Getting the Boot (13 page)

Thinking of all the work she was taking on, Kelly asked Andrea the million-euro question. “We're gonna be gone two weeks on the field trip—how will we be able to finish the entire mural when we get back to Rome? We'll only have like three weeks left.”

Andrea laughed. “I think we can do it. If we really run into trouble, we'll call in the Swiss Guard to help.”

Kelly and Marina looked at each other and groaned. Dai was buried in one of his drawings, so it was tough to tell how he was taking it. Hildy and Veronica blinked anxiously.

“Six buildings in three weeks?” Gabriela cried.

“Hey, I'd rather work on this than conjugate verbs any day,” Kelly said.

“Remember,” Andrea told them. “The mural qualifies as your final project. That means that you have a jump on the rest of the students in the program, who won't even start their projects until we return from the field trip.”

Kelly's eyes wandered over to the tourist information office. She had a sudden idea. “I'm gonna buy a few postcards—that way I can work on some drawings while we're away.”

Kelly fluffed her hair, brushed on some lip gloss, and walked into the tourist information office. The postcards would come in handy, but she was also wondering whether Luigi, the sweet guy who had salvaged her first trip to the Vatican, would be around. It would be nice to hear his cute accent again. Sure enough, Luigi was behind the desk, speaking to a cluster of middle-aged tourists toting camcorders.

He was cuter than Kelly remembered—tall and thin, with close-cropped light brown hair and little wire-rimmed glasses that made him look smart but funky. She browsed through the postcards while she waited for the tourists to leave, then stepped up to the counter.

“Hi. Do you remember me?”

Luigi stared at her for a moment before smiling broadly. “I do! Did my note help you? Were you able to find your friends?”

“It did, and I did. I even got to see some of the galleries. I'm here working on a project and I needed to pick up some postcards, so I thought I'd come and say thanks again. You were a real lifesaver.”

Luigi lowered his head modestly. “I'm so happy that it worked out well. And I'm even more happy that you came back to visit me.”

“Me, too.” Kelly smiled. “So, how long have you worked here?”

“For two summers. During the school year I study engineering at the university, La Sapienza. I'm hoping to work in the great tradition of Romans before me, who built the Pantheon and the aqueducts—not to design another Tower of Pisa.” He flashed the same grin she remembered from their first meeting.

“Maybe the pope will ask you to design a new wing here at the Vatican,” Kelly teased. “Those galleries are pretty crowded.”

Luigi threw back his head and laughed.

“Maybe we can meet up for a latte sometime,” Kelly offered.

“That would be my great pleasure, signorina.”

Kelly scribbled her cell number on the back of a gallery map. Luigi read it carefully. “Kelly Brandt. A very pretty name.
Piacere, Signorina Kelly.
”

“I'll be away for the next couple of weeks, but after that I hope you'll give me a call.”

“
Certo.
I look forward to it very much.”

Kelly paid for her postcards and virtually skipped out of the office, giving her hair a shampoo-commercial toss for good measure. The old Kelly was back, and better than ever.

 

 

Dr. Wainwright was sitting out the trip, keeping the program going for the full-time students. The night before they left, he gathered everyone in the lounge for a pep talk. “Over the last six weeks, I have watched each of you change and grow. I hope the next two weeks will be deeply enriching and moving for you. You'll come back here transformed by your visits to a veritable treasure trove of Italy's most special places.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kelly could see Joe snickering at Rodney. That jackass. After just a couple of weeks, she was having a hard time remembering what she had seen in Joe.

She switched her focus back to Dr. W's travelogue. “You'll start your journey in the delightful city of Siena—one of my favorite places on earth. I could spend a week in the cathedral alone. It's a big university town—something to think about when you're filling out those college applications.” He chuckled. “Siena is surrounded by beautiful countryside. Try to stay awake on the train to soak in the scenery.

“When you leave Siena—reluctantly, I'll wager—you'll continue on to Firenze, or Florence, where your trusty guides will take you to the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Uffizi Gallery, among other marvelous spots.”

Dr. Wainwright's eyes widened dramatically. This was obviously his favorite part of the trip. “And then, you'll journey south”—he swept his arms downward—“to Naples and Pompeii. Those of you who are particularly interested in classical art and architecture will be in heaven. And the rest of you won't have anything to sneeze at, either.

“Besides being the birthplace of pizza, Napoli is home to the National Archaeological Museum. Most of the artifacts excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum are housed there. Seeing these items will help bring those cities to life for you as you walk among their ruins.”

Kelly glanced over at Sheela, whose face was positively shining. Jarvis sat next to her, holding her hand. Sheela had been ridiculously happy since she'd hooked up with Jarvis.

Sheela smiled over at Kelly. “I've been dying to see Pompeii since I was a kid. I've read that once you see it, you never forget it.”

Kelly feared that all this archaeology on top of the Pompeii trip could cause Sheela to have some sort of seizure. She had never seen her friend this enthusiastic about anything, not even when the Westlake marching band got on the evening news.

Dr. Wainwright was winding up his monologue. He smiled expansively and spread his arms wide. “With that, I beseech you to go forth, explore, and enjoy. I can't wait to hear all about your adventures in a fortnight.”

Some of the students headed upstairs to pack. With all the art stuff going on, Kelly hadn't even figured out what clothes she wanted to bring.

Sheela's bag, of course, was already packed,
and
she had laid out her clothes for the next day. She and Jarvis were sitting on the couch together when Kelly walked in.

“Hey, Sheela,” Kelly said, “would you mind if I roomed with Marina on the field trip? I already asked her and she's cool with it.”

