Leo, 16 and long-haired, sometimes thinks of himself as a lion or a pirate. He plays guitar and is in a football team. His best friend is Niko. He's friends with Silvia too. He adores Beatrice (an older schoolgirl) from afar. His class gets a male supply teacher - idealistic, dreamy. The teacher introduces them to Dante and encourages them to follow their dreams. Leo's surprised to discover that Dante's heroine is also called Beatrice, red-haired like Leo's.
After Beatrice's been away from school for a few days he discovers she has leukemia. He becomes a blood donor for her, at the expense of a football match. On the way to delivering a love letter to her he has an accident and ends up in Beatrice's hospital. He sneaks to her ward to see her sleepy with chemo.
He meets the teacher outside school. "dreams without the silence of philosophy can become nightmares".
We can see that he's a bit of a wierdo, that Silvia's hopelessly in love with him.
Silvia visits Beatrice at her home, taking Leo with her. Silvia has sometimes lied about passing information between Leo and Beatrice. Leo becomes a regular visitor. Beatrice gives Leo her diaries. Soon after she dies. Leo goes on a long family holiday. On his return Leo and Silvia accept that nobody is perfect.
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