faults. A son with anger issues and a daughter with ADHD. Mannaggia! He had so much work to do. 

He reached for his hand and Alberto let him take it. “We love having you here, Alberto. Yes, even Giulia. She may not show it like Helena and me, but she does love having you here. Besides, I like when you two argue. It gets quiet,” he chuckled, causing Alberto to chuckle. 

“I’ll try to argue with her about more important things than milk then.” 

“ Ma !” Massimo belted out a laugh. “That’s a good one, 'Berto. Now up, ragazzo! The bus is gonna be here any minute. Giulia said she’d try to hold it, so hurry, alright?” 

Alberto nodded. “Alright.” 

“Hey.” He looked up to Massimo expectantly. “And try to make a friend this year, ok?”

Alberto nodded slowly. “I’ll try.” 

“That’s all we ask.” 

Luca walked into the school with his hands already sweaty. He jumped when Beatrice Alfano walked up to him. 

“Hey! How was your summer?” 

He looked around. There was no one else around him. He jumped at her laughter. 

“Yes, I’m talking to you, silly.” 

“Oh! Well, uh, my summer was- it was ok.” It was actually more than ok. He had gone to an Astronomy camp in the middle of a forest where he could see all the stars in the sky, shining brightly. And, honestly, it’s like his anxiety disappeared at the camp. Everyone there was there to learn from the counselors and from each other. Luca had been no different. He had made a small group of friends who he was sure he’d never see again, but it was fun all the same. He had felt normal for once. Not like now, unfortunately. He wasn’t sure this was something Beatrice wanted to listen to. 

“That’s great! You know, my summer was amazing! I did three internships and I did 90 hours of community service! I was productive the entire summer.”

“That’s amazing,” Luca felt comfortable enough to say. Now, time to do what he promised. “Would you, um, maybe want to sign my cast?” 

Beatrice seemed to just realize he had a cast. “Dio mio, what happened to your arm?!” 

“Well, I, uh, I broke it...climbing a tree.” 

“Oh, really? My grandma broke her hip getting into the bathtub in July. That was the beginning of the end, the doctors said. Because then she died.”

Luca was no longer comfortable. He had no idea how to respond to that, so he chose not to. It seemed like Beatrice was done talking anyway. 

“Well, I’ll see you later! Maybe we’ll have some classes together!” And then she was gone…

Without signing his cast. 

“You broke your arm falling out of a tree?”

“Ah!” He jumped at the new voice. He turned to see Ciccio giving him an unimpressed look. He had stayed behind a bit to talk with Guido, but here he was now.

“What are you, an acorn?” 

“No!” That was loud. “I mean, I was climbing a tree at this space camp I went to for the summer. It was a great camp. I know a lot more about the stars so you can ask me anything!” Ciccio only raised an eyebrow. “Well, anyway, a certain meteor was supposed to show that night, but I didn’t want to view it with everyone else. I wanted it to be special, you know. It was going to be my first time seeing a meteor! So I went into the forest and tried to climb this 40 foot tree. And I did! I saw the meteor and everything! It was amazing! But, then the branch gave way and I was on the floor. It’s funny really, because I stayed there for who knows how long just waiting for someone to come.” 

“Did anyone come?” 

“No! No one came. That’s- that’s the funny part.” 

“Dio mio, Luca.”

“Ho-how was- how was your summer?” 

“Were you not listening to me in the car?” 

Luca’s face went red. “Uh, no, I guess I wasn’t.” 

Ciccio rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to recount it for you. I’ll see you around ok?” 

He was getting away. “Do you, maybe, wanna sign my cast?” 

Ciccio turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “Why are you asking me?” 

“Well, we’re...sorta friends, aren’t we?” 

Ciccio let out a genuine laugh. “We’re family friends, Luca. It’s completely different and you know that.” He sighed at Luca’s anxious expression. “Hey, you’ll find someone to sign that cast, ok? In the meantime, let your mom know I was nice to you, ok? We both need that car.” 

Luca nodded. “Of course.” It seemed like Ciccio was about to walk away before something caught his attention. Luca followed his gaze to the last person anyone wanted to be around. Alberto Scorfano. Giulia Marcovaldo’s adoptive brother. 

