Chapter 1
"Stephanie, if you don't get up you're going to miss Italy!" Allie Taylor shook Stephanie Tanner's arm, which was dangling off the edge of the narrow single bed.
"I'm up, I'm up!" Stephanie muttered sleepily. She was already awake but couldn't quite bring herself to get out of bed. She was thrilled to be in Siena, Italy. But traveling with her summer tour group was exhausting.
First they'd spent two weeks in Paris, then two weeks in London -- and in each place they'd made videos with their host students. Their summer video-making program was turning out to be even more exciting than Stephanie had imagined it would be when she left home in San Francisco.
She knew their two weeks in Siena would be just as cool. Stephanie's school group was staying at a private school in the center of Siena. The American girls were all sharing one large dorm room that had slanted ceilings, which made the space cozy. If everyone would just leave Stephanie alone for two more seconds in that cozy space, it would be even better!
"Come on, Stephanie -- you already missed breakfast. We're due downstairs to start working in fifteen minutes," Darcy Powell urged.
Stephanie opened one eye and peered at her friend, who was slipping small gold hoop earrings into her ears. Darcy was wearing a short-sleeved yellow T-shirt and denim cutoffs.
"Okay, I'm getting up -- don't worry." Stephanie stretched her arms over her head as she sat up. She rubbed her bleary eyes and tried to wake herself up.
"Buon giorno!" a cheerful voice rang out.
Stephanie suddenly saw a video camera pointed straight at her. "Hey, don't do that!" she complained. She tried to cover her face with her long blond hair.
"Too late." Rene Salter lowered the camera and grinned at Stephanie. "We'll call this movie: Waking up in Siena. Or perhaps: An American Bedhead in Italy."
Everyone started laughing as Stephanie groggily got to her feet. "Okay, very funny, but could you stop filming until I brush my hair? Please?" She couldn't imagine how tired and rumpled she looked, and the last thing she wanted was to be taped looking like that.
"Hey, don't worry about it. You're going to be an international film star," Cynthia Hanson teased Stephanie.
"Yeah, maybe you can star in an Italian ad for shampoo!" Tiffany Schroeder added. "The kind that works on really, really tangled hair?" She touched her own perfectly coiffed platinum blond hair.
Stephanie shook her head. "No, thanks. No commercials for me. We'll be too busy making our own video, anyway. Right?"
"Exactly," Rene said. "Last night we decided our videos were going to be spontaneous this time." She stopped filming. "And what's more spontaneous than catching someone waking up?"
"Okay, but does it have to be me?" Stephanie asked with a laugh. She pulled clothes from her suitcase and tossed a pair of socks at Rene.
Stephanie and Rene used to be rivals -- at just about everything. Rene was the leader of a group of girls at school called the Flamingoes. Cynthia and Tiffany were Flamingoes, also. On this European trip, though, Cynthia and Tiffany had become good friends with Stephanie and her friends Allie and Darcy. Even Rene was a lot pleasanter than she used to be.
I guess anyone can change, Stephanie thought.
Rene tossed the socks back to Stephanie. "You know what they say," she commented. "The early bird catches the worm."
"The late bird catches unflattering video," Darcy said with a laugh. "Come on, Stephanie -- get dressed already! We start filming in ten minutes, and Corey's sitting downstairs waiting for you."
"Well, in that case..." Stephanie grinned as she pictured Corey Griffin, her new boyfriend. He was so cute -- and Stephanie was crazy about him. "I'll be ready in ten seconds!"
"So you slept through breakfast, huh?" Corey held out a hand to Stephanie. In it, he held a roll wrapped in a paper napkin and some red grapes.
"Is that all for me?" Stephanie asked, genuinely touched. "This is so nice of you. Thanks." She smiled at Corey and reached for his other hand to give it a quick squeeze. Seeing him made her feel so happy, she forgot about being sleepy and tired.
"You're welcome." Corey pulled a grape off the stem and held it up to Stephanie's mouth.
Stephanie opened her mouth, and Corey popped the grape inside. She giggled as he started to peel a grape for her. "You don't have to do that!" she said.
"Oh, but I do," Corey said, grinning. "You're a distant relative of Cleopatra, aren't you?"
"We're in Italy, not Egypt," Stephanie said. She took the rest of the grapes from Corey. "I still can't believe you got breakfast for me. It's so awesome." Stephanie stood on her tiptoes and kissed Corey on the cheek. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Corey said as he brushed a stray hair off Stephanie's cheek.
