When it comes to mornings I'm pretty sure that nobody likes them, but Mondays are just so much worse than the others. It gets so bad that I'm pretty sure my mind goes to autopilot, since this morning I've someone transported myself from my bed to the bus stop in what felt like 3 seconds flat.
This has stopped seeming strange to me. To others it might be a hindrance, losing an hour of their day to their boring everyday routine but for me it's really the best I hope for, I live in South Park. For those of you who don't know my High school is pretty much in the worst town in America, where rednecks roam the streets and if you wanted to do something not mind numbingly boring for a change you would end up either in another country saving the world from giant hamsters or in hospital for the sake of five dollars and a really stupid bet.
Yep, in terms of fucked up places in the world my towns pretty much the worst, so you wouldn't blame me for wanting to get out of this hell hole as soon as I finish High school, in fact, most days the thought of actually escaping the cast iron grip that this place has on me is the only thing keeping me flipping the retards that live here the bird, rather than smashing their fucking teeth in like I would prefer. "Dude, open your ears I said Hello!"
I'm slapped out of my daydreaming, but after I realise who's in front of me I wish id just ignored him, "Oh, yeah hey Clyde."
Clyde furrows his brow once he realises I'm flipping him off, making me feel a slight bit happier about my morning.
Let me get something clear right from the start, I like Clyde a lot. To be honest Token and himself are probably the only guys out of the whole school I would call my friends, but I still get pissed of at him way too easy. I don't know what it is about the kid but every time he says something totally fucking retarded or tells me about how one of his dates go I really just want to tell him to leave me the fuck alone and stop bugging me with the crap.
Despite this, he rally doesn't mean to be and I guess that is the only reason I cut hi so much more slack than everyone else, well maybe not a lot more but a bit at least.
Token, our third Musketeer if you will, is defiantly Clyde's Best friend. Despite the two constantly trying to include me in their random creeper talks about 'which girl has the best jugs' or 'which girl you would want to date' I've never had any interest and usually just act like a third wheel to the group, but like I said I'm only here until schools over so I actually prefer it this way.
While I'm thinking all this over in my head Clyde snaps me back into reality, making me flip in off while we both take our seat at the back.
Monday morning seems to be having a good outcome for once, making me forget the bus journey pretty easily and before I know it I'm stood at my locker with Token and Clyde.
"No way are you saying what I think you are." Clyde looks bemused (which for him is defiantly not an uncommon look) and it is enough to catch my attention.
"Yep, Craig here will be THE South park Stallions starting Running back!" They both look at me expectantly, but all they get in return is what must've been a very sceptical look.
"But Nathan Jackson, THE SENIOR, is the starting running back this season dumbass there not going to choose me over him," I say this very matter of factly and flip them off, for a second there I actually thought they where serous.
"Dude, that dick broke his arm trying to impress some college girls on his Motorcycle two days ago... you really need to listen more, it scary when you black out like that."
I blink a couple times at him, mouth ajar as I try and comprehend what I've just been told. The high school football team has been the second best school in Colorado for years, you really only play if your a Senior or College scholarship material, and Nathan Jackson was both of those, so i really thought I'd only get to play support this year.
"AGH..."
Before I can make my mind up whether or not these guys are messing with me I hear the usual sound of screaming coming from the jocks lockers; they where picking on that spazz again. O, if you want to know his real name, Tweek Tweak.
THUD!
As the blonde haired freak gets pushed into the lockers Clyde and Token retreat to their own lockers, pretending not to notice like usual. I take a quick glance, making sure what there doing isn't too horrible, but when I do I notice something strange...
...Is he, staring at me?...
Doing a double take I do indeed confirm that on the floor, behind a flock of golden blonde hair ,that seems to be exploding off of this guys head, are two deep brown hazelnut eyes. It makes my heart drop for a second, like seeing a wild animal getting eaten by the wolves until the attackers see me staring.
...Shit!
I turn my back quickly, closing my locker with books in hand, Hoping to god that they didn't see me or didn't know me enough to care.
"Tucker? Get over here," The voice that calls me stops me in my tracks, its a deep gorilla like voice and out of not wanting to get my ass handed to me by 6 Neanderthals I turn to them and walk over.