Alberto had been a savior to the school for such a short time it was almost like it never happened. On his first day of school last year, he had punched Ercole Visconti, a rich bully, right in the nose, knocking him to the floor. Everyone had assumed it was because Ercole, being Ercole, had said the wrong thing. It was all an assumption though, because there hadn’t been any witnesses until they were caught fighting. Except, there was a witness. One witness. And that had been Luca himself. He had watched as Ercole pushed Giulia to the floor and that was why Alberto had punched him. Which is what he had told the principal during lunch that day. After that, there had been an investigation on Ercole’s behavior. The entire school rejoiced when he had been expelled! Ercole was a bully no one liked but didn’t want to stand up against because of money. Giulia was the only one who ever talked back to him. And Alberto was the only one who ever laid a finger on him. He was considered a hero before people quickly realized he wanted to be left alone. He would literally growl when people tried to interact with him. He was a scary person. It was why Luca kept his distance. 

Ciccio, on the other hand, wasn’t anything like Luca. 

“Hey, Alberto! I’m loving the new jacket!” 

Luca watched as Alberto looked down at his jacket in surprise. Though the entire school wore a uniform, Alberto wore a black leather jacket, even in this Portorosso heat. 

“Very school shooter chic.” 

Alberto was glaring something deadly now. It made the hair on Luca’s neck stand. 

Ciccio held up his hands in defense, obviously not expecting such a reaction. “Woah, calm down. I was just kidding! You can’t take a joke?” 

“I can take a joke,” he spat. “I’m laughing! Can’t you tell? Am I not laughing hard enough for you?” 

Ciccio let out a chuckle. “You’re such a freak.” 

Ciccio walked away and Luca really wished he had taken him with him instead of leaving him here to fend off Alberto. He looked at Alberto, whose eyes were glaring daggers at Ciccio’s back. Suddenly, those green eyes were on him. “What are you looking at?!” 

“Nothing!” He quickly looked to the floor. 

“You think I’m a freak too, don’t you?!” 

“No,” he protested. 

“I’m not the freak,” he growled. “ You’re the freak!” 

Luca fell to the ground when he shoved passed him. It probably wasn’t Alberto’s intention for him to fall seeing as the shove wasn’t that hard, but Luca hadn't been expecting it. 

“I am so sorry!” A voice was being directed towards him. And not just any voice. The voice. He looked up to see Giulia Marcovaldo holding her hand out to him, a warm, sunny glow around her as the sunlight made its way in through the windows making her red hair glow like fire. He reached for it without thinking and she lifted him up without much effort. Dio, she was strong. “I don’t know what got into my brother, he’s just been so stupid this morning! You’re Luca, right?”

Giulia Marcovaldo was talking to him. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“Luca? That’s your name isn’t it?” 

Giulia Marcovaldo knew his name. “Yes!” That was loud. “Sorry! I mean, yeah, that’s me.” 

“Giulia,” she held out her hand, this time for a handshake. 

It was then Luca realized that his palms were now sweaty. He could only stare at the hand. 

Her hand lowered. “Ok,” she said slowly and obviously weirded out. “It was nice talking to you.” She started walking away. 

“Do you wanna sign my cast,” the words rushed out, unbidden. 

Giulia turned around. “What?” 

“What? What did you say?” 

“I didn’t say anything,” she chuckled nervously. “You did.” 

“No! No, I didn’t.” 

“Ok~” She was definitely weirded out now. “Well… Ciao!” 

He watched as her curls bounced with every step, probably walking faster than normal to get away from the awkward mess that he was. He sighed. He ruined his first impression with Giulia just like he knew he would. Hopefully they didn’t have any classes together. 

Speaking of classes, he still had to go get his schedule. 

They had three classes together. Three classes where he sat in front to be able to pay attention to the lesson and she would walk in and notice him and smile and send him a wave, which had to be out of courtesy because there was no way she would never genuinely say hi to him. He knew she thought he was some weirdo. 

So, when the bell rang, he rushed to the computer lab. He had to finish that letter or Dr. Aragosta would have his head. 

Well, probably not have his head, she never really got angry at him, but he didn’t want to disappoint her. 

