Getting the Boot (3 page)

 

Kelly put the school brochure down and glanced out the window as the bus entered a big highway congested with morning-rush traffic. Little cars zipped around them on every side. The dozen kids filling the little van were surprisingly quiet, battling to stay awake after their long flights. She opened her window so she could take in every detail of the scenery.

Soon they pulled off the
autostrada
and were driving through Rome itself. Kelly had never seen so many buildings that looked so old. There were no tall skyscrapers or modern office buildings, just little brick or stucco structures that mostly seemed to be apartment buildings or stores. It was so quaint, just like the pictures in the brochure!

Many shopkeepers were raising the gates of their businesses, sweeping the sidewalks, and opening their awnings. They passed a deli window filled with hanging salamis and huge wheels of cheese, then a greengrocer's, with baskets of bright fruits and vegetables lined up out front. Strings of dried herbs hung between them like necklaces. The air was filled with the scent of brewing coffee and baking bread, making Kelly realize how hungry she was.

The bus wove through a hilly, quiet neighborhood. Kelly noticed that the apartment buildings had given way to nice houses with landscaped gardens and walls surrounding them. Sheela pointed out the window. “You can see a lot of the city from here. That's St. Peter's, where the Vatican is, and that's the Tiber River running through the city.”

Kelly looked out on the panorama that stretched in front of them, dominated by the river and the ornate dome of the Vatican beyond it. “So is the Tiber where the gondolas are?” Kelly's dreamy vision of riding in one of the romantic-looking boats was still fresh in her mind.

Sheela shook her head. “Gondolas are up north in Venice.”

“Are you sure? They don't have them anywhere else?”

“I'm positive. It's just a Venice thing. The Venetians use them to navigate the canals. The whole city is built on water, not like Rome at all.”

Kelly shook her head. “Fine, but if you tell me that gondoliers aren't handsome and don't serenade their passengers, I'm gonna be pissed.”

“As far as I know, they're all gorgeous and have voices like angels,” Sheela replied, smiling.

“Well, what about the leaning tower of Pisa? Can we see that from here?”

“Not unless you have superhuman vision. Pisa is a city in Tuscany, also north of here.”

“Of Pisa. I get it,” Kelly muttered sheepishly.

They passed a beautiful little park where people were soaking in the view of the city from benches or strolling among what looked to Kelly like orange trees.

“That must be Parco Savello,” Sheela told her. “I read about it in a guidebook. There was once a castle here owned by a really wealthy family. The gates lead out to a church called Santa Sabina that's supposed to be beautiful. When we get some free time we
have
to go check that out.”

Kelly had thought that their PIR dorm would be in the heart of vibrant Rome, with shops, restaurants, and tons of people right outside her door. All of the websites she'd looked at had shown the bustling city center. It was pretty up here, but it seemed almost as sleepy as the suburbs. At least the houses looked swanky; there was a Mercedes parked in almost every driveway they passed.

Next to her, Sheela seemed to be getting more excited by the minute. “There's the Circus Maximus, where they held chariot races in ancient Roman times. We're going to be close enough to walk down there whenever we want! This totally beats selling steel-belted girdles at the mall.” Sheela had worked at a lingerie store the summer before, measuring old ladies for bras. She still hadn't recovered from the trauma.

Kelly shrugged. “It just looks like a bunch of grass to me.”

“How do you think you'd look if you were two thousand years old?” Sheela retorted.

Kelly smiled. This was the feisty Sheela she loved spending time with. Maybe there was hope for the girl yet.

At home, Kelly had spent hours looking at Rome websites (or the cute Roman guys on them, anyway), and now she recognized the jagged ruins of the Colosseum, Rome's ancient stadium. She hoped it would be as impressive in real life as it looked online.

The bus turned through a set of iron gates with a brass sign posted on them: PROGRAMMA INTERNAZIONALE DI ROMA. The building wasn't enormous, but it was impressive: four stories high, in reddish stucco with lighter-colored details around the tall, arched windows framed with green shutters.

“It's even prettier than the pictures in the brochure,” Kelly said. “Check out that terrace over there. That'll be the perfect place for sunbathing and soaking up the scenery.”

