"Catch!"

The ball flew up high in the air, like a shooting star, and Mariana jumped and bounced it to Mylah. She was a little off balance on her feet as they were currently playing in the outdoor swimming pool of their hotel.

Mylah tried bouncing it to Makayla but her aim wasn't that great and it ended up rolling down in the deep. Makayla ran after it but the water slowed her down like a drag, and she ended up accidentally tripping on her own two legs, falling into the water.

She managed to get up and started coughing as her eyes burned. But at least she got the ball.

Mariana started laughing at the way she fell which caused Makayla to stare her down with a glare.

"She thinks that's funny, okay." Makayla stood up and then without warning, she shot the ball toward Mariana, hitting her legs and sending her flying backward into the water. Makayla started laughing and clapping at the hilarious scene.

Mariana's head rose up, she spat out the water that managed to sneak into her mouth and felt slightly disgusted by it but before coming out, she swam a little around, enjoying the cooling waters, and playfully splashed around. She even went underwater and did a little somersault, a little trick that she learned in her teens.

She broke through the waters, her body rising out and her hair was completely drenched, looking silky wet with the very ends bumping a bit. Some droplets dripped off after soaking her completely like she had taken a bath.

"Little show off." Makayla smirked.

Mariana stuck her tongue out at her and then grabbed the ball. They continued their little game until they decided to take a little rest with Crystal who was relaxing on the side with a few others.

"Maybe, later on, we can go to the beach, is there anyone near here?" Mylah suggested.

"Yeah, I'm sure there's some near the coast that we can take the train to," Mariana said, her voice getting lower as she suddenly got sleepy from the heat.

"Mom, can we go to the beach today," Makayla asked.

"Sure, but maybe we can do something before that," Crystal said.

"Yeah, I would like to see more of the city first," Mylah said, putting her sunglasses on and laying back on the chair that projected striped shadows onto the floor.

Mariana also relaxed as she could feel the tender rays of the sun tickling her skin. Which made her think that it would be nice to get a tan while she was here. It would be nice to get one on the beach or even here right now.

She got up and then got a can of Pepsi from the ice packet they had outside. She opened it and then gulped it down, her body shaking in response to the tingling liquid rushing down her throat.

"Ah! That feels good!" She sighed with relief. She accidentally burped a little as the drink made her feel like a gassy lassy. She quickly covered her mouth and hoped that no one heard her. She went back to her seat while giggling lightly.

When they had a bite to eat, they went to the Navigli canal and got on a little cruise boat with scopes of gelato in their hand. They licked it up as they climbed into the boat and leaned over the edge. The waters were a glistening turquoise, perfectly reflecting the row of buildings ahead of them, with umbrellas shading people's heads. The skies were a refreshing blue, with fluffy clouds that looked they had been pampered to look like cotton candy. A scene taken straight out of a painting.

The boat soon started along, it whirled underwater, making it jolt into action, catching everyone by surprise as they had just been woken up from a dream.

"Here we go!" Mariana said, lifting her ice cream up in excitement and took a big bite out of it. She couldn't stop moaning at the sweet nectar of it as it stained over her face. She looked down whilst not letting any of the ice cream accidentally slip out. The waters were being parted by a white beam of light that cut straight through and made the waters ripple out like a blanket of waves. They sparkled like glitter had been poured into the sea and Mariana could see her distorted reflection.

She sat down with the rest as they started passing some historic architecture.

"On your right, you will see the Chiesa di San Cristoforo which is one of the oldest churches in the city of San Cristoforo, and is a favorite for wedding celebrations," the tour guide said with his thick Italian accent.

Mariana poked her head out and her eyes watered with the beauty of the church that lay ahead. Its russet-brown bricks were fading away on most parts of the wall, but the tower that had the sliver bell, still stood like it was in its prime. It was near a bridge and was grounded on a patch of grass that grew freely around the riverbed.

"Wow, I wonder how inside looks," Makayla said, leaning on Mariana's shoulder.

"Same," Mariana said.

"I wanna ring that bell," Mylah said

"Me too like the hunchback in Notre Dame," Makayla said.

"Oh yeah..." Mariana said as the connections made sense in her head. She continued looking at the building until it grew further away from her sight. It was so interesting to see old architecture and how they compare to modern ones, really lets you see the development over periods of change.

Along their journey, they passed the Vicolo dei Lavandai, which was named after the confraternity of the launderers. It was a small area with a low roof, one wall pasted pale yellow, and the other vanilla white. Their tour guide explained that during the 18th century, it was in charge of washing the linen of wealthy families. These points of interest interested Mariana very much as history was such an interesting subject sometimes.

Soon, the narrow river they were on widened out into the area of Darsena, the center of Milanese nightlife and entertainment on waters.

Mariana liked the change of scenery and preferred being on bigger water than a smaller, confined one.

