(A.N.) For those who don't know, the butterfly effect is where a minor change is made to a scenario, producing two completely different outcomes. In this chapter, the first scenario is shown, and in the second chapter, the second scenario will be shown. Obviously, it will be the same setup. Hopefully that erases any confusion. Enjoy!
Cody awoke to the sound of singing.
This struck him as odd, because the karaoke machine TDA's Playa de Losers had was now somewhere in the belly of a shark, thanks to Izzy's "scientific experiments". So with congratulations to the crazy redhead, she now found out that you actually can't make a shark sing just by feeding him a karaoke machine and a CD with eighties' classics. Who knew?
Slowly, Cody's fingers flew to his forehead, where sure enough a pattern of square indents was marked in his forehead. Yet again he had fallen asleep on his keyboard in the café with a half-downed jug of Mountain Dew by his side.
He yawned, and stood upright. Rubbing his exhausted eyes, he made his way out of the café into the open outdoors. From the look of things, it was around afternoon.
"Why did no one come wake me up…?" Cody wondered to himself. "The curse of unpopularity…"
"Will someone get me down from here?!" Noah shouted, interrupting Cody's bemoans. Beside the pool, the cynic was being hoisted around on a chair by Izzy, while the other campers sang something that sounded suspiciously like the 'Happy Birthday' song.
Reverting back to his cheery self, Cody ran over to the miniature party.
"Hey guys!" He greeted. "What's happening? Party in the hiz-ouse?" Admittedly, those were two somewhat stupid questions with obvious answers, but he couldn't quite come up with something more original at that particular moment.
"Hey Co--" Trent began to greet, but stopped himself. "Dude, what happened? Fall asleep on a waffle iron?"
"Pretty close," Cody replied, chuckling weakly. "So, uh, I guess it's…"
"It's Noah's birthday!" Katie informed Cody, squealing alongside Sadie. "Sure, it took a little convincing…"
"I agreed to nothing!" Noah yelled. He was still being hoisted around unwillingly by Izzy, who proceeded to trip and accidentally dump Noah in the pool.
"Oh come on, dude!" Geoff exclaimed. "It's a party! Aren't you like, super stoked Izzy found out about your sweet sixteenth and we could throw you a celebration this totally awesome?" Noah's head poked out from the water's surface.
"Oh right," he grumbled, scrambling to get back on dry ground. "I can't think of a better way I'd like to spend my time."
"Isn't this a bit of a waste of time?" Courtney asked Bridgette, an eyebrow raised. "It's not like he's gonna actually enjoy this. I mean, he's unenthusiastic and overcritical about everything and everyone. Which, in retrospect, would explain why he has no romantic relationships—past and present."
"I'm still in earshot you know," Noah pointed out from a few feet away, slapping his forehead all the while.
"Well, at least there's cake, right?" Bridgette laughed. The surfer girl's pale green eyes widened. "Oh jeez, please don't tell me Izzy has blown that up too."
"Not yet!" Izzy assured her, hiding an unusually large amount of fireworks behind her back.
"Too?" Cody echoed Bridgette, eyeing Trent in confusion and fear.
"Don't ask," was Trent's only sighed reply. The campers all took their seats after that around a large circular table. Noah attempted to run away, but Izzy grabbed him by the collar and forced him to sit and stay.
"We got you presents, too!" Tyler announced proudly. He and the other ex-campers whipped out various presents and pushed them towards Noah.
"Which one do you want to open first, eh?" Ezekiel questioned. Noah sighed.
"Ugh, I don't know. Should I even care?"
"You better care, dipstick," Eva growled as she slammed her fist on the table. "It's enough I had to come here--"
"Indeed it is," Courtney cut her off, rubbing her temples in irritation.
"Hmph," Eva grunted. She glared at Noah. "Just open a present already or I'll check them all at your head and see which one lands in your hands on rebound."
"Wouldn't want that, now would we…?" Noah muttered. With another sigh, he surveyed the various presents on the table. He reached for one, but then stopped when he saw a Monarch slowly fly past him, landing on a gift a few inches to the left of his first pick. It distracted his gaze, and without giving it much thought he reached for the Monarch-populated present instead.
"Alright, shoo, you conveniently placed Danaus Plexippus," the cynic ordered, waving his hand in an attempt to lead away the butterfly.
"I'm guessing you're the kind of guy who reads a science book like a romance novel…" Tyler said slowly as he shook his head.