I smile weakly at them, walking to the other side from where the spazz on the floor is shaking, hoping to get their attention on me so the kid can make a run for it. Luckily he realises what I'm doing and without hesitation he picks a green object of the floor and silently retreats. With a sigh of relief I greet the gorril... I mean the jocks with my normal, monotone voice, "What's up?"
The largest one smiles at me, I think his names Nate?
"Not much, heard the news about Nathan today, congrats man"
Even though he means this nicely it annoys me that he's congratulating me on another student having his arm broken, but before I have time to say something about it Mason Walsh, the schools best wide receiver, buts in.
"yeah, it's bad that happened but make sure you don't let it bother you, alright? You deserve to have one of these whether you where first choice or not." He shoves a red and white bag in my hand with the schools Mascot on the side, "Your Uniform."
The way he says it makes me think he's trying to be nice so I take the obvious backhanded compliment with a pinch of sugar, "Thanks, but I already have a uniform."
Before I can hand it back they all look at each other with smirks on their faces, which pisses me off, "What's so funny?"
They don't have time to answer before the bell rings, catching us all a little off guard. Rushing off to class Mason sees the confused look on my face about having 2 uniforms.
"Just trust us, bring your old one back tomorrow and keep this one until you get home"
"But why the he.."
"That doesn't sound like trust Tucker!"
I sigh in defeat, turning towards my locker to place my new apparel inside. As I get my books and start walking to my class my mind begins to realise with what's just happened.
I... I'm part of the team.
My dad... he's going to freak the fuck out.
Quickening my step I start to imagine how my dad would react, after years of having no teams I will finally get to be able to follow his footsteps and make him proud. The thought made me smile, but as I walked into my class I realised I was still smiling. Something I never did.
Luckily nobody saw, the class too occupied about gossiping for the reason our teacher was late. Well, I hope they didn't at least.
Sliding into my seat I cover my eyes with my hat, wanting for the tardy Mr Garrison.
"Sorry I'm late class, me and Mr Hat here got stuck in traffic again"
"Dammit I had 10 bucks on that thing finally dying of old age!"
Mr garrison sighs, "Eric please we aren't in 4th grade anymore, Mr Hat is not a thing."
"I wasn't talking about the Puppet..."
"ERIC CARTMAN A WEEKS DETENTION!"
"WHAT THE HELL FOR..."
They continue like this for a while, Mr Garrison is obviously mentally fucking retarded or something since he can never get his head around the fat Mr Hat is not actually real, but Eric's the only fat ass stupid enough to point that out every time we have him. It gets so boring that I drone out for 5 minutes, only being pulled back into reality when I hear my name mentioned.
"Craig... lets see who your with..."
I slam my head into the table, having forgotten about the stupid Partner assignment today. No wonder there was still a free seat at the front, Mr Garrison only assigns the front row with partners before getting bored and allowing the rest to choose amongst themselves. Craig winces for a moment, party in anticipation at who he may have to put up with for the next week and partly because that slam against the desk was harder than he meant it to be...
"... Tweek Tweak"
"Gah!"
I turn around and towards the far right hand corner of the classroom a twitchy, messy headed boy looks around confused, but that's not really a surprise for Tweek though.
Mr Garrison looks at his watch and yawns, obviously wishing he was somewhere else.
"The rest of you pick amongst yourself. The work sheet at the front of the class explains what your going to have to do and if you need any help..."
He swallows, nearly reluctantly finishing his sentence, "I'll be at the front for any assistance."
with that the class goes to work in their normal pairings, giving the finger to Mr Garrisons back I get my stuff and head for the back row.
"OH GOD! P..please d...d..don't hurt me!"
Standing at the edge of his desk I just look at him, unsure what to say to the boy cowering in front of me, "I wont dude, chill.. Jesus Christ."
He looks up at me, by the weird look on his face I tell he isn't too pleased I'm here, which makes me feel that sick feeling in the bottom of met stomach again.
"I mean if you have a problem I could ask Mr Garrison to switch us out or some."
"GAH! Oh god no are you insane!" Tweek sits up abit as he says this, making the sickly feeling go away and making me feel better. Not that I'm desperate for his approval or anything, I just don't want him to think I'm going to hurt him like the asshole Jocks... which I guess now includes me. Crap.
