Reciprocated.

Date:March 30 Time: 2:00 pm Isabella glanced at the tall hotel building. She and her few friends from college had planned this reunion for months. She was looking forward to seeing all her friends after five years but there was someone particularly she was itching to see. His name was Tyler Reids. She had had a crush on him for quite a while. Of course they lost contact at some point and she forgot all about him but was lucky to stumble across his contact information on the Internet. She texted him,he texted back and the feelings redeveloped. Isabelle checked in and headed to her room. She plopped on the bed and pulled her heels. After a quick glance at the room,she pulled her phone from her purse and made an official announcement in the group chat that she was checked in and dropped her room details. It remained two out of five persons to check in into the same hotel and as usual suspense decided to play around, Reids was among. 2 hours later. Isabelle found herself heading for the swimming pool,where they had all agreed to meet. Her smile widened as her eyes met with her friends,they returned the smile. By "they' she meant Sasha,Leo,Cora and last but not the least Tyler. "OMG" ! Cora exclaimed " Look who decided to make a grande entrance" "I'm so happy to see you guys. I thought I never would again. You have no idea of the relief" Isabelle said and hugged Cora tightly. "Okay,I think I'm gonna explode if you keep squeezing me like that" Cora said and Isabelle released the hug with a smile plastered to her face. "Come here" Isabelle said pulling and enveloping Sasha into a bear hug. "Uhm,Isabelle,I love you,dear but I can't breathe" Sasha said and Isabelle chuckled but released her. Next she hugged Leo and saving the best for the last,Tyler whom she whispered "I've missed you" to. They all took their seats,their excitement obviously visible in form of their eye-reaching smiles, laughter and happiness. This pack of amazing friends had definitely missed themselves. They briefed each other about their careers,their what-have been up to's,their family,if they had one. Sasha was married same with Leo but the rest had not found 'that one' yet. "So,for old time's sake" Leo began" I was wondering if we could continue our pranking tradition since April Fools' is only two days away and see who pranks best within our one week lodge here. The winner gets a free ticket to a trip in France. Who's in" ? He asked,a grin, slowly forming on his lips. "Hell,yeah. I'm in" ! Cora said. "Count me in" Sasha said. "I'm totally in,man. Gives us something to busy ourselves with" Tyler said. All eyes turned to Isabelle,curious to know if her mindset about pranking had been changed but apparently not. Color had drained from her face,her smile had dissipated into a frown,her fist clenching into a ball as she excused herself and retired to her room. "Uh-oh" Sasha muttered. Isabelle slammed the door shut behind her. Why can't her friends ever forget the stupid pranking traditions. It was the only thing she didn't really fit in and although she never told them the trigger for the resentment,she expected them to understand and respect her decision and at least not bring it up to her hearing. Who was she kidding,stupid to think they had outgrown pranking. Suddenly,she heard a knock on her door springing her back to reality. "Who is it" ? "Tyler. Can I come in" Her eyes widened in surprise. She dressed her hair with her hands and asked him to come in,which he did. He sat on the bed beside her. "So,uh,the pack took a vote and thought I was in the best position to talk to you,I mean,for some reason" Tyler said "Are you okay" ? "I am" Isabelle sighed,fighting back tears that was suddenly aroused by the terrible memories. "Are you sure,cause you don't look it" "Can I let you in on a secret" ? Isabelle asked. "You know you can" Tyler said. Isabelle hesitated. "I killed my mother" Isabelle said. "What. That's not possible. You couldn't hurt a fly" "While growing up. My family had made it a family tradition to prank on Aprils due to the April fool thing and I was more than intrigued and thrilled with the idea of pranking. So every April we would compete. I,my mom,my dad and my brother. For considerable amount of years,my mom had been leading. She was so good at the game because she knew her children's weaknesses and vulnerabilities and my dad just naturally sucked at the game. I was the close second. We made our one rule though,to never prank with our lives. At the time,I knew my mom was unto some serious prank because she had pulled good cards at previous years so I mentally prepared myself for the worst. One evening when I was nine,my brother who was twelve at the time was out playing soccer at our neighbors's . My dad had not returned from work and my mom herself was making dinner. I remember sitting on the couch, watching TV when I heard a knock on the door. My mom knowing how engrossed I could get while watching television went to get it and I heard the door slam shut. I turned to see who it was and I saw a man dressed in black,with masks and gloves,the only thing I could see of him was his eyes,nose and lips. He had ceased my mom by the throat with a hand while the other was tucked at the pocket of his hoodie and requested for some money of my dad I was too little to have any idea of. I stood and rolled my eyes,a little awed my mom would go that extreme as to hire some robber just to keep her title. She kept muttering to