[hetalia] the american dream -- three
title: the american dream -- three
genre: slice-of-life, gen, comedy, drama
pairings: side hungary/prussia, mentions and hints of belarus/many people
rating: T
warnings: most likely, many inaccuracies
summary: [human AU] somehow, at the end of the day, Natalia and Elizaveta are happy to have each other. a multichapter fic about friendship, love, family, and lots of other stuff.
notes: mei ♥
3.
When she got no answer on the first call, Natalia straightened the red scarf around her neck and redialled the number calmly. This was normal; her brother never picked up on the first call (or sometimes never, for that matter). She held her phone delicately in her hand as she sat on the couch, counting the rings.
The woman that she had become so accustomed to told her once again that her brother was not there. Natalia sighed.
She didn't know why her brother was so stubborn, really. He had changed after coming to America, that was for sure. Back in Russia when they were children, Ivan had always cared for her and paid attention to her. Somehow after she had come to America to find him though, he had gotten it into his head that she was no longer his sister but an enemy.
Natalia could deal with this, though. For her brother that raised her and gave her love, she would do anything.
She called three more times before finally deciding that yes, her brother had probably changed his phone number again. Inconceivable, really. All she wanted to do was talk! Talk about anything, her life or his life or his favourite food or what he did yesterday or anything, just to hear his voice.
Perhaps she was lonely.
But she was only lonely when she thought of Ivan.
Natalia hung up on the lady, frowning. She readjusted her scarf again, put on her winter coat, and stuck her phone into her purse. There was no use crying over spilt milk, she supposed. She'd only have to make the best of it, and she was rather thirsty anyway.
She'd track him down tomorrow.
---
The coffee house on West 16th was Natalia's favourite place of all places. It was named Dreamsugar (the only distasteful thing about it), it played soft jazz on its speakers, it had the best hot chocolate Natalia knew, and (perhaps most importantly) the main barista was not Elizaveta.
Which of course, was not an insult to the Hungarian, but Natalia found that Elizaveta always gave her secret discounts on drinks. This did not only go against Natalia's principles, but it also found Elizaveta in a pickle whenever her manager found out. So, after nearly getting Elizaveta fired twice, Natalia decided that perhaps she would be better off going to somewhere else.
She had found out about Dreamsugar from, and this was the worst part, Gilbert. Apparently he had once worked there as a cashier, and Natalia had been ever so curious as to what kind of place would hire the likes of Gilbert Beilschmidt. Despite the obvious poor hiring skills and equally terrible name, Natalia had found some sort of soothing aspect in the red cushioned booths and dark purple walls.
The girl at the counter smiled at her like she always did when Natalia came in, and Natalia nodded back. "Haven't seen you in a while," the girl chirped as Natalia walked over to the counter.
"University," Natalia mumbled as she took off her jacket and held it in her arms. "And um, I'd like a small hot chocolate." She paused, then added on, "Please."
The girl at the counter laughed. "Only if you remember my name!"
Natalia stared at her. The girl grinned back.
"Your name is Mei," Natalia said slowly. "And you ask me about your name every single time I come here. I wouldn't forget it."
Mei laughed, punching in the order. "But it sounds different when you say it because of your accent, which I love."
"I don't see the charm in someone mispronouncing your name," muttered Natalia. "But thank you."
Mei gave her the receipt, winked, and leaned in. "By the way, I heard you got some on Friday. Good job, girl!"
Natalia opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again with a frown, "Wait, 'got some'? I certainly did not get anything special-" then her brain flashed again, and Natalia remembered her waffle house coupon. "…oh, well maybe I did, I don't quite remem-" Stopping again, her eyes widened. "How do you even know about that?"
"I know about everything that goes around in this city," Mei joked, "No, that's a lie. I just know the guy that took you home."
"And who would that be?" Feeling her cheeks heat up, Natalia frowned deeper. She didn't need details about her love life being told to anyone, especially in her circumstance. If her fiancée got wind of it, no, if her parents got wind of it…
Mei watched gleefully as Natalia began panicking, and she laughed. "Don't worry honey, I'm not going to tell anyone. That guy only told me since I'm his good friend. And well, you'll just have to find him yourself! He left you a clue, didn't he?"
Natalia shook her head, clearing her thoughts. This was no time to start playing some sort of detective game. "I'm sorry, but I have no interest in contacting him again. I don't even remember what he looks like and besides, I have a fiancée back in Russia."
