Luna


Everybody seems to hate Mondays. I don’t, I actually find Mondays to be a blessing. It’s the beginning of a new week, a new chapter in the book of life. I feel like every Monday I can start something new; become a new person. One Monday I could be Luna, the short and quiet girl that has a lot of messy braids in her hair and likes eating mint chocolate chip ice cream in the moonlight. But the next Monday, I could be Luna, still the short girl, but the one whom does charity work, she has a lot of friends, stops strangers on the street just to tell them they look beautiful today and is a vegetarian. I guess I still have time to change into the second Luna, the one I would like to be; for now I will just stick to my ice cream eating habits in the beautiful moonlight.

This Monday the Luna I have chosen to be is walking to school, quietly humming a Fall Out Boy song. I am extremely lucky to have some of my favorite classes on Monday: Art, English and Italian group. The classes my father wanted me most to continue following in high school and also, the ones I have come to love the most. With my father’s part of the family being Italian it didn’t take me all that long to catch onto the language, and also, everything about Italy is just beautiful. Everyone will say the food is the most amazing thing; I do not find it that way. I find the art the most beautiful: the ruins, the old authentic paintings, monuments, the history, everything is so fascinating. I got the chance to visit my grandparents a lot there when I was younger, now I don’t do it as much as I would like to.

Today is quite windy, so I had to put my jacket on. It’s a shame, I was really getting used to the beautiful weather. I can not wait for summer. The beautiful weather, the sun going down really late and coming up really early, the sleepless nights, admiring the beautiful moonlight from my rooftop (Oh, well, I guess I do that no matter what season). It is just pure magic. A lot of stories are created in the summer, almost fairy tale like. I have always had perfect summers and I want this one to be just as good as all the others. Summer means I get to stay with my dad a lot more, go to the beach more often and eat more ice cream (Again, I do that no matter the season, but whatever). Just a couple more weeks and I will have that; I will have my summer dream fulfilled.

People at school don’t really speak to me; they just ask me for homework sometimes because I am usually the only one that does all of their home tasks. I don’t think that makes me a nerd, it just makes me responsible, I guess. I like doing homework. Instead of sitting around all day and scrolling through the internet I would much rather spend a couple hours doing some assignments, then go outside and live my day the way I like it; to the fullest, doing things I love, like drinking tea at my favorite tea house or drawing beautiful pictures that I see, like flowers or clouds.

Usually lunch break is the time for everyone to chat and spend time with their friends; for me not so much. I prefer bringing my own food from home, which I know for sure no one spit in (The cafeteria lady looks really mean to be honest) and I eat outside, enjoying the warm sunlight. Today I did the same thing, going to my locker to get my food, while seeing everyone go with their friends to eat.

I didn’t have high hopes for the day when I saw the weather this morning, but now it is very nice outside. I actually take my jacket off and sit down on the grass, next to an old tree, feeling a bit hot in my jumper. I should have checked the weather on my phone this morning. Opening my bag, I get out my sandwich and check my phone. I have a new message on Facebook from my father. He send me a picture of him and Janine in Paris, where they currently are right now. They are smiling to the camera, the Eiffel Tower right behind them. It must be really beautiful there; I miss Europe.

I know this is a very important trip for my dad. He has been planning this for almost a year; he’s even told me about it although he knows I have a really bad habit of breaking secrets. I know how nervous he was before going leaving, he actually called me the night before completely freaking out; took me some time to calm him down. Basically, he is going to propose to Janine. I mean, they’ve been together for almost five years now, I would say it was about time. I am really happy for my father, I just hope she can make him feel as happy as he tells me he is now, for the rest of his life. I text him a sticker of two cactuses hugging and then get back to my food.

