College Fund

//I Came To See One Butterfly In Particular//

"Aw, Cass, I'm so happy you are finally out of that boring hospital!" Bria squealed.

It was a few days later, and after a few more meetings with Doctor Saunders where we tried to find the 'real me', I had finally been cleared to go back home, er, to Sage's house. It felt like a breath of fresh air to be out of that stuffy, sterilized hospital. While I had been trapped inside that hellhole, Sage, Margaux and Bria had visited the Eiffel Tower. Honestly, Bria had been so excited about it I think she would have burst if she had to wait even one day longer. So, to celebrate my release from the hospital, we decided to visit the butterfly conservatory she had been talking about before. I didn't mind missing out on the Eiffel Tower thing one bit, mostly because going there would involve a car ride, while the conservatory was within walking distance.

It did, however, stir up unwanted memories of Eric, who I still had not confided about to Doctor Saunders, though he did ask numerous questions about my love life, which I skillfully avoided. I missed Eric calling me Butterfly, and I missed the butterflies that swarmed my stomach whenever he was around.

"Here we are!" Margaux announced as we turned the street corner to face the large, modern building. "La Conservatoire de Papillions. I hope you're excited!"

I followed Margaux into the building, my mind drifting away to memories of Eric and wondering what he was up to back in Mapletown. Had he found another girl? How long would it take him to forget about me?

The inside of the conservatory was a tropical paradise. Everywhere I looked there were colourful plants, rushing water, and Caribbean music. Oh, and butterflies, of course. Those were everywhere too.

My eyes were darting back and forth, continually getting distracted by all the different butterflies. Everywhere I turned, there was another one in a different colour, size or shape. The thing with butterflies was that they never stayed in one place for long. It seemed like as soon as I noticed one, it took off and disappeared within a second.

Sort of like how I took off on Eric.

It annoyed me that even when I was in a place full of brightness and happiness like this butterfly conservatory, the negative thoughts would still follow me. I felt like a dog chasing its tail. I chased my happiness to England, but all I felt was more sadness and anger, especially toward my friendship with Bria. So again, I chased my happiness here, France, a place I had always dreamed of visiting, but again, happiness was just out of reach. I was beginning to doubt if I'd ever truly feel happy again.

With all the thinking I'd been doing, I lost track of Margaux, Sage and Bria. I mean, they had to be somewhere amongst all these butterflies, but I had no idea what area of the conservatory they were in. I sighed and began to retrace my steps, keeping my eye out for the chopsticks Bria had stuck in her hair this morning.

"I thought I'd find you here, Butterfly."

I jumped and whipped around to see Eric, of all people, shuffling his feet and holding a single rose in his hand.

"Eric?"

He remained a safe distance away from me, probably waiting to see what kind of a reaction he was getting before daring to step closer. "Hey Butterfly. I missed you."

"What are you doing here?"

A million different emotions were running through my head. Part of me wanted to hug him and kiss him and never let him go, I mean, he flew to Paris to see me! But at the same time, part of me wanted to punch him for not telling me he was coming because I hated surprises. Then, there was always the thought of just ignoring him completely.

"Isn't it obvious?" He took a hesitant step closer. "I came to see the butterflies."

I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Is that so? I'm pretty sure we have these in Canada."