The Reciprocal

Chapter 1: Fortuitous Forsakeness

It was 8:30pm, when the sun started setting, turning the horizon into a purple gradient. One by one the pores of every individual started to tighten up due to the brisk August winds. As expected, the amusement came to an end, and family by family people started to flee.The skin that was once shriveled five minutes prior began to regulate.
"Hailey, get the towels, calls Anthony, it's time to go!" "But I don't wanna",Hailey says. "I know, but we have to leave now in order to pack for tomorrow" Anthony continues. Hailey gets up, starts walking slowly, shoulders hunched. Anthony glares at Hailey for a split second,thinking of a way to persuade her. ( Anthony chuckles ) " Last one to the locker room is a soggy bowl of cereal."" Deal", Hailey replies as a beautiful smile stretches across her face.
As it started to feel alright, Hailey's opinion on leaving the pool had changed, but her opinion on it practically being her last day of summer hadn't. After all, tomorrow was her familys annual business trip, which took place in Australia. It was already August 17th, and their trip consisted of two boring, wasteful weeks. Though it may seem as not such a big deal, they were greeted with a full year of school the day after their return. But thankfully, the warmth of the steamy locker room thawed out her preserved thoughts. She and Anthony grabbed the towels, and looked at eachother with a bit of concern lying between the layers of the retina. " Hurry up guys, says Peyton, their mom, you've been in there for a while". "Coming", says Hailey, as the eye contact begins to weaken. They start patting themselves as they begin to exit the lockerroom, drying up the mildly saturated layers of skin. Hailey walks over to the benches, grabs her bag, and puts her swimsuit into it and looks at the water glistening one last time, as the life guard begins to climb down his chair. " Hailey lets go", yelled Anthony, we're already in the car. Hailey begins to pick up the speed, hops in the car. John, their dad, closes the door. Any ounce of bitterness faded away as car rides were what Hailey loved the most. She loved the tempatious vibrations that shook the cup holders left to right and left again, the lovely music that when listened to in the right state of mind could make you see everything differently, and the sweet breeze that blew against her face every second the car was moving. It was peculiar because she never heeded the little joys in life, it was like she had only felt this way a certain time of year. " Could it be that I have a disguised love for August", she thought to herself, and within this thought she felt complete. Yet on the opposite side of the car was Anthony, living in his new found bitterness. Being Anthony was different then being Hailey, it was harder. Hailey was bitter and didnt have a care about who knew. Anthony on the other hand put weight on himself. No matter how bitter he was feeling about any situation, he always made it necessary to hide it from his sister and that was just the way he was. Though it seemed he was always overwhelmed in bad feelings due to the nonexistent release of them, he found certain happiness in the fact that he had a mind, a private place in which he had those feeling on display, far far away from the others. Though on opposite sides of the spectrum, it seemed almost apparent that Anthony and Hailey lived in their own world, often isolated. They each thought of this, often not knowing the others mind was at the same place. This didnt affect them however, to them it was kind of a jokes on you situation, towards their parents. As they didnt even know their own children. But the kids cant really blame them for it, it is considered fate. Because after all, a different version of you exists in the minds of those who know you. They gave birth to people they thought they knew, based on the first impressions given. Need known they hadnt at all. Their situation was oddly similar to Anthony and Hailey's, they lived in their own world too, one in which they felt complete and would forever. As the lives of every individual and the way they think, were different. This made it hard to distinguish why we all inhabit the same world anyway. Though they wouldnt need to distinguish it in the first place. The car ride was over, and so was their endless rampage of thoughts, its almost as if there was something weird about these children. They find joy in the stupid things, yet they dont even know. Theyre so saturated and involved in their own minds at times, that they forget the only thing theyve ever known, reality. But yet somehow this phase could end due to the sound of car keys being removed and the slight jerk felt when parked in the driveway. It was at this very moment they came back to life, and the first thing that worked was their eyes. With vision clear enough to notice that their parents, and two siblings were outside, and that they were the only ones that remained in the car. They looked at their parents and slightly laughed, as they exited. That laugh quickly turned into a smile as they were in the house and their mom was about to cook their favorite food. How much they liked it didnt matter though, because to them any food was food for thought and when hungry like they were right now, any thought was a thought of food." Who's ready for lasagna?", John asked. "We are", Anthony and Hailey replied in unison. Hailey and Anthony sat on the couch and coincidently, both aimed for the remote control. " Ha-ha", Hailey snickered as she was the one who managed to sucessfully grab it. " Remember, no news channel", Peyton says as the remote control begins to make a clicking noise, that often reminded Hailey of how the stove clicked when her mom stirred the pot. But this time she was rarely certain that that was not happening because lasagna doesnt require such equipment. Hailey knows this because she always watched the cooking channel, for it was the only channel that reminded her of food. