Chapter Text
“We have decided to send you to Portorosso for the summer.”
It hadn’t even been an hour since Serena Pearl Cavalluccio came home from school that day and already her summer was getting off to a bad start.
Serena’s ocean blue eyes widened in disbelief, her gaze flickered between her mama and papà. “ Tu cosa?! Why would you be sending me to Portorosso?! Of all places…”
“We know, but your therapist suggested that it would be a good idea to try out this new treatment called exposure therapy. We thought it could be worth a try,” Papà explained.
Serena’s papà was a man of few words, only speaking when something needed to be said. Mid forties, he had a large and stocky physique, coffee brown hair that was parted and combed-back, and had tanned skin. Most likely from all of those years of being outside in the hot summer sun when he used to live in Portorosso.
Serena frowned, seething in anger. “So that’s why you wanted me out of the room that day we went to see my therapist last? So you all could plan this behind my back?!”
Serena’s mama came over to stand next to her husband, her plump lips tugged into a slight frown. Her mama was the most caring, beautiful soul she ever had the pleasure of knowing. Being in her late thirties, she was fair skinned, curvy and short in stature. Often seen wearing her dark chocolate brown hair in a high bun, her bangs softly rolled and pinned up to the right side of her face.
While both of her parents had blue eyes, Serena’s eye colour was closer to her mama’s shade. mama once said that her eyes reminded her of the ocean itself; Serena hated her eye colour.
“We didn't make this decision lightly, Serena,” said mama steadily, “Your papá and I have worked tirelessly alongside your therapist for the last couple of years in order to help you get over your fear of the ocean. This is the only thing you haven’t tried yet.”
It was true, her parents had tried everything and anything in order for her to get over her fear of the ocean but their efforts were fruitless. But when a treatment actually involved going to Portrosso in person, that’s when Serena drew the line. She didn’t feel comfortable with the idea at all.
Serena shook her head stubbornly, “ No! I’m not going, you can’t make me go!”
“We’re sorry tesoro , but it’s already been arranged,” Papà informed, “You’ll be staying with your Zio Giovanni and Zia Francesa and you’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”
Serena's eyes widened in shock, her mouth slightly agape. She couldn’t believe that her parents were forcing her away to the main source of her trauma.
“B-But you can’t send me to Portosso...it’s a dangerous place!” Serena tried to argue in a desperate attempt to convince her parents to not send her away. “What if I fall into the ocean? When no one is around…what if I drown?! What if —”
“Serena, calma per favore! ” her papà tried to soothe, “Nothing bad is going to happen to you, Portrosso is a safe place.”
“We don’t want you to fear the place you used to love so much. You used to love the ocean,” her mama reminisced fondly, “You were always so captivated by it. You used to go down to the beach everyday and play in the water with all the other children until it was dark. You begged to be out on the sea in your zio and nonno’s boat…”
Serena didn’t want to admit it but she missed the days of her early childhood in Portorosso as well. Serena used to love the ocean but her love for it was replaced by a feeling of dread and caution. She didn’t want history repeating itself so she stayed away from the ocean or any other body of water, in fear of drowning a second time.
Serena’s lips were pressed into a thin line; her gaze solemnly dropped to the floor. “I used to love it — not anymore...not since the accident.”
Suddenly, her mama huffed in frustration, which made the teen look up in curiosity and confusion.
“I don’t know why you can’t just let this go already, Serena! It’s been years, you can’t let one little incident like that hold you back! It’s time you stop acting so childish all your life!” As soon as those words left her mouth, her mama’s shock turned into instant regret.
Serena froze. She didn’t understand; her parents were always so understanding of her and her phobia. Her parents were always careful when bringing up the subject but this time…her mama seemed fed up? Never once were her parents not supportive and understanding of her condition. They always made her feel safe and secure. They always took extra precautions whenever she was exposed around a body of water, big or small. But now it’s as if her parents were exhausted from being forced to handle her panic attacks, as if she was just an inconvenience.
Serena could feel tears pricking at the corners of her ocean blue eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.
“One little incident?! Little?!” she repeated. Her throat ached as she tried to swallow the lump to prevent herself from crying. “You have no idea how big of a deal it was for me! You don’t know how I felt; what I went through that day! Once you experience a near death situation then we can talk.”
“Serena, tesoro …I—” Her mama stood in shock at her daughter’s outburst. Her papà had a similar expression.
Serena didn’t want to listen to what else her parents had to say. The young teen let out a sob as she turned on her heel, ran upstairs to her room before slamming the door shut behind her.
🐚 .° ｡
It had been a good three hours since her little quarrel with her parents and yet Serena remained in her room. As the young teen sat on her bed with a sketchbook in hand, doodling whatever came to mind, she had time to ponder to herself. Serena was ashamed of how horribly she acted: her parents were only trying to help.
Eleven years it had been since Serena last stepped foot in her seaside hometown of Portorosso. After her traumatic accident she endured when she was only five years old, one that nearly ended her life, Serena’s parents decided that it was best to move away from Portorosso to Genova and have avoided going back to their hometown ever since.
