─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

after lugging the heavy and foul-smelling trash bags in her over to the compound's bins, gioia barbusca opened the lid and threw her two bags inside. the strong odour of all the trash made her unconsciously scrunch her nose in disgust.

"hey, i'm miguel." a tanned boy began speaking, gioia spun to face him, thinking he was speaking to her. but he was actually talking to a blond, scruffy-looking, middle-aged man, "my family and i just moved into 109."

"great." he rolled his eyes, "more immigrants."

the miguel boy wrinkled his face in perplexity, "actually, we're from riverside. but anyways, i was just wondering if you were having trouble with your water pressure, cause i know our sink's being a little weird right now and-"

as he spoke, the man tossed his white bin bag into the same one that gioia had opened. "wrong one," she muttered, making him look up at her with a bored expression. gioia only shrugged, just wanting to politely correct him.

"oh, bottles go in the blue bin." miguel pointed out.

"listen, menudo, random girl..." the man, johnny lawrence, sighed, "i've lived in this shithole for over ten years. the pipe's don't work, the fountain's full of piss and the only good thing about being her is i don't have to talk to anybody. so... nice knowing you two."

he shifted on his feet and began walking away from the two teens. they watched as he opened the door to his beat-up, red firebird car. "okay, well... have a nice day, i guess." miguel frowned as the man drove off. he then turned to the girl standing by him, "... hey."

she laughed, "hi."

"i'm uh- i'm miguel." he put his long arm out for her to shake, "diaz. miguel diaz."

"well, i am gioia barbusca." she introduced herself, her gentle italian accent thick as she spoke.

"your name is very pretty. are you from... europe?"

"thank you," gioia grinned, "and yes, i grew up in italy."

"that's so cool!" miguel smiled, his braces on display, "you just moved here?"

"about a week ago. have not started school, so i have been cooped up in home." gioia explained as she led the boy to her door, "my mamma suggested i come take out the bins and get some air."

he nodded, "everyone needs some fresh air."

"so, here i am." she lifted her arms dramatically, "this is my door: 105."

"well, i'm 109." miguel told her, "so-so if you ever need anything..." gioia began unlocking the door to her home, "got it, thank you miguel diaz."

"it's okay." he began scratching the back of his neck nervously, "see you later?"

"yes, if you get bored," she opened the front door, "i am right in here."

"nice, thanks." he nodded and watched as she softly shut the door in his face.

after having a thought, she quickly reopened it and peeked her head through, "and by the way, our water pressure is a bit... how do you say it?"

"weird?" miguel suggested.

"weird." she agreed, nodding her head.

"thank you for telling me." he gave her a small closed-lipped smile.

gioia saluted him before closing the door again. when the fifteen-year-old girl turned around, she was greeted by her mother searching through the fridge.

"caio." her mother stood up straight and turned the tap on, her bleached-blond hair looking quite dishevelled. she attempted to smoothen it down as she grinned at her daughter, "who was he?"

"new neighbour, he is very sweet." gioia explained, "lives at 109, his water pressure is weird too."

"well, it is good to hear that it is not just us."

the younger girl nodded in agreement before making her way to the hallway, "do you need anything from me?" she spoke slowly, not wanting to make any grammatical mistakes in her sentence.

"not at the moment." bianca barbusca shook her head and threw the girl an apple, "something light before dinner."

gioia quickly caught the fruit and beamed, "what is for dinner?"

"is ragù alla bolognese okay?" her mother quizzed.

"perfect." gioia nodded before taking a bite out of the freshly washed, green apple.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

after the two barbusca girls had finished their dinner, bianca realised she had failed to buy any medicine. "gioia." bianca spoke to the girl, who had been washing the dishes from dinner, "could you do me a small favour?"

the blonde twisted the tap off and pivoted to face her mother, "sure." the girl nodded, she wasn't the type of person to say 'no' to someone. gioia was a people's pleaser.

"could you pop to the mini-mart and pick up some medicine?"

"pop to the mini-mart?" gioia quizzed.

"yes." bianca nodded, "pop means to go."

"right... what medicine?" gioia asked.

"just some painkillers." bianca explained as she dug through her back jeans pocket, "i should have a five somewhere." finally, she pulled out a five dollar bill in satisfaction.

"is this enough?" gioia asked her mother as she took the money from her hands.

"should be." bianca shrugged, "you can keep the change."

"thank you!" gioia smiled as she pulled on her shoes, "i will not be out long, just before it gets too dark." she explained while she rushed to the front door.

"someone is eager to leave the house." bianca crossed her arms with an amused look.

