Chapter one: Rome? (Avery's POV)

The day was finally over. We were done with the school year. I pulled up into my driveway while Sophia and Amelia argued in the back. We were trying to come up with a location to go for a girls' trip this summer. We'd been friends forever and never traveled out of the country together and decided it was finally time. 

I turned the car off and turned around to watch them with amusement. 

"Paris!" Amelia shouted. 

"Paris? Paris is the city of love, we're going for a girls' trip, Lia!" Sophia reasoned. 

Fair point. 

"So? Imagine how much we could shop there and the Eiffel Tower! What's in Rome?" Lia groaned. 

I'm all down for the Eiffel Tower but I've seen it before. I went there with my parents as a kid. 

"There's art in Rome," Sophia scoffed. 

"There are museums in Paris," Lia shrugged. 

"The Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine!" Sophia countered. 

"Arc de Triomphe!" Lia countered. 

"Vatican city!" Sophia yelled. 

"Musee D'orsay!" 

I groaned, "Guys!" I yelled, making them both shut up. "Just pick," I sighed. 

"You pick," they both turned to me. 

"I've already been to one of those places," I sighed. 

"So we'll go to the other one," Lia shrugged. 

"Okay then, I've already been to Paris," I shrugged. 

"What?!" Lia whined, "No!" 

I cleared my throat while turning my car off. "You're the one that said we'll go to the one I haven't been to," I shrugged before hopping out. 

Sophia grinned in her face smugly before hopping out and following me inside. 

"We're going to go to Rome?" Lia groaned while tagging behind. 

Rome? Really? 

"Yeah, we're going to Rome," I shrugged while opening the door to my bedroom as I climbed up the stairs. 

"Let's book the flights," Sophia sighed while belly-flopping onto my bed. 

I pulled out my phone and looked through. "When and what time?" Lia asked while sitting at my desk. 

"How about the day after tomorrow?" Sophia asked while rocking her legs back and forth. 

"Eight pm?" I asked while scrolling through the other times available for that date. 

"Sounds good," they said in sync. "There's one seat that's not anywhere near the other two," Lia sighed. 

Here we go. 

"I'll take it," I shrugged. 

This trip is Sophia's idea so she doesn't deserve to sit alone and if she sits with me then Lia's gonna get pissed off so I'd rather have them sit together and not have to hear them argue. 

"You sure?" Sophia asked. 

"Yeah, I'll take it. I don't mind," I shrugged. I booked that seat for myself and finished the payment while they did theirs. 

"We're going to Rome!" Sophia squealed while standing up and hugging me tightly. 

I laughed while looking at Lia. "Come on," I waved her over. 

She sighed in defeat before joining the group hug. They spent the day at mine before sharing a ride home from Sophia's brother. Lia lives on the way from my house to Sophia's. A couple of minutes after they left, my parents got home. My dad owns a firm for brokers and my mom works with him. 

"Hey," I nodded while turning the TV off in the living room where I was watching The Vampire Diaries and turned to them. 

"Hey kiddo," my dad nodded while placing the food on the kitchen island. 

"What'd you bring?" I asked while walking over to them. 

"Chinese, hope you like," my mom sighed while throwing her heels off. 

I'll never understand how she wears them. 

"Of course, I like," I shrugged while grabbing my food out of the bag. 

"So, how was your day?" my dad asked as we sat down for dinner right away. 

"It was good, we all signed yearbooks and everything, school was a lot of fun. We booked our tickets," I added while pulling out my chopsticks. 

"So when are you going?" my mom asked while sitting down. 

"Day after tomorrow," I replied.

"That soon?" she asked in confusion. 

"We're excited, might as well go early," I shrugged. 

"For how long?" my dad asked. 

"Two weeks," I answered. 

"That's one hell of a vacation then," my dad chuckled. 

"I guess," I shrugged while laughing. 

"Have you started packing?" my mom asked. 