"I mean it isn't you man! You're like... like Really Really cool I just... Oh GOD I'mtalkingtoomuchandnowyourgoingtohitmeliketherest! PLEASEDONTGETMYFACE!"
I take a step back, smiling at the spazz blonde kid in front of me. In a way he is kind of like the opposite of me, whereas I keep everything in and act like an asshole Tweek just blurts it all out at once. That and his twitches every few seconds makes him interesting. In a cute, harmless freak kind of way.
"Tweek, I'm not going to hurt you, and don't worry about me not wanting to be partnered with you i kind of glad I'm not going to be with those retards who do barely any work." I gesture to Kenny and Eric who, as if to prove my point, are both trying to kick each other off their respective chairs.
Tweek looks over and I see him visibly calm down, sitting up little straighter as he laughs to himself abit, "Y..yeah they u..usually get m..me to do all their work anyways..."
There's an awkward silence after Tweeks remark, I was only half joking but I always made Kenny do his share of the work. But it usually took a lot of moaning and nagging. The thought of Tweek, this innocent twitchy kid getting took advantage off pisses me off more than it should.
"Gah! What's wrong! I knew it I blew it AHHH!" For some reason unbestown to me Tweeks outburst takes the small amount of anger out of me, making me want to reassure him,
"No it's just those guy can be real assholes... want to get on with this work?"
He looks at the hand-out and gives me a strange look, I think its a smile. If it is its the cutest most adorable thing I've ever seen, but I stop myself from blurting this out to him and manage to talk about the work instead... but only just.
45 minutes later and I'm actually saddend when the bell goes to signal the end of my first lesson partnered to Tweek. Despite having to constantly reminding him I wasn't a mass murder waiting for a chance to rip his throat out, the conversation between us was really natural, since we are both into a lot of the same stuff we spent most of the lesson talking and as it turns out not nearly enough work.
"Crap."
"GAH! What's wrong!"
After saying this he notices the small amount we've actually done, preparing for another Tweek attack I grab his shoulders firmly, "Don't worry about it ok? You can come by my house after school and we will finish what we should've done today"
Tweek doesn't react at first, and it looks like he is contemplating calming down or jut freaking out and running for it. Fortunately his shoulders relax and I think I even see him blush abit. I give him a comforting smile and this makes his cheeks go bright red, a embarrassed smile of his own forming on his cute face... did I really just say he has a cute face?
"Y..yeah because otherwise GAH we will fail and end u dropping out of school and OH GOD I wont make enough money to live as a prostitute!"
I try to withhold my chuckle but I cant help it, he looks slightly hurt but I think he realises the comedy of the situation. "Meet me at my locker after school"
His smile returns with a small, confident nod, which I possibly the first thing I've seen him do without hesitation during this whole class.
Suddenly, I feel awkward. I turn around and realise a couple Asian girls where looking at us and giggling, I roll my eyes and flip them off before packing up my stuff and nodding goodbye to Tweek when a realisation hits me, "Wait, do you know where my locker even is?"
His agitated state returns and I curse myself, silently. Tweek is a lot better not shaking like a leaf.
"Yeah... I... I See you there umm... Sometimes GAH!"
I look down at the floor, remembering Tweeks beating this morning, "Oh crap... I'm really sorry about that man..."
"D..DONT BE! GAH! I..I Mean..." He sighs slightly and looks to the floor, I'm used to it." With that, he walks away, not taking his eyes off the ground.
This is why they call you an asshole...
The rest of the day I cant help but wonder about Tweek, I mean, he looked so upset.
Was it because I didn't help him? Will he still want to see me?...
After hours of contemplating the final bell cant come soon enough. As soon as I hear it I make a run for my locker, beating the usual rush I make good time and by the time I get there most other lasses are just being dismissed.
Putting my books back in my locker I keep an eye out for Tweek, remembering to get the bag with my new uniform and waiting...
After 5 minutes the first wave of people are out of school, leaving the more relaxed pupils and those like me who are obviously waiting for someone.
"Hey Dude," Token creeps up behind me, I turn a little too quickly ad my face drops a small amount when I see it isn't Tweek. Token notices this and gives me a mock dirty look, "Well sorry for not being who your hoping for!"
I laugh at his sarcasm, "I'm just waiting for Tweek."
