TAPE 2, SIDE A
tw: sexual harassment, mentions of suicide, bullying, alcohol use
Lizzy: I’m sure at this point everyone has heard of the butterfly effect, right? A butterfly flaps its wings and suddenly there’s a hurricane in the Gulf Coast. You see, this is what we call a chaos theory. One action leads to several reactions, mostly bad. This is where the story truly starts its downfall.
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Flashback
Kieran and Lizzy are on the top of the comic book store.
Lizzy: So listen. That star there, that’s Aquarius. She’s a badass mermaid who is temperamental. Rumors are that she’s dating Scorpio, who is over there, but their relationship is rocky.
Kieran: And how do you know all this?
Lizzy: Of course I have my sources. What’s your star sign, Backpack Boy?
Kieran: Uhhh...Aries.
Lizzy: …oh.
Kieran: What's that supposed to mean?
Lizzy: Nothing! I love Aries. The little ram who shoots out pink wool. She’s really shy, and she’s dating Leo the lion. She says that she’s sorry a lot.
Kieran: That sounds absolutely nothing like me.
Lizzy: Nah. It doesn’t. You can’t shoot pink wool.
A silence falls over them.
Kieran: So umm...you know about the list right? I just wanted to let you know that I think it was really immature of Tori to put that out and it totally wasn’t-
Lizzy: Hey, Kieran, just drop it okay? I don’t wanna talk about it.
Lizzy gets up and brushes herself off.
Lizzy: I’m heading out. I have an essay due tomorrow that I haven’t even started. I’ll see you later!
With a final look, Lizzy walks down the steps.
Kieran: Ugh, stupid! (he smacks himself in the forehead)
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Lizzy: The metaphorical butterfly in this story was the list. But you knew that, didn’t you Tori? Did you know what that list would do? What it would cause?
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Tori is walking down the hallway with her headphones in. She sees Delia, and quickly turns the other direction. She bumps into Kieran.
Tori: Oh, great.
Kieran: Okay. Listen, you and me need to talk.
Tori: Actually, me and you don't need to do anything. Delia told me you have the tapes, what else is there for us to talk about?
Kieran: A lot, actually. Just...meet me at the picnic table after school, okay?
Tori: No.
Kieran: Tori. 5 minutes. That’s it.
Tori: Five minutes. A second longer and you’ll have another bruise on your head.
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Lizzy: They started off with simple glances to begin with. Innocent glances, to see if the list was true.
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Flashback
Lizzy is sitting in class when she hears yet another camera click. She sinks further into her seat and crosses her arms over her chest. The bell rings and she all but sprints out of class.
Boy 1: Damn, that list was right.
Boy 2: What do you think, Double Ds? Triple?
Lizzy crosses her arms even tighter across her chest and tries to walk faster. A boy tries to grab at her chest but she slaps his hands away. Running into the girls’ bathroom, she starts to cry.
Tori: Umm...
Lizzy: Oh fucking lovely.
Tori: I’m s-
Lizzy: Do NOT finish that sentence. Because no you aren’t.
Lizzy jerks open the bathroom door and stomps off down the hallway.
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Lizzy: This was a game to them. My body was the prize. No one looked me in the eye anymore. Only at my chest.
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Kieran is impatiently waiting at the picnic table.
Tori: Timers running. Go.
Kieran: Why'd you do it?
Tori: I’m not doing this. I don’t have an answer for you.
Kieran: No answer? Really?
Tori: It’s really none of your bus-
Kieran: Don’t say it’s none o'f my business.' (he pulls out the tape player) This. This proves it’s my business.
Tori: You need to listen, Kieran. It’s not all about you!
Kieran: You’re acting like you don’t even care!
Tori: (she grabs Kieran by his shirt collar) Don’t say I don’t fucking care. You have no idea how I feel.
Kieran: Then tell me!
Tori: I hate myself every day for what I did to her. I listened to those goddamn tapes twice. I know what I did was wrong, I saw what it did.
Kieran: Then why'd you do it?
Tori: Because...because Delia wouldn’t sleep with me, okay! I thought if I said Lizzy's boobs were better it would piss her off, I just didn’t think that it would do it that much!
