Alberto, Thomas and Alessio

'What's this circus? I am live streaming! Be silent!' Alberto's voice tried in every way to dominate the chaos that had been created in that tiny bedroom.

‘Hey’ Thomas grabbed Aurora by the sleeve of her coat again. ‘Don't you think you're exaggerating?’ Thomas' greenish eyes met Aurora's dark and deep ones, they both scrutinized each other, it seemed like a war on who would lower their gaze first.

In the end, it was Thomas who gave up. ‘Okay, I'm listening.’

'You'll listen to me?' the girl seemed surprised for a moment, her expression softened.

'I don't think you're crazy. Alessio is not a saint, he surely did something' explained Thomas, trying to maintain calm and mediate between the two.

Alessio continued to stare at his friend, begging him with his eyes to send her away from home.

'Alessio flirted with me, we chatted for a long time' Aurora paused, sighed and then continued. 'The day of our first date we went out for dinner'.

'And?' Alberto asked curiously, the situation had become public knowledge since the camera was on and was still filming everything. People attracted by all that chaos had started watching the live broadcast and Alberto had seized that opportunity to grab more followers.

'And then, in the middle of dinner he told me he had to go to the bathroom' Aurora stopped again.

'A classic' Alberto bursted out laughing.

'In short, he never came back and left me with the bill to pay!' Aurora clenched her fists in anger and stared at the floor in shame.

'What should I have done? You're quite ugly in person, how many filters do you use in the photos you post?' Alessio finally found the strength to comment, his manner was very rude.

'How dare you? Who do you think you are?' her voice barely came out this time.

'Wait, Alessio' asked Thomas, very confused by the question. 'Was she the girl at the salon you gave the wrong number to?'

'Nope, she's another girl. I met Aurora online, she never came to the salon, so I didn't know what she was like in person' Alessio didn't seem to regret the way he had behaved at all, on the contrary, he continued to laugh about it as if nothing had happened.

Aurora barely held back her tears, everything around her became more and more opaque as she tried not to blink. ‘I was stupid…’

'Hey, Alessio' Thomas wasn't very happy with his friend's behavior, in fact, he was quite irritated by the issue. «Does this seem like the way to behave? You are humiliating a poor innocent girl just because you don't like her.'

'A poor innocent girl? Have you seen her? She slapped me! Wow, she's so innocent!» Alessio screamed like a hysterical woman in the pre-menstrual period.

'I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you. You've always done as you please, don't you think it's time you grew up a little?' Thomas' words stung his friend's wounded pride.

'You can't tell me that, you're rich and snob and you act as if everything is owed to you'

'Good'. Thomas' tone was as cold as ice, his gaze even colder. 'Let's go, miss. Let's leave the dork with the purple head in his childish world.' Thomas took the girl by her wrist and pulled her towards him and began dragging her towards the door, her gaze still turned towards Alessio.

The door slammed violently, making the walls shake, the frame hanging on the entrance wall fell to the ground with a thud, the glass shattered into a thousand pieces.

Alberto picked up the frame from the floor, then turned to Alessio who was left with a totally blank expression on his face. 'What are you going to do now?' The photo depicted Alberto, Thomas and Alessio on holiday at the seaside, a few months before having made the decision to live all together. Their faces were smiling, they were hugging each other forming a kind of circle with their arms.

‘Nothing, what should I do?’ Alessio snorted, feigning disinterest, then took his glasses from the bedside table and placed them on his nose, starting to browse endless web pages on his cell phone.

With a bittersweet mood Alberto finally decided to close the live streaming, he wanted to become famous, yes, but he didn't want the invade too much the privacy of his friends.

In the end they lay down together on the big bed, Alessio with his face perpetually turned to his cell phone, while Alberto continued to stare at the ceiling lost in who knows what deep thought.

That night of December 20th, it snowed for the first time in a long time, the two friends slept close together to try to warm each other up. The blankets were probably still in who knows what box.

The next morning, Alberto found himself alone when he opened his eyes, he took out his cell phone to check the time: 08:07, his friend had already left for work.

He ran a hand through his thick blonde hair, messing them up even more, he looked like a mini lion.

On the table there were still the junk left the day before: dirty and greasy handkerchiefs from the take-out lunch, plastic cups, and even a bottle of liquor.

He opened the fridge, but it was completely empty: there were only four or five bottles of water all in a row.

A huge text of an incoming call lit up the screen of his phone.

‘Mom’ he read to himself, then put the phone on the table and let it ring.

He went into the shower, the water was cold because they hadn't turned on the heating yet.

Nothing could have gone more wrong that day.

He came out of the shower completely wrapped in his bathrobe, looking for some blankets and clean clothes in the suitcases and boxes who were still ahead of the entrance.

A noise coming from the door lock.

She thought that Alessio had probably forgotten something at home and had come back to get it, or Thomas, yes, maybe he had decided to come back.

But the noises continued.

Someone who didn't have the keys was evidently trying to break in the door, Alberto didn't know what to do.

Instinctively, the first thing that came to mind was to scream at the top of his lungs for ten seconds, hoping to scare the person beyond the door.

Finally, the footsteps of someone running were heard.

Alberto finally opened the door to find himself faced with absolute nothingness.

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