I wonder what Ashton is doing. I haven’t spoken to him since yesterday. We spent a couple more hours on the beach with him singing me random songs and trying really hard to solve my riddle, but still failing. I actually hope he won’t cheat and search it on the internet; it is one of my favorite riddles ever, it took me almost forever to solve it as well, so I am hoping he is smart enough to find an answer. He seems like a really smart guy. Maybe I should text him. See how he’s doing. That is exactly what I am going to do. I take my phone back out of my pocket and click on his contact. I hate texting, but I am going to give this a try.

iMessage to: Ashton

hello, how are you?

Should I have sent him a smiley face? I don’t know why I am even thinking about that, I am not actually smiling, so I don’t have to send him an emoji that indicates that I am smiling, when I am clearly not. Not even a minute later I get a next back.

iMessage from: Ashton

hi Luna, I’m good, just woke up. what about you? (ps. thought you hated texting?)

iMessage to: Ashton

I am having lunch, but aren’t you supposed to be at school? and yes, I do hate texting, but I thought you were busy so I didn’t call you.

iMessage from: Ashton

I slept in, so I just figured if I’m already late, I might as well just not go at all and have a good sleep. wait, I’ll call you in a minute.

So I wait for him to call me while finishing my sandwich and getting out my juice box. I see the school janitor watch me with a frown on his face for a few seconds, then get back inside the building. What, can’t a teenage girl still drink apple juice from a kid’s juice box? It’s good, so age doesn’t matter. Maybe he needs a juice box. I take a mental note to also bring him one tomorrow and answer the phone when I see it ringing.

“Good morning.” I greet and keep drinking my juice.

“Hi, how are you?” His voice is a bit raspy, probably from just waking up. It makes him sound somehow more manly; I like it.

“As I said, having lunch on this beautiful day.” I smile looking up at the cloudless sky.

“By yourself?” He asks and chuckles.

“I guess not that many people share my love for nature.” I shrug. “What are you up to?”

“Well, I have no idea yet. I’ll probably just sit around all day.” I roll my eyes.

“You are so boring, I swear.” I hear him laugh at that. “Hang out with me later.” I suggest.

“I guess I could. Are you at school?” He asks.

“Yeah, I’ve only got two more periods left though.” I answer him and I can hear him hum from the other line.

“Where do you wanna go?” Thinking about it, I don’t really know. But then a brilliant idea comes to my mind.

“How do you feel about going to a tea house with me?”


Exactly two and a half hours later I am waiting in front of the beautiful tea shop. He promised he will be here as soon as he can after I get out of school. I have been waiting for about two minutes now, but I don’t mind. I like waiting, it reminds me that I have actually got something to wait for, that I’ve still got time. He is not late though, just a few seconds later I see him crossing the street running. When he reaches me, he is breathing heavily.

“Hello.” I smile and he catches his breath for a couple seconds, then whispers back a greeting. “Why were you running, may I ask?”

“I didn’t want to keep you waiting. And I missed the bus.” He confesses and I nod.

“Let’s go inside, I can’t wait to show you this place.” I say extremely excited to share one of my favorite places in this city with him.

Grabbing his hand, I open the door and lead him inside. The strong never changing smell of fresh herbs fills my senses and I close my eyes for a moment, breathing in the amazing scent. I glance at Ashton and see him looking around, probably just as fascinated about the beautiful paintings on the walls as I always am. Waving at the girl behind the counter that I always see, her eyes don’t even seem to notice me for all that long before they just get glued on Ashton. She waves back slowly and I just shrug, going to a table in a far back corner, with Ashton following right behind me.

We sit down and I drop my bag next to me, happy to finally get it off my shoulders. Ashton sits in front of me and keeps on looking around while I take the old menu from the table and search for a different kind of tea to order today. I never get the same thing twice. I mean, eventually I will run out of choices, but then I guess I’ll just start the menu all over again. Picking my choice, I look back at Ashton and turn the menu in his direction.

“Here you go, choose whatever you would like. I’m just saying, the green tea is one of the bests.” He smiles and looks through the different kinds of teas.

