The Nothing of the Everything

Elaine was sitting on her bed, looking around. She wanted to give one last look at her bedroom, especially knowing that she wouldn’t be able to see it for a very long time. The walls were painted in light pink, a color she chose with her mother the past spring, when her parents, her brothers and her uncle repainted the whole house. When she saw her bedroom after the repaint for the first time, though, she didn’t think she would enjoy that color for such little time. And there she was. She wondered how her new bedroom would look like…

A sigh escaped from her mouth and she got up, putting her precious, new diary in her backpack. “A new diary, for a new life…” her mother said when she gave her the crimson diary. She was right. She was about to start a new life at the young age of 14 and while she was extremely excited, she was really nervous and even sad. Sad to leave her parents and her brothers.

“Mom said she’s waiting for you.” A familiar voice distracted Elaine from her thoughts, so she turned around and noticed her older brother standing right outside her bedroom. He wasn’t looking at her, instead he was staring at his feet. He seemed to feel very uncomfortable, which was quite unusual for him, especially when he was with his sister. The three siblings loved each other very much, but it was as clear as water that Elaine and Johnny shared a deep bond that some could only dream about.

“I’m coming.” She said and smiled a little, taking a few steps towards her brother. He was ready to turn around and leave, when she called him.

When she and her parents announced her departure, her brothers didn’t take it well. Jacob wanted to move to another country as well and Johnny… Well, he didn’t say anything. He simply ignored the subject and even her sister. At first she thought she did something wrong and felt bad for it, then her mother explained to her that he was just trying to cope with the fact that he wouldn’t see her for a long time. It made sense. Kind of.

The previous summer, she participated in a summer ballet program, which was usual for her as she's been into ballet since forever, but this time, this program was organized by the Moscow Ballet Academy in New York and her skills were noticed and liked so much by the teachers that she was eventually chosen, among her talented peers, to enroll full-time at the Academy in Moscow. It was like a dream to Elaine, but it was more of a nightmare to Johnny.

“Yes?” He still wasn’t looking at her.

“I know you told mom you wanna stay here with Jacob and his friends, but are you sure you don’t want to come to the airport with us?”

Johnny shook his head and finally looked up at his sister. His eyes were red and swollen and it was clear that he had been crying. Without saying a word, she ran to him and hugged him tight. He returned the hug and Elaine could feel him take deep breaths. She closed her eyes and the two stayed there for a minute or maybe two. No words were needed.

“You really need to go?” Johnny asked and looked down at his little sister, whose eyes were now filled with tears. This broke his heart and he gave her a small smile. “Yes, you really need to go.” He answered his own question and his smile widened. “Plus, I’ll get to see Russia when I come to visit you, right?”

Elaine laughed and nodded. “Of course. You can come whenever you want. Please, say you’ll call me every week and you’ll send me letters and pictures.”

“Promise. You’ll have to do the same, though! But no dating whatsoever. I don’t know how the guys are in Russia and I don’t wanna find out. So stay away from them.”

The girl laughed again and nodded, then kissed her brother’s cheek before letting him go. She grabbed her blue backpack and put it on. Elaine and Johnny were walking down the stairs when he bumped into one of their brother’s friends.

“Watch out, kiddo.”

It was Jimmy.

Elaine didn’t know all of her brother’s friends, Jimmy wasn't easy to forget. Not when he was extremely tall for his age and he could be heard from any part of the house when he laughed.

“Dick.” Johnny whispered when the guy walked away and Elaine looked at him in shock.

“Don’t say that word.” She said, knowing that he would keep saying them anyway. “You know mom doesn’t like them.”

He simply shrugged before hugging her sister one last time, on the doorstep.

“Be careful and conquer the world.”

Elaine smiled against her brother’s chest, then made him bend a little, so she could whisper something into his ear.

“Check under my pillow. There’s something for you.”

Johnny frowned at those words. “What is it?” He asked, but her sister was already hopping in the car.

“We’re gonna be late!” Their father complained and turned the engine on, ready to drive away.

“Elaine! What is it?” He asked again, but she simply smiled and mouthed an I love you. He watched the car disappear from his view and then ran upstairs, wanting to find out what his sister had left him.

There was one single envelope with his name written on it.

He smiled. It wasn’t the first time he received a letter, but somehow, he felt like that one was the most important one he's ever received.

Notes

Hello, everyone! I thought about this story the other day while driving back home from Milan after I found out that the guys cancelled their show. Not sure how long it will be as I've only written the prologue and the first chapter, but I kinda have an idea for the ending already, so yeah!

Just two notes: 1) Elaine's hair at the moment is blonde, I chose a picture of Evan Rachel Wood with red hair for a reason and you'll find out at some point later in the story; 2) Joseph is a character that won't appear for a while, but I added it to the list of the characters anyway.

Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment and give me your feedback!