Luna's neighborhood was having a potluck dinner. She invited Shion, but she couldn't go. Luna tried Eclipse. She wanted to go but couldn't, as she was forced to visit her cousins, with Shadow, who hates them with a burning passion."I'll save something for you," Luna promised. In class, Luna was sitting at her desk, feeling defeated. She really wanted to invite her friends over, as she never had the chance to do so before. She was asked to bring guests. Luna felt like if she couldn't do that, she would disappoint everyone. Knowing her neighbors, they wouldn't care. She's their Lunita, and as long as she's there, then everything is good. She just can't help but feel disappointed in herself.
"Hey, cupcake. What's with the sad face? Did Sasha do something?" Ronnie asked, sitting next to her. He was suspicious of Sasha doing something if Luna was ever sad.
"No, it's just..." Luna handed him those fancy invite cards her mom printed out.
"Uh... I don't speak Spanish..." Ronnie said. That's right, the invites are in Spanish because most people in her town speak Spanish.
"It's an invitation for a... Potluck," Luna explained. Sometimes she'll forget the English translation for a Spanish word.
"Oh, that makes sense... But why the pig?" Ronnie asked, weirded out. Luna was confused but remembered something.
"That's Lechon Asado. A lot of the neighbors really like it,"
"You're telling me they eat a whole pig? Head and everything?"
"...Yes..." Luna cringed. Her cousin's favorite part is the head; they even sell pig heads at the supermarket.
"That's just weird," he commented, grossed out.
"Don't you eat fish eggs or something like that?" Luna asked.
"Oi! Cavier is delicious!" He interjected.
"Eh, who am I to complain. I ate shark meat once," Luna mentioned.
"y-you what?"
"Yeah, it wasn't really that good. It felt like dry steak was made with fish instead of beef," Luna said. Sometimes Luna feels like she should be weirded out by the things people from other cultures eat, but her culture has its own fair share of weird things. Pig heads, cow tongues.
"I don't have any plans, so I'll go," Ronnie said.
"Really?" Luna looked at him, surprised.
"Da, and I'll get to meet your family,"
"Just be prepared to bring home a lot of leftovers," Luna said.
"And it can get hot, so don't wear too many layers," She added.
The barbecue was taking place in Luna's backyard. Makes sense because she does have a huge backyard. As usual, friends were talking to each other about whatever. They would tell Luna that she's gotten so big, her hair is beautiful, and more. Ronnie arrived, feeling nervous. He knocked on Luna's door, she quickly went to answer it.
"Yo," Luna greeted.
"Hey, I bought something," Ronnie bought over a Russian dish, Pelmeni.
"Come in; everyone's in the backyard," Luna took the dish and led Ronnie to the backyard where everything was.
"Wait... Before we go in," Luna stopped.
"Don't eat anything Veronica made, don't ask what a song means. You're better off not knowing, don't comment that we look different and be respectful, or else everybody will tell me not to be friends with you. Understood?" Luna asked. She wasn't trying to mean, just make sure Ronnie doesn't get in trouble as her family, related or not, are very overprotective of her. Her cousin actually told Blaze not to send Luna to a public school, which is why she goes to Twilight Academy.
"Yes, Ma'am," Ronnie smiled.
"Good, you already got the hang of it," Luna commented before opening the door to the backyard.
"Uh... Wow..." He chuckled. There were so many people.
"So, where's your mom?" He asked.
"She's right there, bringing out the lemonade," Luna pointed over to her mother. Needless to say, Ronnie was confused. Luna's mom has cocoa brown skin, shiny violet purple eyes, and short, wavy red hair with an orange and yellow fade, making it look like fire.
"Yes, she's my mom," Luna said.
"She's uh... very unique," He chuckled. People's opinions about Luna's mother confuse her. Some people find it hard to believe that Blaze is her mom, while the people here say Luna looks like her mother.
"Lunita, Quien Este?" Her cousin asked.
