The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 8

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"He never knew a single second could be expanded into something timeless and so archaic. It shook him to his core – there were no words for it."

Dianna Hardy, The Sands Of Time

Silence.

An awkward silence filled the room, the sheer weight of it making Garfield feel like he was about to collapse right then and there. But that would only have been more awkward. Garfield had never been one to enjoy silence. As a child, his ADD constantly had him moving, jumping, talking, anything but standing awkwardly in a silent room with three people he barely knew (even though he knew Raven's other, ahem, assets very well).

"So... Um, I'm just going to..." He pointed his thumb backward and started to step away.

"Not so fast!" Raven exclaimed, her intimidating, stern tone making him stand up straight and wide-eyed like she was an army general or something. "Kory," she simply stated, and Garlied glanced at the red-haired beauty who'd been the queen of the engagement party some time prior. "This is Garfield."

"Gar," he muttered, but Raven didn't bother to listen.

"He was the guy I mentioned earlier," she explained, keeping her tone cool and collected. Then she turned to Richard, her glare nearly burning a laser through him. "We are not dating."

"Oh!" Kory chuckled. "Silly me! Of course, this is Gar! Karen said your name back at the restaurant!" She enthusiastically offered a hand, and he followed her lead, almost getting his hand ripped out by the girl's surprisingly strong grip.

"Eh-heh." Garfield sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that's me."

"Wait..." Kory furrowed her eyebrows. "Does that mean that when the guy said they were trying to cheer you up after sleeping with a heartless bitch he was referring to-" She quickly shut her mouth after noticing Raven's look of horror and Garfield's tomato face.

"Oh." Kory smiled, somewhat awkwardly and somewhat amused.

"Alright, TMI..." Richard whispered under his breath. "I guess since I'm a host..." he turned to his fiancee still looking puzzled. "You know what. I'm tired. Just, please don't make a mess of the house Kory," he said before walking off.

"Please excuse Dick. He didn't realize we were having a get-together," Kory told Garfield.

He nodded. "Um, we can still cancel it, you know. I really didn't mean for this to get out of hand, and I feel kind of bad considering it was kind of my fault."

"Oh please no! If anything that was all Bee! You know how crazy she is," Korry laughed.

"So where are the others?" Raven asked Garfield, her tone rather ambivalent.

"Oh, they're-" he turned around and was promptly interrupted by the guys who were carrying in a cooler.

"Damn, your front yard is huge!" Vic yelled out as him and Roy lowered the cooler and took a moment to recover their breath. Meanwhile, Wally nonchalantly waltzed in behind them while swinging the car keys with his pinky.

"Where's the party at? I don't hear any music," Wally proceeded to express.

"The party's just getting started!" Karen let out from the top of the stairs as she walked down with Jade by her side.

"Woo!" Roy and Wally joined her in her cheers.

"Friends! Let's bring in the cooler to the kitchen and all meet in the living room!" Kory announced.