Tutti Italia: A Novel Page 11

  Chapter 19

  Everyone trickled over in ones and twos, and eventually the tour guide unlocked the bus so everyone could get on. Rachel went back to her lonely seat, and curled up across the three seats that she’d been napping on. She didn’t go to sleep this time. She just pulled her hood over her head and let her pain get cried out. She was holding back the sound, but the tears flowed freely, making her thankful that she’d grabbed a black hoodie. Black material didn’t change color when it got wet. She listened to the other sounds on the bus of people snoring peacefully, and she wished again that she could have gone on a trip like this with friends. Once the bus had been on the road for a while, Rachel wiped away her tears, sat up, and looked out the window. She watched the Austrian countryside slip by in patches of moonlight, and felt homesickness sink its teeth into her. Rachel’s memories of when she lived in Germany came flooding back, and she was hard pressed to keep the tears at bay again. She let herself get swept up in the beauty and just ignored everything else.

  The bus pulled up to a beautifully decorated, carved wooden house that stood three levels tall. It was beautiful. Buildings like this were what Rachel would see when she visited her grandparents in the mountains of Germany, and it stabbed her even more with homesickness. The group was tired, and the distributing of luggage took a little longer than Rachel would have liked. Thankfully, the tour guide had been in the building, getting their room keys while everyone was looking for their bags. When the tired group traipsed into the building, Rachel had to smother her gasp of awe. It was beautiful. Decorated just the way the old houses were one hundred years ago, in the beautiful countryside of Germany. She kept to herself, trying to keep everyone from knocking into her. Looking around, she saw that most of the people that were standing there had packed enough to last them for a week. Rachel and the group of three were the only ones with a duffel bag for overnight. She had to laugh a little at that. The tour guide came back over to them with a piece of paper and a small basket of keys. She put the basket down on a small table and pulled a key out at random. She looked at the number hanging off the key, matched it up with something on the page in her hand, and called out two names. Rachel was a little nervous now. She’d thought that everyone would get their own room, like in a hotel. It looked like it was going to be two people to a room. She didn’t know anyone here closely enough to want to share a room with them. She stood nervously, waiting for her name to be called. When it finally was, she waited to see who was going to be spending the night with her. It was the girl from the threesome. Rachel smiled at her and gave her the key, letting her precede her up the stairs.

  “Wow. This is beautiful.” The girl had opened the door and walked in, allowing Rachel to follow her. Rachel couldn’t agree more. There were two twin beds, separated by nightstands, with trunks at the foot of each bed. Both the girls dropped their bags on to the trunks. The bathroom, by comparison was completely modern. Everything was in white ceramic and frosted glass. It was beautiful. The shower doors were glass with mountain scenes frosted on them. Both girls were impressed with the décor.

  “So, my name is Rachel.” Rachel stuck her hand out to shake the other girl’s.

  “Oh, hi. My name is Anna.” They shook hands, and the two of them stood around, not quite knowing what to do.

  “Well, I’m going to take a shower and head to bed early, if that’s alright with you. Do you want to shower first or is it ok if I do?”

  “You can go ahead. I’m going to see if I can catch up with my guys before I go to bed.” Anna left the room, pulling her phone out as she went. Rachel waited until she was gone before she started to get undressed and head to the shower. When she was finished, she used the hair dryer that was hanging on the wall, and put on her pajamas. She curled up in her bed with a smile. Rachel had been lucky enough to get the bed by the balcony. The doors were glass, and she could look out and see the moon shining down over the mountains. It was peaceful, and it lulled her to sleep before Anna came back.