“So, what do you find so fascinating about this place?” He asks and looks back up at me.

“What’s not to love about it?” I exclaim. “I mean, you saw the beautiful designs, and the way the place is decorated in general is absolutely gorgeous. And it’s just quiet and peaceful; everything I could possibly want.”

“You come here often?” He asks and I nod.

“Almost every day.” This place has basically become my second home.

“That’s nice.” He smiles again.

There is something about his smile that I do not seem to get. He pulls it off so easily, in a beautiful and effortless way, his lips just curl up so nicely and I noticed that he has really nice teeth. It is just one of those things you can’t help but notice about a person, it’s really pretty; he is really pretty.

“Hi, what can I get you today?” The girl comes to our table and smiles politely.

“I’ll get a peppermint tea.” I look at Ashton and he looks like he just suddenly snapped out of a trance, moving his eyes away from my face and down again to his menu, stuttering.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll have whatever she’s having.” He nods.

The girl nods and goes back to prepare our order. Meanwhile, I think of some questions I want to ask Ashton.

“When is your birthday?” I ask and he smiles really bright, his eyes almost lighting up. I think I fell in love with his smile.

“Wait, I came up with this last night. I also have a riddle for you.” He seems really excited about it and I can’t help but laugh.

“Okay, bring it on.” I nod and he rubs his palms together, clearly very enthusiastic.

“Okay, so: What can you hold in your right hand, but not in your left?”

“Oh, come on.” I laugh. “This is so easy. Your left hand.” I answer and his jaw almost drops to the floor.

“But- how?!” He looks in shock. “I searched a lot of riddles last night and this one was like the best, come on.” He groans. “Okay, wait, I got another one.”

“Okay.” I nod and can’t wipe the smile off my face.

“What has an eye but can not see?” I feel kind of bad for crushing his happiness, but his riddles are so simple it’s almost painful.

“Ashton, next time, you might want to try finding riddles that are not for five year olds.” I giggle. “The answer is a needle.”

“How do you know all of these?” He asks and I just shrug.

“My father taught me a lot of them when I was younger.” I confess. “So, your birthday?” I wait for my answer.

“July 7th.” He sighs. “Yours?”

“August 31st.” He nods and I see the girl in the beautiful kimono coming our way with a tray in her hand.

“Here you go.” She places the tray on our table. “Anything else I can help you with?” She smiles, but doesn’t look at me, just directly at Ashton.

I look at him to see if he needs anything else, but he shakes his head.

“No, thank you.” I smile and she is hesitant, but then leaves.

I put my hands around the hot mug, enjoying the warmth on my cold fingers. I have always had very cold hands, a very cold body in general. It’s not exactly the best feeling in the winter, and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy tea so much. It keeps me warm outside and also inside.

“So, have you applied for any colleges yet?” I ask and sip from my tea. It’s really good.

“No, I think I am going to take a gap year.” He says and I nod. A year away from school sounds nice.

“So what are you doing this summer then?” He doesn’t say anything for a moment, just looks down at his mug and then finally answers.

“I think I am going to just… travel around. Find new places, discover new things. Go away from home for a while.” He looks really serious when he talks about this and it makes me believe that there is a different reason behind his decision, but I do not question it.

“I wish I could do that. It sounds nice.” I sigh and think about how my mother would never let me do something like that.

“Maybe you will, one day.” He says and I nod. “So, what’s your favorite color?”

“Have you found an answer to my riddle?” I smile and he shakes his head.

“Not yet.” He chuckles and I shrug.

“Then I guess I can’t tell you yet.” We both laugh.

“Can you at least tell me your last name?” I think for a while if I should tell him, but then give him the little information.

“Adelarti. My dad is Italian.” I say because I know it’s not a very common last name in America. He then stays silent for a while, shakes his head smiling and looks me right in the eyes.

“You’re something else, Luna Adelarti. Something good.”

Notes