me to 'run' but I just stood there,with my arms folded,a smirk plastered to my face. Stupid,really. I heard her tell the man she had no idea where my dad stashed the money. I even yelled a 'Nice try,mom' . Apparently,when the man saw she probably wasn't ready to cooperate. He pulled his other hand from his pocket along with a gun and shot her right in front of me. I watched my own mother bleed to death. I knew I should have ran but I was frozen and just as he was about to pull the trigger at me. The door opened and he was shot instead by our neighbor's father who owned a shotgun. He did pull the trigger but he missed. I couldn't think,I couldn't move. I was paralyzed to the spot. I was frozen for a good two months,I even had therapy. When I eventually came out of it,it was still hard to believe my best friend,my mother was gone. We shared a close bond. We used to be inseparable. I remember crying my ass out and when I visited her tomb,I made a vow to never prank again and instead do good things to people and replace fear with smile,scare with laughter,doubt with hope,sadness with happiness. I guess I was kinda doing it for myself in a way,to at least suppress the guilt I felt because I blamed myself for my mother's death" She hadn't realized she was crying. Tyler pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it go to her. She wiped her face. "I'm sorry for your loss but Isabelle,you did not kill your mother. That masked man did,whoever he was. I can't believe you've had to carry a guilt that was not yours to carry for nineteen years" Tyler said "I could have done something but no. I just stood there like an idiot I was-" "Stop it . Just stop it" ! Tyler said "There was no way you could have known,he didn't reveal his weapon until the last minute. If I were in your shoes,I would have quickly grabbed a popcorn from the kitchen and sit to watch the 'supposed'prank. It was not your fault,okay" "I should have felt something was not right, I should have-" "Isabelle. Everything that happened that day was purely coincidental. It was pure coincidence that it happened on April fool's day. There was absolutely no way you could have known or imagined that sort of thing could befall your perfect family and I'm sure your mom does not blame you for her death wherever she is. She knew it was going to happen and even at her last minute,she was thinking about you and not herself. If you ran,he probably would have shot you while you were at it. Do you have any idea how fast a bullet can travel across a room. If you tried to save her,he would have shot you still . So,if you want to do nice things on April Fool's Day. It's fine,I get it but you have to drop every feeling of guilt because you weren't the one who pulled the trigger" "You're right. I feel so much better now" Isabelle said. "I'm glad I could help" He said and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. They soon found themselves leaning in and soon their lips met and before they could comprehend what was happening they were kissing. The kiss was slow at first but he cupped her face in his hand and deepened the kiss. 'I want this man so badly' she thought. He did things to her and there was just something about his kiss that made her feel so alive. That made her feel ike she had nothing to lose. Suddenly Tyler pulled away from the kiss. "I-I'm sorry,I shouldn't have-" he began to appologize "It's okay, you don't need to apologize. I enjoyed it besides I really needed it" He smiled in response. "I enjoyed it too" Her cheeks turned a shade of light pink. "Can you join me to do nice things on April fools' day"? He hesitated. "I do love pranking and I've never actually missed it on April fools' Day and I've already told the pack I'm in-" She sighed in disappointment. "But I guess I could go back on my word just this once and rebel. What I'm trying to say in essence is,of course I'd do nice things with you. Nice things happens to nice people and i want nice things to happen to me so..." He trailed off. Isabelle smiled. "Thank you. I really really needed this talk. I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders" Isabelle said. "Anytime" Tyler replied. "Can you come here this same time tomorrow so we could make a list of the nice things we could do"? "Why not"? Date:April 1st Time: 2:40 pm "So I usually visit the orphanage and gift them food items,clothings,time or sometimes i visit the hospital and encourage the sick and pay one or two bills,depending on my capacity at the time. Sometimes I even visit the retirement homes and help them do one or two things. It's almost like a volunteer work and trust me there's this feeling of happiness that will automatically arouse for just making other people happy. You'll feel happy just doing nice things for people,especially when you know you're the cause of their happiness, smiles, echoing laughters and that you gave them a glimpse of hope just when they'd thought they'd lost it. Random kind acts can lift up anyone's spirit. Particularly,this year I've chosen to do random nice things. Just go about and helping whomever I can. Do you have any suggestion"? Isabelle asked. "I think I'll go with your idea" "So,random things,it is. I already rented a one room apartment just a stone throw away from here so I could do some baking. I love baking,you know that and I've asked the receptionist how many staffs are there and she told me approximately 150 employees excluding the managers. So,we are going to