Random and slightly pointless introduction: People don't stay friends with the people they hang out with in elementary. Sorry to burst any bubbles, but it's true. And therefor, I write this mildly depressing story.
I actually wrote this a while ago... A long while ago... Hm. Well now I'm putting on the site, so...
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Most people had expected them to stay friends through high school, but that didn't happen at all. They were friends until eighth grade, but none of them had much in common anymore. Freshman year in high school, they all drifted apart. By junior year, they didn't talk anymore. Now they were seniors. Eric Cartman, to everyone's surprise. was a jock. He mostly hung around, lifting weights and making fun of everyone. Stan Marsh was a skater. He cut class a lot and smoked. Kenny McCormick was a mix of stoner and outcast. He drifted within those two groups, depending on his mood. Kyle Broflovski's group of friends didn't have a label. They were smart, and they studied, but they weren't nerds. They got in fights and were strong, but they definitely weren't jocks.
Kenny was the one that regretted the drifting apart the most. He missed the three friends he had gone through so much with. Even Cartman, who had made fun of him so much. Kenny had great friends now, but it just wasn't the same to him. He wanted to be able to talk about things that happened when he and his friends were 5. He couldn't do that any more.
Kyle missed his old best friend a lot. He didn't really have a best friend in his new group. They were only his friends. He wished he had someone like Stan again, or better yet, Stan. Someone who he thought of as his closest friend, someone who thought the same of him. They could tell each other anything and trust wasn't an issue. But he lost that unique friendship when he and Stan stopped talking.
Stan missed his old friends, too. Not quite as much as Kenny or Kyle, but he did think about it every once in a while and wished things hadn't changed so drastically. He never saw them anymore, except around the school. But even then, none of them stopped to say "hi" to him. But then again, he never acknowledged them, either.
Cartman was definitely the happiest with his new group. Though he'd never want to admit it, he was still remorseful. He did miss them. No matter what horrible things he used to say about them.
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Kenny played the electric guitar his friend had given him for his birthday while singing Imperfection by Skillet.
"You're worth so much,
It'll never be enough,
To see what you have to give,
How beautiful you are
Yet seem so far
From everything you're wanting to be,
You're wanting to be,
Tears falling down again,
Tears falling down,
You fall to your knees
You beg, you plead
Can I be someone else
For all the times I hate myself?
Your failures devour
Your heart in every hour
You're drowning in your imperfection"
He stopped abruptly and sighed. His mind was back on his three old friends. The blonde 17-year-old wondered what his childhood friends were doing while he was sulking in his room, playing and listening to sad music.
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Kyle happened to pass Kenny's house just before Kenny had stopped playing and singing. Kyle wondered why there was such an abrupt stop in the music. He even almost went and knocked on the door. But he wondered if Kenny wanted to see him, and came to the conclusion that, after all these years, Kenny probably didn't even think of Kyle anymore. So Kyle kept walking.
He passed a skate park, where Stan was. Kyle stopped for half a second and looked at Stan. Stan didn't seem to notice him, and looked pretty happy, so Kyle didn't bother trying to say hi. He just stuffed his hands in his pockets and went back to his own house.
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Stan actually had noticed Kyle. At about the same moment Kyle turned away. He gave out a little sigh, causing one of his friends, Tyler, to look at him.
"Stan?" Tyler said, not bothering to finish his question. Tyler ran his fingers through his dark blonde hair and blinked his blue-green eyes.
Stan looked back at his friend. "Uh, it's nothing."
Tyler didn't look convinced and he didn't respond.
Stan sighed. "That guy that just passe- Kyle- well, he used to be my best friend."
"Yeah? What happened?"
Stan shrugged. "Well, nothing. He got new friends, I got new friends."
"How long ago since you've talked to him?"
Stan sighed and pulled out a cigarette. "Too long."
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Cartman sat on a bench at the gym, waiting for his friends to be done lifting weights. It was one of those times when he had nothing to do but think, so he just let his mind wander. He should've known that it was a bad idea. What his mind wandered to was all those crazy elementary days. Kidnapping baby cows and putting them in Stan's room to save them from being killed and eaten, trying to fix things when Kenny threw a ninja star in Butters' eye, and meeting their parallel universe selves. Man, he had some good times with his old friends. Why had they grown apart again? Was it just because they were so different? Did any of them miss him, even just a little? He hoped so, though he doubted it, considering what an ass he'd been to them.
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Kyle looked at his phone, considering calling Stan, Kenny, or even Cartman. He wondered if they still had the same phone numbers. He picked up his cell and scrolled down through the numbers, but didn't call anyone.
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Kenny fell out of bed lazily, not wanting to go to school more than usual. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep and he just didn't really feel any motivation to go to school. Regardless, he got up and pulled on his tattered black jeans and his signature faded orange sweatshirt. Grabbing his stuff, he left the house without having any breakfast, as usual. He ran to school in the pouring rain, getting soaked. He didn't really mind, though.
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It was two weeks before graduation, and Stan told himself that he would become friends with Kyle, Kenny and Cartman before school ended. But graduation came and went, and they still hadn't spoken to each other.