Summary: As graduation quickly approaches, Cappie, Casey, Evan, and Ashleigh all prepare for the moment that will change their life forever. Evan begins to struggle with his feelings for Rebecca, and time is running out for him to tell her how he truly feels. Cappie does not want to graduate, and Casey tries to convince him it is what's best for him. Rusty and Dana's relationship hits a roadblock when old flames return to ruin everything. Ashleigh has developed feelings for a certain someone, but knows nothing will come of her shocking feelings, which sends her into a depression before graduation. Calvin's old flame is placed in the hospital after a car accident, making Calvin question his feelings for his ex. In the end, graduation proves to be a turning point for all their relationships, and in the end the death of one of the most beloved characters will change Cyprus Rhodes forever.
Ch-Ch-Changes
by: ronaldbiliusweasley
Chapter 1: Stuffed Animals and Elevators
"Casey Cartwright," Casey voiced loudly in a manly voice, putting her hand over her heart as if she were shocked to hear her name. She smiled and wiped away a fake tear, waving to her audience, which was actually a collection of her and Ashleigh's stuffed animals she had lined up on the couch under the window.
"What are you doing?" came Ashleigh's voice from the doorway. Casey jumped and turned quickly towards Ashleigh, her face turning slightly red at the sight of her friend. "I was just, um," she began, throwing the stuffed animals back on her and Ashleigh's beds, "practicing, you know, for graduation."
"Case, I don't think little stuffed bears and cats are going to be in the audience," said Ashleigh, laughing and picking up a stuffed cat that Casey had just thrown on her bed. Casey sat down on her bed as Ashleigh sat down on her own bed across from Casey. Casey was looking down and biting her lip.
Ashleigh tilted her head slightly and looked over at her friend. "What's wrong? I thought you were all excited for graduation?" she said, shifting into a more comfortable position on her bed.
Casey nodded. "I-I am, it's just..." muttered Casey, putting her head down and unable to continue.
"Let me guess, Cappie?" said Ashleigh, taking off her shoes and throwing them to the front of her bed.
"Yes, and I knew when I started dating him that he was...Cappie, but I just, I feel like he doesn't want to leave his comfort zone, which is Kappa Tau," said Casey.
"Of course he doesn't Case. Kappa Tau is his home, it's where he's made all new friends. And he's basically their leader. I can understand him not wanting to leave, I mean, even if I'm going to miss this old place when we leave," said Asheigh, looking around their room.
"Me too, but, you and I both know we have to leave. He thinks he can stay here forever," said Casey, fumbling with a loose thread on her comforter.
"So, are you having second thoughts about Cappie? I mean, do you still think he's the one?" asked Ashleigh, changing into her tank top for bed.
"Of course I do Ash. I mean, I've always known Cappie's the one. No matter what I say or do he's always going to be the one for me, but not if he keeps this up. I can't pretend like I'm okay with the fact that he wants to stay here. I have to think of myself too, right? I mean, I'm not going to drop all of my plans for him. I can't do that," said Casey. Ashleigh looked over at her, thought about what to say for a moment, and finally spoke.
"Case, for years I've seen you and Cappie flit around each other. I've watched you cry over him, and I've watched you get pissed off at him, and I've seen you when you're so happy with him it makes me nauseous," began Ashleigh, scooting back further onto her bed as Casey rolled her eyes at her friend's comment. "I know how you feel about him. I know that you love him unconditionally and that no one has ever made you change your feelings for him. And I know how he feels about you too. I know he loves you Casey. I know he wants to be with you, and only you, and that everything that's happened since we came to CRU has led up to you and him getting back together. But you're my best friend. I don't like watching you get hurt and I don't like seeing you pissed off and upset," said Ashleigh, breathing in deeply when she was finished.
Casey looked over at her friend, taking in everything Ashleigh had said. "So, was there an opinion in there as to what I should do, or what I should tell Cappie?" she asked, smiling at Ashleigh.
"Case, I can't tell you what to do, you know that. I want to tell you what you should do, but it's not up to me. As someone whose been watching your relationship with him for the past couple of years, all I can tell you is that you both really love eachother. So much. But ultimately, you need to do what you think is right."
Casey sighed and lay her head down on her pillow. "Why can't college be easier?" she said, pausing for a moment. "Why can't life be easier?" she cried, throwing her arms in the air.