"Are you serious?" Mei's eyes widened comically, and then filled up with glee again. "Oh my god, this is just like a television drama! I can't wait until he finds out that you're already engaged!"
"Have fun telling him that," Natalia rolled her eyes, looking behind her to see if there were any customers. There weren't, much to her disappointment.
Mei wiggled her eyebrows. "Oh, I won't be the one telling him. You will."
Natalia was sure the wrinkles in her forehead were so deep she could wedge sunflower seeds in between them. "I just said that I wasn't going to contact him."
Mei laughed, "Oh, you will. Trust me on that one."
"I'd rather not." Natalia replied, shaking her head. "Now, excuse me. I'll see you another day." Walking over to the counter where her drink sat, she glared purposefully at Mei.
The Taiwanese girl only laughed again, waving. "Go see him!" She mouthed, which only made Natalia turn around and walk into one of the more secluded areas of the café.
"My life is full of nosy idiots," she said softly as she took a sip of her hot chocolate, sighing in happiness. All she needed was to get through a few more years, and then she would go back to Russia, marry her fiancée, and be away from all the crazy people in America. Come to think of it, all the crazy people she knew lived in America.
Maybe it was the water.
Meanwhile, Mei started talking to the new customer about the customer's recent foot surgery. "I always get my little brothers to wash my feet, so I always feel good after a work day!" she heard Mei say.
Tuning them out, Natalia's thoughts drifted back to her own brother and the days before he avoided her like she was the plague. Memories drifted in front of her eyes, ready to be picked. She imagined herself sitting in front of a television, flicking channels through her past. She brought her two hands around her cup, and closed her eyes.
Click. Her brother held her hand, leading her out into a winter wonderland. Natalia, still small and bundled up, took one step off her front porch and landed face first in snow. Ivan laughed.
Click. For her sixth birthday, Ivan had given her a bracelet that he had taken from their sister. When Katya had begged for it back with tearful eyes, Natalia had surrendered the gift with great hesitation. The shining smile her sister awarded her had been no match for the heartbreaking frown her brother carried.
Click. Ivan got bigger and bigger, while Natalia was only barely able to keep up. Soon enough, during her teen years both her siblings turned out to be much taller than she. Ivan had always laughed at her height, patting her on the head. That was the reason she didn't like it when Elizaveta did it; that motion was reserved for Ivan and Ivan only.
Click. On his sixteenth birthday, he left. She still remembers in full detail what he wore. She especially remembers the way his back looked, walking away from her. She did not cry, because she knew that he would be back.
Click. She herself ended up in Las Vegas, not too far away from where her brother was residing in Los Angeles. She even drove up to the city of fame once to go see him only to find that he had no intention of going back to Russia. They promised that when Natalia finished high school, they would go back together.
Click. On the day of their flight, Ivan never appeared. Natalia never went, either. She stayed at the airport two hours after the plane departed. Her brother never picked up his phone once.
Click. Natalia arrived at where she was now. Two years after she had graduated from high school, she was still trying to ship her brother back to Russia. She had promised her parents to come back when she was twenty-five, which gave her plenty of time to push some sense into him.
What was so great about America anyway? Natalia didn't find it to be that special. Sure, it was more freeing than Russia but Russia was their home. She never knew what was going on in her brother's mind; at one point she thought she had, but obviously she was wrong. (Which only made her want to find out more.)
They weren't blood siblings, of course. Natalia even still had her real father's last name: Arlovskaya. Ivan was Ivan Braginsky, and he and Katya were real siblings. It was times like this that she wondered if maybe, had Katya been the one to come to America, perhaps Ivan would have gone back to Russia like he had been supposed to. But no, that was something Natalia couldn't be bothered to think about. After all, Ivan had always treated her like his own sister. When they first met as toddlers, he had even took her hand and made her feel welcome. It was the warmest she had ever felt.
Natalia slowly opened her eyes, blinking to bring her vision back to normal when she realized that there was someone sitting across from her. Jumping a little in her seat, Natalia did not feel an intense amount of relief when she saw that it was only Mei.
"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning as her voice cracked. She took a sip of her now not so hot chocolate.
Mei shrugged, looking less exuberant than usual. "There aren't any customers, and you've been like this for the last ten minutes. I was watching you."
"Why were you watching me?" Natalia asked next, raising an eyebrow. Had she really been like that for ten minutes? It seemed like less. But then, she guessed that that was what memories did to people: they numbed them down until they were immersed in their own self, unable to feel the outside world move around them.
