The Butterfly Effect (Rewritten)

Chapter Two - Wishful Thinking

You can live your whole life with a steadfast plan. That is, until an incident comes along and changes everything. Humans don't like to change and yet we're built for it. Every step of our evolution we owe to our ability to adapt over time. Our bones heal. Our wounds fade. We get smarter. We learn or we die. Humans evolved to be motivated by the will to survive. How did we achieve it? Through memory. Memory is what determines our survival. Memory dictates who we are, whether or not we want to remember.

"I asked God for a sign, and a cat pissed on me!"

"I don't know. I'd take the cat piss over Mr. Hale's class any day." Jason shrugged then tossed the tennis ball back to me.

I bent my knees to catch it. "I'm serious, Jace! You know I don't want to leave you, but getting out of this town is the best thing that could happen to me."

"Look," Jason wiped the sweat from his upper lip, "I'm not saying don't go, but maybe sticking around to patch things up with your parents wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

I plopped down on the grass with a huff. The accident happened four months ago, but the events were fresh in my mind. Jason strolled over to join me, offering the ball when he sat. I rolled it between my hands as I spoke.

"What's left for me here, Jace? My mom and sister blame me for the crash. Uncle Ian can't even look me in the eye anymore, my dad dropped off the face of the Earth, and we don't even talk to each other at school because of Harper!"

"Hey, you're the one who doesn't want to try to make nice with her."

"Because she's the freakin' incarnation of Satan!"

"Okay, okay that's beside the point." Jason took the ball back from me and held it between us. "This is you."

"Are you calling me green and hairy?"

Jason threw the ball over the fence. "Now you're gone, landed in the neighbor's yard where their dog is probably tearing you apart."

As if on cue, a low growling rumbled from the other side of the fence.

"Are you trying to say I'm going to regret leaving?"

He ruffled my short-cut hair, making me look all the more like a grumpy little boy. "See, you're a smart girl."

I sighed and rested my head on Jason's shoulder. "I hope you're planning to buy me a new tennis ball."

"All in good time." He took off his baseball cap and placed it on top of my sweaty hair. "You're as red as a tomato, Ems. Sure you don't wanna come inside?"

"Why couldn't you be my brother?" I murmured, watching a white butterfly flutter down to the rose bushes by Jason's back patio.

"I am your brother."

"I mean real brother," I corrected, lifting my head and facing him, "I hate going home to people that hate me. At least if you were there, I'd have someone on my side."

"I'll always be on your side."

"Yeah, but it's different when you're not there."

Jason stood, reached down to grab my hands, and pulled me to my feet. "Go home, little pixie. We have school tomorrow."

On any other occasion, I may have let a smile slip at the nickname Jason started using when I chopped my hair into the so-called "pixie cut," but I wasn't in a light-hearted mood anymore.

"Fine," I removed his hat and used the tips of my toes to slap it back on his head, "but if the house burns down with me inside, you know who to blame."