GABRIEL The ball, the main event. I did my part well. It was no hardship; I was genuinely and sincerely blown away by Gianna when I got my first look at her in the haute couture ball gown she'd chosen from one of the leading fashion houses in Paris. Unlike other debutante balls, this one was all about introducing high fashion, and the gown she wore along with the jewelry was provided by a very well-known designer. Words cannot describe what I felt as I took her in; her beauty, so surreal, like a picture, come to life. Not a hair was out of place, her skin flawless, the midnight blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly and hugged her curves in all the right places, she looked like a dream. "You're beautiful." I kept myself in check, taking only the touch of her hand and a soft kiss to her brow for myself, though it was hard to stop there. I warred viciously, with myself internally fighting hard not to cross the line. I knew it was going to be almost impossible to let go of somet

GABRIEL "Tell me!" If I were sitting down, I'd be at the edge of my seat. The fact that I'd imagined just this scenario wasn't lost on me. From the time I found out that she'd disappeared and when I'd tried to triangulate between her disappearance and his, but having nothing to go on, I could only speculate and surmise. Now I did sit down on the bench as my whole body felt like it was on fire, and I was in danger of passing out any second as the blood rushed from my head. "It was just a few days after the incident. I'm not sure why I kept going around them. I didn't want to be ostracized, I guess, didn't want them turning their hatred against me. I'm sorry I wasn't a better person back then." "They all moved on as if nothing happened, even joked about it amongst themselves in the following days. There were whispers around the village, so we knew word had gotten out somehow. Then one night, your grandfather Mr. Antonelli showed up at the place where we were all hanging out. It was

GABRIEL Grandpa fell in love with Sheila; I kid you not. I don't think he's ever seen a person of color before and treated her like some mythological Goddess, and of course, she was putty in his hands. Before we even got on the plane to head home, she was trying to teach him English, which is the family's new favorite thing to witness. She's been a rock for Ma this whole time, and the bond between the two women was never more evident than now. Even though I doubt she knows why my Ma was going from bouts of joy to having her dad back in her life to moments of anxiety and something approaching fear, she never left her side. It's no wonder that my family loves this woman the way we do. A lot has happened in the last four days, which is how long it took Pop to get grandpa's papers in order. Almost a miracle, but when you know who you know and all that. Anyway, that night after I left Pop, I'd gravitated to Gianna's room. She was already in bed asleep, tired from the day out, and know

GABRIEL I was not in the right frame of mind when I arrived at Gianna's place with her ice cream, but she sure did light up when she answered the door and saw me standing there. I studied her face, read her eyes, to see where she was at. There was no longer any redness around her eyes as there was the last time I'd seen her, so she hadn't been crying, at least not lately anyway. "Gabriel, you're here." Has her voice always been this breathy and light? Or am I just hypersensitive? I held the ice cream out to her, and she reacted the same way she always does, with glee and surprise, like I hadn't been doing it every single night since the first, even when we crossed continents. Well, except for a few that couldn't be helped. She dug in before turning her body sideways to invite me in. "Come in, grandma and the aunts went to bed early. They're tired." "What about your uncles?" "They had to leave a little early, but they promised to be back this weekend." Her face fell, and I ima

GABRIEL My phone went off in the middle of biology class, and seconds later, I saw Lance remove his backpack to fetch his. Pop! I looked over at Lance, who was looking back at me quizzically. Poor Lance got caught in the middle of my family's drama a few years ago when the schools first started cracking down on cell phones. Pop lost his shit! According to him, his kids will always have their phones on them when away from home. When he was reminded that there were no cell phones when he himself was in school and he turned out fine, his answer was that somebody somewhere realized the need, and that's why they exist now. I wasn't there for the showdown with the headmistress and whoever else sat in on that one, but the end result is we have our phones on vibrate and have the respect not to use them during class and only answer if there's an emergency. Since we're all here except for our parents and grandparents, any incoming call is an emergency as far as I'm concerned because who el