Читать книгу Are We There Yet? - Дэвид Левитан, David Levithan, Рэйчел Кон - Страница 30

“I CAN’T BELIEVE iT.” DANNY ALSO CAN’T STOP HITTING THE SIDE OF THE elevator.

“What’s the matter?” Elijah asks as they walk to their room.

“What’s the matter?!? They tricked us, Elijah. Our own parents. Tricked us. I mean, I knew they meant for us to come here together. But to have had that plan all along …”

They are being led into the room now. It is beautiful. Even Danny has to shut up for a second, just to look out the windows at the canal. Now that the rain has been reduced to a sound, it is moodily atmospheric, mysteriously foreign.

Elijah puts his suitcase on the bed closest to the windows as Danny tips (no doubt undertips) the bellman. When Danny returns to the windows, the spell has been broken. His tirade continues.

“I just can’t believe they’d be so … manipulative. I can’t believe they could stand there and lie to us, all these months.”

“I think it’s kind of nice,” Elijah mumbles.

“What?”

“I said it’s kind of a surprise.”

Elijah knows, from years of practice, that it’s best to just ride the conversation through. Unpack. Nod occasionally. Pretend that Danny’s right, even if he’s acting like he’s been set up on a hideous blind date.

The trick is, Danny doesn’t particularly like to hear himself talk, especially in monologues. Halfway through a sentence, he’ll realise there’s no reason to go on. His point has been made, if not accepted. Like now:

“If only they’d …” Danny says with a sigh. Then he pauses and listens to the rain outside. He realises he’s in Venice, and that his parents cannot hear him. He walks to the closet and hangs up his coat. His last sentence dangles in the air, until it is forgotten.