"Mom, who's that?"
Twelve year old Isabelle DeLaura peeked out from the front door of her apartment, big green eyes watching as men carried boxes and furniture up the stairs. In the apartment across the hall she could see some of the boxes scattered across the floor, and a woman moving around the hustle and bustle, muttering to a young boy in a foreign language.
"Mom?" Isabelle called out again.
"What is it Isa? I'm trying to make your sister lunch."
Isabelle looked up at her mother who was wiping her hands on a dish towel, now standing at the front door with her.
"There's new people in there."
"Hmm," her mother hummed. "Looks like someone bought the place across the hall."
"Can I go say hi?" Isabelle looked up at her, her green eyes pleading.
"Sure sweetie," she smiled. "It looks like the little boy is about your age."
Isabelle quietly moved across the hallway and knocked on the open door of the neighbors apartment.
"Oh! Hello sweetheart!"
The woman across the hall had stopped digging through the box in front of her to smile at Isabelle, beckoning her into the apartment.
"Hi..." She smiled. "I'm Isabelle, I just wanted to come over and say hi..."
"Well that's sweet," she smiled again, and Isabelle noticed she spoke with an accent. They were definitely not New Yorkers, that much she could tell. "I'm Olivia, my son and I just moved here, from Romania."
"Romania? Wow!" Isabelle's eyes lit up, partially due to the distance of the move, and that, other than her nonna, who came off the boat from Sicily, she never knew anyone from another country.
"Yes, and my son is around here somewhere..." Olivia trailed off, turning to glance around the empty apartment. "Sebastian! Come out here!"
Isabelle waited for a moment or two, before a boy about her age came down the hall; he looked as shy as she felt when she walked into Olivia's apartment.
"Sebastian, this is Isabelle, she lives across the hall."
"Hi..." He waved, and Isabelle could hear his accent as well, yet, he was trying to conceal it.
"Hi," Isabelle waved back. "Uhm, I just wanted to say hi, and all that."
Sebastian watched her for a moment longer, and Isabelle felt his blue eyes graze over her again.
"Are you an only child?" Sebastian asked suddenly. "I am..."
"No, I'm not. I have an older brother and a very cranky little sister."
Sebastian chuckled at her mention of her sister, and smiled brightly at her.
"Sebastian, why don't you get to know Isabelle some more, and worry about unpacking your room later." His mother smiled at him.
"Or, I could help you unpack if you want." Isabelle offered.
"You'd do that?"
"Sure, besides, we can still get to know each other." The young girl smiled.
Sebastian grinned, and the two took off down the hall towards his new bedroom.
"I'll let your mother know you're here, alright?" Olivia called out.
"Oh, thank you!" Isabelle smiled, following Sebastian into the room.
Isabelle looked around, empty walls surrounded them and boxes littered the floor.
"You uhm, sure you don't mind helping me?" Sebastian muttered.
"Not at all," Isabelle smiled again, and Sebastian seemed to relax under her gaze. "Besides, you'll get this place more homey in no time."
"Thanks, Isabelle."
"You're welcome." She grinned.
As the two set to work on one of the boxes, Isabelle came across a handful of books with worn out spines and curled pages.
"Alice in Wonderland!" She practically squealed, flipping the book over in her hands a few times.
"You like Alice in Wonderland?" Sebastian perked up at the mention of his favorite book.
"No no, I love it," Isabelle grinned. "It's just so creative and, uhm, Hatter is my favorite..."
"Well, we're all mad here, no need to be ashamed." Sebastian chuckled, much to her relief at not judging her for loving the most unstable character in the book.
"Seb, I think you and I are going to get along just fine." Isabelle grinned.
"I think you're right Belle."
"Belle, hu?"
"Does anyone call you Belle?"
"No, my parents call me Isa..."
"Well, I'm going to call you belle." He smiled a cheeky smile in her direction and she felt totally and completely at ease with the blue eyed boy from Romania.