"I was watching you because you looked like you were remembering the day you died, like someone who was watching their own funeral." Mei said softly, looking Natalia straight in the eyes. "Are you okay?"
Suddenly, it was hard to hold her gaze steady. "Yes. No. On principle, yes. I am funded by my parents and have a great roommate and my life holds no boulders of hardship in the future."
"But?" Mei smiled, except there was none of her regular happiness in that smile.
"But right now I feel like I've done something wrong and I don't know what," Natalia replied just as quietly, lowering her eyes to her cup. "And I want so desperately to fix it."
The other girl put her hand out on the table, palm up and looked expectantly at Natalia. "Once, I didn't know where I was, where I was going, what I was even doing. At that time, someone held my hand and gave me a hug. I don't even see them anymore; they're halfway across the world but it's their fault that I'm always so loud now." She wiggled her fingers, "So let me try to be something other than that annoying cashier girl and let you hold my hand now."
Natalia stared at the hand, then at Mei's small smile. "I bet you refused the hand," she said simply.
Mei laughed. "How did you know?"
"We're alike in that aspect." Natalia's lips quirked upwards as Mei took her hand back. Finally letting go of her cup, Natalia pushed it away. "I must be going, I have someone to find."
"The guy you slept with?" Mei asked excitedly, her regular smile back immediately. Natalia paused to let this sink in for a moment. Was the girl she saw only moments ago a lie, or someone deep inside the cheery exterior of the Asian girl? Natalia shook her head.
"Not him. Someone much more important." Natalia stood up, nodding to Mei. "Thanks for the drink."
Mei waved, grinning. "Next time you come, let's talk about this fiancée of yours."
Natalia only nodded curtly, putting on her coat as she walked out the door. She shivered once the wind seeped into her skin and shoved her hands in her pockets. Her bag thumped against her hip as she walked, and it was then that she made the plan.
No matter what, she would find her brother. If not to bring him back to Russia, then to tell him something. She didn't yet know what she wanted to tell him, but she imagined that once she met him face to face, the words would surface. Meanwhile, she would hold on to her memories and use them to get her further.
She only had so much time left before she was going to be tied down and never let go; she had to at least see her brother again. This time, she definitely would not leave it up to chance for whether they met or not.
Speedily, she walked through the crowds of people wearing too little for such cold weather. Soon it would snow, she knew. But it was never the same snow as the one from her childhood. The snow in America was never quite as deep as the one she first made snow angels with her brother in.
Natalia shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Before she could start reminiscing, she had to find him first. She would reminisce with the real person later.
A smile blossomed on her face. Maybe while she was doing this, she could also call Katya.
Her sister's curvy figure and high emotions popped into Natalia's head, wiping the smile off her face.
Maybe not.
---
When she arrived at home, she wrote her paper fuelled only on her motivation to get it done. She didn't even remember half of the things she wrote down, all that she knew was that architecture was the least of her worries now. She needed money, she needed connections, and she needed a friend.
Natalia put down her pencil after finishing the last two sentences to ponder the last part of the equation. Elizaveta was her friend. They didn't say it much, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew that Elizaveta was her 'best friend'. If she had to put a picture next to the word "friend" in the dictionary, it would be one of a girl with a bright smile, large green eyes, and long brown hair that smelled like sunshine.
Her brain also included Mei, which was a surprise to Natalia. She had certainly never felt many emotions toward the Asian girl, but now that she thought about it she supposed that they were also friends of sorts.
But, Mei had a job and Elizaveta had university. Not to mention Elizaveta had a boyfriend and a mother in Las Vegas. Would she want to go driving around California to track down some mysterious relative of Elizaveta's? No, probably not.
Natalia walked across her room (well, she took the three steps from her desk to her bed) and flopped down on the bed, sighing. She seemed to have sighed a lot that day, she noticed. She wasn't exactly in great form.
Checking the time on her phone, Natalia threw her hands out and grabbed onto the edges of her bed. Elizaveta would be home in about two hours. All her life, Natalia had never wanted anything other than follow the footsteps that she was told would lead her to success.
She had never thought about romance, about acting on her own, about getting too comfortable in America.
But now, she felt blood course through her veins in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant. There was something about adrenaline that made people feel young, fresh. For the first time in her life, Natalia wanted to go on an adventure.
