prologue

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Gia shivered as the wind blew around her. She sat on the ground, staring at the city, only lights from other people's homes visible as they lived their own lives. Cigarette in her right hand, bottle of vodka in the other.

Taking a sip of the vodka, she placed it beside her. She inhaled the smoke and adjusted her hoodie.

‎ It's been exactly a week since her father, Marco Alamanni was taken away from her and her stepmother Rosa.

She remembers the night that turned her life upside down very clearly, replaying in her head over and over again.

Agressive banging on the door had made Gia raise her head from her notebook, where she studied for the upcoming test.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she got up and walked out of her room, towards the front door.

Once she got there, she froze at the sight in front of her. Three police officers, stood in the doorway, looking at Marco with deadly glare in their eyes. Marco stood there, eyes wide with fear.

"You're under arrest for drug trafficking. You have the right to remain silent..."

Gia blinked, as her eyes started watering at the memory, and she quickly took another sip of the alcohol next to her.

Grimacing at the taste, she turned her head, hearing footsteps behind her.

"Hey," said the girl coming up to where Gia was sitting. Gia recognized her, a girl with very dark brown hair someone could mistake it as black short hair with bags that was very popular in Gia's school at the moment, just not really for the reason anyone would want to be popular for.

After a moment of silence, and Gia's just staring at Ludovica, she spoke again. "You probably don't recognize me, but I'm-"

"Ludovica," Gia cut her off with a nod. "Yeah, I know," she turned around and took a chug of her drink again.

Ludovica taken by surprise, not expecting that the Gianna Alamanni would know who she is, stood there, staring at the girl's back of the head for a moment before getting out of the trance and sitting down next to Gia.

Gia didn't spare her a glance, instead she lit another cigarette.

Ludovica looked down and then back up onto the girl next to her. "You didn't plan on jumping, did you?" She chuckled, looking at Gia.

Upon seeing the girls poker face, her smile fell and her tone turned to serious, "you didn't, right?" She asked, concern overcoming her features.

"Would you care?" Gia asked, casting a quick glance at Ludovica. The answer to Ludovica's question is no, she didn't plan on killing herself tonight. But she was curious, as to how would Ludovica react to the possibility of Gia, a girl that she never spoke to until today would react.

Gia is aware of the stuff people say about Ludovica, she never cared about it, never was apart of people who spread more things about the poor girl. But she also never was a person that would stand up for her, so she didn't really expect Ludovica to be concerned about possible karma catching up to Gianna.

Ludo opened her mouth and then closed it again, not knowing what to say. "I mean, yes? I- um.." Ludovica trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Don't worry, jumping off of a cliff isn't on my to do list tonight," Gia told her, calming Ludovica down. "You want?" She asked, raising the cigarette towards Ludo.

She nodded and took the cigarette from Gia, taking a puff. "So why are you here then?" She asked, passing the cig back to Gia.

Gia shrugged, "just thinking about stuff I guess," she said. "You know, this has become kind of my hang out spot."

"Really?" Ludo tilted her head, curious to know more.

"Yeah," Gia nodded, taking last puff of the cigarette before putting it out and then tossing it in front of her. "I don't even know how I got here the first time. I just followed the light and it lead me here," she laughed.

"It's pretty quiet here, at night," Ludovica looked around with a smile. "Were you here in the daylight?"

"No," Gia shook her head. "Never."

"I was," Ludo admitted.

"Really?" It was Gia's turn to tilt her head at the girl next to her, finally looking at her.

"Yeah. I've actually been coming here every once in a while for like a year," she admitted.

"Oh, so I'm kind of trespassing," Gia joked.

Ludovica laughed, "A little. But I don't mind," she smiled at Gianna.

And so the girls talked, they talked and talked, until the very early morning. They bonded and they shared their deepest secrets. Even if they were basically strangers to each other. There was just something about the other that made them feel like they could trust each other. And it felt so good, for both of them.

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so this is how they met :)vote and comment, don't be a silent reader<3