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours. This cycle was only able to happen once though, because the lasagna was all finished and ready to eat. Hailey didnt even have to look around, she could just smell it." Looks great mom, thanks", Anthony says as he and Hailey sit at the dinner table. " Anything for you my dear", Peyton replies......."now make it snappy we've gotta start packing"."Kay mom", says Hailey. Peyton looks them in the eyes and nods with assurance, then her and John exit. Meanwhile Anthony and Hailey devour what once was moms lasagna but now is just a speck of tomato sauce. But deep inside they both know that they couldve been finished minutes ago,they just didnt want to because they knew that each second spent not procrastinating, would lead them a second closer to tomorrow. Which meant a second closer to a day everyone knew they hated, deep, deep down inside, except for Hailey, July 18th was a day Hailey hated, which to all was very apparent. But why hate that particular day, out of all 365, why?Well, if you say they hated the day itself, youd be incorrect. It was the events that unfolded because of that day, that is what they hated. They hated the fact that this " business" trip never consisted of business, they hated the fact that their parents were spending thousands of dollars on what they felt were two weeks of blank, frozen space, they hated the fact that their parents reply in silence when questioned about these decisions. Their bodies were paralyzed as they devoted every muscle into thinking these thoughts, but they quickly stopped because they knew a second more procrastinating
would reveal to their parents something that should be obvious, which would lead to a lecture. And that was the last thing they wanted." Well im going up"-, said both Anthony and Hailey interrupted by silence, as it was shocking to them that they said the same thing at the same time. "......stairs to pack" said Hailey very slowly. "Yeah me too", said Anthony with an akward smurk. Though both did not stick to their word, still remained in the same spot they were five minutes ago. A long silence followed this, until broken by Anthony with the following, " Race you there." Anthony and Hailey ran up the stairs, their feet pounding with every step as they part ways entering their rooms on opposite sides of the hallway. The packing began. But unexpectedly this part was kinda fun, to Hailey atleast, for she loved her clothing, and anything that had to do with her touching it, and luckily, packing is one of those things. Though she also took pride in the fact that packing required slow, careful thought in order to remember everything. So she packed and packed the night away, meanwhile, on the opposite side of the hallway was Anthony, sitting down slumped in a chair doing what he once said he wasnt, procrastinating. But he was thinking careful thoughts, which you would expect to result in a sucessful outcome, but instead resulted in a longing for something he wasnt. Well specifically, a longing to be someone he wasnt, that someone being Hailey. He questioned his existence due to Haileys success in almost everything she did, and how she never had much trouble doing something she had put off for such a long time. Whilst he felt trapped within himself, and always put off the simplest things. But be had felt remorse, and once felt promised himself he would changed, prayed that he could finally do what he wanted to but was forbidden by a part of himself that he truly, deeply hated. So, he roughed it, just threw all his things in his suitcase, his clothes completely unfolded, followed by a sigh, and finally a peaceful rest. One awaited by all. But, soon enough, the alarm went off, as we all know symbolizing that it was August 18th and that. Australia was no longer far away. But, they pushed through. They got ready, ate breakfast, got dressed and finally got in the car. Without a fuss. It felt like this would be the first August 18th actually enjoyed, for some odd reason. Everything they already loved had become ten times better. The trees became not only a source of air, but a source of life, demanding that they lived this oddly amazing day. And they continued like this, all throughout the car ride, looking at things and coming up with positive ways they made an impact on their lives. And finally Anthony came across a sucess, they were finally at the airport and he hadnt even thought a negative thought. A wide smile spread across his face as him and Hailey looked at eachother, " Ready?", asked their mom. "Ready", they replied and once again laughed as they exited the vehicle. [ P A SYSTEM ]
" Good morning everybody, im here to inform you that flight 649a will board in twenty minutes so hurry and have a great day." "Kay Hailey cmon", says Peyton as John assists her with her fallen suitcase. " Uh, why dont u guys sit here while your mom and I handle everything", says John. All four kids take a seat on the bench as their parents walk up to the counter. They inhale the fresh airport air as they smell the scent of each chemical used to shine the tables and floors, and they looked at themselves through the transparency of the metal appliances. But it had been thirty minutes later and this certain awe had began to fade. And the airport started to become what it once was, a still nightmare. But they met up with fate once again, as Peyton and John turn and start walking towards them, " We're going to Australia", Anthony and Hailey both thought. But little did they know that fate works in mysterious ways, and their thoughts had deceived them. " Um- guys, we need you to come here for a sec, all of you" says Peyton, as if something was wrong. The kids walked up to their parents, and followed them to the check in counter. " Well, it appears that we purchased our tickets to late so, an elderly couple took two of our seats-...... so we cant go to Australia"John continued. "Well atleast not all of us" interrupts Peyton. "Hailey, Anthony, we decided that- well , the last time we went to Australia, the twins were little"- " babies", John interrupts. '' Right" Peyton continues," So they didnt really get to truly experience what you have, so, well we thought that you guys could perhaps, stay here while the four of us go to Australia", Peyton says, as she looks at John dead in the eyes with such deep, utter concern. It was almost obvious that she felt a kinda way about this. But Anthony and Hailey realized that they hadnt felt better about going to Australia, and that maybe, just maybe, they had only felt this way because they subconciously knew that they wouldnt be going, and that theyd finally receive what they always wanted. Theyd finally get to enjoy what they never had, a complete summer, two more weeks of fun in the sun. This mayve been a miracle. This was indeed fortuitous forsakeness.  This had happened by accident or chance rather than design, and they would be alone, happily in their home. They hugged their parents, squeezed them tight and began to head off, to where they always wanted to be, home.