Kieran: And you did this without Lizzy's feelings in mind?
Tori: I didn’t...I didn’t think it would’ve gone that far. I didn’t think everyone would start looking at her like that. I gave them that ammo. I fucked up.
Kieran: Yeah. Yeah you did. You fucked up so bad.
Tori: Don’t act like anyone mentioned on the tapes did nothing.
Kieran: I didn’t.
Tori: You think that. You haven’t finished. Everyone did something. All of us.
Tori’s timer goes off.
Tori: Looks like your time is up. I’m leaving.
Tori begins to walk away.
Tori: And Kieran, Lizzy wasn’t this dream girl that you have in your head. The sooner you realize that, the better.
Kieran turns away from Tori to see Lizzy leaning against the school wall. She’s looking at him. He shakes his head and when he looks back up, she’s gone.
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Lizzy: The winds had started to pick up, and the hurricane was coming.
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Flashback
Lizzy is walking the school halls in an oversized sweatshirt and her arms firmly crossed across her chest. There are still comments, and the unwarranted touching. It’s getting harder for her to make the boys stop. She passes Tori in the hallway.
Tori: Lizzy, I-
Lizzy keeps walking and doesn’t pay any attention to Tori. She wipes a tear from her eye.
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Lizzy: You know that moment of anticipation before the thunder hits? Like everything is calm and quiet, but suddenly everything booms? That’s what I was waiting for. The boom.
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Michelle walks into the principal’s office and takes a seat.
Principal Marquis: Mrs. Baker, to what do I owe the pleasure?
Michelle: You know why I’m here, Marquis.
Principal Marquis: Well, Mrs. Baker, since we are currently in a legal battle with you, I’m not able to discuss anything.
Michelle: Just please. Can you tell me if my daughter was acting any different before she died? Please?
Principal Marquis: Mrs. Baker, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave my office. I’m not allowed to discuss this subject matter.
Michelle: My daughter is dead. She killed herself! I would like to know why.
Principal Marquis: I’m sorry, Mrs. Baker. But you did decide to bring the lawsuit against us.
Michelle gives Principal Marquis a look of scorn and walks out of the office almost in tears. She runs into the bathroom. As she’s wiping her face, she sees writing on the wall. She looks closer, and among a multitude of other insults, she sees Lizzy’s name.
Michelle: (to herself) “Lizzy is a slut? Baker is just sleeping with everyone so every guy will like her? I bet she acts depressed and all this shit for attention? She should kill herself?” What is this? Was Lizzy...being bullied?
Michelle takes out her phone and starts taking pictures of all the comments written on the bathroom walls. Dumbfounded, she finds her way back to her daughter’s locker and sees the makeshift memorial the students had created. She picks up the roses.
CC: Beautiful isn’t it? A lot of people come by every day and pay their respects here.
Michelle: Do they?
CC: Yes, everyone here loved Lizzy.
Michelle: Really? Because anyone who knew my daughter knew she hated roses. She thought they were cliche and boring.
Michelle throws the roses down and walks out of the school, leaving CC in shock.
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Lizzy: You got what you wanted Tori. For everyone to see me and see how “better” I was than Delia, physically anyway. And trust me, they let me know it.
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Flashback
Lizzy is about to enter a convenience store but sees Brash and his buddies outside. She puts her hood up over her head and hurriedly runs inside. Lizzy grabs a bag of Ruffles and starts to head towards the counter.
Brash: Baker! Think you could just sneak by?
Lizzy: I wasn’t trying to sneak by anything.
Brash: You are an awful liar, you know?
Brash grabs the bag of chips out of Lizzy’s hands.
Lizzy: Hey!
Brash: Relax, I’m just gonna pay for them. I wanted to see how much they were.
Lizzy: F-fine. Let’s go pay for them.
Lizzy turns around when suddenly she feels two hands grab her chest.
Brash: Damn, Tori wasn't lying.
Horrified, Lizzy snaps her head back with as much force as she can and headbutts Brash. He lets her go.
Brash: Fucking hell! What the fuck?
Lizzy sprints out the door, sobbing.