"i am." gioia nodded, "is it easy to tell?"

"well, you have a huge smile on your face and your shoes are already on." her mother pointed out.

"everything is much more enjoyable when you have a friend." she explained, "addio mamma! love you."

"love you too. don't forget your-"

before her mother could even finish her sentence, gioia had closed the front door. as she stood out in the cold, she came to a realisation. the blonde girl opened the front door again with a nervous chuckle. "mi dispiace." she apologised, "what were you saying?"

"no worries." bianca shook her head, "go, go."

"okay! i will see you later." gioia pointed at her mother before exiting the house once again. as she made her way to the opposite apartment door, she began to think of a way to invite her new friend out with her. once gioia reached 109, she rested her knuckle on the smooth door and knocked twice.

"miggy! can you get that?"

"coming mom." the sound of light shuffling was heard from inside, and not even a minute later - miguel had opened the front door to see the blonde standing outside his apartment.

"hello again." gioia greeted, "are you busy?"

"i'm sorry gioia, i was about to go to the mini-mart and grab something for my grandma," miguel explained. but her smile never faltered. "i am assuming there is only one mini-mart, but i am directed there too!" she stated with excitement.

"well, great. we can go there together?" miguel suggested. she nodded. "that is exactly why i came here."

"mom, i'm heading out now!" miguel told his mother.

"alright, don't be out too late." carmen diaz instructed from inside the house.

"i won't." miguel reassured her before sealing the front door.

"lead the way."

"right." miguel nodded as he began walking beside her, "i forgot you haven't been out the house."

"in my defence, my house is very comfortable and i do prefer it to anyplace else." gioia told the slightly taller boy.

"better than your place in italy?" miguel asked her.

"yes, surprisingly." gioia nodded.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ──-

the two had conversed all the way to reseda flat's mini-mart, talking about their lives and general things to each other. gioia had to admit, she loved speaking to miguel. he was easy to talk to and a very nice person. "here." gioia picked up two small boxes of advil, "good enough painkiller?"

"i think so." miguel nodded before turning to the man behind the counter, "hola, donde esta el pepto-bismol?"

the man pointed to the aisle behind gioia and miguel walked over to it. hearing the boy speak fluent spanish wasn't any surprise to her as he had already mentioned it on their journey. luckily for her, spanish and italian shared a very similar vocabulary and she could just about make out what he had said.

miguel scanned the shelves for his grandma's medicine. once he located it, he hesitated to grab it— not wanting the girl to make fun of him. he sighed before reaching out and clutching the pink medicine. miguel then glanced at the blonde beside him, who simply flashed him a smile and walked over to the till.

he let out a sigh of relief that she was completely unbothered by the medicine, and followed behind her. "is that the same man from earlier?" gioia asked miguel in a whisper, her eyes on johnny lawrence. miguel just nodded.

the three stood awkwardly as the man behind the counter moved things around, trying to find a plate for the blond man. "my grandma's not feeling well," miguel spoke up, trying to diffuse the tension.

however, johnny quickly shut him down, "didn't ask." he said, instead focusing on the cashier. "come on, what's spanish for 'just give me my damn slice'?" he demanded.

the cashier sighed and got up and rolled his eyes, "bicho maldeho." he cussed his customer out, "probablemente tenía una polla pequeña." miguel looked over to gioia, and the two stifled a laugh.

"what did you just say?" johnny asked the man. he stayed silent, so johnny turned to the two teens, "what did he say?"

"you don't want to know," miguel said. gioia nodded in agreement, "it's kind of insulting." she tried to explain.

"no, i know it was something bad. just tell me." johnny ordered.

"uh, he sai—he said you have a tiny..." miguel admitted as he used his hands to make gestures, causing gioia to burst out laughing.

"he said i have a tiny wang?" johnny asked, "tell him he has a tiny wang."

"i speak english, asshole." the man confessed with irritation.

"oh, really?" johnny raised his brow before casting the money down, allowing some of it to roll onto the floor, and snatching the pizza slice.

"that was eventful," miguel mumbled as the man stormed off.

"very."

⎯ ❃ janine speaks!
pls pls tell me if you guys liked the chapter - i was so nervous about posting it??

okay i did use google translate for some spanish BUT i also got my brother who does a-level spanish to help me xo

EDIT 18/07/24: new readers please bear with me, it gets better by act three! i'm trying to edit the chapters and write season 6 at the same time.

EDIT 2/01/25: still editing lol... the chapters that don't have a {} around the title, and have this gif at the end have been edited. please give this story a chance because i promise it gets better by like act 3