  In the morning, Rachel woke up early and got herself up and dressed before Anna even stirred. She was ready to go, with her bag repacked, and out the door within twenty minutes. She went downstairs with her bag and was ushered into the breakfast room. She was excited. It was set up just the way the German breakfast rest stop had been. She went through the buffet style tables, and then found a table to sit at in the far back corner of the breakfast room. She sat and watched as the rest of the group trickled in. She had finished her breakfast by the time the other girl walked in, and was simply sitting there at her table because she didn’t want to go outside and possibly lose the group. When the tour guide came in and announced that the bus was unlocked so people could board, Rachel grabbed her bag and left the breakfast room. She was back in her seat long before everyone else loaded up. The ride back to Saltzburg was going to take three hours. Rachel had slept peacefully the night before, so she stayed awake this time, looking out her window at the scenery.

  The bus stopped in a small town, and in the distance, Rachel could see the castle. The excitement was back in her belly. She didn’t have to lug her bag around with her this time because she left it under the bus. She skipped off the bus and saw that they were in a shopping area. There were thin, narrow cobblestone roads with shops lining both sides, and it reminded her of when she was younger, going places with her parents and grandparents, shopping in the tourist towns, and racing up and down the cobblestone streets. Rachel had to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. She went in and out of the shops for the next two hours, and by that time, her belly was reminding her that it was lunch time. She found a classy little bistro and went in. She was seated at a table by herself, and when she looked up, she saw the threesome sitting two tables over. She didn’t know them, and they didn’t know her. Even though she’d spent the night in a room with one of them that didn’t change. She ordered her food, and went back to admiring the décor. She could see out of the corner of her eye that the threesome kept looking furtively over at her. She pointedly ignored them, pretending like that table was empty as far as she cared. Finally, Anna got up and came over to Rachel’s table.

  “I couldn’t help but notice that you’re here on your own. We were wondering if you wanted to come over and eat with us.” Rachel picked the girl’s words and actions apart in her mind to see if there was a trap anywhere in there. She couldn’t see one, but that didn’t mean that this was purely a humanitarian mission that she’d sent herself on. After a pause, Rachel finally answered her.

  “Um, sure. Yes, I am on this trip by myself, and I have to admit that it’s a lot more fun with other people.” Rachel shut her mouth with a snap. She didn’t want to sound like she was desperate.

  “Yeah, I know all about that. I’ve been there, too. That’s actually how I met these guys. I was on a trip by myself, and they were, too. They invited me to hang out with them, just like I’m asking you.” She smiled at Rachel. “We’d like to pull you into our group.” Rachel took her beer with her and followed Anna over to the table. The guy that had looked at her the night before was looking at her again, and Rachel couldn’t help but stare at his beautiful blue eyes. She had to jerk her eyes away from him in order to be polite and smile at the other guy. “Guys, this is Rachel. She was my roommate last night. I know what it’s like to be on a trip alone and I didn’t want her to have to deal with that so I invited her over.” The guys were both smiling at her now, and Mr. Blue Eyes spoke first.

  “Hey. I’m Erik. Nice to meet you.” He stuck his hand out, and Rachel shook it. The other guy waited his turn and stuck his hand out as well.

  “I’m Ryan.” Rachel shook his hand, too, then sat down next to Anna. She was a little shy, and she kept herself to herself while the conversation picked up around her. When they started talking about beer flavors, and where the most unusual ones were, Rachel had to speak up.

  “Honestly, I think the best one is in Berlin. There’s a beer there that has a raspberry flavor, and since I’
m addicted to raspberries, I’m a little biased.” There was silence around the table for a few minutes.

  “Raspberry beer? Really?” Anna looked like she was in shock. “I love raspberry, too. Is there any way we can get some here?” Rachel grabbed her beer and held it up to the light. When the light filtered through it, they could see that the color was pink.

  “This is a raspberry beer as well, just not the one that I was talking about.” Anna squealed with delight and tried to flag down the waiter. When he arrived, she ordered what Rachel had and couldn’t sit still until he’d come back with it. She gave her beer glass to Ryan, and dove into the new beer that the waiter had brought.

  “What is this for?” Ryan seemed a little confused. He’d looked down at the table once, had one beer in front of him, and when he looked down again there had been two.

