[center][b]Collab between Whirlwind & Enalais[/b][/center]

Hailey sat in front of her dresser, putting in one feathered earring in one ear, and a big hoop with charms dangling from it in the other. She wore no makeup on her pale skin, and stuffed her straight blonde locks into a baggy knit cap. She knew it would be hot in Brazil, or at least she assumed it would be, so she wore a baggy tshirt that said “My parents visited Hawaii and all I got with this shirt” that she’d bought at a thrift store, and some high waist shorts she’d cut up from her mom’s old jeans. Slipping on a thin tan sweater and some brown cowboy boots, and she was dressed to go. 

Her high yet soft voice rang out while wandering through the house, calling for her mother.

[b]”Hey mom? Did you make breakfast?”[/b] she asked, though the smell of frying bacon should have tipped her off.

“Of course!” a deeper, but still very feminine voice responded. “Did you get everything packed?” her mom asked. “Underwear, lotion, swimsuit?” she rattled off things she thought her daughter would forget. 

[b]”Yeeeees,”[/b] Hailey said in a semi-groan, though she smiled while taking a biscuit and eating it.

“Well then get out of here! Don’t want to miss your flight!” her mom said cheerfully. Hailey just laughed and hugged her mom from behind, while her 5 brothers and sisters came up behind her and hugged her legs. 

[b]”Miss you guys too!”[/b] she sang out happily, getting her bags and heading to the airport. 

Thomas left home that morning actually quite glad, his mother was sitting on the couch lazing about, his step father was getting drunk. So he wanted to get out of there before things got bad, going over a mental list in his head he made sure he had everything Notebook, pen, ipod, ear buds, clothes, and a portable dvd player with some lame sci-fi movies. All he’d ever need to have fun, the ride to the airport was quiet and the principal of the school even came to pick him and a few students who didn’t have transportation.

“Thomas, try to write something nice about the people you meet on the trip. And go outside your comfort zone.” The principal told him, usual teacher preaching. “Yeah whatever.” Was his only reply as he pretty much ignored him. The airport was like any other airport crowded and the TSA was uncomfortably close, he hated being man-handled but if it helped them sleep at night whatever. 

Hailey happily boarded the plane when she was allowed to, stuffing her bag in the overhead bin and keeping a journal and pen out for her to write with during the flight. She had no idea what sorts of thoughts might come to her, what sort of interesting happenings might occur that she should write down, but she didn’t want to regret missing anything, anyway. She settled into her seat and watched person after person walk by, curious about who would be sitting next to her. After all, she knew a few people coming on this trip, but not everyone. She surely hoped fate would grant her the opportunity to make a new friend or two while having fun.

Boarding the plane Thomas’ seat was next to a girl, [i]”Is she wearing a beanie?”[/i] He thought as he sat down next to her and pulled out his own pen and notebook. Then he did his favorite thing and people watched, the way they talk the way, the way the act, and the way they dress all went onto paper and pretty soon he had a pretty rough outline of who those people were.

Then his thoughts turned to the girl in the beanie, he studied her for a bit but decided against writing about her and following the principals advice he went outside his comfort zone. “What’s up?” He asked, feeling like he was trudging through a sewer with this.

Hailey sat messing with the edges of her notebook, when a dark haired guy sat next to her. He seemed familiar, like she’d passed him before or something, but she didn’t know him. So, she gave him a winning smile and took in the sight of his notebook before responding to him.

[b]”Hi! Um, not much I guess,”[/b] she said, still as friendly as a puppy and shrugging her thin shoulders a bit. [b]”I’m Hailey, by the way,”[/b] she held out her hand. [b]”Neat notebook, I brought mine too. Never know what you’re going to want to write down, right?”[/b] she said, lifting her notebook up a little. She paused briefly and took in his countenance, the heaviness of his aura and pouted slightly. [b]”Are you okay? You seem… down,”[/b] she asked, suddenly looking very intensely into his eyes.

Funny how one question could get someone to ask so much, she asked a million questions some of which he had no answer for and the look as she stared into his eyes almost froze him to the spot. “I’m Thomas” He said weakly almost afraid of this girl, but he took her hand and shook it, “I always have my notebook, I write for the school newspaper so i just jot down whatever comes to mind.” Now to try to think of something clever to say so he could deflect her question. “I’m fine.” He said a bit more firmly this time and he gave her a fake smile that she could probably see right through in a heart beat.