“Or reading,” Sheela said.

Kelly sighed. “You can't tell me we've just flown four thousand miles so you can stick your head in a book and ignore a view like this.”

“Okay, okay. For once, I'm totally with you,” Sheela answered. “This is absolutely beautiful.”

Spontaneously, the girls reached out and squeezed each other's hands. They had arrived.

 

 

Dr. Wainwright was waiting to greet the group as they entered the cool, dark building. He looked exactly like a professor type: tall and somewhat stooped, probably from too many years of leaning over books, with a long face and thinning, sandy-colored hair. Only his outfit, Bermuda shorts, sandals, and a golf shirt, didn't fit Kelly's image. His light blue eyes sparkled with excitement as the group straggled in with their bags.

“Welcome! Leave your belongings here. The custodial staff will bring your luggage upstairs for you. Just make sure they're properly labeled.” He passed around a stack of labels and markers, gazing at each student intently as he greeted them.

He made a beeline for Sheela, exclaiming, “Yes, I see the resemblance. How is your dear dad?” And when he got to Kelly, he grinned broadly. “Miss Brandt, it's a true pleasure to meet you. Your e-mails kept me in stitches all winter! All seventy of them.”

“My pleasure, too, sir.” Kelly shot him her best pep-rally smile.

“If you show as much persistence in your studies as you did convincing me to accept you into the program, you'll wow us all.” He chuckled.

“Seventy?” Sheela whispered to Kelly, looking mortified. “You sent Dr. Wainwright seventy e-mails?”

“He's exaggerating,” Kelly answered. “It was closer to fifty. When S.A.S.S. wait-listed me, I had to go straight to the top. My dad always says that juries have short memories. If you don't keep reminding them, they forget your argument. It's the same principle.”

“And Miss Ramaswamy,” Dr. Wainwright continued, beaming at Sheela. “I'm thrilled to have you in the program. Your dad is still one of the best students I've ever had the privilege to work with. Welcome.”

“Thank you,” Sheela said, shooting Kelly another scolding look. Kelly couldn't have cared less. All those e-mails had bought her a ticket to Rome, and Dr. Wainwright obviously thought they were funny.

Dr. Wainwright addressed everyone. “Tonight, we'll take our first journey together, to a genuine Roman
osteria
. We'll share a good meal and get to know each other. I hope you will soon start to feel as at home here as I do.” His eyes crinkled when he smiled. “We're still waiting for a dozen of your compatriots to arrive, so I think the first thing everyone should do is grab a bite to eat downstairs. Signora Peretti, our wonderful cook, has prepared a restorative breakfast for you. Once everyone has arrived and had a chance to settle in, we'll have a brief orientation to introduce you to the staff and facilities. Then you'll have some free time for a much-needed rest.”

Fourteen kids traipsed down a narrow wooden staircase to the dining room. Kelly hadn't been sure what Italians ate for breakfast, but it looked pretty normal: yogurt, a couple of healthy-looking cereals, juice, and a big basket of rolls. Best of all, the cook had put out an urn of coffee and a pitcher of steamed milk. Cappuccino for breakfast! How bad could this place be?

After they ate, the janitor, Signor Peretti, who spoke almost no English, led them upstairs to show them their dorm rooms. Now that her stomach was full, Kelly was yearning for a nap and a shower. They climbed the steps back to the main floor, and then continued up a wider set of stone stairs. “Floor one—class-a-room,” the old man said, waving his arm down the hallway. They kept climbing. “Floor two—more class-a-room, computers
e
lounge.” Another floor. Sweat dripped down Kelly's back. Didn't they have an elevator in this place? “Floor three—boy rooms.” The guys dispersed down the hall, looking at cards posted on each door for their names. The little man skittered up the final flight effortlessly. “Floor four—girl rooms.” He nodded, and was gone.

“So unfair! Why do we have to climb all the way up to the top of the building?” Kelly muttered. Goth Girl also seemed pissed, and muttered something about an “archaic, paternalistic culture” that Kelly didn't fully catch.

Sheela puffed up behind her. “The queen of Pilates and dance squad is complaining about four measly flights of stairs? I thought you could walk that in your sleep.”

