"Non posso vivere senza di te," said Alexander to Magdalene, taking both her hands his his, leaning in to kiss her gently on the cheek. Smiling shyly, head tilted down just a tiny bit, Magdalena looked up through her eyelashes and replied, "Sei tutto per me." And this was how the love story of Alexander Ragazzo and Magdalena Grummetti began.

chapter one Teresa Bianca Ragazzo was born on a cold summer day in august, 1994, to parents Alexander and Magdalena Ragazzo. She was the second of two children, her brother 6 years her senior. After having gone multiple miscarriages, and conceiving her brother via IVF, it came as a shock to everyone when Teresa was conceive naturally.

As a kid, Teresa was usually a happy child. She’d smile, and giggle, and reach out for her parents to pick her up. Her parents very seldom told her no, and the few times it did happen would make her tiny little face frown and ponder how to get them to change their minds. She rarely cried, but instead she’d pout and lift her tiny hands, waving with her fists, displeased and mumbling incoherently words that made no sense but would make her parents laugh and pick her up and offer her an ice cream.

She was seven when she told her mom, rather insistingly, that she wanted to a ballerina like the Barbie was on the telly. Teresa was far from being the best, but she determined to not be the worst, and thus gave it her all, practicing at home and getting her parents to put in a barre in her room so she could improve.

chapter two Teresa never could decide if she liked going to school or hated it. Moving to Boston at the age of ten probably didn't help either, as she had to make new friends. She did well in most of her subjects, especially in science, and she was a cheerleader and part of the dance team. But she was also bored, and ready for something else to happen. Shoplifting was never something she had intended to get into, but when a classmate dared her to grab a candy bar from the grocery store—Teresa not one for backing down from a challenge—and no one caught her, the rush of doing something bad excited her.

She was fourteen the first time she was arrested and got off with a warning. Most would have been scared to go back to their old habits, but Teresa just saw it as another challenge. She wanted to be better. In the beginning it was small items, things that could easily be hidden inside her sleeve or at the waistline of her pants. Until one day a slightly older guy approached her, telling her that he had seen her stealing from the store. Instead of turning her in, he said he’d teach her how to be better. Very much enamoured with the guy, and like always up for a challenge, Teresa agreed. In no time, she learned how to steal wallets from people’s pockets and their watches from the wrists.

When her parents finally confronted her about it, having found her stash, she promised them that she’d never do it again. But some promises are made to be broken.

chapter three Counting down until High School was over, Teresa started packing when there was just about a week left of school. She was determined to follow her brother to Boston, and had therefore, like her brother, enrolled at Boston University. For a while she contemplated going with Italian Studies as her major, figuring that it would be easy since she came from an Italian family herself. But in the end, her love for science won out, and she graduated recently with a BS.