*5 Years Later*

Mr. Hartwell’s algebra class was the most boring class to ever exist. If left unchecked, he could ramble for hours about the rectangle or some other obscure shape that somehow pertained to math -depending on his mood- and many students usually blocked out his teachings, preferring to gain their knowledge from the textbook of a student in a more interesting class. On the last day of school before the winter holiday, Mr. Hartwell had decided to “treat” his class to a lecture on triangles, prompting many students to take up scrolling through Instagram or stare at the torrential downpour outside.

“Uhhhhhhhh, could you repeat the question please?”

“Certainly Mrs. Ravenwood.” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Elsie crossed her fingers under her desk. “Please let this be an easy question.” she thought. 

 “With isosceles triangles, the sum of the square roots of any two sides will be equal to the square root of what?” Elsie breathed a sigh of relief, the one math question she knew by heart had miraculously been taught today. Elsie sat up in her seat, a confident smile on her face as she recited the answer.

“The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side, anyone who’s seen the Wizard of Oz knows that!”  Mr. Hartwell sighed, causing Elsie’s smile to dissipate. 

“Mrs. Ravenwood. The last time I checked, the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz doesn't have a brain, and so it seems, neither do you.” Elsie slumped in her seat and let out a nervous chuckle, which only served to harden her teachers' stare. After a moment of severely uncomfortable silence, the school bell chimed, signaling the end of the semester and Elsie’s freedom from the oppressive gaze of her instructor. She quickly packed up her belongings, and threw on her coat, racing out of the classroom and joining the steady stream of students already heading for the exit. 

As Elsie approached the school boundary, she noticed an older boy leaning against the gates, his nose buried in a book and an umbrella tucked under his arm. She walked up and leaned her full weight into him to get his attention; the boy teetered for a moment before regaining balance, his forest green eyes rewarding Elsie with her second glare of the day. “El, why do you have to do that every day?” 

Elsie smiled at the fond nickname, “Because I'm your sister. It’s my job to annoy you.”

“It’s really not.”

“Oh come on Maxie, you know you like it!”

Max Ravenwood rolled his eyes: “I really don’t”, he said, before walking away, Elsie followed close behind. “So how was your day?” Max asked. Elsie sighed, the memory of her math class still fresh in her mind.

“Not that great, I pissed off Mr. Heartwell.”

Max sighed. “Elsie, you really have to stop doodling in class” Elsie quickly got defensive.

“Why do you say I was drawing? How do you know I didn't just fail a math quiz or something?”

“El, you’re a smart kid who loves art, I'm willing to bet that you got distracted and started drawing wherever you could find free space.” Max let a small smirk play at his lips, he knew he was right. 

Elsie lowered her head, she knew there was no way she could fool her brother. “Fine sherlock, you caught me.”

“Not really; you're a terrible liar.”

“Well, maybe if you looked up from your textbooks once in a while, and acted like a normal teen, I could fool you.”

Max glanced over at his sister. Elsie had pulled down the hood of her jacket and was staring at the ground. He sighed. Max knew he had to settle this issue now, or he’d have to deal with a grumpy Elsie all the way home. “Look El. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. If you like drawing, there's no reason why you shouldn't pursue it, just don't do it in class and you'll be fine. When Elsie did not respond, Max grumbled, opened his umbrella, and walked out into the rain, shielding himself and his brooding sister as they made their way through the throng of students wishing their friends happy holidays. 

As the duo walked, a small group of girls came over and greeted Max. One of them, whom Elsie recognized as Sarah Warren-a girl in her brother's grade- stepped forward and bravely professed her love. As Elsie expected, with a soft smile and a kind word, Max turned down her proclamation of love and walked on, leaving his sister to catch up, and the heartbroken girl behind.

“Wow. That's the fourth girl who’s asked you out this month!”

“Yeah, so?”

“So? You've rejected all of them!”

Max shrugged. “They're not my type.”

“Max, I have seen every type of girl come up to you and ask you out, and every single one you have rejected. At this rate, you're going to end up being one of those sad cat people!”

“I like cats.”

“That's not what I mean and you know it… I mean, you're not even going to try dating? Who knows how long it will take for you to find a girl you want to spend the rest of your life with?” 

Max stopped and turned to face his sister. “El, I know you're concerned for me, but you don’t need to be. When the right person comes along, I'll know.” 

Elsie looked up from her brooding and was met with her brother's kind smile, but no amount of smiling could hide the severity in his eyes, a clear signal to Elsie that this was the end to the argument… for now. The pair continued their long walk home, Elsie burrowing further into her coat, a vain attempt to ward off the cold and the silence between her and her brother.

To break the tension she ventured into a safer line of questioning: “So... How was your day?” 

“Already trying to diffuse the tension are we?” The smirk in his tone was back. It didn’t take long for her brother to forgive her, Elsie knew that; all she needed to do now was get him to open up.

“What do you mean?”

“I only mean that this is quite obviously an attempt to get me to talk.” 

“So, I take it my humble question is too lofty for you?”

“No, just expected.”

“Does that mean that I'm going to get an answer?”

Max sighed. “What is there to tell El? I went to my morning classes, had lunch, took the bus to the university for my lecture, and came back here to finish the day. ”

“Lecture huh? Listening or Teaching?”. Red crept over max’s face. His academic life was not something he liked people fawning over.  

“I don’t teach a lot of lectures El, I sit and I listen to like any other student.”

“Max! I don’t know any other 17-year-olds who take and teach advanced pre-med courses! You are not like any other student.” Elsie took notice of the way her brother began to pick up his pace; a clear signal that this too was an unstable topic to be discussing. She and many others were often complimenting Max’s gifted status, however, the subject never failed to embarrass him when it came up in conversation. 

As they rounded the final corner before their house, Elsie tried to fix her newest blunder. “Hey, I'm sorry if that poke went too far, it's just that I'm proud of you Maxie.” 

Max glanced towards his little sister, an encouraging smile beaming at him. She always used the nickname to tease him, but it was these rare occasions that reminded him that the name was born out of love. “Thank you El, I'm proud of you too; the thing is I don’t want my intelligence defining me all the time. Yes, I'm smart, but other things define me as a person. I mean what if I just talked about how you're bad at math all the time?”

“That's not fair!”

“You literally told me you pissed off your teacher”

“Not like you ever could'' The two playfully bickered amongst each other as they approached their house. The sun was just starting to set as Max pulled out the key to their door, before stopping at seeing the all too familiar sight of a red FOR SALE sign jutting out of the perfectly manicured lawn. 

“Oh no.” Max groaned. “Not again.” Elsie followed her brother's gaze, any source of joy from their banter draining from her features.

“Well, might as well get it over with.” The siblings made their forward, dreading the conversation ahead. It seemed to Elsie, no matter where they went, those signs seemed to follow them. Move, Live, Uproot, Repeat, the cycle continued, and as Max opened the door, Elsie couldn't help but feel like this would simply be another chapter in her increasingly familiar life story.