bake 160 pastries of cupcakes,cookies and doughnuts and you are going to be my assistant chef" "160 Each"? Tyler's eyes widened. "What. No,of course not. Were mixing,at least 53 each" "Whew. 160 is a lot but I guess I love a challenge" Tyler said. Date: April 2nd Time : 1:10 PM The baking process was tiring and energy draining but they managed to pull it off. 160 pastries glared innocently at them from several baskets . It somehow smelled warm,like you were inhaling a blanket on a cold winter day. "We did this" Tyler said "I am proud of us" "Me too" Isabelle said. "I mean who can resist a warm splatter of scrumptious bakeries" "What next" ? "We leave these here and go shop for some toys . I mean,children's day is around the corner so we are visiting a homeless shelter and you just watch how those cute innocent faces would lit up at the unwrap of a toy gift and also I know a friend's friend who has been a soldier for a considerable amount of years. Away from home,family and loved ones,out in the open,sacrificing so much for our beloved country at the detriment of his comfort zone. Perhaps we could shop for a military care package and have it sent to him. Then of course we buy flowers and boxes of chocolates for our friends" "Sounds like a plan. Also,I know of a friend who runs a mini charity organization. We could donate. Never have actually. I bet she'll be happy" "I like" Isabelle smiled "If we want to beat time. We should leave now" They got to the mall and purchased two carts of toys,they even helped someone put groceries in theirs. They purchased the items for the military care package and some boxes of chocolates . They even bought some flowers and had them sent to Leo,Cora and Sasha, along with the chocolates. After they had bought everything they needed,they retired to their apartment and took the baskets back to the hotel and while their friends pulled pranks they did nice things. Thank you" The receptionist smiled genuinely as she reached for a cupcake. She took a bite "Hmm,so delicious. It's nice to know our services are appreciated. I feel new and as from today I'd have a smile plastered to my face at any customer,no matter how hot tempered" "For me"? The security men asked in shock "Wow,nobody has ever done this in my six years of service here. Thank you" "Is this a prank" ? A room servant asked. "Of course not" Isabelle smiled. When they finished they mailed their care package and donated to Tyler's friend's charity work and got squeezes and thanks and promised to put their deeds in their history. In the car on their way to a homeless shelter,they saw a man in his mid-thirties,dirty and begging for alms. They took him to their apartment,had him have a shower, Tyler gave him change of clothes and shoes. They paid for his meal and gave him some money. They had never seen a man so happy,he even rained blessings on them. Tyler and Isabelle brought the toys to the kids and gave them one each and together they watched the kids unwrap with genuine joy,squealing in happiness and looking at their various toys with pure admiration and brags about who had the best. It was obvious from the looks of things, that they never expected this kind gesture. "How do you feel knowing you put those smiles on their faces" Isabelle asked and turned to Tyler. She noticed his eyes watered "OMG,are you crying" "No" he said quickly,cleaning his eyes with his sleeves. "I think something entered my eyes" Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Tyler,it's okay to cry,you're human". She teased "Okay,fine. You were right. Nothing compares to this and I rather make people smile than frown,happy than sad and frightened" "And remember,there's no date for it. Do nice things everyday and it would boomerang. For Instance I never lack and I feel guilt free now,thanks to your kind words" "If anyone asks me why I fell in love with you,I'm gonna scratch beauty and intelligence and tell them I fell I love with your kindness and genorousity. Truly,everything that has a disadvantage has an advantage. It is true your mother died but it made you a far better person giving hope to the hopeless and replacing sadness with happiness" "W-was that a confession"? Isabelle asked. "I'm in love with you. It's something I've been wanting to say since college,the pack knows. I don't have a ring here with me but I'll give you that grande proposal later. I promise. Isabelle Reigns. Will you marry me"? He asked,getting down on one foot. Isabelle's hand clasped to her mouth. Tears rolling down her cheeks. Suddenly she heard the children and staffs from the background clapping. "Yes . Yes I will" she said and helped him up and engulfed him into a tight warm hug and whispered into his ear. "I love you too". * They went back to the hotel and told their friends. Their friends insisted it called for celebration. Now her life was complete,the only thing she was yet to have was kids. Her friends decided to turn the tradition around and come together every April Fools' day and do something nice as a group instead of pranks but of course they could do nice things everyday as an individual. They even went ahead to give them the ticket for the trip to France " Be nice even if its just a smile you have to offer and you'd be surprised how it will be reciprocated. Moral lesson: Good things happen to good people. Nice things happens to nice people just as much as bad things happens to bad people. You chose what it's going to be and reap the fruit you sow.