Her parents thought that moving away from the ocean altogether would have been regarded as water under the bridge but unfortunately the trauma of that day lingered inside Serena’s memory. Since leaving Portorosso, she was never able to fully recover. Her trauma was a burden on her day to day life, this included school — she can’t bring herself to participate in any type of water sports or activities.
Serena didn’t have any friends at school, she only had acquaintances. She used to hang out with a group of girls at school that she considered friends but outside of school they never talked or invited her to hang out with them, and when Serena would ask if she could hang out with them they would always make up some type of pathetic excuse to avoid hanging out.
After Serena came back from last summer vacation, someone from her school managed to find out about her fear of water and that she couldn’t swim — she was immediately teased about it. Serena suspected that it was someone from her friendship group. After that, the teasing turned into relentless bullying and her “friends” started joining in with their other peers.
Over the last couple of months, Serena had water thrown at her in the form of water balloons, had water spilt on her and a couple of jocks even attempted to throw her into the school’s swimming pool but luckily a teacher came just in time to stop them; she had a very severe panic attack that day.
The only place she felt safe was at home in her room — hiding away from people and the world.
A soft knock at her door interrupted Serena’s thoughts as the door opened to reveal her parents. Ocean blue eyes immediately fixated themselves onto her sketchbook.
“ Sono così dispiaciuto ...I didn’t mean to lash out at the both of you,” Serena apologised meekly, not looking up.
Serena felt her mama’s weight sink into the mattress beside her, while her papà took a seat at her desk chair, hunching over before resting his elbows on his knees.
A soft hum came from her papà. “We appreciate and accept your apology. Hopefully you’ve calmed down enough now.”
Serena grimaced while fiddling with her pencil. “I may have gotten...a little too carried away before. Sono calmo ora. ”
“We understand that it was wrong of us to send you away without even discussing it with you first,” mama spoke softly, “But we knew how stubborn you’d be about it. If we told you about our idea you would’ve refused straight away.”
“We know you were looking forward to a relaxing water-free summer but…” Papà started but trailed off.
“Do I have to go?” Serena questioned apprehensively. She secretly hoped that her parents would change their minds about the trip.
Papà sighed as he clasped his hands together, “Like we said, it’s already been arranged. We’re sorry, tesoro .”
Serena grimaced.
"On the bright side,” mama chimed in, “Zio Giovanni, Zia Francesca and your nonno are so happy that you’re going to be staying with them for the summer. After not seeing you for nearly a year…they miss you dearly, especially Guido. He misses you the most.”
Serena’s lips twitched into a small smile. While she may not love her hometown, she loved her extended family that lived in said town. They understood how traumatised Serena was when her accident happened so they made the effort to visit her and her family in Genova for every important family gathering, no matter how big or small a deal it was.
Serena was especially close to her cousin Guido, who was older by a few months. Growing up, the two of them were inseparable; they would be around each other every waking moment of the day since their families lived right next to each other and worked in the family’s restaurant together. They were practically siblings.
“I want to see them again, I want to see Portorosso again but…” Serena paused before she spoke with a shudder, “I’m still terrified."
For a moment they remained in silence. Serena continued to add a few more pencil strokes onto the paper of her sketchbook, searching her mind for something to say. Mama stretched an arm over her daughters shoulders, pulling the teenager into her side before rubbing her shoulder in order to soothe her.
“We may not know how terrified you were and how you felt that day,” mama cupped Serena’s cheek gently, this made the young teen look up into her mama’s matching blue eyes. “But don't you think for a second that we weren't worried about you; we were worried sick! You don’t know how terrified we were when we saw the paramedics try to resuscitate you and how you had to stay in the hospital for a while. We thought you were going to—”
Her mama stopped. She didn’t want to finish that sentence, she didn’t even want to fathom the idea. The tears that were evident in the corner of her mama’s eyes finally made Serena understand that they all suffered through hardships that day.
“I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier, I was just frustrated,” mama apologised, “All we ask is please try...for us. We know it’s scary but we don’t want to see you live in fear anymore. This fear of the ocean of yours isn’t going to go away overnight. It’s going to continue to take over your life unless you do something about it. If this exposure therapy is going to help you then why not give it a chance?”
Mama pulled her hand away from her daughter’s cheek but still held her close. Serena’s weak smile turned into a frown before she let out a sigh. Her gaze dropped down to her sketchbook again, mousy brown hair fell from behind her ear, hiding her face. The older woman could sense her daughter’s reluctance.
“This could be good for you,” Mama coaxed, brushing the hair behind her ear and out of her face. “And who knows…you might make some friends there, or even meet a nice boy,” Mama teased her daughter playfully, reaching down to pinch her cheek softly.
Serena giggled bashfully before swatting her mama’s hand away.
"Just try it out for a week or two,” Papà spoke up with a smile, “If you decide that the treatment isn’t working for you, you can catch the next train home. At least you could say that you tried.”
Upon hearing those words, Serena had a brilliant idea. She’d try to tough it out for a week and a half before deciding that she’d like to come back home to Genova. Serena’s frown slowly evolved into a bright smile; this was gonna work.
"Ok, andrò...I’ll go to Portorosso."