WARNING BEFORE YOU START READING: This story contains graphic depictions of gore, violence, death, and paranoia. Some of the content may be triggering. Please read with that in mind. I sincerely apologize for any disturbances I may cause.

Across a Sea: Chapter One

There was a smile gracing his face.

Tweek idly played with his eraser, anxiously ticking every so often as Mr. Garrison droned on in the background. Beneath the desk, Clyde passed him a sheet of paper. They'd been passing notes all class, going on about how funny Eric Cartman looked with braces, how cool Token's brand new car was (his parents coughed up a vehicle for him as soon as he hit sixteen), how much they liked the new Pokemon game. Mr. Garrison didn't care at that point in the school year, though he had at one point commented on how he thought it was stupid that they passed physical notes instead of texting each other. Tweek was too nervous about the government tracking his texts, though, so he rarely texted anyone. Besides, his hands were too shaky to properly text - he could barely write straight as it was!

Clyde didn't seem deterred by his bad handwriting, though, and the two giggled as they wrote back and forth. To the other desk beside Tweek, Craig Tucker stared listlessly into space. Tweek spared him a glance, wondering what he was thinking of and feeling at that particular moment in time. Craig was a fickle guy on a general basis, but he'd been a changed man ever since his sister was hit by a car a year ago. Stephen Stotch, who had been arguing with his son, Butters Stotch, hadn't been paying enough attention to where he was going and ended up hitting young Ruby. She died on the way to the hospital, and ever since that fateful day, Craig had become strange.

Before that time, Craig was closed off and reserved, very independent and introverted. When his sister died, he had become more needy towards his friends, never wanting to take them for granted. Tweek never minded the attention; he and Craig were great friends, best friends even. Tweek's other best friend was none other than Clyde Donovan, the boy he was passing notes with.

Clyde was an outgoing, emotional, extroverted, and a bit of a whiner. Tweek didn't mind that either. It was nice to feel like he wasn't the only one that freaked out over the smallest things. When Clyde cried, Tweek did his best to comfort him, even though he knew it was something that would pass within minutes. Sometimes Clyde just had an abundance of emotions and he needed to let them out. Tweek understood.

The conversation in their notes veered away from how Clyde could forge his mother's signature easily for a moment when Clyde asked him a strange question.

Have you ever taken a psychology class?

Tweek's first reaction was to note that it was an odd question, but he didn't think much of it. No, why?

But his response wasn't as quick as Clyde's last ones were. He seemed to put a lot of thought into what he was writing.

Did you know there's this whole thing where people only see what they want to see? Like if a little kid sees a monster under their bed, it's because they had been thinking of monsters, not because there really is one.

This made Tweek smile. Sometimes Clyde tried to reassure him that his paranoias were invalid. Although he was perfectly confident that sometimes aliens did control what people around him were saying and that the government did put cameras in his refrigerator, he appreciated the sentiment.

Class ended rather abruptly, and all the kids flooded into the hallways, ready to head to the next period. Tweek and Clyde walked with Craig to their locker, the three of them idly chatting about whatever came to mind. Craig was going on about his two guinea pigs, Stripe II and Pecan, and how they were getting along better than they used to.

As soon as Craig opened his locker, a note fell out, fluttering to the floor. Craig glanced at it in interest. "What's this?" He muttered as he bent down to pick it up.

"Dude, sweet," Clyde attempted to peek over his shoulder. "Did you get someone's number?"

Craig's brows furrowed as he read the note, and Tweek watched as he visibly stiffened. "Wh-what is it?" Tweek twitched, pulling at his fingers.

"It says, 'I'm coming for you, Tucker'..." He muttered, frowning deeply.

Tweek got a glimpse at the note, seeing how the words were scrawled in black pen. The words had been gone over several times, as though whoever had written them was meticulous about how their note was read. Tweek let out a shrill gasp and a soft chirp of fear, twitching violently. Clyde put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to soothe him, his playful expression now completely dissolved into seriousness.

"That's creepy." Clyde stated dryly. "But it's probably just someone messing with you, dude." He slapped Craig on the back gently.

Craig turned towards him, looking him in the eyes, before he crumpled the note and pocketed it. "...You're right."

Clyde watched the note disappear into his pocket, before Tweek yelped again, tugging at his hair.

"Oh sweet Jesus! You can't just brush it off like that, man! What if someone wants to kidnap you and sell you into p-prostitution?" He winced as he trembled at the very thought of poor Craig being subjected to such abuse.

Craig rose a brow. "Not everyone wants to sell someone else into prostitution, Tweek."

Clyde tugged Tweek's hands away from his hair, before he seemed to glance down the hallway and pale. "Uh... Guys? Look who's staring us down."

Tweek and Craig turned to see none other than Butters Stotch at the opposing end of the hallway. He was staring at them with a blank expression plastered to his visage, books clutched protectively to his chest. He seemed to notice them staring, because he jumped, and then spun around and fast-walked away.

"Weird," Clyde muttered.

Tweek shrieked, nodding. "O-oh God, why was he staring at us?"

Craig was silent as he sullenly shut his locker. His voice was disquieted as he began to walk down the hallway. "...We're going to be late."

Clyde and Tweek exchanged looks, before following behind their other friend. They knew the Stotches were a sensitive subject for Craig. They walked behind him quietly, and Tweek's thoughts were a mess of concerns. Who sent that note to Craig? What did they want with him? Why was Butters staring at them? Was Butters angry at Craig because Craig's sister was the reason that his dad was sent to jail? What if it was actually Butters' dad who had sent that note from jail to give to Butters to give to Craig because maybe the whole thing wasn't an accident and maybe he just really hated the Tucker family? Or were there ghosts behind this whole ordeal?

"Jesus Christ, way too much pressure!" Tweek nearly sobbed out.

Clyde put a hand on his back, smiling at him. "Don't worry, man. It's all going to be just fine."

Tweek looked into his eyes, and he genuinely believed him.