"No, I'm gonna start tomorrow morning. Do you think one of you guys can drive me to the airport?" I asked, not sure when they get off work. 

"I'll drop you off," my dad nodded.

"Thanks," I smiled. After that, we talked about our day and my plans and then bid farewell for the night. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but I don't love the picture-perfect act. They don't fight, that's not what I mean. We're not the picture-perfect family they make us out to be. 

We argue more than we should, and by we, I mean me with my parents. It's a two vs one kinda thing, it's very annoying but ultimately, I'm grateful for what I have and what they've given me. 

I sighed while walking into my bathroom where I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I threw my hair up in a bun, pulled on a pair of pajamas, and then fell onto my bed. I sighed while pulling out my phone, scrolling through Instagram. My thumb stopped scrolling and hovered over the picture I was looking at. 

Ryder Black. 

I looked at the picture, scanning it. He was with Owen and Colton, his best friends, at Colton's house where I've been for many parties. The three of them were in swimming trunks and shirtless while wearing hats but Ryder wore his backward. I read over the caption. 

'Boys trip?' 

I rolled my eyes before double-tapping and continuing to scroll. About five minutes later, my phone dinged in my hand. 

'Ryder Black has sent a follow request.' 

Why? 

I mean, he has a public account, all of Nevada City follows him. Literally, his following is over the population of our town. Me on the other hand, I stick to the population of our school. I try to avoid people, I'm not much for social interactions. I opened his profile and scrolled through a little bit. 

I know him so I don't know why I'm digging through. 

He's a popular guy who has a different girl on his arm every few weeks. He's an asshole, arrogant, and very annoying. I sit behind him in English at school. We can't get through one lesson without him drawing everyone's attention just to waste time. I didn't accept the request or deny it, I just left it there. 

You are going to Rome, Avery, think of Rome. 

~~~~~ 

It was currently three in the morning and I could not sleep, so I decided to do a little packing which would definitely tire me out, that way I'll be able to fall asleep. Was I right? Yes. But could I sleep? No. I'll tell you why. 

My lovely neighbor, Owen Evans decided to bring his best friends over. To play basketball in their front yard at three in the morning. 

I groaned, into my pillow before standing up and opening my window. "Hey!" I shouted. The echoing noise of the basketball bouncing stopped and all three heads turned to me. "Could you keep it down?!" I yelled. 

"Sorry!" Owen yelled back. 

He's the nice one, in case you didn't know. 

I closed the window and lay back down, only for the noise to be louder. I snapped my eyes open and glared at the ceiling in the dark. "Are you kidding me?" I mumbled to myself while standing up. I grabbed my hoodie and pulled it on, throwing the hood over my head, before wearing my flip flops and going downstairs. 

I opened the front door and watched from a distance at first, where the ball was being bounced off the wall. 

Of course, it was Ryder. 

I rolled my eyes before walking over there and grabbing the ball before it reached back to Ryder. I held the ball against my chest, glaring at him. 

"Oh, sorry, did we disturb you?" he asked mockingly. 

"Oh no, not at all," I shook my head before tossing the ball into the house on the other side of the street. That's where Mr. Forbes lives. He's a man you don't want to piss off. He even has a huge fence to keep people out. "You're not disturbing me at all," I smiled before turning around and walking away, right back into my house. 

I closed the door and leaned against it. 

Why did I just do that? 

Am I crazy? 

I ran up to my room and opened my window, looking through it. Colton and Owen were talking about how to get the ball back while Ryder was looking up through my window with a surprised look on his face. 

I rolled my eyes before closing my window and the blinds, finally getting to sleep. 

I'm definitely in trouble. No one messes with Ryder Black. No one.

I'm going to Rome, I mean I can't run into him there.

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That's chapter one!!! 

Hope you like 

Also, a disclaimer for the story, the hotel I'm going to mention is real, but not everything about it will be so don't come for me <3

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