“I'm so tired I feel like I'm sleepwalking,” Kelly said, searching for her luggage in the hallway. She hoisted her two huge suitcases, stooping under their weight.

“Exactly how many pairs of shoes did you bring, anyway?” Sheela asked, amused by Kelly's struggle.

“As many as I need, so cease and desist with the wisecracks.”

Sheela laughed. “Uh-oh, you're using your dad's lawyer lingo now. You must be crabby.”

Kelly opted to ignore Sheela's teasing and set off to find her new digs. The room was at the end of the hall, next to an emergency stairwell and a bathroom, both good things to have nearby. And she and Sheela were roommates, as she had requested.

There were two small bedrooms, and Kelly immediately started scoping them out to see which had the better view. Sheela followed her in, talking to another girl. She smiled at Kelly and said, “This is Lisa, one of our suite mates.”

Kelly plopped down on the sofa. Suite? They had to be kidding. As it was, each room was about the size of a girls' bathroom stall at Westlake High. “Hi, Lisa,” she managed, curling her lips into a forced smile. Lisa had a head full of dark, frizzy hair and wore a drab tank top made of some overly natural fiber. Kelly would have to help her out with that hair; she wondered if she could find a flat iron in Rome. She looked at Lisa again and saw more black hair hanging out of her armpits. Gross.

Lisa made a beeline for the room Kelly had earmarked and threw her bag, a fake tapestry number with ANIMALS ARE OUR FRIENDS, NOT OUR FOOD and SAVE THE RAIN FORESTS decals stuck all over it, onto one of the beds. “Are you sharing with me?” She smiled eagerly at Sheela.

“Um, I kind of already promised Kelly that we'd share,” Sheela replied.

Lisa shrugged and began pulling things out of her suitcase. Kelly couldn't resist watching—half the contents seemed to be packages of food and jars of vitamins. She picked one up. “Amino acids? I remember those from biology. Why do you have them?”

Lisa gave her a benevolent smile. “I'm vegan, so I have to make sure I have proper nutritional support while I'm here. You'd be surprised how many things that seem like they're fine have milk or eggs in them.”

“You came all the way to Italy and you're not going to eat any cheese or gelato? I mean, half the reason I'm here is for the pizza.”

Lisa frowned. “Taking milk from cows without their permission is a violation of their rights.”

Kelly laughed. “Next time, I'll be sure to ask.”

Lisa was not amused. “Do you understand that when you eat meat and wear leather, you are responsible for the murder of animals? Have you ever had a pet? You didn't eat him, did you? It's the same exact thing.”

Kelly sensed she wasn't going to win this argument, so she made a quick excuse and bailed. In their room, Sheela was already laying neat little stacks of underwear and shirts on her bed. “So we can work this two ways,” Sheela said. “Either we each take two dresser drawers and share the closet space, or I can use one and you can use the other.”

“Only one dresser and one closet? Are you sure?” But there they were, clear as day; unless there was some secret hole in the floor, the room was way too tiny to be hiding any extra storage space. And, naturally, they were the puniest closet and dresser imaginable. Kelly looked at her two enormous suitcases with a sinking feeling.

“Let's share both, I guess,” she finally said. Sheela nodded amenably and kept on organizing, putting her toiletries into a little basket. Kelly pulled the latest issue of
Glamour
from her bag along with her sketchbook and flopped down on her bed. She loved scouting out the hottest runway looks and drawing her own designs.

“Aren't you going to start unpacking?” Sheela asked. “We won't have much time once classes start.”

Kelly made a face. “Are you kidding? I'm way too wiped to do anything but veg right now. I'll unpack tonight.”

The final member of their rooming group timidly stuck her head in the doorway. “Hello? Are you guys Sheela and Kelly?”

She was tiny, with wire-rim glasses and long, blond hair pulled back in a limp ponytail. “I'm Minnie.”

Minnie certainly was mini, but Kelly decided to keep that joke to herself. “Have you met Lisa yet? You two will be roommates.”

Minnie smiled enthusiastically. “Oh, yes. We sat together on the bus. She's great.” She looked around their little cell. “We're gonna have the neatest time together, you guys! I'll see you later.”