Haley and Vivian Interlude Part III

Jan 3rd

The funeral had been a small affair, what with limited financials available to Haley and Vivian. Only a couple of not that close friends of their mom showed up, and no other family members did either.

Haley had asked if she and Vivian could stay with any of them, and they all turned her down. What kind of family did that. As of now, in her mind, she and Vivian had no family, and would have to take care of each other. They had to, if only to keep their sanity. Haley didn’t know what she was going to do.

It was just all so hard to deal with.

***

Jan 12th

The return to School after winter break was a solemn affair for both Haley and Vivian. Being high schoolers, not many of her classmates read the papers, and the blonde hadn’t posted anything to her socials about it. In fact, she hadn’t been posting there much at all since the accident. No one however seemed to notice, with all the oxygen in that room being taken up by the Mission twins being kicked out of their home.

Haley actually approached them on. The first day back about moving 8n together to consolidate resources. They however declined, saying they have already made an arrangement with the gymnastics coach. Haley was sure he was going to get fired after the incident from last year.

At this point, Haley was considering quitting theater and song, as she would need to earn money to financially care for herself and Vivian the insurance money eventually ran out. None of her relatives in addition to not letting them stay with them, declined to provide any financial assistance, citing hardships of their own.

Vivian for her part was not doing much better. She was by all measures considered a genius, and was a favorite of the teachers. Yet after everything that has happened, she was now off her game. She did poorly on the low effort welcome back assignments, though everyone did show sympathy when she explained why she was the way she was.

The two sisters still had a lot to get through. Neither however were sure they could.

***

Feb 14th

Today was Vivian’s Birthday, and by coincidence, it was also Haley’s birthday despite not actually being twins. In years past, this had been a fun, celebratory affair, but ever since… the incident, neither sister could muster up the strength to give a damn.

To celebrate, Haley had gotten two cupcakes, one for herself, and one for Vivian, with a. Single candle on each one. Their relationship with their relatives was at all all time low, and it was like they didn’t even exist at this point. No one had even been able to contact their father, as they had no idea where he was. He was either in the Florida Keys, or the Aleutian Islands.

“Make a wish Viv?” Haley said as she presented the cupcake to her sister.

“Thanks Haley”. She replied. She then leaned down and blew out her candle, with Haley following soon afterwards. They didn’t dare divulge their wishes to each other, desperately wanting them to become true. Haley wished she could pause time and be happy again.

***

March 1st

Things were very much still weird at school. Every now and then, Haley got a salty taste in her mouth, and sometimes felt a bit sticky. Cold shivers, like someone was touching her had become common place at this point, and it was clear this was being shared with allot of people in the schools, students and teachers alike.

It had taken two months, but one day, Haley did realize that the officer that had come to her door was the father of Mark Donovan, the subject of many of her recent fantasies, even if they weren’t that common the last few weeks. She wondered if she could ask them to take her and Vivian in, as she knew the bank would be coming for their house any day now.

Alas, for some reason, she was now the nervous one. She found herself almost paralyzed in fear when seeing him, with butterfly’s in her stomach. Vivian teased her about that, and for once, Haley was happy, as that meant things were returning to normal for her. All this was not helped that other girls in the school clearly were developing the same feelings for the boy, or the fact that he seemed to hang out with runner Katie Lawrence a lot.

Haley sighed. She needed to focus. Spring break was soon, and she needed ti take some drastic measures.