She is so cool. She has so much background to her that you would not be able to immediately see but I saw her face drop when she mentioned her name earlier. I know it's Japanese, because at some point I googled her name during the day, but I want to know more. I know I sound like a creep but you can't blame this small town guy, I have never heard the name before. It was purely educational, I think. I almost hugged her when she said I could accompany her to the store. She makes my actions cringey, the goofy kind of cringey. 

Now we walk in silence, she doesn't seem as uncomfortable as I am. I want to fill the silence but I don't know where to start. I don't want to be pushy or cross any boundaries as a stranger but I thought us walking to the shop would make her open up a teeny bit more. Surprisingly, she was the one who spoke first and pulled me from my thoughts. "You seem to be thinking really hard, your face is screaming from the amount of muscles you're using to frown right now." 

I never expected her to notice. Gods, when did she even start looking at my face? "Oh, sorry Izzy, I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable and I'm just urh panicky", that was all I could come up with. Good job Mason. She just stared at me with a small smile then let out the cutest laugh I've ever heard. I'm probably exaggerating but the laugh she let out eased the awkwardness I felt after my reply, which then made me smile. 

"Don't worry, I'm not uncomfortable, I just don't feel the need to fill silence but if I agree to walk with you to the store please feel free to speak your mind, okay?" She patted me on the shoulder and walked ahead. I was frozen in place, that girl she just showed me, she was a completely different side of her. It made me want to see more of her so I ran to catch up to her but before I knew it we were at the store. 

We walked to the pasta aisle, the vegetable aisle and I just kept following her all the way to the till, replaying the small words we exchanged five minutes ago. "Mason, what about your milk?", I looked at her with confusion. "My milk?" Was there an inside joke I didn't get? "Yeah, remember, you came with because you needed milk...." 

"Riiiiight, how could I forget, so dumb of me" I hit my forehead and quickly left to the fridges at the back. I didn't even need milk, I'll just take one and I'll grab two chocolate bars too. I'll give her one. "Mason I'm done!" I heard Izumi, or Izzy, shout from the front of the store. She will probably wait outside, I'll go and get the chocolate and pay quickly.

Wait.

What if she's allergic or what if she doesn't eat this kind? I'll buy two different types, one has nuts and one doesn't. I don't know why I'm overthinking chocolate choices, I'm out of my mind today. 

I walked to the till.

"Mason, my boy, how's that Dylan doing?", the owner of the store asked. "Hey Mr. Sol. He's okay, he gave me a call this morning, seems like he really likes it there." Mr. Sol gave me and Dylan jobs after high school since I stopped working for the mayor and Dylan was not actually planning on leaving Winseka. It was only a few months ago since I started at the diner since I needed more money to move out and rent a place of my own. Dylan left after getting a scholarship because it was a great opportunity. "Catch you later Mr. Sol, say hi to Mrs. Sol for me." I left the store and found Izumi standing waiting for me. It was something simple but I suddenly felt less lonely than I've ever felt my entire life here. 

I basically skipped over to where she stood. She didn't say anything, just turned around walked back the way we came. "Want me to carry that for you?", I asked just to make conversation. "Nah I'm good, thanks", was all she said back and I remembered what she said about not needing to fill the silence. I on the other hand could not take it any longer so I started off with getting to know more about her. 

"Is Chief Jerry an old friend of your dad's?", I thought I'd start with something we have in common. "My uncle, actually." She kept her answers really short. "Makes sense, I thought he looked a bit like your dad." "Mmhm". 

I'll try one more time. "Oh, so you and Dylan are cousins?" "Yeah" 

"Oh, cool", was all I could say now. She probably didn't want to speak and I mean she had a long day, I doubt she is dying to know about my blossoming friendship with her cousin. At least that's what I thought. She keeps surprising me. Like now, when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. 

"Sorry for being such a bore, I know you're just trying to make conversation, I'll try harder. It's just that I'm used to everyone else doing the talking, I've never had people be interested in my life." She said all of this while staring at her feet, like she got self-concious just by speaking more than one sentence. I was honoured to have witness something so cute. 

"Hey, I have enough words for the both of us." I didn't know what else to say or what would make her think like that but I want to know her, the her that is bold enough to make moves that keep surprising me. She started speaking again. "Uhm... we don't speak much about Dylan since it's a sensitive topic for uncle Jerry." 

I knew why she said that, Dyl and his dad drifted apart after his mom passed away. Chief Jerry moved them both all the way to this small town and then threw himself in his work, leaving Dyl to mourn on his own. 

...