easy come, easy go ⇾ joe mazzello

i

      JOSEPH AND OLENA FIRST MET in two thousand one, in the summer after their senior year. they had gone to vacation after graduation with their parents, the both of them staying at neighbouring beach houses. it was a miracle, really, that such an act of fate had stepped in in order to allow for the both of them to meet. it was in the late afternoon. joseph's family had already returned from dinner, playing board games while he chose to sneak in a few more hours on the beach. olena had finally managed to escape her family, telling them she was too sick to go out to eat and escaping to the beach once they had left. they were the only two on that block of beach, keeping a respectable distance from each other.

      olena was stretched out on an old sheet, snacking on an apple as she read the picture of dorian gray, soaking up as much sunlight as she could. she didn't notice joseph was even near her until he was blocking her light with his body, to which she set down the book and looked up to him with squinted eyes. "yes?" was her blunt greeting, annoyed and wanting nothing more than to be able to go back to her book.

      "mind if i sit here?" he asked as he sat next to her, holding his knees to his chest. "how's it going?"

      she sighed, sitting up so that they were facing each other. "well it was going great," she muttered, then shook her head and stuck her head out for a handshake. "olena kravchenko."

      "joseph mazzello," he shook her hand, then cocked his head to the side. "kravchenko, hm? sounds russian."

      "absolutely not," she scoffed, retracting her hand. "it's ukrainian."

      "my apologies. question, miss olena."

      "yes?"

      "how come you're down here alone, reading an ancient book?"

      she gave a laugh, took another bite of apple, and then answered, "i'm escaping my family for a few hours. and what about you, mister joseph? what are you doing down here all by your lonesome?"

      "also escaping my family," he chuckled, tugging a hand through his hair. "would you, um, would you like to go for a swim with me? you just look so alone and i could use someone to keep me company."

      "i'm actually quite comfortable right here, in all honesty. but it was nice meeting you."

      joseph shrugged, rising to his feet. "if you say so." he then took off running for the water, sand kicking up and hitting olena. she was about to holler at him when suddenly he hit the sand, a wave having crashed into his kneecap when he was trying to run in. she cursed to herself, running to help him, using all of her might to drag him out of reach of the water. "oh god, that hurt," he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut as they began to water due to the pain.

      "you likely hyperextended it. i've done it before," olena commented as she began to move his hurt leg about, bending and stretching it. "what were you thinking?"

      "i was thinking that i could run into the water without getting hurt, possibly dive into a wave and look super suave. i probably just look like a goof now."

      "a little," she laughed, standing, holding her hands out. "come on. let's head back to the blanket."

      he took her hands, allowing her to help him up and back to her spot on the beach, trying his best not to wince as he accidentally placed weight on his knee. "so olena," he stated as he laid down on the sheet, swallowing hard. "that's an odd name. tell me about it."

      she rolled her eyes but laid down beside him nonetheless. "olena is ukrainian, meaning sunlight," she stated as she picked at her nails, sighing. "kravchenko is a variation of an occupation last name, meaning tailor."

      "why the ukrainian?"

      "my dad - his mumma and papa came here from ukraine shortly after he was born. my middle name is greek, in honour of my mumma, who's mumma and papa came here from greece, and now i'm rambling and i apologise. people don't usually expect me to speak, other than to state my college plans once again."

      he looked over and watched as her cheeks tinged a lovely shade of pink, smiling to himself. "and what is your middle name?"

      "it's -"

      "olena calliope kravchenko!" came the shout of her father, storming down onto the beach. "we came back from dinner, expecting to find you on the couch where we left you, but guess where you were not?"

      she snapped up, looking to her father with wild eyes, hands moving to tug her hair and comb it in some form. "i'm sorry, bat'ka, i just really wanted some beach time, and i -"

      he held his hands up, kneeling down. "i need you to pretend i was really hollering at you - babusya, yaya, and mitéra were really worried, sweet girl." he ruffled her hair, then looked to joseph. "who's he?"

      "bat'ka, this is joseph mazzello, i had to pull him from the water." she gave him a wink and he laughed, knowing what she meant.

      "well, i'm very sorry, my sun, but we need to get back to the house before the three furies come down here and drag you to your fate."

      "yes, bat'ka." she scrambled to her feet, grabbing up her book, then looking to joseph. "are you okay for me to leave you here?"

      he groaned as he rose to his feet, taking a deep breath. "yeah, of course. will i see you tomorrow?"

      she gave him a small smile, pulling him into a hug. "of course. i still owe you an explanation on my middle name, and i want to know what mazzello means."

      he laughed, pulling away from their embrace. "of course, miss olena."

      she picked up her sheet, balling it up in her arms as she nodded to him, joining her father on the trek back up to the beach house.

      to say that the three furies were angry was an understatement. had it not been for her grandfathers - her didus dmytro and pappoús damianos - and her bat'ka, she likely would have been grounded for the rest of the trip, banned from going down onto the beach. "she was just being a kid," didus dmytro said, hands on his hips and face stern. "she's a young adult now, she was damn well able to go down and soak in some sun without her family hovering over her."

      "'family is everything,'" babusya anastasiya mocked her husband, putting her own hands on her hips. "is that not what you recite every day?"

      "hypocrite!" exclaimed yaya phaedra, arms crossed over her chest.

      "ladies," pappoús damianos, the silent one of the bunch, spoke up from where he sat, taking his attention away from the pear he was slicing. "it is perfectly okay that she wanted to have alone time. should we not focus more on the fact she felt that she had to lie? fake illness?"

      alexandria was about to speak up when kostyantyn raised his hand. "it is okay she went to the beach, and that is final." one look from her and he gave a laugh, shaking his head. "yes, yes, moya lyubov (my love), i will sleep on the couch tonight. now let us be done with this. dochka, why don't you go get a shower, maybe finish up your reading in your room?"

      "yes, bat'ka." she kissed his cheeks and alexandria's, running up the stairs, catching one last comment from her mother:

      "you're too easy on her, kostya. how will she ever learn if you continue to baby her like this?"