Corey was a new student at John Muir Middle School, and Stephanie had known him for only the past four weeks. He was tall with short, straight blond hair. Stephanie felt lucky to have met Corey. Sure, it had taken them a while to figure out they liked each other. And they had definitely had their share of disagreements.
At the end of their two weeks in London, Corey had finally told Stephanie that he cared about her. And she told Corey that she liked him, too. Then they'd kissed while the sun set over the Thames River. It was the most romantic kiss Stephanie could ever remember.
This is turning out to the best trip of my life, Stephanie thought as she and Corey headed into the classroom for their morning video class. Inside, Stephanie looked around the large room where they had met their Italian hosts for the first time the night before. They spent the evening getting to know the ten Italian students. Then they had drawn names from a hat to determine the makeup of the two video teams.
Corey and Stephanie, who were not on the same team, took seats in the middle of the room, next to Darcy and Allie.
"I think it's great we're doing a video diary this time around," said Allie, who along with Darcy was on Stephanie's team. "Don't you, Steph?"
"Definitely," Stephanie agreed. "What do you think?" she asked Corey.
"I like the idea that we'll be recording our own lives," Corey said. "What could be better?"
"Well, I think it's great that Rene is on our video team," Darcy said in a whisper. "That way we know she won't be trying to sabotage our video -- the way she did in London."
"Yeah, but so far I don't think much of her video diary," Stephanie said. "She keeps catching me at all the wrong moments."
"What? You have bad moments?" Corey's eyes widened dramatically. "I'm shocked."
"It's true -- sad, but true," Stephanie joked. "In fact, maybe after you see the tape, you won't want to be seen with me anymore," she said with a teasing grin.
"I'll have to give that some serious thought. After all, I have my image to protect," Corey said.
"What image?" Stephanie swatted him playfully on the arm. "Since when?" She laughed.
Signora Moretti walked up to the front of the classroom and clapped her hands together. "Buon giorno. Good morning, everyone."
Stephanie smiled as her teachers from home joined the Italian teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Blith and Ms. Donato had been wonderful chaperons and tour guides so far.
Even if Stephanie had gotten into trouble with them once or twice on the trip, they'd always been kind, friendly, and helpful.
"Before we head out this morning, I have an idea I should like to propose," Signora Moretti said.
"Hear, hear!" Corey clapped his hands.
"Yes, well, see what you think first," Signora Moretti warned. "But I think we should have an awards ceremony at the end of this two-week session. We will give awards for best video, best sound, and best editing."
"You mean like our very own Academy Awards or something?" Darcy asked. "That sounds awesome."
"Actually, it not only sounds awesome, it sounds like a piece of cake," Corey said.
Stephanie cleared her throat. "Excuse me?"
"Winning the awards should be easy," Corey said. "I mean, we do have the best team in Italy. Right, guys?" He glanced over his shoulder at the other members of his team.
Duncan, Tyler, and Zack, the other students from John Muir Middle School on his team, cheered loudly. The six Italian students on Corey's team all shouted "Si!" in agreement.
Corey turned back to Stephanie. "Sorry, Steph. But it looks like we've already got the video awards locked up."
"What? You're kidding, right?" Stephanie asked. She knew Corey was ultraconfident when it came to his video skills, but she was feeling just as confident after spending the last month making videos. "I wouldn't start celebrating yet," she warned. "I think our team is bound to win best video. Don't you, guys?" Stephanie looked around at her team.
"No question," Rene replied.
"Absolutely," Darcy added.
Corey laughed. "What makes you think so?"
"Because we have a lot of talent," Stephanie said. "And because we have the will to win."
"But, Steph, I have a lot more experience," Corey argued.
"But we are inspired," Stephanie replied. "As you will see when you watch our brilliant video diary, and when we sweep the video awards."
Stephanie grinned at Corey, who was looking at her with a playful, almost devilish smile. Uh-oh, Stephanie thought. She and Corey had only known each other for a month. In that month, though, they had spent most of their time competing. Here we go again! she thought.
She liked Corey so much, and she didn't want to argue with him ever again. She just wanted them to enjoy Italy together. Was she making a big mistake by accepting Corey's challenge to win the video awards?
Copyright © and 2001 by Warner Bros.