Tourists bustle around me and I duck against a wall to get out of the way. “I’m sure you’ll be as debonair as James Bond. Are you nervous?”
“A bit. I don’t care about the school, but I don’t want to dealwith his wrath if it doesn’t go well.”
Dev’s comments about Will from last night come back to me. Is it possible that Will really doesn’t care? But no. Just because Will doesn’t have the same goals as Dev doesn’t mean he has no goals at all. His parents expect a lot out of him, and it’s probably even scarier to fail when you have so many opportunities. He has so far to fall.
I wrap my coat tighter against the cold wind that slips between the buildings and into my bones. “You’re going to wow this admissions guy. I can’t imagine any other outcome.”
“I wish you were coming with me. It would make this whole thing so much more tolerable. Plus, if they met you, they’d find me more tolerable I’m sure.”
“Oh?” I imagine Will standing in front of me, his mouth quirked in a smile. “You think I bring out your charm?”
“Most certainly,” he says. “I have to be at my most charming to keep you around.”
Dev waves crazily in my direction and I know that means Sage is getting off thevaporetto.
“Will, I’m sorry, Sage just arrived so I’ve got to go. But good luck with your lunch!”
We say goodbye and I run over and throw my arms around her. She squeezes me back. This is the first time we’ve ever truly hugged and I’ve never needed it more.
“You’re here! Finally! Were the flight and boat ride all right?”
“No issues.” She turns in a little circle, dazed. “It’s so gorgeous here.”
“You just wait,” I say. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
She claps her hands together. I’ve never seen her so elated. “I have themostwonderful news. Yesterday, Dr. Reese and her grad students went out to a fancy dinner with Dr. Patel—the speaker from Stanford—and they asked me to come along. We started talking about the work I’ve been doing with Dr. Reese on the effects of RAS mutations on melanoma and Dr. Patel said he was really impressed!Soimpressed that he offered me a position as an undergrad assistant in his lab if I get into Stanford! Can you believe it? Having a letter of rec from him could be the thing that gets me into grad school. Thank god I already got my application in. And to think I wasn’t sure about applying!”
“That’s amazing!”
She and Dev start talking about assistantships and research opportunities and all their plans for the future. Hearing them reminds me how far behind I still am. I started researching gardening internships and jobs like Miriam suggested—including some pretty amazing opportunities with the United States Botanic Garden in DC—but then I got intimidated and stopped. I havezeroreal experience—how would I be competitive for something like this? I’m nothing like Sage, who’s been raking up volunteer experience since she was first learning the alphabet.
Sage laughs at something and I can’t help but peek at Dev’s expression. Is he upset that she’s already making plans years into her future—particularly plans that include Stanford—a college on the opposite side of the country? If he is, I can’t tell.
Sage turns around again, taking in the view with an excitedsmile. She points to a gondola floating down the Grand Canal. “Should we take a gondola ride sometime or is that too tacky?” I glance at Dev before I can catch myself and Sage notices. “Or did you guys already do that?”
“No, we didn’t. Ellie and I stayed behind.”
She looks between us and I know her brain is churning. Sage really is too smart for her own good. I turn away before she reads anything else from my expression. Close by, people are practically hanging off the side of the Rialto Bridge to get the perfect photo of the canal. It’s weird to think that they’re all going to go home and show off their photos as if they’re unique when really fifty other people have the exact same shot of this moment. How many people in the world must have identical pictures that they think are one of a kind? Or even identical experiences? Maybe everyone here gets lost in the back alleys of Venice. Maybe they all sit under the stars. But maybe that doesn’t matter because it’s no less special when it happens to you.
We update Sage on the trip while walking over to the hotel so she can drop off her bag. It turns out she wants to see Doge’s Palace first, and Huan is meeting up with that dance group again, so everyone agrees to go back to St. Mark’s Square. Since I’ve already toured the palace, I decide to walk around on my own for an hour.
I head to the back alleyways again. I find a little neighborhood grocery store and buy way too much stuff—Italian chips and chocolate and weird drinks I’ve never heard of before. Will textsme to say that the lunch went well and his father is very happy for once. I’m glad for him. At least he didn’t miss this trip for nothing. But my mind keeps returning to Dev and Sage. Is he happier now that Sage is here? Is he having more fun with her than with me? Stupid, pointless thoughts.
I meet up with the group and we spend the rest of the day together before splurging on a real dinner in a restaurant. The five of us squeeze around a small round table, slurp pasta, and stare out at the chilly canal. A dusting of snow falls over everything and I’ve never seen a place so beautiful. We take a thousand pictures together and I post a few, but I’m not so worried about what everyone else is going to think. Other people don’t need to like my photos in order for me to know how amazing this trip has been. Just looking around will tell me that.
Afterward, we meander along the canal. Huan and Frank lean into each other, chatting and laughing quietly. Dev, Sage, and I walk behind in an awkward row.
“So, uh, did you actually want to try the gondola?” Dev asks Sage, and gestures to some gondoliers in front of us.
She shrugs. “When in Venice...”
“Yeah? Okay... well, great.” He pauses for a moment before jumping to action. He calls to Huan and Frank, keeping his back to me.
Huan whispers to Frank before slipping his arm over my shoulder. “I’d like to go one more time. How about just you and me, Ellie?”
I snuggle into him. “Perfect.”
Dev and Sage get into the first gondola and Huan and I follow behind in the next one. The boats are so low in the water that it’s like I’m stepping inside the canal. The gondoliers push off and I’m surprised by how close they stay to each other. There’s clearly a path that all the gondolas take and soon we’ve caught up to three other boats. We all float along, one right after another, like a gondola caravan, and it’s less romantic than I was expecting. Not that I need romance with Huan.