Chuckling, she could only imagine Elizaveta's expression when she found out.
genre: slice-of-life, gen, comedy, drama
pairings: side hungary/prussia, mentions and hints of belarus/many people
rating: T
warnings: most likely, many inaccuracies
summary: [human AU] somehow, at the end of the day, Natalia and Elizaveta are happy to have each other. a multichapter fic about friendship, love, family, and lots of other stuff.
notes: mei ♥
3.
When she got no answer on the first call, Natalia straightened the red scarf around her neck and redialled the number calmly. This was normal; her brother never picked up on the first call (or sometimes never, for that matter). She held her phone delicately in her hand as she sat on the couch, counting the rings.
The woman that she had become so accustomed to told her once again that her brother was not there. Natalia sighed.
She didn't know why her brother was so stubborn, really. He had changed after coming to America, that was for sure. Back in Russia when they were children, Ivan had always cared for her and paid attention to her. Somehow after she had come to America to find him though, he had gotten it into his head that she was no longer his sister but an enemy.
Natalia could deal with this, though. For her brother that raised her and gave her love, she would do anything.
She called three more times before finally deciding that yes, her brother had probably changed his phone number again. Inconceivable, really. All she wanted to do was talk! Talk about anything, her life or his life or his favourite food or what he did yesterday or anything, just to hear his voice.
Perhaps she was lonely.
But she was only lonely when she thought of Ivan.
Natalia hung up on the lady, frowning. She readjusted her scarf again, put on her winter coat, and stuck her phone into her purse. There was no use crying over spilt milk, she supposed. She'd only have to make the best of it, and she was rather thirsty anyway.
She'd track him down tomorrow.
---
The coffee house on West 16th was Natalia's favourite place of all places. It was named Dreamsugar (the only distasteful thing about it), it played soft jazz on its speakers, it had the best hot chocolate Natalia knew, and (perhaps most importantly) the main barista was not Elizaveta.
Which of course, was not an insult to the Hungarian, but Natalia found that Elizaveta always gave her secret discounts on drinks. This did not only go against Natalia's principles, but it also found Elizaveta in a pickle whenever her manager found out. So, after nearly getting Elizaveta fired twice, Natalia decided that perhaps she would be better off going to somewhere else.
She had found out about Dreamsugar from, and this was the worst part, Gilbert. Apparently he had once worked there as a cashier, and Natalia had been ever so curious as to what kind of place would hire the likes of Gilbert Beilschmidt. Despite the obvious poor hiring skills and equally terrible name, Natalia had found some sort of soothing aspect in the red cushioned booths and dark purple walls.
The girl at the counter smiled at her like she always did when Natalia came in, and Natalia nodded back. "Haven't seen you in a while," the girl chirped as Natalia walked over to the counter.
"University," Natalia mumbled as she took off her jacket and held it in her arms. "And um, I'd like a small hot chocolate." She paused, then added on, "Please."
The girl at the counter laughed. "Only if you remember my name!"
Natalia stared at her. The girl grinned back.
"Your name is Mei," Natalia said slowly. "And you ask me about your name every single time I come here. I wouldn't forget it."
Mei laughed, punching in the order. "But it sounds different when you say it because of your accent, which I love."
"I don't see the charm in someone mispronouncing your name," muttered Natalia. "But thank you."
Mei gave her the receipt, winked, and leaned in. "By the way, I heard you got some on Friday. Good job, girl!"
Natalia opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again with a frown, "Wait, 'got some'? I certainly did not get anything special-" then her brain flashed again, and Natalia remembered her waffle house coupon. "…oh, well maybe I did, I don't quite remem-" Stopping again, her eyes widened. "How do you even know about that?"
"I know about everything that goes around in this city," Mei joked, "No, that's a lie. I just know the guy that took you home."
"And who would that be?" Feeling her cheeks heat up, Natalia frowned deeper. She didn't need details about her love life being told to anyone, especially in her circumstance. If her fiancée got wind of it, no, if her parents got wind of it…
Mei watched gleefully as Natalia began panicking, and she laughed. "Don't worry honey, I'm not going to tell anyone. That guy only told me since I'm his good friend. And well, you'll just have to find him yourself! He left you a clue, didn't he?"
Natalia shook her head, clearing her thoughts. This was no time to start playing some sort of detective game. "I'm sorry, but I have no interest in contacting him again. I don't even remember what he looks like and besides, I have a fiancée back in Russia."