  “I don’t want that beer anymore. They have raspberry beer, and I only want to drink that. So, this one is for you.” Ryan shrugged his shoulders, picked up the glass that Anna had given him, and promptly finished it. Then he went back to talking to Erik, intermittently sipping at the beer he’d ordered himself.

  “This is absolutely delicious!” Anna was gushing on and on about the raspberry beer, and Rachel could tell that she was tipsy. This girl must be a lightweight, she thought. The boys had considerably more empty glasses in front of them, but they both seemed more sober than Anna was. Rachel kept on drinking her beer, and she was listening in to the boys’ conversation instead of paying attention to Anna’s drunken ramblings. They were talking about going up to the castle on the top of the mountain.

  “I vote to go up there, too. I love castles, and I wouldn’t mind hiking up there to visit the museum that’s up there.” That caught Anna’s attention.

  “There’s a museum up there? You guys didn’t mention that there was a museum up there! What are we waiting for? Let’s pay and get up there!” Both of the boys rolled their eyes at Anna. Rachel could tell that they were getting fed up with her.

  Chapter 20

  The bills were paid, and the four of them were planning their excursion up to the castle. It was going to be a bit of a hike, and the boys didn’t want to take Anna along with them, but they couldn’t really leave her behind anywhere, either. Rachel could see immediately that the boys had wanted to go on this trip, and that Anna had simply tagged along. Rachel had to laugh. When they looked over at her, she just shook her head with a smile on her face. It was almost like she was watching three kids in her class. The road up to the castle started almost directly outside of the little bistro that they’d eaten at. Erik, Ryan, and Rachel set a good, steady pace for the hike. Unfortunately, they had to keep stopping for Anna because she was lagging behind. Ryan even grabbed her hand at one point so that he could drag her along behind him. Even though he succeeded in getting her to move a little faster, the group still had to make a lot of stops for her. Rachel was up in the front of the group with Erik. Ryan and Anna were out of earshot, so she decided to ask the question that had been plaguing her since the bistro.

  “Hey. Can I ask you something?” Erik stopped walking to look back at the two that were trailing. Rachel could tell that he was a little irritated.

  “Yeah. Go ahead.” Rachel took a deep breath.

  “Why did you guys bring Anna when neither one of you want her along?” She’d said it, and there was no taking it back now.

  “I didn’t even want her to come. That much is true. Ryan, on the other hand, is trying to get with Anna. He’s my best friend, so I couldn’t very well tell him no.” Rachel could understand that. She’d done the same thing before in high school.

  “I’m sorry. I know what that’s like. I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I could handle having her along for two days like you guys have. That takes a special kind of strength.” Erik looked over his shoulder to see that Anna had made Ryan stop again. He sighed heavily.

  “Why do you think we’ve been drinking so heavily?” Rachel had to tamp down the volume of her laughter. Erik looked at her for a second or two before he started laughing, too. From behind them, Anna heard the laughter and increased her pace so that she could get in on the joke, too.

  “What’s going on up here? What did I miss?” Erik just shook his head.

  “Why couldn’t you get up here that fast a few minutes ago?” Ryan was at the end of his rope it seemed, and some of his anger bled through in his voice.

  “I don’t know. I was just tired. And my feet hurt.” Ryan crossed his arms over his chest.

  “But when you think you’re missing some kind of gossip, none of that shit matters, does it?” Anna just stood there and looked at him. Ryan huffed angrily and walked away. Erik followed him and tried to calm him down. That left Anna with Rachel. Rachel was not happy about it. She tried to make pleasant small talk with the girl, so she would stay here and not run away before the boys could come back. When they did, Ryan looked a little calmer. The first thing they saw when they entered the castle’s gates was another little bistro with outdoor tables. It was warm, the wind was a gentle breeze, and Rachel thought she might be able to help calm the situation down.

