confusion Iâd seen the day before. The frustrated look, like she sensed something she couldnât quite grasp yet.
âWhy canât you second-guess history? I mean, if you could go back and change things so that the U.S. was ready to fight earlier â¦â
Ms. Paloma sat on the edge of her desk. âBecause events are intertwined in ways we cannot always see, Cassie. Sometimes small things can make huge differences. You know, they say that a single butterfly, beating its wings in China, may affect the way the wind blows here in our country. A single butterfly beating its wings may make a tiny change that becomes a bigger change that becomes a tornado. The world isnât like arithmetic. It isnât just one plus one equals two. Itâs more complicated than that.â
And then the oddest thing happened. Ms. Paloma looked right at me. Right into my eyes.
âMuch more complicated than that,â she said. âA single butterfly ⦠a single butterfly ⦠a single butterfly â¦â
The hair on the back of my neck was tingling. Everyone was looking at her like she was crazy.
Suddenly Ms. Paloma shook her head, like she was popping out of a trance. She smiled a confused smile. âOkay, well, anyway, you all have the reading assignments.â
The bell rang and I practically jerked up out of my seat.
Cassie threaded her way through the kids who were rushing out of the room.
âOkay, tell me that wasnât weird,â Cassie whispered.
âI thought maybe I was imagining it,â I said. âBesides, who knows whatâs weird anymore? Iâm sitting there waiting for the ⦠you know who ⦠to suddenly zap us out of here.â
Cassie nodded. âSo why hasnât he?â
Out in the fast-moving crush of bodies in the hall, we made our way to our lockers.
âI donât know,â I said as I spun my combination lock. âWe decided to say yes. Weâre giving him what he wants.â
I popped my locker door open.
âUnless â¦â Cassie said.
âUnless maybe that wasnât the answer he wanted,â I finished her thought.
âBut itâs nuts,â Cassie said, frowning. âEverything he did made it look like he wanted us to say yes. He appears the first time right as weâre about to be swallowed by a â¦â She looked around to make sure no one could overhear. âJust as we were about to be swallowed. I mean, come on. Obviously he must have figured weâd want to bail.â
âWe might have,â I said. âExcept we saw that dropshaft. So we thought we could escape. Otherwise â¦â I stopped talking. I stared at Cassie. She stared back.
âHe showed us the dropshaft!â Cassie said.
âWhy?â I wondered aloud. âWhy? What is he doing with us? He appears when weâre desperate. He says he doesnât interfere and gives us a choice. Then he lets us see a way out. Whatâs that all about?â
âThen he gives us another chance. He shows us the future. He shows us ⦠you, basically. You in the future. So we know for sure that we must have decided to stay and fight. And we know we lost. And all of that means we have to say yes and let him take us away. So why have I been feeling like I was missing something?â
The warning bell for next period rang.
âThis is insane, as Marco would say.â
Cassie laughed. âYeah. I have gym next period. At any moment I might suddenly be swooped away to another planet, but in the meantime I have to go play volleyball.â
I watched her walk away. Then I hurried to my next class.
A single butterfly, I thought.
But how is the butterfly supposed to know when to beat her wings?
I was back in the underground Yeerk pool. Trapped. Stuck to the Taxxonâs tongue. But not a cockroach. I was myself, in my human body, only tiny. Stuck. About to die.
Ax was talking.
âWhy canât you second-guess history? I mean, if you could go back and change things so that the U.S. was ready to fight earlier â¦â
Ms. Paloma sat on the edge of her desk. âBecause events are intertwined in ways we cannot always see, Cassie. Sometimes small things can make huge differences. You know, they say that a single butterfly, beating its wings in China, may affect the way the wind blows here in our country. A single butterfly beating its wings may make a tiny change that becomes a bigger change that becomes a tornado. The world isnât like arithmetic. It isnât just one plus one equals two. Itâs more complicated than that.â
And then the oddest thing happened. Ms. Paloma looked right at me. Right into my eyes.
âMuch more complicated than that,â she said. âA single butterfly ⦠a single butterfly ⦠a single butterfly â¦â
The hair on the back of my neck was tingling. Everyone was looking at her like she was crazy.
Suddenly Ms. Paloma shook her head, like she was popping out of a trance. She smiled a confused smile. âOkay, well, anyway, you all have the reading assignments.â
The bell rang and I practically jerked up out of my seat.
Cassie threaded her way through the kids who were rushing out of the room.
âOkay, tell me that wasnât weird,â Cassie whispered.
âI thought maybe I was imagining it,â I said. âBesides, who knows whatâs weird anymore? Iâm sitting there waiting for the ⦠you know who ⦠to suddenly zap us out of here.â
Cassie nodded. âSo why hasnât he?â
Out in the fast-moving crush of bodies in the hall, we made our way to our lockers.
âI donât know,â I said as I spun my combination lock. âWe decided to say yes. Weâre giving him what he wants.â
I popped my locker door open.
âUnless â¦â Cassie said.
âUnless maybe that wasnât the answer he wanted,â I finished her thought.
âBut itâs nuts,â Cassie said, frowning. âEverything he did made it look like he wanted us to say yes. He appears the first time right as weâre about to be swallowed by a â¦â She looked around to make sure no one could overhear. âJust as we were about to be swallowed. I mean, come on. Obviously he must have figured weâd want to bail.â
âWe might have,â I said. âExcept we saw that dropshaft. So we thought we could escape. Otherwise â¦â I stopped talking. I stared at Cassie. She stared back.
âHe showed us the dropshaft!â Cassie said.
âWhy?â I wondered aloud. âWhy? What is he doing with us? He appears when weâre desperate. He says he doesnât interfere and gives us a choice. Then he lets us see a way out. Whatâs that all about?â
âThen he gives us another chance. He shows us the future. He shows us ⦠you, basically. You in the future. So we know for sure that we must have decided to stay and fight. And we know we lost. And all of that means we have to say yes and let him take us away. So why have I been feeling like I was missing something?â
The warning bell for next period rang.
âThis is insane, as Marco would say.â
Cassie laughed. âYeah. I have gym next period. At any moment I might suddenly be swooped away to another planet, but in the meantime I have to go play volleyball.â
I watched her walk away. Then I hurried to my next class.
A single butterfly, I thought.
But how is the butterfly supposed to know when to beat her wings?
I was back in the underground Yeerk pool. Trapped. Stuck to the Taxxonâs tongue. But not a cockroach. I was myself, in my human body, only tiny. Stuck. About to die.
Ax was talking.
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