Ashleigh lay down on her bed as well and sighed loudly. "Nothing in life is easy, I know that all too well," said Ashleigh, rolling onto her side away from Casey.
Casey sat up slightly and looked over at the back of her friend's head. "What are you talking about? You got the job with that fashion lady, what more could you want?" said Casey, waiting for Ashleigh to turn and speak.
"You're right, it's nothing," said Ashleigh, pushing her head further into her pillow. "Ash?" Casey said, trying to get a response out of her friend.
"I don't want to talk about it Casey, not tonight at least," came Ashleigh's muffled voice from the other side of the room. Casey decided it was best not to press the subject anymore and rolled over to turn her lamp off, allowing the room to sink into darkness.
"YES!" Rusty yelled as he opened the door, high-fiving his best friend as he stepped inside.
"Man, I can't believe I could be the next president of Omega Chi. My dad is so excited for me. This is what he's wanted for me all along," said Calvin, stepping inside Kappa Tau.
"Yeah, well, it'll be crazy if they don't pick you after that. They think you saved their house from losing its charter, I'm pretty sure they're going to choose you to be the next president," said Rusty, shutting the door behind his friend.
"Ah, Spitter, there you are, I've been looking all over for you," said Cappie, coming from around the corner. Rusty and Calvin nodded at Cappie.
"Go get the pledges and make them do something, because they're annoying the crap out of me!" said Cappie, throwing his hands drmatically in the air. "Well what are they doing?" asked Rusty, scratching his nose absently.
"They're studying! In the pool room, with books!" cried Cappie, as if this was the most horrific thing anyone could think about doing. "Yes, Cappie," said Rusty slowly, "because they have finals very soon that they need to be studying for."
"But the house is so quiet! Everyone's studying for their finals and I have no one to play with!" he said with a childish voice. Rusty rolled his eyes and Calvin chuckled.
"Cappie, you do realize they want to pass their freshman year? And in order to do that they need to pass their finals," said Calvin.
"I know, but this is crazy, everyone's acting like this is the end. Even Beav is studying for his finals," said Cappie.
"That's because it is the end, Cappie. For him and all the other seniors atleast. I mean I know you're staying but not everyone else is. They're moving on to bigger and better things," said Calvin. Cappie raised his eyebrows.
Calvin chuckled nervously. "Not that you're not doing that...it's just---" Calvin began, but luckily he was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone ringing.
He reached his hand into his pocket and flipped open his cell phone. He groaned. "Another telemarketer," he muttered, sighing loudly.
Rusty made a face and grabbed the phone from him. "No, that's not a telemarketer number," said Rusty. Calvin scoffed and tried to grab the phone from Rusty to ignore it when Rusty flipped the phone open and said "Hello?"
The faint voice of a woman met Cappie and Calvin's ears. "No, but he's standing right here," said Rusty, and he handed the phone to Calvin.
Calvin gave Rusty a questioning look but took the phone anyways. "Hello?" he asked into the phone.
"Hi, is there a Mr. Calvin Owens?" asked a young sounding woman into the phone.
"Yes, this is he," said Calvin, replying to Rusty and Cappie's strange looks with a shrug.
"Mr. Owens, my name is Marissa and I'm calling from Cyprus General Hospital," said the nurse.
"Oh, yeah. Uhm, is there something wrong?" asked Calvin, unable to determine the reason why the hospital was calling him.
"We have Mr. Heath Meyers here, and he was injured in a very bad auto accident," began the woman. Immediately Calvin's hand went to his mouth and a look of anxiety spread across his face. His heart suddenly began beating rather rapidly.
Although he had barely talked to or even been with Heath for nearly a year and a half, Heath had secured himself a place in Calvin's heart that would never be able to filled by another man. That part of his heart belonging to Heath seemed to fail at the moment, and his words came out in stutters for a few seconds before he was able to calm down and began breathing regularly again.
"W-w-what? I-I mean is he o-okay?" Calvin stuttered. Rusty and Cappie were looking at him, confused and waiting to hear what was wrong.
"He's in surgery right now, he broke his right leg and both of his arms, and he has a a few bad scratches, but he should be out of surgery in just a few minutes," said the woman.
"Did you get my number from his cell phone, or..." Calvin began stupidly.
"No, no," the nurse chuckled, "he updated his records a little less than two years ago and he put you down as the person to call if there was ever an accident," said Marissa. Calvin was utterly shocked at the news.