  “Hey! How about we stop here and grab something to eat? Look! The sign even says if you buy that beer special, you get to take the glass home. What about it?” She had plastered one of her fake smiles on her face, but they didn’t know her well enough to realize that it was fake.

  “Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do it.” Erik was on board, and he was looking at Ryan to see if he was down for it as well. Ryan took a minute before he agreed. No one asked Anna what she wanted. She was forced to tag along behind them. The sad but true part was that they didn’t care about her wants anymore. They sat down at a table and ordered some food and more beer. Ryan, Erik, and Rachel were enjoying everything and keeping a conversation going, while Anna was twisting paper napkins apart.

  “I’m going to use the bathroom. I’ll be back.” No one really paid much attention to Anna when she excused herself. After a while, she still hadn’t come back. Ryan asked Rachel to check the ladies room to see if she was still in there. Rachel did as he asked, and came back with the bad news. Anna was gone.

  “That dumb ass. She’s always causing problems for us! Ryan, look, I’m sorry, man, but she’s not coming on any other trips with us after this. I can’t handle it. She’s ok in small doses, but forty-eight hours in a row is not a small dose.” Erik was very annoyed, and Ryan was getting to be that way, too.

  “Hey, guys, it’s ok. Look, we’ll pay, then we’ll go find her. She couldn’t have gotten far. Once we get her on the bus, that’s it. You don’t have to worry anymore because she can’t get lost when she’s on the bus. It’ll be ok.” Rachel was the calm voice of reason, and it was plain to see that the boys were glad that she was around. Rachel split up the castle grounds into three sections, and assigned one to each of them. Then they dispersed, looking for the wayward annoyance that everyone was tired of by now.

  Half an hour later, it was Rachel that found her, in the gift shop, trying to buy a ton of things that she didn’t need. Rachel made her put everything back and almost shoved her out of the shop. When the boys saw Rachel dragging Anna behind her, both of their faces clouded over, and they looked very angry. Rachel stood in front of her, and used her body as a kind of shield. That slowed them down, but only a little.

  “Everything is fine. We found her, now we can all go get on the bus. It leaves in half an hour anyway, and we still need to hike down the mountain. Everyone just take a deep breath, and Anna, you stay with me.” The younger girl looked at her companions’ faces and hurried to stick close to Rachel. It seemed like she was the protector, and Anna was clinging to her for dear life. Rachel ushered her onto the bus, she found her seat, and then went to the back of the bus to her own seat. A few minutes later, Ryan and Erik got on the bus and took their seats away from Anna. Erik came over to her and sat down for a minute.

  “I want to say thank you for helping us find her. I know th
at you didn’t have to, that you could have easily walked away and not thought about her or us twice, but I want to thank you for not doing that.” He got up to go, and Rachel had to hurry and say something before he left.

  “I just wanted to help. I’ve seen situations like that, and the more it escalates and people think that they only have to look out for themselves, the worse it gets.” She laughed. “Well, let me say it this way, if you need another child wrangler, just give me a call.” She gave him her number and watched as he typed it into his phone. A little flutter went through her. The reason that she had helped them with Anna wasn’t out of the goodness of her heart. She was doing it because she had a slight crush on Erik. She knew that she would never see him again. It wasn’t like she had gotten to know them enough for them to want to see her again, anyway. She curled up in her seats, and went to sleep. Every now and then she would roll over, and she would steal a glance at Erik. Then she would beat herself up about it. Why would she want to try to get close to another guy, after the pain that had just been put on her from the last man she’d let get close to her? Rachel cleared her head. The bus pulled up in the same parking lot that they’d left from the day before, and Rachel had never been so happy to get in her car and make a fifteen minute drive in her life. She drove home, parked in her dorm’s parking lot, snatched her overnight bag, and staggered up to her room. She jumped in the shower long enough to get herself cleaned up, then dove into the bed without even bothering to dry her hair first.