"Are you serious?" Mei's eyes widened comically, and then filled up with glee again. "Oh my god, this is just like a television drama! I can't wait until he finds out that you're already engaged!"
"Have fun telling him that," Natalia rolled her eyes, looking behind her to see if there were any customers. There weren't, much to her disappointment.
Mei wiggled her eyebrows. "Oh, I won't be the one telling him. You will."
Natalia was sure the wrinkles in her forehead were so deep she could wedge sunflower seeds in between them. "I just said that I wasn't going to contact him."
Mei laughed, "Oh, you will. Trust me on that one."
"I'd rather not." Natalia replied, shaking her head. "Now, excuse me. I'll see you another day." Walking over to the counter where her drink sat, she glared purposefully at Mei.
The Taiwanese girl only laughed again, waving. "Go see him!" She mouthed, which only made Natalia turn around and walk into one of the more secluded areas of the café.
"My life is full of nosy idiots," she said softly as she took a sip of her hot chocolate, sighing in happiness. All she needed was to get through a few more years, and then she would go back to Russia, marry her fiancée, and be away from all the crazy people in America. Come to think of it, all the crazy people she knew lived in America.
Maybe it was the water.
Meanwhile, Mei started talking to the new customer about the customer's recent foot surgery. "I always get my little brothers to wash my feet, so I always feel good after a work day!" she heard Mei say.
Tuning them out, Natalia's thoughts drifted back to her own brother and the days before he avoided her like she was the plague. Memories drifted in front of her eyes, ready to be picked. She imagined herself sitting in front of a television, flicking channels through her past. She brought her two hands around her cup, and closed her eyes.
Click. Her brother held her hand, leading her out into a winter wonderland. Natalia, still small and bundled up, took one step off her front porch and landed face first in snow. Ivan laughed.
Click. For her sixth birthday, Ivan had given her a bracelet that he had taken from their sister. When Katya had begged for it back with tearful eyes, Natalia had surrendered the gift with great hesitation. The shining smile her sister awarded her had been no match for the heartbreaking frown her brother carried.
Click. Ivan got bigger and bigger, while Natalia was only barely able to keep up. Soon enough, during her teen years both her siblings turned out to be much taller than she. Ivan had always laughed at her height, patting her on the head. That was the reason she didn't like it when Elizaveta did it; that motion was reserved for Ivan and Ivan only.
Click. On his sixteenth birthday, he left. She still remembers in full detail what he wore. She especially remembers the way his back looked, walking away from her. She did not cry, because she knew that he would be back.
Click. She herself ended up in Las Vegas, not too far away from where her brother was residing in Los Angeles. She even drove up to the city of fame once to go see him only to find that he had no intention of going back to Russia. They promised that when Natalia finished high school, they would go back together.
Click. On the day of their flight, Ivan never appeared. Natalia never went, either. She stayed at the airport two hours after the plane departed. Her brother never picked up his phone once.
Click. Natalia arrived at where she was now. Two years after she had graduated from high school, she was still trying to ship her brother back to Russia. She had promised her parents to come back when she was twenty-five, which gave her plenty of time to push some sense into him.
What was so great about America anyway? Natalia didn't find it to be that special. Sure, it was more freeing than Russia but Russia was their home. She never knew what was going on in her brother's mind; at one point she thought she had, but obviously she was wrong. (Which only made her want to find out more.)
They weren't blood siblings, of course. Natalia even still had her real father's last name: Arlovskaya. Ivan was Ivan Braginsky, and he and Katya were real siblings. It was times like this that she wondered if maybe, had Katya been the one to come to America, perhaps Ivan would have gone back to Russia like he had been supposed to. But no, that was something Natalia couldn't be bothered to think about. After all, Ivan had always treated her like his own sister. When they first met as toddlers, he had even took her hand and made her feel welcome. It was the warmest she had ever felt.
Natalia slowly opened her eyes, blinking to bring her vision back to normal when she realized that there was someone sitting across from her. Jumping a little in her seat, Natalia did not feel an intense amount of relief when she saw that it was only Mei.
"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning as her voice cracked. She took a sip of her now not so hot chocolate.
Mei shrugged, looking less exuberant than usual. "There aren't any customers, and you've been like this for the last ten minutes. I was watching you."
"Why were you watching me?" Natalia asked next, raising an eyebrow. Had she really been like that for ten minutes? It seemed like less. But then, she guessed that that was what memories did to people: they numbed them down until they were immersed in their own self, unable to feel the outside world move around them.
