Piccoletto

The Vespa's Break-In

"Alberto!" Giulia screamed, clutching her side painfully as she ran. "Alberto! Alberto, where are you?"

She doubled over to catch her breath, trying to figure out where he could be. He couldn't have gone to get Luca himself, could he? Alberto was smarter than that.

"I'm right here," a voice echoed from behind her. Giulia turned to see Alberto sitting on the stone ledge over the ocean, lifting his head up from his hands. Giulia sighed and staggered over to sit by him.

"Are you ok?" Giulia asked, swinging her feet above the water. A million things were running through her head. It was almost impossible to understand.

"My dad doesn't hate you," Giulia said, when Alberto didn't answer. "He feels bad. He didn't understand, but now he does."

Alberto shook his head. "I doubt he'll ever let me back in the house."

Giulia sighed. This was hard to do. She had never had friends before. Now, one was missing and the other felt attacked. With good reason, too. But Giulia didn't exactly know how to cheer him up.

"He will," Giulia said finally. "You weren't there after you left. He wanted to go after you and-"

"Kill me?" Alberto interrupted, bringing his knees up to his chest. Giulia looked down to see that his feet were scaly and purple from them being in the water. It was quite interesting to her, but she pulled her gaze away.

"No. To apologize," Giulia replied.

She watched Alberto think. She didn't know what was going through his head, but his reaction hadn't really changed. Giulia didn't know what came over her. Alberto deserved the chance to cry, and even her dad did too. Nothing bad had happened to her, so why did she feel like she wanted to scream?

Alberto was surprised when he turned to see Giulia break down into tears.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Giulia said, wiping her face as she tried to catch her breath. "There's no reason for me to be crying, I'm just being stupid."

Giulia felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Alberto who bore a small smile.

"It's ok," he said. "I understand. Luca. . . Luca's your friend too."

Giulia let out a laugh as she nodded. "Yeah."

For a moment, the two stayed silent to appreciate the moment. The sea was dark as the moon shed a crystalline light that rippled over the water. The soft waves that rolled in almost masked the sound of the chirps of crickets from the vegetation around Portorosso.

"Are we going to get Luca?" Alberto asked, breaking the silence.

Giulia nodded. "Yes. Let's go now."

Alberto stood to pull Giulia up and they began walking away from the stone ledge. But then, something caught Giulia's eye. The dock that bridged from the side of her ledge held her father's boat, which ran on on a sort of gas. And only one gas was stored and sold in Portorosso. Which means the gas for her father's boat would be the same fuel Ercole would need to ride his-

"Alberto!" Giulia shouted, pulling him back by the arm. "My dad's boat!"

Alberto turned with a questioning look. "What are you talking about?"

"My dad's boat runs on the same fuel that Ercole might be using for his vespa!" Giulia shouted, jumping up and down. If we get some of his stored tanks, we could-"

"Wait," Alberto said. "You mean, if we take the fuel and put it into the vespa, we can actually ride it again?"

Giulia nodded ecstatically. "Esattamente! Come on!"