Moon Village

Chapter 2

As I walk out of the house, I grab my phone. I thought it might have been best to search some spots nearby. Most importantly; the pizza place. I hear my stomach growling as I see the images of the pizza's. The only things I have eaten on our little trip, were snacks. That being sweets and crisps. Luigi's Pizza's I type into Google, hoping and praying they're still open. I sigh relieved as I view their opening times. The only day they're closed, is Sunday. Which is valid. As I walk further, I bump into someone. 'I'm so sorry.' I say, immediately, as I look up to the young man. He's holding me tight, scared I would have fell. 'Are you okay?' He asks, then he notices my phone. 'This is why you can't walk and be on your phone at the same time. One thing at a time, young lady. You should be happy it was me and not a car!' He chuckles. I'm a bit confused. Back in Boston, I probably would have been yelled at. The people over there seem extremely stressed all the time and I'm afraid I have turned into one of those stressed people. Well, not anymore, I'd like to think. New place, New Isa. 'For real though, are you okay?' He looks a bit concerned, as I did not reply to anything he has said. 'No, I mean, yes. Yes, I am okay.' I say, a bit confused. 'You don't look okay.' He replies, as he frowns a bit. 'I am okay. I'm just a bit confused. I moved here not too long ago. Well, we arrived..' I checked my phone for the time. 'Half an hour ago, to be exact. I'm originally from Boston and and.. The people there are not quite as nice as you are and that confused me.' I ramble. He keeps quiet, looks at me and starts laughing. 'I'm sorry. I don't think I have ever met someone as cute as you are.' He says. I feel my cheeks heat up a bit. 'What's that supposed to mean?' I mumble. 'Just.. You're standing here, wearing a Baby Yoda pyjama pants, rambling about grumpy people from Boston and acting surprised about someone being kind to you?' I frown and nod. That's exactly what I have been doing, yes. And I have completely forgotten about my Baby Yoda pyjama pants, also. 'Welcome to Moon Village. I'm guessing you're my new neighbor.' He says with a smile. He's my neighbor? This cute, young man, is my new neighbor? Dang. 'Thank you. I'm Isabella. I moved here with my mom, Katherine. She's at home, unpacking some boxes.' I reply. 'You didn't have to unpack anything?' He asks. Before I could reply, he introduces himself. 'I'm Dean, I live here with my dad, Luigi.' He says. 'Luigi? Like.. The Luigi? From Luigi's Pizza's? That's your dad?' I act as if the man is a celebrity, which he kind of is in this village. His pizza's are amazing, as if they're straight from Italy. I have never visited Italy, but I'm assuming these are the kind of pizza's you could get there. Dean starts laughing and nods. 'Yup. That's my dad. The one and only Luigi.' He replies. 'Funny. I was just about to visit the place.' I show him my phone, on which you can see what I just searched. The opening times of Luigi's Pizza's. 'What a coincidence.' He says. 'I was about to go there as well. I needed to bring my dad some ingredients.' He pointed to the bag in his hands. 'We could go together, if you'd like?' He suggests. I smile. 'I was about to explore the town a bit as well.' I wanted to visit Luigi's Pizza's last, since I don't want to walk around with steaming hot pizza's, nor do I wanna eat the pizza cold. 'How about..' He begins. 'We drop this off to my dad, I show you all the spots you need to see and then we go back to my dad, get the pizza's and I drop you off home?' I smile once again and nod. 'That sounds good.' I mean, he must know all the spots I need to see, right? Plus, it doesn't seem too bad to wander around the town whilst having some company. Some very cute company. 'Let's go then.' He says, as he starts walking. I follow him, trying to keep up his pace. 'Have you lived here your entire life?' I ask. 'Yup.' He nods. 'Never left the town, not even for a holiday.' - 'Really?' I ask surprised. I don't know why I'm being surprised. I have never left for a holiday either, except for the times we went to visit my grandparents. 'Yup.' He repeats. 'How about you?' He asks. 'I grew up in Boston, but my mom grew up in this village. We used to come here nearly every year, around Christmas. Until my grandparents passed away.' 'Ouch. I'm sorry.' He mumbles, scared this topic might be sensitive to me. 'It's okay, really. I still have fun memories with them and it's been quite some time.' I reply with a smile, reassuring him it really is okay. 'So you should actually be quite familiar with this place, huh?' I shake my head. 'My mom never really let me go outside. Hence to why I don't really know anyone here either.' She was scared I might get lost, or whatever. 'The only person I know, is Luke. Only 'cause he is her childhood friend.' I say. 'Luke? Like.. Luke's Coffee?' I chuckle and nod. It's funny how basic all of the company names are. Luigi's Pizza's, Luke's Coffee, Julia's Flowers. Just their names and what they sell, as easy as it can be. He chuckles as well and nods. 'He's a cool guy. I don't know him that well but I have gotten coffee at his place a couple of times.' I smile. 'He is.' I look around a bit, as we walk through the streets. The shops are all local shops, as I expected. Even the supermarket. Which I suddenly don't mind anymore. I've got a fun neighbor whom I can spend time with, my mom is back in her old village. Everything seems a bit better now. 'Do you have any siblings?' I hear Dean ask and I look up to him. 'Nope, just me.' I reply. 'How about you?' He shakes his head. 'Nope. Just me as well. I live with just my dad. My mom went back to Italy a couple of years ago.' He says. 'Oh..' I reply quietly. 'Which I don't mind one bit.' He adds and he smiles, this time it's his turn to reassure me it's all okay. 'Well, I just live with my mom. I never got to know my dad, which I'm also A-okay with.' My mom did a good job raising me all by herself, to the point where I no longer care about not having a dad. When I was younger, it was a bit harder of course. Seeing all the happy families, seeing kids getting picked up by their fathers and wondering about mine. Why wasn't I good enough to be a part of his family? Why did he not care about his daughter? Later on I learned to let all of that go and now I'm doing perfectly fine without him.