"I don't have much of a social life, okay?" Noah grumbled irritably.
"We figured that one on our own," Eva assured him, rolling her eyes.
"For party guests, you're not exactly bestowing that 'birthday cheer'."
"Just hurry up and open the gift!" Izzy squealed. "It's mine! It's mine!" Noah shrugged, and unwrapped the paper. Inside was a snow globe with the set of TDA inside it. On the outside of the globe, written messily in a many-colored sharpie was the message 'Happy Sweet Sixteenth, Noah!'
"Great," Noah said sarcastically. "A cheap, thoughtless gift from the souvenir shop. Just what I've always wanted." Izzy sniffled, insulted, and after a short moment's pause, Bridgette was the first one to speak up.
"Did you forget that Izzy was the one to throw the party in the first place?" She questioned angrily. "What other gifts do you expect us to find when we've been stuck here so long? Isn't it the thought that counts?" Noah, unsurprisingly, rolled his eyes.
"Don't give me that 'holier-than-thou' crap, Blondie."
Courtney was the one to come to her friend's rescue first.
"You know," the brunette growled testily. "Bridgette's right. We throw you this whole party and we haven't gotten an ounce of gratitude. Honestly, does it go against every moral fiber of your body to not be a total jackass all the time?"
"Yes."
"Ugh!" Courtney groaned. "Okay, forget this! This is idiotic!" She stomped off.
"Ooh…" Ezekiel whimpered to Tyler as the former tapped his fingers together nervously. "This isn't going well. I think we might want to leave before it gets too serious, eh. It's a fight about to happen…"
"I agree," Tyler muttered. "Let's get out of here before it gets--"
"What makes you two perfect, anyways?" Noah questioned suddenly, eyeing Bridgette. Tyler moaned, and sunk into his chair.
"Dude's digging his own watery eco-friendly grave," the jock concluded. He inched out of his chair, and Ezekiel copied the action. Then, slowly, the two ran far away before they could be lassoed back into the fight. Katie and Sadie looked at each other, thinking the same thing, and ran away hand in hand as well.
"What?" Bridgette questioned, surprised at Noah's query.
"I said, what makes you two so perfect? You were the first voted off TDA; you fought all throughout TDA Aftermath, not to mention the countless list of screw-ups in TDI. Shall I name them?"
"Noah, seriously, stop," Trent replied instantly in a disapproving tone. Cody, besides him, nodded weakly. So much for a party.
"You know what?" For a second, Bridgette sounded like she was about to go on a rant, but she closed her mouth. After a while, she stood up. "I think I'm gonna head. See you guys later."
"Aw man…" Geoff mumbled, disappointed with how the party turned out. "Bridgette! Wait!"
Eva left after a few seconds as well, and Noah was quick to follow in the opposite direction, leaving his unopened presents on the table. Trent, sighing, shot an apologetic look towards the final two partygoers as he left. It was just Cody and Izzy left at the table.
"You okay?" Cody asked, inching towards the redhead.
"Huh?" Izzy asked dizzily. She seemed to snap out of a trance, and then laughed nervously. "Oh yeah, fine! Happy as a…a…" She crossed her arms. "Damn it, I can't even think of a good saying from my Scottish ancestors!"
"That's okay," Cody laughed. His expression became sympathetic. "Hey, don't let what Noah said get you down, ok? Sorry he acted like a…like a…"
"Tootsie Farklepants?" offered Izzy.
"I don't know what that is, but hey, whatever works!" Cody grinned. "You know what though? Maybe I should talk to Noah…"
"Can I come?" Izzy asked.
"Sure!"
"Can I smack him on the head?"
"Uh…I'd prefer if you didn't."
"Oh. Never mind then, I don't think it'd be quite as fun for me," Izzy mused. She paused. "You know, I tried to make Noah something at first instead. A carving…thing…of the bear from Wawanakwa! But I messed it up. At the last moment, too," She sighed. "He didn't even look at the bottom of the snow globe."
Curious, Cody picked up the snow globe and turned it over. Taped to the bottom was a picture of the twenty-two campers from the very first day they met on the Dock of Shame.
"That's really nice, Izzy," Cody complemented her.
"You wouldn't believe the trouble I had to go through to get that!" Izzy exclaimed. "I had to learn how to use and download stuff off of the internet! But I found out that not everyone on the internet is a creepy psycho killer…so that helped. I wouldn't want to have to cyber-bitch-slap everyone I met there."
