My Brother's Brothers

Moving

Today is the day. 

The day that I will pack up all my bags and say goodbye to everyone I love and completely vanish from existence. 

Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit...

But this is a big deal. I've never been anywhere besides my hometown in Minnesota. It was just me, my sisters, my mom and dad, and my big brother Jonah. Me and Jonah held the strongest connection with each other. He was the oldest and I was only a two years younger (17). When Jonah's singing and band took off, he moved to Las Angeles. Now I only see him on holidays and maybe between tours. 

It's extremely different not having him around the house anymore. I used to go into his room with him all the time and we'd chill and listen to music. Now I just sometimes sit in there alone and listen to music. My mom says it's depressing when she walks by the door. I don't care though. 

My parents thought that I was starting to develop separation anxiety due to him leaving so abruptly and not staying as connected as we were. They thought it would be a good idea if I moved closer to him. But that seemed almost impossible since Las Angeles was all the way across the country. 

Two years passed since that idea was brought about and now look at me. All ready to get on a plane to move into the neighborhood of my brother. Jonah came around to the idea after our parents explained to him how different I had been acting and the change in my attitude. They thought it wasn't healthy and I might've been depressed. 

Anyways...

My dad is supposed to bring me and drop me off at the airport today. I threw on some baggy sweats, a red sweatshirt that said "HOPE" in white letters and socks and Nike slides. I put my hair in a low messey bun and waited impatiently for my friends to arrive at my house. 

Since my flight is supposed to leave in an hour, I only have about ten minutes to say goodbye. 

Soon enough, they were all in my room. We cried, laughed and talked about what life was was gonna be like when I left. I was kinda the glue of my friendship group. It was me and my best friend, Aubrey. I was really counting on her to keep everyone together close enough so it wouldn't be weird to go meet up with everyone in the future. 

When everyone left, my dad brought me to the airport. He wouldn't stop saying how much the family was gonna miss me. I sorta rolled my eyes at that. 

It wasn't until I got on the plane before I realized that I was doing the same thing Jonah did to us. I was leaving everyone behind. Of course this almost made me have a panick attack. I kept thinking how I could've hugged everyone longer and maybe even stayed an extra day. I decided to call my family and say goodbye again. 

We were all in tears by the end of the call so I had to then call Aubrey to get me through the flight. I could tell I was literally the most annoying girl on that plane. 

When the flight finally landed in California, it felt like it had been twenty years. I remembered that Jonah was supposed to be waiting for me at the luggage convayer belt thingy. 

I got off the plane and went to claim my bags. Just as I expected, Jonah was sitting on a chair near the front of it. He appeared to be half asleep (it was 3 o'clock in the morning). I ran up to him. 

"Boo!" I said as I grabbed his shoulder, jolting him awake. He looked up at me for a second before he remembered who I was and what was happening. 

"Evelyn!" He said with the biggest smile on his face. He stood up and hugged me. 

"I'm surprised you're so tired" I say. "I would've thought that you would've brought a coffee or something." 

Just then, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"I'm not letting him have coffee. It's almost time for bed anyways." I turned around. 

"Corbyn!" I flung my arms around himself and he hugged me back. "Hey Eve. Haven't seen you in a while." 

"I kmow" I say. "So, I hope you don't mind me asking but, why are you here exactly?" 

"Oh, well, I was jsut in the bathroom and I really had to go so I went and missed you coming off your flight and now-" 

"That's not what I mean." 

"Ohhhh" he said. 

What a special boy. 

"Well, Jonah got the call from your parents that you left for your flight and that you'd be here for around this time. It was close to midnight when Jonah went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. I told him to lay off because we have a big meeting tomorrow and we need sleep. So I agreed that I would drive you guys so he wouldn't have to risk ruining his seep sceduale." 

I looked over at Jonah who was standing but on the verge of completely wiping out. 

"Alright, let's get you guys home" said Corbyn. 

The boys helped me get my bags and then we got into the car. Jonah and I sat in the back and Corbyn drove. Jonah had a bunch of new songs to show me that he thought I'd like. Turns out I did like a lot of them. 

It wasn't before long that Jonah was aslpeep again with his head up against the window. I noticed Corbyn look through the rear view mirror at him. 

"Already out huh?" He said with a laugh. 

"Obviously" I said back. 

"Well, I was gonna tell you this at the airport but then I decided that I'd wait for Jonah to crash." 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah, it's not really a big deal but Jonah might've taken it the wrong way....if you know what I mean." 

I really didn't but I told him that I did.

"The boys are really excited to see you...really excited. Like...Jack. Jack is really  excited."

My face went red. 

"Oh yeah" I said. "Jack."