The Reciprocal

Chapter 5: Home Sweet Home pt.4

Though i shant tell you of the thoughts that roam the space of Anthony and Hailey's minds, because you already know them, and why they happen. But i must tell you that those thoughts started to share the traits of a dangerous plague. As Michael, Justin and Joshua hadnt been in their presence for more than two hours and they had already started to become them. Their personality and manner, and the thoughts that occur because of them had spread rapidly, like a disease. If you didnt know them enough, it was slightly dangerous being around them and through this, it was proven. They saw everything as Hailey and Anthony saw them, and they knew it, they felt it. But they were intrigued about the fact that they almost knew everyone in the car felt the same way. But it was soon to be wearing off as the level of intrigue died down. " Hey man turn on the radio, lets see whats on", suggested Justin. " Yeah dude", Michael agreed. "I would but- .... this stupid thing wouldnt turn on", said Anthony as he struggled to turn on the radio. Justin leans over, fixes it then says, '' cmon dude, that was easy". Anthony laughingly smurking. " Yeah, cmon dude even I could do that", says Hailey, jokingly, of course. They all laugh hysterically and fist bump Hailey while Anthony sits in the front seat, smiling as he felt the void between the two of them had evaporated itself to nonexistence.  Everyones eyes lit up like they had a sugar rush, as they felt a certain, intense excitement for the events that were about to unfold. And luckily for them, iy woukdnt take so long as they just pulled up on the drive way. They all exited the car and entered the premises of Anthony and Haileys home. As soon as they went inside they were greeted by three little girls and two people who looked like their mothers." Anthony, you havent warned me of this addition to the family" Justin says, as confused as he could be. "No, these are Haileys friends" Anthony says. " Yeah they are", Hailey says as she runs up to them and overwhelms them with hugs. The two parents come up to Anthony and whispers in his ear" Thanks for inviting them, maybe your minds can combine and work together in order for them to have a great time", and smurk ,open the door as they exit. Anthony closes the door, and looks toward his friends' direction as they share the same weirded out look. " That was weird", Justin says as he states the obvious. Just as Hailey and her friends, Erica, Whitney and Ella are about to go upstairs Anthony calls them back down. And Hailey knew what it was for, but she had this feeling that she didnt understand. She felt bummed out over something she once felt so passionate to do. She excused herself and headed to the restroom as this feeling was exceptionally overwhelming as trying to prevent expected procrastination is known to be. Meanwhile, everyone downstairs was still being productive, doing things that would only benefit them. Whether it was taking snacks out of the bag and loading them into the pantry, or straightening various poster boards and sorting out glitters and accessories. Upstairs in the bathroom was Hailey, all jittery and blanked out, butterflies wings rapidly flapping in her stomach. She feels as though she could throw up, but tried and couldnt. So, she resorted to the thing she always did, that no one knew. Times like this brung out her secret person. A side of her that no one knew. Hailey too wasnt very familiar with this sensitive side either, but she was about to learn a whole lot more about her. But downstairs was Anthony someone who alike himself, Hailey always thought could crack the code to her secret side. And he did, he knew what she was feeling, and he knew how bad it was. He knew that if you stare into space too long when you stop, you felt dizzy, like you had whiplash. So he opened the door and found Hailey on the floor about to cry and swept her up in his arms. " Its okay, Hailey" he says," thats why i brought our friends here, for times like this, so they could push us, I know us Hailey. Its okay, I know us and dont waste your tears crying because your afraid of yourself, the time you could waste, the amount of regret you'll feel. Instead, save your tears for when youre finished and your so happy that you did it". " thanks" says Hailey. " You good kiddo?" asks Anthony. " Yeah, I am." Hailey replies as she nods in assurance," Lets go downstairs". Hailey and Anthony walk down the stairs as happy as can be. This was the start of being able to say they were with eachother through the ups and downs as this was the first down they had tackled together. And just like that the anxiety started to fade and she was starting to adjust the rhythm of her breathing back to how it normally was. It finally looked like everyone all around the house, was ready. So they wasted no time. Anthony and his friends, and Hailey and her friends all gather around the table as Anthony explains. " All right so this is what we're gonna do. To make this more fun- ( Anthony glances at Hailey in the distance ) we'll seperate ourselves into two teams. As you mayve guessed, one for the girls and one for the boys. Each team will come up with seven things to do, each consuming at least one fourth of the day, adding up to fourteen days which is equivalent to two weeks, or as you can say, the exact amount of time Hailey and I will be here by ourselves. Anyway, the right side of the table will be the boys' work space and the left side of the table will be the girls'. Got it?" asks Anthony. " We got it" everyone replies. " Alright, lets get to work", says Michael, " The boys are gonna win this" he whispers to Anthony. And the act of being productive resumed and they sat there and worked and worked and worked for the next hour and a half. It was time to read their displays." First up , the boys", said Michael," alright so heres our board but ohoh- i gotta go get a napkin because its wet, its dripping, with awesomeness ofcourse but anyway, number one on our things to do list is, 1. Go to the movies 2. Go to the aviator 3. The bowling alley 4. The basketball court 5. The football field and 6......., there is no six. Whoops' " says Michael as he chuckles akwardly. His laugh, reaks of failure. " Hahaha losers", said Whitney, " Luckily, we have 9. 1. Being the skating rink 2. Being the football field 3. Being the basesball field 4. Being rock climbing indoors 5. Being dining at a resturant. 6. [ coughs ] number 6, which we have, being painting 7. Being swimming 8. Being going to the movies again and 9. Being Having a sleepover". Though they knew they didnt want to, the boys applauded. Anthony clapping for Hailey because he was proud that she let it out. To him it was now known that it was stupid of him to aspire to be like her. He didnt feel this way because she was a bad person, because she wasnt. He only felt that way because he thought that no matter how rough the circumstances Hailey kept it to herself and never showed any emotions. But it turns out, being Anthony was the same as being Hailey, both roles equally as hard, from this aspect atleast. But, it was only appropriate that Anthony put aside his pride and adress the perk that led to anyone being there in the first place, so he did." All right guys lets clean up so we can watch a movie," Anthony says, " but quickly, you dont wanna run out of time". Though little replies were made, you could tell that everyone agreed and started cleaning up, including Anthony himself. " We'll get the poster boards", said Hailey and Ella, " And we'll get the glitter", Whitney and Erica added on. "Where to these go?", Justin asks while pointing towards the boards. " Um, just put em in my room" says Anthony in a way that made it obvious that he hadnt thought of a place to put them. " Alright, ima head up", says Justin as he begins walking upstairs to Anthony's room. He stops and pauses. '' First door to the left", Anthony says. ''Dude, did you guys re-arrange the house or something, last time i was here it wasnt like this" says Justin. "Dude, just shut up and put the posters in my room'' Anthony replies, again jokingly annoyed. That was the first emotion he felt after hearing any words that just so happened to come out of Justins mouth. Though told the directions about 15 seconds prior, Justin had just entered Anthonys room and turned on the light switch ( boom) Justin jumped and dropped the poster board on the floor as he sworn he had seen somebody in the bushes behind Anthonys window. But he ran down stairs and kept it to himself because he didnt want to spook anyone, and after all he was Justin, and there is always a possibility he thought he saw something that wasnt there.