When he opened up a document, though, he knew he would. Because he tried to think about any reason today was a good day and he couldn’t think of a single one. 

Caro Luca Paguro, 

Today wasn’t a good day after all. I don’t know why I thought it would be. Maybe a part of me hoped my mom was right and that everything would be different this year, but it wasn’t. I still couldn’t talk to anyone, I still sat at the front of the class, I still sat alone at lunch. Basically the same as every year before. The one good thing that happened to me today was that Giulia Marcovaldo finally talked to me. And she even knew my name! But, like always, I ruined it. So any chance I had with Giulia is lost at sea. I don't know why I ever thought I could stand a chance with Giulia. She’s too kind, too strong, and way too amazing for me. Someone who doesn’t even have anyone to talk to because he’s such a loser. Maybe if I could just talk to people, maybe even make a friend, things would be different. But the people here aren’t like me. Not like in space camp. I never felt alone there. As long as I was with the billions of other stars in the sky, I never really felt alone. But you can barely see the stars in the city, so the only friend I have here is myself. 

Sincerely,

Your best and most dearest friend, Me. 

He clicked the print icon but still stayed seated, thinking. Nothing would change. He knew nothing would. He would never get the confidence to talk to someone. Anyone. He would never make a friend. And these stupid letters would never help him one bit and he would never, ever, break out of this wall built around him by his own mind. Because he was nothing. He meant nothing. To anyone. He was sure no one would even notice if he disappeared tomorrow. 

“Hey.” 

He jumped and closed the tab in a panic. He didn’t need anyone reading these. Closing it so suddenly meant it didn’t save, but that was fine. He just had to get his copy from the printer. He looked up and found the last person he wanted to see right now. Alberto Scorfano. He looked back down at his lap. “Hey.” 

It stayed silent for a few seconds. “Look,” Alberto started. “I just wanted to...apologize for pushing you earlier. I kind of lost my cool. I know that’s not an excuse, but for what it’s worth… I’m sorry.” 

Luca was looking up at him now. Alberto was, from what he knew, the loner of the school that hated everyone around him. Even Giulia, surprisingly. Alberto was the kind of person to go out of his way to make sure people, well, stayed out of his way. But here he was, talking to him- No. Apologizing to him. Luca had no idea how to feel about that. “Um, it’s ok,” he said, not sure how else to respond. 

“Ok.” Alberto nodded. His hands started fidgeting and Luca noticed he had a piece of paper. “So, um, how did you- What happened to your arm?” 

Luca looked down at it. “Oh, uh, I fell down.” 

He raised a brow. “You fell down?” 

“Fr-from- from a tree,” he explained. “I was- I was climbing it to get a better view of the stars at- at space camp and then I- I just fell.” 

“How tall was the tree?” 

“Uh, around 60 feet,” he lied. He had no idea why we wanted to impress Alberto of all people. 

Alberto let out a chuckle. “That’s impressive. And you only broke your arm?” 

“Well, there were a few scratches and bruises, and I had to leave the camp early to go to the hospital, but, yeah, just my arm.”  

“You know, I used to jump off trees that high on purpose.” 

Luca looked at him, confused. Alberto looked like he wanted to laugh. “Wh-why on- why on purpose ?” 

He shrugged. “I was still a kid amazed by gravity.” 

Luca actually let out a laugh. He was surprised how easy it was to talk to Alberto at the moment. This was new. 

“No one’s signed your cast yet?” 

Luca looked down at his completely blank cast. “Uh, no actually. I don’t really have...friends.” He could feel his face heating up. 

“I’ll sign it.” 

He snapped his head towards him. “Oh! You don’t- you don’t have to do that!” 

Alberto shrugged. “It’s fine. Let me just find a sharpie.” He set the paper he was holding down and Luca gaped as he brought a case out of his backpack with multiple colored sharpies. He chose a purple one before putting the case back. “Here.” Alberto held out his hand. Luca raised his cast to him, barely realizing he was still sitting down. Before he could even think of getting up, Alberto pulled him from his chair, almost making Luca crash into him. 

“Ow,” Luca whispered at the small pain from the tug. 