"Mi Amigo, Ronnie," Luna said. Ronnie couldn't help but be surprised. Luna speaking Spanish was... Different...?
"No conocimo en la escuela," She added. Toni shook Ronnie's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Ronnie. It's nice to see Lunita's friends," He smiled.
"Call me Toni," Toni smiled.
"You're one of Luna's friends?" Ronnie asked.
"I'm her cousin," Toni explained. Genetics just decided to mix random things, and boom, Luna.
"R-really?"
"Of course! I used to babysit Lunita all the time," Toni exclaimed.
Here come the funny Luna baby stories. Toni and the others told Ronnie about what Luna was like.
"Here's a picture of her when she was born," Blaze showed Ronnie a photo of Luna when she came home from the hospital. Luna's skin was pink; she had a small patch of black hair and big silver eyes. They then started talking about the weird, cute and funny things Luna did. Ronnie was just surprised. Everyone was friendly to him; that explains why Luna is so nice to everybody.
"She was a picky eater too. Her favorite food was Pb&J with crunchy honey roasted peanut butter and mango jelly with a smile on it," Gerhardt mentioned. Luna was a little embarrassed, but she knew they can't help it.
"She likes dried cranberries; she would just pick out the cranberries from muffins and eat them," They blushed.
"Remember that one time your co-worker invited us to dinner?" Blaze asked.
"Oh yeah, She gave Luna dino nuggets and that shitty boxed mac&cheese," Gerhardt said.
"She looked so confused and disappointed!" They laughed. Luna had no idea what it was and sat there, disappointed and jealous. Everyone else had fettuccine alfredo, which Luna liked because Toni's adopted son would make Pasta for dinner.
"And then she asked, "Is this why everybody says that people from the west have no tastebuds?" your co-worker was so shocked!" Blaze laughed.
"It's her fault for not giving me any pasta!" Luna interjected.
Ronnie tries some tostones with sauce, and it's like he's been introduced to a new world of flavor.
He actually said that...
"Dude... It's literally ketchup and mayonnaise with a lot of garlic. It's delicious, but..." Luna didn't know what to say.
"What is this stuff called?" He asked. Luna had to pause. No one really gave it a specific name; they just called it the sauce.
"I uh... It's a special dipping sauce. It has many different names, so most of us call it dipping sauce," Luna explained. She got some lemonade her mom made and offered some to Ronnie.
"Ooh, thanks," He took a sip and was amazed.
"This is delicious!" He exclaimed. Luna is starting to wonder how Ronnie lived life if he's this surprised by the food.
"Oh yeah, this party is for the Mayor, right?"
"What, no!?" Toni started laughing, so did many others.
"What made you think that?"
"Wasn't his birthday a few days ago,"
"It was. No one really likes the guy. It's probably the worst day of the year because most of the places are closed," Toni said, frustrated.
"Why do they hate the Mayor so much?" Ronnie asked.
"Don't ask for the sake of your sanity!" Luna warned. But it was too late everyone started going off on "Rumors" that the Mayor had a gambling addiction, was cheating on his wife, has a low IQ, is part of the Illuminati, travels hours away just to party, killed someone, and more.
"We all know it's true, so don't bother with the "It's just rumors" excuse. The Mayor uses that excuse all the time yet doesn't give any evidence to prove so otherwise," One person said.
It was getting late, and Ronnie had to go home. Of course, everyone gave him plenty of Leftovers to bring home, so Luna was helping him carry them inside.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Luna saved up a gallon of homemade lemonade since Ronnie really liked it
"Whoa! You're the best, thanks!" Ronnie exclaimed.
"No problem. You can always come back for more. Or I can just bring some over... whatever is more convenient," Luna offered.
"I should go; thanks for coming," She stated, seeing as it was almost her bedtime.
"No, thanks for inviting me. I had a lot of fun," Ronnie smiled. He had a good time and got to know Luna better.
"See ya later," She said before leaving.
"Cya, cupcake," Ronnie replied, watching her exit the castle.
"She's so adorable,"