"Well, that's good…" Cody said awkwardly, not sure what he could add to that. He smiled once again at Izzy, stood up, and walked away.
As he did so, he mapped out the situation in his head. He was about to attempt to convert the sarcastic, uncaring cynic to a much happier lifestyle.
"Well, I don't see him frolicking in flowers anytime soon…" Cody thought to himself. "But it's worth a try, right?"
One can hope.
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"She went that way!"
"Noooo, you're wrong Sadie! She went that way!"
"Ugh, you like, never respect my opinion!"
Geoff, who had been waiting patiently for directions, decided to step in. Even though he had been following Bridgette, Bridgette didn't notice him, and was moving way too fast. Before he knew it, Geoff had lost track of her.
"Let's just chill, ok?" he offered. "Just really try to remember…did she go right…or left?"
The two girls weren't completely compliant yet, and they just glared at each other.
"In fact…are you sure you even saw her?" If they didn't actually see her, there wasn't much point in pressing them for info, Geoff concluded to himself.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Katie muttered. "Sadie was too busy daydreaming about Justin."
"You were too!" Sadie exploded back.
"Yeah but…with me, it could actually happen!"
Sadie gasped.
"How DARE you!"
Geoff groaned. Those two were long gone from an actual point of sanity by now.
"Knowing Bridgette, she probably just went back to the indoor Jacuzzi," a new voice spoke up. Geoff turned around, surprised, for it was neither Katie nor Sadie who made the rational conclusion.
"Oh hey, Courtney!" Geoff greeted. The CIT was standing close by, a cell-phone in one hand, a book in the other. "Yeah…you're probably right there. Why didn't I think of that earlier?"
"Cause you were too busy talking to those two," Courtney replied, nodding towards the still-arguing Katie and Sadie. "You lose IQ points just by hearing them talk."
Geoff, ignoring the insult Courtney had made, thanked her quickly and started running towards the beach. On the way, he passed Ezekiel and Tyler playing basketball.
"Check this out!" Tyler boasted, dribbling in front of the home-schooled one. He managed to get by Ezekiel, and dribble up beside the hoop. Making a big deal out of it, he dramatically took a shot…only to get an air ball.
"I'm better at my free-throws," Tyler explained, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Ezekiel grinned.
"'Course you are, eh."
Geoff waved at the two, and continued his path across the resort, all the way to the other side of the hotel, where the Jacuzzi was. Once he reached his destination, he opened the door, and walked inside, nervous but hopeful to comfort Bridgette.
Courtney was right—Bridgette was there, changed into her swimsuit, her eyes closed, and the majority of her body submerged in the bubbling water.
"Hey, Bridge," Geoff said softly, sitting on the edge of the Jacuzzi with his feet dangling in it. Bridgette slowly opened her eyes, and gave a bit of a forced smile to Geoff.
"Hey," she replied.
"You okay?" Geoff asked.
"No," Bridgette whispered. She was staring up at the ceiling. The two were silent for a few minutes, until Bridgette leaned forwards, her gaze settling on Geoff.
"Do we just look like idiots on TV, Geoff?" Bridgette questioned hoarsely. "Making out all the time, the trips, the falls, both of us looking eliminated on the same day…I mean really, are we that bad?"
"Definitely not, Bridge!" Geoff exclaimed. "We stuck it out far last season too, remember? They let us host our own show!"
"Which we argued in," Bridgette mumbled.
"Bridge, every couple argues sometime."
Bridgette sighed.
"It doesn't make it easier."
"Yeah…" Geoff agreed. "But nothing's gonna like, be easier if we look at the world the way Noah looks at it! We gotta keep a positive outlook! Look at what we have, not what we…err…don't have!"
"And the make out sessions? We've been ridiculed for that an awful lot," Bridgette muttered.
"Y'know, me and my buds did some pretty stuff back in the day…"
"'Back in the day'? You're seventeen, Geoff."
"Well, back in the not-so-long-ago day then!" Geoff laughed. "What I mean is, you gotta do what makes you happy! And yeah, sometimes people will like, insult you for it and stuff…but that's okay! If you don't want to do it then, well, that's okay too! Like I said, whatever makes you happy."
Bridgette smiled.
"Thanks, Geoff. That actually makes me feel better."
"Awesome!" Geoff proclaimed. He paused for a brief moment, and then stood up quickly, an idea apparently forming. "Oh, oh, I got it! Stay right here!"