She looked around the dock, she saw little ducks tapping at the water, and some people were walking along the sides with the fresh air in full view. The water ahead was like a gazillion diamonds had been carefully arranged, creating this liquid jewel that mirrored a natural blur of the outside world.

"Mom, I don't feel so good..." Mylah said, holding onto her belly. She was bent over the barrier, her head resting as her mouth filled with saliva.

"Are you feeling seasick? Do you want to come sit on my lap?" Crystal said, extending her arms out wide.

"Okay." Mylah turned around with a sullen look. She trudged toward her mom and sat down on her lap.

"You're so heavy," Crystal said as she hugged her tightly and bounced her slightly like she was a baby. "But it's okay." She kissed her on top of her forehead and made sure she didn't fall. "You feel better now?"

Mylah let out a low grumble and just snuggled into her chest like she was a sickly child.

"Mm, anyway, how are you two doing? Are you enjoying this little tour?"

"Yeah, it's really informative and I'm learning so much," Mariana said, swinging her legs out as she hanged on the edge.

"Can we please come here again in the future?" Makayla asked.

"Sure, we will definitely do a trip like this next time."

"We should go to Rome next time!"

"Yeah that will be next on our list," Crystal said.

Makayla squealed and eagerly grabbed Mariana's hand as they watched the rest of the scenery.

When their tour was over, they took the train to the beach near the Portofino village. The girls are raced down toward the glittering, sandy beach. It was already crowded, with people staying cool under their blue umbrellas, their colorful blankets blended well with the nearby buildings that had every signature color of the rainbow. The ocean looked like millions of emeralds had dissolved into it, leaving behind a turquoise sheen that settled on top.

Mariana was so excited she could almost feel the sand, touching her feet, as the smell of hot dogs wavered in the air like a temptation. But soon her toes became soaked into those tiny, luscious grains. They went into the shallow parts and the water trickled at their feet like it was giving them a few licks.

"It kinda tickles," Mylah giggled.

"I know," Mariana said as she giggled too.

They splashed around and collected some seashells to take home with them. Some were big, some were small, but they all had such a beautiful design to them. Mariana dumped all the ones she had in a pocket as she continued searching. Mylah also spotted a starfish that was just relaxing away and Makayla came across a crab hidden inside the sand.

"I don't think that crab likes me," she muttered as it quickly ran away.

"Careful you don't get pinched," Mylah snickered.

"Yeah," Makayla said, rolling her hands.

They decided to take a break and Mariana sat down and on a blanket. She splattered lots of sunscreen on her body as she was planning to sunbathe for a long time for her tan. She usually got one whenever she went to the beach.

As she laid down, her mind suddenly took her back to this embarrassing time from her childhood that she had locked away, but feeling the fiery heat from the sun must have triggered it. But now that she had thought about it, what had happened was quite funny even though it literally made her go red.

"Hey Makayla, do you want to hear this funny story?" She said as she started to laugh.

"Sure," Makayla said, putting on her sunglasses and unraveling her hair from its hairband.

"So this happened when I was eleven." Mariana sat up to tell the story because it felt more comfortable that way. "And I wanted to tan faster so I put my sunscreen on, and then I put on baby oil because I thought it would make it go quickly," Mariana said, as she couldn't stop the redness from appearing on her cheeks.

"You what?" Makayla lifted up her glasses and stared at her with disbelief, she thought that her ears were deceiving her or she really heard what Mariana had just said. "So instead of searching on Google 'how can I tan in less than five minutes?' you put 'how to make myself roasted chicken in thirty degrees.'"

Mariana burst out in hysterics as she started rolling around the flaming sand. The comparison to roasted chicken was so funny but it was true in a sense since she basically cooked herself.

"Why would you put oil and then go out in the sun?" Makayla shouted over her laughs.

"I don't know, I was stupid," Mariana said as she calmed down.

"I bet you got a really bad sunburn," Makayla tutted as she went on her phone.

"Yeah, it was so bad, and I made a mistake of taking a nap so I was really red and burning in pain."

"Poor baby Mariana." Makayla shook her head. "So what did you do afterward?"

"I stayed inside and took a cold shower. It did go away but I'm so glad I didn't do any permanent damage to my skin."

"Yeah, I can imagine..."

"But I did get my tan though!" Mariana said, revealing her happy outcome.

"Oh yeah sure, Mariana, out of all that, it's the good thing that you got your tan," Makayla said, shaking her head without looking at her.

Mariana settled back on the blanket she had laid out, this was like being in paradise, hearing the calming waves from afar, their whooshing sound encroaching into her ear, feeling the sand crumble softly under her feet, and hearing the seagulls fly over their heads, wanting to steal someone's food.

It was easy just to let go in a serene setting like this.

A/N: Hey guys I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

While I was researching, I just couldn't help but admire how gorgeous Italy is😍😍 I'm definitely going there when I'm older hehe🥰.