He nods after being reminded, "Oh yeah you told me and Clyde at lunch, but it's still cool if I come over to grab my camera right?"
I sigh, "Sure."
Tokens camera was a total boss, top of the line with the clearest picture quality I've managed to get out of a standard handheld camera. I really hate whenever Token asks for his cool shit back.
"Thanks, where's spazz at anyway?"
"GAH!" On cue Tweek walks the corner, twitching and seizing up as soon as he hears Tokens insult. Token looks bad for saying it with Tweek in earshot, but once he calms down Tweek doesn't seem to mind.
As the three of us get on our way I try and start a conversation ad cut abit of the awkward tension between us, "So Tweek why where you so late?" I realise too late that it sounds a little accusing, but I try and act casual about it as we walk out of the school grounds.
"OH GOD! Just y...You know... The pressure man JEEZ!"
Token looks a little freaked out by Tweeks reaction but it makes me smile, making Tweek twitch a little less, which in turn makes Token more comfortable himself. The rest of the walk home is mostly him and Tweek arguing about which Chimpokemon character is better, making me relieved when we reach my house..
Me and Token walk straight in, but Tweek just stops at the doorstep, his twitching increasing again while he loos down at his shoes.
"Tweek, something up?"
"Ehh! I... I just think... OH GOD THE PRESSURE!"
"Dude, I told you your allowed in my house. Nobody will try and kill you." My words seem to make him calmer, but his twitching still stays the same. Even when he joins me and Token in the living room.
"Gah! could I maybe.. I kind a need.."
Looking at Tweek he's getting physically flustered, his cheeks returning to the now familiar shade of crimson. I don't mind it, in fact if I didn't know how awkward this made him feel I probably would've just let him stand there getting redder and muttering to himself. Upstairs first door on the right"
Without hesitation he runs up the stairs, creating a noise similar to what I would imagine a herd of buffalo make when running from a predator.
With Tweek gone I turn to Token, but before I can speak my dad comes in from the kitchen, looking pissed off, "What the hell Craig! Some of us have actual work to do around here!"
All I can offer is an apologetic look, but my dads annoyed expression is quickly changed to one of curiosity upon seeing the bag in my hand, "Sorry dad, oh yeah these guys handed me this bag. Told me it was my new Football uniform."
My dad has few hobbies, and spends great amount of time on sport in particular. But Football was his passion. When he was younger he used to be pretty good, they even have his and Randy Marshs' Jerseys framed at our local sports bar. I think it was because they where MVP's in a state championship game or some crap like that.
"You lost your old uniform already? What the hell Craig you haven't even had practise yet!"
I start to get annoyed myself, even though I did OCCASIONALY lose things my parents always overreact about it. "Of course I haven't! They just gave me another one and told me to give them the old one back tomorrow."
Getting too curious myself I place the bag on the coffee table, Token lingering behind me after having found his camera without my help, "What do you thinks so special about it?"
I shrug non chalantly, trying to hide my excitement when I do get the weird circular zip bag unlocked. At first it looks like a normal shirt, but when I pull it out a lump goes in my throat, and I can feel my dad grinning behind me.
"No.44, Tucker..." My dads beaming at me now, because not only did I have my name on my shirt (Which only seniors and starters get) but it was my dads old number from his high school days. From nowhere I feel two arms wrap around me, something my dad usually never does. seeing this Token mouths me a goodbye and slips away, leaving me and my dad hugging for the first time in years.
"You have no idea how proud this makes me son... give em hell..." He slowly backs away and composes himself, for a minute I think he might start crying but he makes an excuses and walks back to the kitchen.
Now in the room by myself I look at the black and red shirt, putting it against my chest happily.
"GAH!"
I freeze for a minute, the twitchy blonde boy had apparently slipped down stairs without me noticing. As I look at him he gives me a sad, fearful look and for a moment I'm not sure what has made him go into this state.
"You.. your one of them... PLEASE DONT HURT ME!" As he screams this towards me he runs out the door, leaving me to stand there like an idiot.
After a few moments of silence it dawns on me what he meant, throwing the shirt bag on top of the bag I make chase after Tweek, his words ringing in my ears accompanied by the scared, threatened look he gave me while being beaten by the jocks that very morning..
You...Your one of them...