Geoff dashed out of the Jacuzzi room for a moment, and curious, Bridgette waited. In less then five minutes, Geoff came in, struggling with Noah's large uneaten cake in his arms.
"Can't let it go to waste, right?" Geoff joked.
"Waste not, want not," Bridgette agreed, grinning. "You didn't bring any forks, silly."
"Whoops," Geoff said, embarrassed. "Uh, mind eating with your hands?" Bridgette tilted her head.
"Is that…chocolate cake?"
"Yup!"
"No need to worry then, I'd eat it with my hands tied behind my back."
Feeling a little childish, Bridgette grabbed a fistful of cake, and ate it, still smiling widely at Geoff.
"C'mere you," She snickered, pulling on his hand towards the Jacuzzi.
"But Bridge, I don't have my swimsuit on!" Geoff complained, unable to hide his grin.
"Yeah, but I feel lonely eating cake by myself in the Jacuzzi."
Eventually, Geoff fell into the Jacuzzi, alongside a laughing Bridgette. The two pulled the platter of cake onto their laps, eating the cake together.
After a while, the two fell asleep, with Bridgette's head lying on Geoff's shoulder.
Once they awoke, the passing-by pool boy was given no explanation to why there was a half-eaten chocolate cake at the bottom of the Jacuzzi. He decided not to ask.
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Cody paced the hotel hallway, debating whether or not just to abort the mission and check to see if that cake was still there. He glanced at Izzy's snow globe that was still in his hands.
"JUST DO IT, MORON!" Eva shouted at him from inside the room next to Noah's. Wondering how Eva even knew what he was planning; Cody sighed, and knocked on the door.
Noah opened the door a crack.
"Hello?" he asked, raising one thin eyebrow.
"Uh…hi. I was wondering if I could…talk to you?" the last part came out as a squeak. "Can I come in?"
"No."
"If you don't let me in, I'll just stand her all night, knocking," Cody bluffed. Noah rolled his eyes, exasperated.
"Fine. If you must."
Cody awkwardly squeezed past Noah, and the latter closed the door behind them. The cynic crossed his arms.
"I assume you came here to lecture me about the importance of not being a jerk to the world," Noah guessed.
"Nooo…" Cody said innocently. Noah narrowed his eyes. "Okay, yes. But honestly, look at this." He turned the snow globe over to the picture on the other side.
"Sentimental," Noah said plainly. "But I couldn't care less. In fact, I wouldn't care if they made me a gift that was made out of friendship and love. I just don't care."
"But that's the problem!" Cody objected. "You don't care, and you're gonna leave here friendless!"
"Nothing new, then," Noah said, indifferent. That caught Cody by surprise, and Noah continued before Cody could pitch something in. "And before you say how much you want me to convert, and how I'm not benefiting by my cynical act, I'll go ahead and say it again: I don't care what you guys think of me."
"And because of that," Noah added. "I don't want to be friends with any of you. So, save the sanctimonious speech, and just leave."
Cody blinked a few times, and unsure what else to say, just left instead. He leaned against the railing outside, staring not at the view of the resort it gave, but rather, still at the snow globe. He sighed, staring at the glass. He should've known—just a lost cause.
He turned the snow globe around in his hands, thinking it all over.
Eventually, he just closed his eyes.
"What could've I done differently?" he wondered to himself. "What else could I have said? Maybe if the day had gone just a little bit differently…maybe…but obviously I couldn't help Noah change his mind—who could?"
As he turned his gaze away from the view of the resort—he could swear that from his peripherals, he saw a flutter of orange wings.
Or perhaps, it was a flash of orange hair from a fellow ex-camper.
But when Cody turned his head, it was gone.
(A.N.) Part one is over, part two is coming next! A very big "thank you" to Angel360-Devil0, who was my beta-reader. I wasn't so sure about this story when I first made it, but I feel a bit more confident with it now.
Next chapter: Same setup, one minor change, a whole new outcome. Will Cody successfully change Noah? Will Geoff still be able to calm Bridgette? Will Izzy have some sort of big role in the next chapter? And will the other characters even have some sort of significance at all?
Who knows?
Wait, I do, but that's beside the point.
On a completely unrelated note—man oh man, Ludo just went up a hundred points in my book. I stumbled across their Broken Bride CD, and I can't stop listening to it! Such an amazing, eerie storyline with awesome songs…heh…my taste in music is weird, though.
Thanks for reading!