“Sorry.” He looked at Alberto, whose eyes were focused on the cast he was signing and mouth closed like he was trying hard not to laugh. 

“No you’re not,” Luca muttered before he could stop himself. Lucky for him, Alberto only smiled at the comment. Luca couldn’t help but think Alberto looked nice when he was smiling. 

“All done.” He let Luca’s hand fall. Luca looked at the cast. Alberto’s name was now written in giant, purple letters all across the front side of his cast. Leaving no room for anyone else to sign there.

Despite himself, Luca smiled up at him. Now that he was standing and Alberto wasn’t being intimidating, he could see that Alberto was a whole head taller than him. “Thanks.” 

“No problem. Now we can both pretend that we have friends.”

Luca chuckled. “Good point.” It was silent after that, but Luca didn’t find it at all awkward. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. I have to go before my mom starts worrying where I am.” 

“Yeah,” Alberto nodded. “For sure.” 

Luca gave him one last smile before walking away. He was barely at the door when Alberto called to him again. 

“Hey, I think you forgot this!” 

Luca turned to him, confused. He didn’t remember leaving anything behind. Alberto held up a paper. 

“I found it on the printer. ‘Caro Luca Paguro’. That’s you, right?” 

Holy carp! “Uh, yeah! That’s- that’s mine! It’s an assignment for-”

“Giulia Marcovaldo?” Luca’s eyes widened and with a sudden burst of courage, (or panic, he didn’t know), he tried reaching for the paper only for Alberto to hold it away. He was glaring at Luca now. “Is this about my sister?!” He started scanning the page. 

“Please give that back,” Luca whispered, not sure what else to do.

“You wrote this because you knew I would find it.”

“Wh-what?!” 

“You saw that I was the only other person in this computer lab, so you wrote this and you printed it out, so that I would find it.” 

“No! I wouldn’t- Why would I do that?!” 

“So I would read some creepy shit you wrote about my sister and freak out, right? And then you can tell everyone that I’m crazy, right?” 

“That’s not why I-” 

“Screw you!” He crumpled the paper in his hand and stormed out of the lab. 

Luca could feel his heart beating fast. That letter- He needed that letter! Dr. Aragosta would be so mad at him if he showed up to therapy without it! And- And- And Alberto would show it to Giulia who would laugh in his face the next time she saw him and tell him how crazy and weird he was and- Dio! He needed that letter!  

His legs started moving before he had fully processed it. “Alberto! Wait!” He called out to him. Alberto, meno male , had stopped, though begrudgingly. He crossed his arms and Luca took a few deep breaths. “I’m not- I didn’t even know- I was just- It’s just- I need-” 

“Spit it out, Luca,” Alberto was growing impatient. 

Luca decided to come out with it. “I need that letter for therapy.” 

“What?!” 

“It- it’s an assignment. My therapist has me write these letters to myself. She says that, well, it would help me build my confidence so I started one this morning and I didn’t get to finish it until now and then you found it and came to your own conclusions but I swear it wasn’t because I was trying to mess with you or anything or make you read some weird thing about your sister, in fact, you weren’t even supposed to read it, no one was except my therapist, so I’m sorry!” He took a deep breath after speaking for so long. He looked up at Alberto, fearfully. His expression was unreadable. Luca felt like now was a time to start panicking before he heard Alberto sigh. The next thing he knew, the letter was being shoved to his chest. He grabbed it instinctively. 

“Keep your stupid letter,” he growled. 

Luca sighed in relief before a thought occurred to him. “Wait!” That was loud. Alberto turned to him, clearly annoyed now. “You’re not gonna tell Giulia, are you?” 

Alberto raised a brow. “That you like her?” Luca nodded. Alberto scoffed. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell her. You don’t need my help being any more pathetic.” With those words, he was finally gone. 

Luca looked down at the letter in his hand. He felt a horrible pit growing in his stomach. He had hoped for change and now he had it. He wanted things to change for the better, not for the worst. Now he was on Alberto Scorfano’s hit list. That was the last time he ever talked to anyone ever again! He shoved the letter in his backpack before his phone started ringing. It was his mom, asking a million questions as to where he was. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, mom. I’m heading out right now.”