Everybody knows: Chiara is throwing a birthday party at her house on Saturday. Chiara has a big garden, a mom who makes great little pizzas, and a dad who, when he's home, organizes volleyball games. Everyone wants an invitation.
- Who are you going to invite?
- Valentina is Chiara's best friend, so she can just ask.
- Almost all the girls in our class. Maybe not Silvia—we haven't talked in a week. The boys... they go crazy, Mom says. Last year they were running up and down the stairs the whole time.
- Yeah, I know how they get. We had a disaster at my place too. But some of them are okay, and if you warn them ahead of time...
- Of course, Vale—but why wouldn't I invite boys? What kind of party would that be? We can't have fun if it's just girls. We need to dance. And besides, who are we going to fight with if they're not there?
- Okay, so: Carlo, yes, he's good; Marcello, Stefano, Giorgio are fine; Marco—I wouldn't recommend him. He knocked over a vase at my house.
- Yeah, I remember that, but he's fun. At recess he always lets us play with his soccer ball.
- All right... What about Riccardo? The boy with Down syndrome?
- Him? I don't know... He doesn't go crazy any more than the others. He's hopeless at schoolwork, sure, and he talks differently. Not everyone gets his jokes, but when they do, they're funny.
- Did you know he's an amazing dancer? And he doesn't get embarrassed like so many of the other kids!
- Maybe he messes up passes in games...
- Yeah, but he's not the type to come at you when you make a mistake!
- Okay, I'll invite him. What about Francesco?
- I'm not sure...
The following Monday
Valentina's Account:
An Afternoon to Remember
- There was a party at Chiara's house the other day for her birthday. We had so much fun. Really, so much fun.
At first there was a lot of chaos because the boys wanted to play ball in the hallway and wouldn't do the organized games.
Then Chiara's little brother kept making trouble and messing things up.
So Chiara's mom told us off a bit and the boys settled down.
Riccardo started playing with Chiara's little brother, whose name is Paolo. He got him to have fun with toy cars, and so that little pest stopped bothering us.
We played a game—I think it was called Films—and my team won.
It was raining, so we didn't play volleyball.
At the end we danced, and Riccardo and Cristina were the best dancers.