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Lizzy: And there it was. The hurricane. Category five. I had never felt more...disgusting in my life. Not yet, anyway.
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Principal Marquis and Ms. Sarah are talking in Ms. Sarah’s office.
Principal Marquis: What are we gonna do about this lawsuit?
Ms. Sarah: There's nothing we can do. A girl is dead by her own hand. Her parents aren’t going to give up.
Principal Marquis: Did...did she ever come to you? Give you any indication of what she was about to do?
Ms. Sarah: No. No she didn’t. I would’ve told you if she did.
Principal Marquis: I better go. The wife’s nagging me to get home. She made spaghetti, apparently.
Ms. Sarah: Well, I won’t keep you. Tell her hi for me!
Principal Marquis leaves the office. Ms. Sarah opens her drawer and pulls out a planner. She rips out a page and throws it in the trash can. It says April 13th, 2020.
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Lizzy: It wouldn't be fair of me to completely blame you for everything those boys did, Tori. But you really didn't care about fair when you made the list, did you?
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Kieran is listening to Tori’s tape and following the map on his bike. It brings him to the convenience store that Lizzy had mentioned. He sees Brash outside with his friends, and surprisingly Tori. Glaring at Tori and Brash, he attempts to go into the store.
Brash: Hey, Jensen!
Kieran: What do you want, Brash?
Brash: Nothing. I’m just grabbing some alcohol for the boys. They don’t card here.
Kieran: Oh that sounds so lovely for you. Now if you’ll excuse me-
Brash: Don’t be like that. How about you have a little contest with umm, our lovely lady here! C'mere, Tori!
Tori slowly walks up.
Tori: What?
Brash: Let’s have a lovely little drinking contest with our boy over here.
Tori: I’m really not-
Kieran: I’ll do it.
Kieran shoots a glare at Tori, who does everything not to make eye contact.
Brash: Atta boy! Here, whoever can finish this lovely concoction of beer and vodka first wins!
Kieran spots Katie’s black Camaro behind Tori, which pisses him off even more. Fueled by rage, he angrily cracks open the bottle and starts chugging it. He finishes before Tori even gets a fourth of the way through.
Brash: I’ll be damned, Jensen! You got some skills.
Tori throws her bottle at the wall, shattering it. She turns around and walks off, hands in her pockets. Kieran pushes off Brash and walks up to Katie.
Kieran: What the fuck are you doing here?
Katie: Watching you self-destruct, apparently.
Kieran: I'm listening to your fucking tapes. Why don't you just tell me what good this is? What's on them?
Katie: I told you, I can’t do that. This isn’t my story.
Kieran: Yeah you’ll just keep harassing me about it!
Katie: Keep listening.
Kieran: Would you fuck off already?
Katie shakes her head at Kieran and drives off. Kieran grabs his bike and follows her. He sees her turn down a dark alley, and sees a few other cars down there. Confused, but not dumb, he continues to his house. The alcohol had begun to set in.
Zai: Sweetie, it’s almost 9. Your dinner is getting cold.
Kieran: Hmm...cold. But I'm so hot...
Zai: What?
Kieran: So hungry….(he stumbles into the table and sits down)
Zai: Are you drunk? I smell the alcohol on you! What were you doing?
Kieran: I may be...slightly intoxicated.
Kieran leans over and pukes on the table.
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Lizzy: If you hadn't been so jealous, if you never broke up with Delia, if I had never met you, would I still be alive? Or would this still happen?
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Tori is sitting on the dock of the local lake, staring out into the water. She thought it was about midnight, but she didn’t care.
Tori: You know what, being friends with those two fucking sucked.
Tori takes out her phone, places it on the dock, and dives headfirst into the water.
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Lizzy: The butterfly effect. A chaos theory. One little thing setting off a major event. A series of unfortunate events. Is that what this was? A little butterfly fluttering its wings harmlessly, unaware of the extreme damage it’s about to cause? Maybe. But if Delia was one half of the rising action, you certainly shot the roller coaster up even further, Tori. But who is next? The next contributing factor to my downfall? Make sure you keep listening.
END OF CHAPTER 3