Read Online Zigzag by Ellen Wittlinger - Free Book Online

new address: 4749 Via della Vittorio. That’s where Chris lived now.Not on a street anymore—on a Via. What did it look like on the Via della Vittorio in Rome, Italy? For all I knew about Rome, he might as well be on Jupiter.
    â€œAren’t you going to open it?” Mom asked.
    â€œI want to take it upstairs, okay? I’ll tell you about it later, when you get home.”
    â€œOkay. When you write him back, tell him hi from me.”
    I ran to my bedroom and propped my pillows against the headboard so I could be comfortable while I read. But my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my ears. What would this letter say? I’d never gotten anything more than a note from Chris before— see you after school —that kind of thing. Now he’d written me a whole letter, and I was almost afraid to read it.
    Finally I slit it open. His handwriting was cramped and slanted. I took a deep breath and read:
    Dear Robin,
    I don’t know how to start to tell you about Rome—it’s so amazing! I’ve only been here two days so I’m still totally lost and confused most of the time, but I don’t even care. The first day we got here, even though we hadn’t slept much on the plane, we dropped our stuff off at the dorms and started walking.
    The program we’re attending is located in Trastevere, an old section of Rome, which is across the Tiber River from the main downtown area. The Vatican is on our side of the river though, so we started our trek by walking there to see St. Peter’s Basilica. We didn’t go inside—the guide just wanted us to get a feel for where things are in the city so we can explore it later on our own.
    Anyway, we walked all around Rome that day—saw the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, and the Roman Forum. Can you imagine? All that in one day! We were so exhausted that night we slept about twelve hours, and today we spent most of our time talking aboutour classes and what we’re going to accomplish this summer. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so excited about anything!
    I have two roommates, Rob and Charlie. Rob is from Maryland and has a very high opinion of himself. He’s going to Princeton next year and seems to think I’m a hick from Cornpone, Iowa. But I get along with Charlie really well. He’s from Vermont and he’ll be going to Williams College in Massachusetts next year. Charlie also has a girlfriend who was furious when he left, so we have that in common! (Kidding) There are two Italian guys from Milan in the room across from us. They speak English fairly well so I’m hoping we’ll get to know them better, too.
    I don’t know how long it will take for this letter to reach you. I wish you had a computer so we could e-mail each other. Of course, you’ll be leaving on your trip soon, so we’d have to rely on good old pen and paper anyway. Will your mother send the letters on to you while you’re traveling? I hope your trip is as great as mine.
    Sitting down to write you a letter makes me realize just how far away you are. Even though I’m having a terrific time here so far, I do miss you, Robin. I miss you like crazy. I hope you’re not so mad at me anymore. I just couldn’t give up this chance! You know I love you. I really do.
    Ciao bella!
    Chris
    I read it over about a dozen times, looking for hidden meanings in every word, wishing it was longer, wishing I could hear his voice. He missed me like crazy, or so he said. But how much time could he be thinking about me if he was so busy traipsing all over Rome? Besides which, he sounded awfully darn happy for somebody missing his girlfriend.
    I’d heard of the Coliseum and St. Peter’s, but what were the Spanish Steps and the Roman Forum? History was never my bestsubject. Was I going to have to get a Roman guidebook to understand Chris’s letters? And those roommates sounded like a stuck-up pair, too,