Hailey’s smile perked back up a bit when he said his name and why he had the notebook. Her lips became a suspicious smile at his defensive ‘fine’, but she wasn’t the type to pry. [b]”Alright. It’s nice to meet you Thomas. The school paper huh? That’s grand. Do you want to be a journalist after high school too?”[/b] she asked, this endless, getting to know you mentality going to continue until Thomas managed to completely deflect her or the flight landed.

Thomas looked at the girl, he hadn’t really thought about what he wanted to do after everything was said and done. Normally he planned out every other aspect of his life but not this. “Yeah, something like that.” He said, he continued to humour this girl but when questions got too personal he would deflect them, eventually the announcement came that the plane was landing. For some reason he wanted to keep talking, he liked this in a weird sort of way he didn’t quite know how to explain it to himself as to why he parted ways with her but he found himself saying something incredibly stupid and something totally unlike him. “If you ever need something you can come find me.” He said and scurried off before she replied, when he was out of her sight he slapped himself [i]”God i’m so fucking stupid.”[/i] He thought as he grabbed his luggage and joined another girl at the aptly named “Teen stress-relief” Desk he picked up a key and hit his room.

Hailey enjoyed talking to Thomas quite a bit during the flight. She found him fascinating, though particularly closed off about certain things. Then again, she supposed they had just met. She did hope fate brought them together again though as they landed and departed from the plane. Before heading towards the luggage pick up, she turned to Thomas, who said if she needed anything, to find him. She gave a bright white smile, happy to have made a friend in him, but he quickly ran off, making her tilt her head a bit. She shrugged though, figuring if she was meant to see him again, she would, and got her things.

Pulling her bags over towards “Teen stress-relief” she picked up a room layout/list, key, and voucher. She was so distracted in her own little world that she didn’t even notice anyone else as she smiled happily, wandering towards the exit. She almost made it before tripping and falling on the floor. Her things splayed out on the tile and she blushed a bit, hat falling off her head and letting her blonde strands fly about her face. 

[b]”Oops…”[/b] she giggled, checking her knees and knowing there would be another bruise there later. She began putting her things back in order and lazily placed her hat back on her head, but not with her hair stuffed in it this time. She brushed herself off and cleared her throat, going outside and waving for a taxi. She’d never done so before, and it appeared like a drunk girl who was waving to a group of friends across the street.

But finally one did stop to pick up the loco white girl, the driver helping her get her things in before she slid inside. 

“Espere.” [i](“Wait”)[/i] Thomas shouted to the cabbie that just pulled up to the curb, the driver waited as he threw his bag in the trunk and slid into the back of the cab. To his surprise Hailey was inside, “Well then we just keep running into each other.” He said, he wanted to get out and hail another cab, but he didn’t know how long that would take, so he just rolled with it. 

Hailey was waiting patiently for the cab to go, writing in her journal about her encounter with Thomas, when the door opened. She looked up, seeing Thomas of all people. Laughing lightly, Hailey’s eyes lit up at his words.

[b]”I know! Seems like destiny or something,”[/b] she said, closing her journal and holding the top of it with both her hands. [b]”Maybe I needed you and didn’t realize it,”[/b] she said as the cab began pulling away towards the hotel. In her mind, she was asking herself if it meant something that they had sat by each other on the plane, and now in the cab. She believed it was meant to be, but he probably thought it was silly, so she didn’t admit that.

She spoke about fate and destiny, Thomas didn’t believe any of that it was just happenstance. “What would you need me for?” He asked, and started jotting down things in his own notebook.

Hailey hesitated when asked what she would need, thinking about it for a moment. [b]”Hmm… I don’t know yet. Someone to talk to so far, apparently,”[/b] she said, smiling. Hailey began fixing her hair, remembering it was probably sticking out everywhere. [b]”Oh, maybe you need me?”[/b] she asked, looking back to Thomas, and awaiting his thoughts. The cab pulled up to their hotel though, and she let the driver get out her bags while sitting and looking at Thomas a moment longer before they parted again.

Thomas actually thought on that. “Maybe…” He said but he didn’t give her the rest of his train of thought as the driver handed him his bag and he went inside leaving the poor girl hanging. 

Hailey watched Thomas leave the cab and shrugged, nothing phasing her really. She got out and thanked the driver, paying him and heading inside. She observed her key which had a 3 on it and went to her room, putting her things on a bed and humming to herself while unpacking.