"H-he put me down?" asked Calvin. "Yes, I'll be calling his family very soon, but I think Heath would prefer to have you here first as you were his number one choice," said Marissa.
"Oh, yeah, I'll be up in a few minutes, thanks," said Calvin. "Third floor," Marissa said before hanging up the phone.
"What was that all about?" asked Rusty as soon as Calvin closed his phone. "It's Heath," said Calvin, beginning to panic, "he's in the hospital."
"Oh my god, what happened?" Rusty asked, putting his hand over his mouth. "He was in a car wreck, I have to go see him," said Calvin, ready to leave the house. "MY FELLOW KT BROTHERS!" Cappie yelled to the house. Several of the members who had been in the room with them turned to look at Cappie, and several of the pledges who had been in the pool room ran into the room.
"ONE OF OUR MEN HAS BEEN HARMED IN THE LINE OF DUTY! TO THE HOSPITAL WE GO!" yelled Cappie. Calvin and Rusty moved out of the way as nearly 30 of the KT brothers rushed out of the house.
As soon as everyone was out, Rusty and Calvin ran to Calvin's car and hopped inside, being the first to leave as the other brothers were still piling into their cars.
Calvin got onto the highway and began speeding at nearly 85 miles per hour to the exit to the hospital, a stern look on his face. "Woah, Calvin, slow down, we'll get there," said Rusty, watching his friend carefully.
"I can't Rusty, alright? I just can't," said Calvin, saying no more to his friend and continuing to gather speed. "If you go much faster one of us might be sharing a room with Heath pretty soon," said Rusty, holding onto his armrest as Calvin jerked the car into the right lane.
Calvin ignored Rusty's comment and finally got to the exit, speeding up at the sight of a yellow light and only just narrowly missing the red light. "Calvin, please," Rusty urged, trying to hold himself down in his seat as Calvin sped up the street to the hospital.
"Rusty, he's hurt, okay? I don't want anything to happen to him before I get there. I wouldn't forgive myself if something bad happened to him," said Calvin. "Calvin, I'm sure he'll be fine, besides you two haven't spoke in a long time, I don't know why you're freaking out more than I am," said Rusty as Calvin sped into the parking lot and into a space. He pulled the key out of the ignition quickly and jumped out of the car, slamming his door shut before Rusty had even unbuckled his seat belt.
"Calvin!" Rusty yelled, running after his friend and into the hospital's doors. Calvin had already hit the elevator button, and Rusty got there just in time to slide his tiny frame inside the elevator. He was breathing hard as soon as he got inside the elevator, and Calvin was tapping his foot nervously waiting to get to the third floor.
The elevator doors dinged, and Calvin stepped out onto the third floor, walking as fast as he could to find out where Heath was and how he was doing.
As Calvin ran off, Rusty stepped out of the elevator and opened up his phone. He dialed the number very quickly, but only got Dana's voicemail.
"Hey, it's Dana, I'm not here right now so leave me a message and I'll get back to you!" said Dana's voice, and then Rusty heard a beep.
"Hey Dana, it's Rusty, I'm sorry I didn't come over. One of the brothers is in the hospital so I probably won't be able to be with you tonight, but I'll talk to you tomorrow, bye," said Rusty into his phone. He flipped it shut, silently wondering where Dana was where she couldn't answer her phone.
"Hey Spitter, where's Heath's room?" asked Cappie, putting his hand on Rusty's shoulder. "I don't know, Calvin ran off without even waiting for me," said Rusty, sighing loudly.
"Huh, well, we'll find him, let's go," said Cappie, as the other KT brothers began to follow him."Hey Cap," said Rusty, holding Cappie back a second and waiting for the other brothers to get out of earshot. "What?" asked Cappie, leaning in close to Rusty.
"Is there anything, you know, going on between Heath and Calvin? I mean I thought they were over, but Calvin seems really worried about Heath," said Rusty, looking for an answer in Cappie's eyes.
"Not that I know of, Spitter, but he's your best friend, so..." Cappie said, walking down the hall and away from Rusty. Rusty shoved his phone back into his pocket and went to follow his KT brothers to find Calvin and Heath.
I'm sooo excited about this story. I can't wait to continue it and I can't wait to get your reactions to it. Things are going to get a lot juicier later on so don't forget to come back and check out the rest of the story! I will be updating next week!