"I was watching you because you looked like you were remembering the day you died, like someone who was watching their own funeral." Mei said softly, looking Natalia straight in the eyes. "Are you okay?"
Suddenly, it was hard to hold her gaze steady. "Yes. No. On principle, yes. I am funded by my parents and have a great roommate and my life holds no boulders of hardship in the future."
"But?" Mei smiled, except there was none of her regular happiness in that smile.
"But right now I feel like I've done something wrong and I don't know what," Natalia replied just as quietly, lowering her eyes to her cup. "And I want so desperately to fix it."
The other girl put her hand out on the table, palm up and looked expectantly at Natalia. "Once, I didn't know where I was, where I was going, what I was even doing. At that time, someone held my hand and gave me a hug. I don't even see them anymore; they're halfway across the world but it's their fault that I'm always so loud now." She wiggled her fingers, "So let me try to be something other than that annoying cashier girl and let you hold my hand now."
Natalia stared at the hand, then at Mei's small smile. "I bet you refused the hand," she said simply.
Mei laughed. "How did you know?"
"We're alike in that aspect." Natalia's lips quirked upwards as Mei took her hand back. Finally letting go of her cup, Natalia pushed it away. "I must be going, I have someone to find."
"The guy you slept with?" Mei asked excitedly, her regular smile back immediately. Natalia paused to let this sink in for a moment. Was the girl she saw only moments ago a lie, or someone deep inside the cheery exterior of the Asian girl? Natalia shook her head.
"Not him. Someone much more important." Natalia stood up, nodding to Mei. "Thanks for the drink."
Mei waved, grinning. "Next time you come, let's talk about this fiancée of yours."
Natalia only nodded curtly, putting on her coat as she walked out the door. She shivered once the wind seeped into her skin and shoved her hands in her pockets. Her bag thumped against her hip as she walked, and it was then that she made the plan.
No matter what, she would find her brother. If not to bring him back to Russia, then to tell him something. She didn't yet know what she wanted to tell him, but she imagined that once she met him face to face, the words would surface. Meanwhile, she would hold on to her memories and use them to get her further.
She only had so much time left before she was going to be tied down and never let go; she had to at least see her brother again. This time, she definitely would not leave it up to chance for whether they met or not.
Speedily, she walked through the crowds of people wearing too little for such cold weather. Soon it would snow, she knew. But it was never the same snow as the one from her childhood. The snow in America was never quite as deep as the one she first made snow angels with her brother in.
Natalia shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Before she could start reminiscing, she had to find him first. She would reminisce with the real person later.
A smile blossomed on her face. Maybe while she was doing this, she could also call Katya.
Her sister's curvy figure and high emotions popped into Natalia's head, wiping the smile off her face.
Maybe not.
---
When she arrived at home, she wrote her paper fuelled only on her motivation to get it done. She didn't even remember half of the things she wrote down, all that she knew was that architecture was the least of her worries now. She needed money, she needed connections, and she needed a friend.
Natalia put down her pencil after finishing the last two sentences to ponder the last part of the equation. Elizaveta was her friend. They didn't say it much, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew that Elizaveta was her 'best friend'. If she had to put a picture next to the word "friend" in the dictionary, it would be one of a girl with a bright smile, large green eyes, and long brown hair that smelled like sunshine.
Her brain also included Mei, which was a surprise to Natalia. She had certainly never felt many emotions toward the Asian girl, but now that she thought about it she supposed that they were also friends of sorts.
But, Mei had a job and Elizaveta had university. Not to mention Elizaveta had a boyfriend and a mother in Las Vegas. Would she want to go driving around California to track down some mysterious relative of Elizaveta's? No, probably not.
Natalia walked across her room (well, she took the three steps from her desk to her bed) and flopped down on the bed, sighing. She seemed to have sighed a lot that day, she noticed. She wasn't exactly in great form.
Checking the time on her phone, Natalia threw her hands out and grabbed onto the edges of her bed. Elizaveta would be home in about two hours. All her life, Natalia had never wanted anything other than follow the footsteps that she was told would lead her to success.
She had never thought about romance, about acting on her own, about getting too comfortable in America.
But now, she felt blood course through her veins in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant. There was something about adrenaline that made people feel young, fresh. For the first time in her life, Natalia wanted to go on an adventure.
Chuckling, she could only imagine Elizaveta's expression when she found out.