THE HOUSE OF VARELLI

If you asked Sofia Varelli she would tell you I think too much she says it the same way people talk about the weather like it's a fact she's accepted and no longer argues with if you asked me I would say I think a perfectly normal amount and everyone else simply thinks too little, especially Sofia because normal people do not call at nine in the morning and immediately say "pack a bag" no hello not even a greeting just pack a bag I held my phone between my shoulder and ear while trying to rescue coffee that had started overflowing because I forgot it existed I stared at the mess,then at my phone Good day to you too she ignored me you're coming home with me , I stopped moving my hand stayed on the coffee machine what ,to Sicily I blinked once then twice right Sicily ,As in the place she always talked about but somehow never invited me to , now this would sound completely normal if Sofia had ever said come visit before she hadn't not once I knew facts about Sicily because of her,I knew her mother cooked too much,I knew her brothers annoyed her I knew the sea looked different in the evening I also knew that her grandmother judged everyone silently But actual invitations Never which meant this was suspicious,I frowned Why there was a pause ,then my parents are leaving ,I waited nothing That's it ,she sounded offended what do you mean by that's it I leaned against the counter you called me like somebody died she ignored that, then casually said 'and I'm bored ' there it was the truth I laughed you're not inviting me across the country because you're bored No interesting I narrowed my eyes what's the real reason,she sighed dramatically you look stressed I blinked What Her voice became annoyingly normal you keep saying you're fine I looked away immediately which was unfortunate because it proved nothing except maybe her point,I frowned what does that mean she answered too quickly it means you do things where you become weirdly responsible Excuse me she continued you stop complaining, you organise your life , then act calm Because annoyingly she wasn't wrong college wasn't terrible, just that nothing dramatic ever happened I was just tired , tired in a boring way Assignments, classes, reading, sleep and just repeat Everything felt repetitive lately , like life had slowly become a checklist I rubbed my forehead for how long immediately , you're coming I smiled despite myself answer the question the weekend I thought about it then sighed Fine Her reaction was immediate , I knew you'd say yes I rolled my eyes , you're annoying she laughed then hung up _ Three hours later I was packing which felt embarrassing because apparently I have no standards I texted her If you asked Sofia Varelli she would tell you I think too much she says it the same way people talk about the weather like it's a fact she's accepted and no longer argues with if you asked me I would say I think a perfectly normal amount and everyone else simply thinks too little, especially Sofia because normal people do not call at nine in the morning and immediately say "pack a bag" no hello not even a greeting just pack a bag I held my phone between my shoulder and ear while trying to rescue coffee that had started overflowing because I forgot it existed I stared at the mess,then at my phone Good day to you too she ignored me you're coming home with me , I stopped moving my hand stayed on the coffee machine what ,to Sicily I blinked once then twice right Sicily ,As in the place she always talked about but somehow never invited me to , now this would sound completely normal if Sofia had ever said come visit before she hadn't not once I knew facts about Sicily because of her,I knew her mother cooked too much,I knew her brothers annoyed her I knew the sea looked different in the evening I also knew that her grandmother judged everyone silently But actual invitations Never which meant this was suspicious,I frowned Why there was a pause ,then my parents are leaving ,I waited nothing That's it ,she sounded offended what do you mean by that's it I leaned against the counter you called me like somebody died she ignored that, then casually said 'and I'm bored ' there it was the truth I laughed you're not inviting me across the country because you're bored No interesting I narrowed my eyes what's the real reason,she sighed dramatically you look stressed I blinked What Her voice became annoyingly normal you keep saying you're fine I looked away immediately which was unfortunate because it proved nothing except maybe her point,I frowned what does that mean she answered too quickly it means you do things where you become weirdly responsible Excuse me she continued you stop complaining, you organise your life , then act calm Because annoyingly she wasn't wrong college wasn't terrible, just that nothing dramatic ever happened I was just tired , tired in a boring way Assignments, classes, reading, sleep and just repeat Everything felt repetitive lately , like life had slowly become a checklist I rubbed my forehead for how long immediately , you're coming I smiled despite myself answer the question the weekend I thought about it then sighed Fine Her reaction was immediate , I knew you'd say yes I rolled my eyes , you're annoying she laughed then hung up _ Three hours later I was packing which felt embarrassing because apparently I have no standards I texted her _ Elera: if this is boring I'm leaving her reply came immediately Sofia: impossible interesting answer The drive was long, long enough for me to question my decisions, and long enough for Sofia to tell stories I didn't ask for and long enough for me to realize something strange she has somehow talked for years about home without actually describing it I look over, can I ask you something she nodded I tried to sound casual too casual , who's home her smile flickered toward me for half a second then she smiled ,too much she shrugged Everybody ,she nodded then turned the music louder interesting the first thing I noticed about Sicily was that photographs lied , they always made places look finished this didn't,this looked alive the sea appeared in flashes beside the road the buildings looked older than photographs showed everything moved slowly Sofia drove like she belonged to every road , like she had never imagined living anywhere else Then eventually the gates appeared I stared it was large very large and looked very expensive it opened before we even reached their I looked at Sofia she looked ahead Normal ,I looked back at the gates interesting,the driveway stretched longer than expected Trees stone paths , the sea in the distance and finally The house , I sat quietly Sofia turned off the engine looked at me then frowned I looked at her then back at the house ,this is a house she laughed like actually laughed then poi ted oh no this is the smaller one I stared at her excuse me _ Inside everything looked expensive but not in the obvious way nothing glittered , nothing screamed money everything looked intentional like somebody thought carefully about every object before placing it there it should have felt cold it didn't But it didn't feel warm either I stood at the entrance while Sofia disappeared immediately traitor I turned slowly , then heated footsteps someone was walking downstairs I looked up