One Step to You (The Rome Novels #1)(25)

Daniela got in the back seat while Babi walked off toward the garage, pretending to pick through the bunch, hunting for the right key. Once she arrived back in the courtyard, Babi started thinking. So now what am I going to do? I need to find the Vespa by tonight or else I’m going to have to come up with some other solution. Darn that Pallina, she’s the one who got me into this mess, and she’s going to have to get me out of it.

Babi heard the sound of the Mercedes arriving in reverse. She ran toward the garage. She leaned down in front of the roller gate. Just in time because the Mercedes emerged from around the corner and came to a halt right in front of her. Babi pretended to shut the garage, slid the key into the lock, mimed turning it, and then pulled it back out and walked smiling toward the car. “All done. I put it away.”

She decided that she was quite the mime, but that the best solution would be to find the Vespa as quickly as possible. As she was getting into the car, Babi felt she was being watched. She looked up. She was right.

The boy who lived on the third floor was looking down. He must have seen everything. That is, he hadn’t seen anything, which is why he had that puzzled expression on his face. She smiled, trying to reassure him. He smiled back, but it was perfectly clear that something was mystifying him. It would have been impossible for anyone to make heads or tails of it.

The Mercedes drove off. Babi gave the keys back to her father, and she smiled at him. “I just wanted to make it easier for you to park.”

“I know, and I thank you, but it’s better this way. Did you put it good and solid against the wall?” her father asked.

“Good and solid. It can’t get in your way.” Babi turned to look at Daniela. She was sitting with her arms crossed tight across her chest. She was in a foul mood.

“Come on, Dani. We can ride the Vespa to school next week!”

“I really hope so.”

Babi went back to sitting normally. She looked straight ahead. Yes, they had to find a solution as quick as they could, absolutely.

The Mercedes stopped at the front entrance to the apartment building, right in front of the gate arm, which slowly began to rise. Claudio waved to the doorman, who gestured for him to wait a minute. He emerged from the booth with a package in his hand.

“Good morning, sir. Excuse me but someone left this for Babi.”

The doorman handed over the package. Babi picked it up, her curiosity piqued. The Mercedes moved away slowly as the car window rolled up. Babi opened the package. Daniela leaned forward, consumed by curiosity. Claudio, too, rose up slightly in his seat to see what it could be. Babi smiled. “Who wants a piece? It’s a chocolate pastry from Lazzareschi.”

Babi tore the pastry apart with her hands. “Papà?”

Claudio shook his head.

“Dani?”

“No, thanks.” Maybe she’d been hoping that the package contained some news about “their Vespa.”

“So much the better, I’ll eat it all myself. You have no idea what you’re missing, you guys…”

Pallina really was a sweetheart. She knew how to win your forgiveness. Now all she needed to do was find Babi’s Vespa for her by no later than eight o’clock.





Chapter 8



In front of the school, the girls were chatting cheerfully, waiting for the bell to ring. Babi and Daniela got out of the car and said goodbye to their father. The Mercedes moved off into the traffic around Piazza Euclide. A group of girls immediately surged in Babi and Daniela’s direction.

“Babi, is it really true that last night you were at the Greenhouse?”

“Is it true that you had to escape from the city traffic cops on a motorbike?”

“Is it true that traffic cop grabbed you by the hair and then Step knocked him down and you both got away on his motorcycle?”

Daniela listened in astonishment. So the loss of the Vespa hadn’t been a completely pointless sacrifice. This was true glory.

But Babi couldn’t believe her ears. How had they already managed to find out everything? Not actually everything. The story about the manure, luckily, still seemed to be a secret.

The sound of the bell saved her. As she was climbing the steps, she gave vague answers to some of the questions from her least obnoxious friends. Well, it was done. That day, she was a celebrity.

Daniela waved a fond goodbye. “Ciao, Babi. See you at recess!” Incredible. In all the years they’d been going to school together, she’d never uttered those words

She watched Daniela walk away, surrounded by all her friends. They were all walking around her, asking a thousand questions. She, too, was savoring this moment of extreme notoriety. After all, it was only fair. She’d had to sacrifice her Supergas. Babi just hoped that Daniela said nothing about the manure.

The first period was ancient Greek, and Signora Giacci was testing. She was about to put an end to the last quarter before the final exams of high school. Once the list of subjects was posted, there would be no more pop exams. Babi checked the little checkmarks on the list she kept in her notebook. There were just three missing to complete the set of exams. These would be the “lucky girls.” Babi read the names. Once again, Silvia Festa. Poor thing.

Babi called to her as the students entered the schoolroom.

Silvia heard her. “What is it?”

“Listen, Signora Giacci is going to test you in Greek today.”