Sheela looked up at her, frowning.

“Don't you think you should have asked me first?” she huffed. “Now I have to find a new roommate.”

Kelly sighed. She had thought she was finally learning to be a better friend, and now she'd botched things with Sheela again. “I'm really sorry. I just figured you'd welcome a break from me.”

“Well, I will now.” Jarvis gave Sheela's shoulder a squeeze, and Kelly was relieved to see her face soften a bit. “Two weeks without listening to you snore or watching you coordinate outfits every morning? Maybe switching roommates isn't such a bad idea, after all.” Sheela smiled. “Tell Marina I wish her the best of luck.”

They left for Siena at the crack of dawn, silently dragging their bags out of the metro and through Stazione Termini. “Everybody keep a close eye on your stuff,” Steve told them. “There are plenty of people hanging out here who would like to take it home.”

Kelly was tired and cranky; she had been digging through her storage cage until 1 A.M., assembling her trip wardrobe. She couldn't wait to settle into her seat, crack open the latest issue of
Lucky,
and get this show on the road.

There was a mild traffic jam on the platform as the kids jostled to board the crowded train. Sheela and Jarvis had already disappeared into a mass of people inside. Kelly and Marina finally squeezed through the door and found a couple of seats together.

The train was loaded with commuters, all shouting into cell phones. Even though the group was in a nonsmoking car, cigarette stink drifted in from other cars, making Kelly's eyes itch and her nose run. Rain was falling on the farmland outside the streaky window, and Dr. W's spectacular views were shrouded in mist.

Kelly sighed. “This train's like a cattle car. How do people do this every day?”

Next to her, Marina cackled. “Don't tell me the queen of perky is out of sorts? Listen; it's a hundred and twelve degrees back in Tucson right now. My dad and brothers are all stuffed under the hood of some car or other, and there are two months' worth of dirty dishes waiting for me in the kitchen sink. I'm loving it here.” She settled back and opened her sketchbook.

“How many brothers do you have?” Kelly asked.

“Three,” Marina said. “I'm the youngest. Hurry up—you're allowed two more questions before I reach saturation.”

Kelly grinned. Slowly but surely, Marina was opening up.

“What kind of cars do they fix?”

“Classics, mainly. Hot rods, too.” Marina held up an electric-blue fingernail. “This is from a '65 Mustang convertible they're working on right now.”

“Does your mom work at the garage, too?”

Marina's face tightened and she hunched over her sketch pad. “Sorry, Brandt. Interrogation's over.”

Kelly sighed and opened her magazine. Marina was a tough nut to crack, but Kelly vowed to keep chipping away until she got through to her.

A few hours later the train pulled into Siena. The rain was really coming down, and they ran beneath an overhang outside the station, waiting for a bus to take them into the center of town. Kelly had spent the last fifteen minutes on the train doing her makeup, but now it was sluicing down her face.

Finally, a little bus lurched to the outside curb and carried them up a steep hill to the center of the city. Siena was a labyrinth of narrow, winding streets, clearly not designed for traffic heavier than horses and carts. The bus driver soon pulled up beside a larger, busier piazza and, after a rapid conversation with Andrea, took off for the hotel with their luggage.

Marina watched him go, wearing her usual smirk. “I hope we're going to see those bags again. I'm soaked clean through to my undies, and I'm not gonna be happy if I have to wear this outfit for the next two weeks.”

Kelly looked at her. Black pleated kilt with a skull pin holding it shut, black fishnet tank with a snake-print tube top underneath, ripped fishnet stockings, and combat boots. As far as she could tell, all of Marina's getups were exactly the same.

“Tell you what,” Kelly replied. “If they lose our stuff, we'll go shopping and pick out whole new wardrobes.”

Marina checked out Kelly's flirty, vintage ensemble, which was now sopping wet and drooping. “Yeah, I'm sure we'll find a one-stop emporium that will suit both of our sartorial needs.”

They reached a large piazza, shaped like half an oval and ringed by little cafés and souvenir shops. “This is the Piazza del Campo, the heart of Siena,” Steve explained. “Over there is the Palazzo Pubblico—town hall, and the Torre del Mangia, which, tragically, has nothing to do with eating.” He rubbed his round belly. “The Palio, a crazy, competitive free-for-all on horseback, takes place in this piazza twice every summer, the way it has for centuries. If it ever stops raining today, we'll climb up to the top of the tower and take in an amazing view of Tuscany.”

Steve waved them on toward one of the little streets leading out of the piazza. “Let's check out Il Duomo first. It's a great intro to Siena, and we'll escape the rain for a while.”

The Duomo turned out to be a gargantuan church, and it was about the wildest-looking building that Kelly had ever seen. Andrea described it as “a masterpiece of Gothic architecture.” It reminded Kelly of a wedding cake: white, with detailed carvings covering every inch of the marble front. Little figures of people and animals stood on every ledge and roof peak. Behind her, Kelly could hear Lisa telling someone, “See what people were able to achieve before television ate away at their brains?” It was such a relief not to be rooming with her for the next couple of weeks.

The rain was letting up, and a gorgeous rainbow arced above the striped bell tower of the cathedral. The students followed the line of tourists inside, where, almost in unison, they gasped. The black and white marble stripes were repeated on the walls and columns of the interior, leading up dozens of feet to a ceiling magnificently painted in blue and gold. On the floor, enormous stone mosaics depicted scenes from the Bible in breathtaking detail. “We're allowed to walk on this?” Kelly asked.