Portorosso. My new home. The name's Chiara Marcovaldo. I know you're probably wondering, kid, who are you and why'd you move? Well, that's actually where my story begins.

Before moving to Portorosso, I lived with my dad on a houseboat in Pensacola. For the longest time, it was always me and him. My mom I never knew, in fact, I don't even know if she's still alive. My dad loved marine biology, whether it was sharks, or dolphins, or even just average seashells. But, his love of marine biology, also came with a few crazy fish tales, like mermaids, or even sea monsters. Just recently, he took the trip of a lifetime to discover a possible sea monster habitat, only to be lost at sea. A couple days later, after I got the devastating news from the coast guard, I was sent to Portorosso to live with my uncle. Something caught my eye when I first arrived, I noticed many people were talking about sea monsters. The townsfolk talk about sea monsters on a daily basis, whether it's stories or possible sightings.

I walked over to a house right by the sea. I opened the gate and let myself in. "Ciao?" I wondered. "Uncle?" I accidentally backed into my uncle, Massimo. He reminded me of my dad, from the mustache at least. He only has one arm, because of a birth defect. As I turned around, he gave me a suspicious look. "Ciao, mi chiamo Chiara Marcovaldo." I introduced, struggling, even using an Italian dictionary. Massimo just laughed softly. "I've been expecting you, Nipote di zii." Massimo replied. "The bedroom is upstairs, Giulietta is fine with you staying there, even when she leaves for school." "Grazie, Uncle." I said, taking my stuff to Giulia's bedroom.

When I got upstairs to the bedroom, I decided to take a look around. Her room was covered with astronomy posters and books. Massimo explained that Giulia was selling fish around town. I picked up one of Giulia's astronomy books and skimmed through it. "Wow, this is so cool." I said to myself. "I agree." An unfamiliar voice replied. "Constellations can be pretty cool when you study them a lot more." "Oh, ciao, I'm your cousin, Chiara." I introduced. "You must be Giulia." "Sì." She replied. "I'm so excited to spend the rest of the summer together, where are you from?" "Pensacola, Florida, it's in the United States." I replied. "So, what do you do for fun around here?" "Well, there's The Portorosso Cup?" "Sounds like fun, what is The Portorosso Cup?" I asked. "Every summer, there's this big triathlon race for ages 18 and under, it includes swimming, eating pasta, and biking." Giulia explains. "I enter every year to beat my rival, Ercole, but I always end up throwing up." "Well, maybe we could join forces." I suggested. "I could help you win." "Grazie, but Ercole always has tricks up his sleeves." Giulia replied with a yawn. "It's getting late, you're probably tired, plus I need to do more deliveries tomorrow." "Buonanotte." I said as I fell asleep.

The next morning, I decided to go with Giulia to help her out. She asked me to time her on her deliveries. When she returned, I stopped the timer. "45 seconds." I said. "That's my personal best so far!" Giulia cheered. "I'm gonna try for a better time later." I hopped onto the cart that was attached to Giulia's bike. As we continued our ride, two young boys around our age were getting picked on by three older men by the fountain in the middle of town. "What's going on over there?" I asked. Giulia turned around to see. "Ercole." She grumbled, turning the cart around, speeding towards them. "Hey, Ercole, basta!" "Oh, look who's here, Spewlia, that's how you're training for the race?" Ercole asked. "You're reign of terror is coming to an end!" Giulia shouted. "Coming to an end." Ercole groaned. "You mean like a year ago, when you quit in the middle of the race, because you wouldn't stop throwing up?" "I didn't quit, they made me stop." Giulia corrected. "I think that is worse, now, go away." Ercole said. "I'm having fun with my new friends." "They're coming with us!" I snapped. "Hop on, we could use the extra weight." The two boys got onto the cart as Giulia rode off. "Sto imbecille thinks he can be a jerk cause he keeps winning the race, which he shouldn't even get to do anymore, cause he's too old and too much of a jerk!" Giulia complains. "You know, we underdogs have to look out for each other, right?" "What's under the dogs?" The taller boy asked. "Underdogs, you know, kids who are different, dressed weird." I explained. "Or a little sweatier than average." Giulia added, showing off the sweat under her arms. "Too much? Too much." "So, are you guys in town for the race? I asked. Both boys looked confused. "The Portorosso Cup?" Still no answer. "Well, good talk, we gotta deliver these, always be training, you know?" Giulia asked, riding forward with me. A little bit later, the boys caught up to us. "Hey, uh, Spewlia?" The tall boy asked. "Giulia, my name is Giulia." She corrected. "Okay, when you race in a cup, what do you get?" He asked. "Well, from what Giulia told me, the winner gets soldi, prize money." I explained as Giulia took the pedals again. Not long after, they caught up with us again. "Hello again." The tall boy greeted. "Ciao?" Giulia and I replied with question. "Can we turn the money into something else?" He asked. "Something like..." "That." The shorter boy added, pointing to a Vespa. "No, but it could get you that." Giulia said, pointing to a rusted Vespa. "It's so beautiful." The shorter boy gasped. "Yes, we need it." The other boy added. "Great, so, we'll just win the race." Giulia hit the brakes quickly, causing me to land on my face in the cart. "Prudente, cousin!" I exclaimed. "You'll have to beat Ercole." Giulia explains. "Okay, so, we'll beat Ercole." The tall boy said. "Huh, really?" Giulia asked. "Thinks he'll beat Ercole, this guy, first of all, GET IN LINE, every summer, that jerk makes my life miserable, so no one's taking him down, unless it's me and Chiara!" "What's she's trying to say is, this isn't any old race, it's an epic, grueling, traditional Italian triathlon, swimming, cycling, and eating pasta, so, you'd need a teammate." I explained. "Well, we'll figure it out." The tall boy said. "Thanks, human girls." Giulia continued her deliveries when the boys caught up with us again. "Hey, girls!" The tall boy exclaimed. "Santa mozzarella." Giulia groaned. "Congratulations, you're joining our team." He said. "I either race alone, or with my cousin." She explains as the cart gets stuck on a loose stone. Both of the boys helped us get the cart unstuck. "But, we could be under the dogs, too." The short boy said. "It's okay, Luca, she'd rather do the race with her cousin, who will probably throw up too." The boy explains. "Uh, hang on, you wanna be on our team, eh?" I asked. "Let's see what you got."