A/N: Looky here, a new fanfic! This is also my first South Park fanfiction, which I am quite proud of. Yeah, Eric Cartman is the main protagonist, and I'm putting a lot of feels for him (I sympathize, okay?). Also, as a common thing with my fanfics, I avoid strong profanity. Yeah, that takes a lot out of the relation to the show, which is really weird. Heck, I'll probably have a really weird time writing this myself. Of course, I'll make sure the personalities and character of every character stays as accurate as possible (Cartman mostly aside, since I'm taking a deep turn to his more insecure side).

Also, for those of you who read my stories and came across this one, I'd recommend watching South Park episodes (if you're old enough, like old enough to own a fanfiction account binding age restrictions and all that) so you get the characters, what they act like, and what they do so this makes sense to you. If you're too young, like below teen's age, then don't watch the episodes. You can read this fanfic, there's no huge profanity or themes that the show has, but you need knowledge of the characters, as the story is built so that whoever reads this knows who the characters are.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Trey Parker and Matt Stone. I own none of it.

Chapter 1: Gotta Look Kewl

"A-and you know what Craig said to Jimmy? Huh? Huh?" Eric said between gasps of air as he laughed hysterically. He waited a moment to see if his friends would answer.

"... What?" asked Stan, his eyes locked on his lunch as he took another bite.

"He-he said, 'Dude, if you're going to make a joke about me, do it right.'" The eighth grader pounded the lunch table with a heavy fist, shaking it so much it was probably on the verge of breaking. Everyone held their lunches above the shaking furniture, giving Eric another annoyed glare. The table creaked annoyingly as well, almost threatening to break itself after years of being hit.

Kyle groaned. "Dude, can you not? Five years you've been doing this, and it's almost like the things you tell and laugh at are just things you forcibly make funny."

Eric stopped laughing and pounding the table. He glared at his red headed friend. "Well don't mind me, Kyle. I'm just trying to make things a little more funny around here, ya know? Gotta laugh a little more, right guys?" No one responded to Eric. Kyle shook his head in annoyance. "There's nothing to laugh about right now, Cartman. Can we just eat and have normal chatter without you butchering anything we say into something you call 'hilarious?'"

Eric scoffed, and stared at the burger in his hands. With a small grunt, he bit into the juice-soaked patty. They kinda did have a point: nothing out of the ordinary, or South Park ordinary, had happened recently. And he was just trying to liven up the mood, even though he was already unsuccessful at it.

It was a lazy November Monday at South Park Middle School. A week has passed since Halloween, and everyone was talking about their nightly time getting treats and spooking friends. Others were beginning to talk about how short their time at the school was until graduation day. Most have confirmed they're going to the high school within town, and others have not. In the meantime, everyone wanted to make sure they spent the most fun with friends in case they never got to meet up again. And that was one of Eric's main goals. Or at least a goal he hoped to reach.

"So fellas, I was thinking we all could go and watch the Terrance and Phillip reboot this Saturday," Butters suggested. "My parents are allowing me to invite friends over to my house just this once as long as no one makes a mess of anything."

From across the table, Craig snickered."So you're not inviting Cartman? Seems like a plan to me." Eric gave the dark-haired teen a threatening glare. "AY!"

"He's got a point, fatty," said Kyle. "Almost every time we hang out, you're the one raiding food like nobody's business. In fact we had to do hangouts at your place because your mom is the only one who can ever stand you and your need for food constantly." It was true anyway. Eric ate a lot at every hangout, and left only a few options for everyone else. Not many parents of South Park could really stand it. In fact they've spent their hangouts at the Cartman's residence since the beginning of eighth grade, and even Eric's mom was getting tired of getting food for her son's friends.

"O-oh, well, I'm still inviting Cartman," said Butters. "But he just has to behave and stuff."

"Not gonna happen," Stan remarked. Eric pouted. He's gotten really tired of how everyone has little to no faith in him being able to do anything aside from eat and make comments about everyone. He has been trying lately... it just hasn't worked out. "I can behave, you guys!"

"If so, then prove it," Clyde spoke up as he took another bite of his taco. Bits of meat and taco shell spewed as he talked. "Up to this weekend when we hang out with Butters, you have to be as nice as possible. If you fail this, then you're not invited." Craig snickered again.

"Butters is the one who decides whether to invite me or not, Clyde."

"Still."

Stan rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Clyde, that's a pathetic challenge. Cartman's going to lose today, so there's no point in trying. Besides, today's Monday. Cartman has to be nice for six days in a row. There's no way he could make it."

"I'm sitting right here, Stan!" Eric shouted.

"And I was sitting here the whole time you were talking about me and Jimmy, but I didn't care," said Craig. "What do you say to that?"

Eric couldn't think of anything to say, especially with the challenge he's been put up with. "... Touche. But I'll take up the challenge only if you guys don't abuse this to purposely make me angry. Got that?" Everyone agreed. Kyle couldn't help but snicker a bit.

"Oh what now, Kyle?"

"Nothing, really," said the latter. "But I know this is going to be interesting. You're the most racist, annoying, manipulative, and worst person around, and now you have a challenge where you have to be nice. It's kinda funny, right Kenny?" Kenny, who sat next to Kyle, stared down at his food, hesitating to answer. "Kenny?"

"Um... well, I wouldn't answer this if it's obvious, right?" Kenny looked up at Kyle, his face a little blank. He scratched his messy blonde hair, specks of dust falling on the table. He's kept his hood down since seventh grade so the teachers could hear him clearly the first time instead of asking what he said again and again. Kyle grinned, and stared at Cartman as if he's made his point clear. His friend grimaced in return.

"So anything else to say, Cartman?" asked Craig. Eric had an unsure look. He really wanted to say something snarky to quiet him, but with his given challenge he couldn't say a thing. He sighed and shook his head.

"Good. This will be interesting."

...

"I swear, this class is gonna kill me someday," Cartman exhaled sharply as he massaged the bridge of his nose. "Flipping vocabulary definitions driving me nuts."

He flipped through pages with a growing frustration. Looking up words is always annoying and super time-consuming; probably why it was a weekly homework for the class. It was English class, and their teacher gave them a list of words to look up on their dictionary and study for a quiz on Friday. It was his least favorite thing to do in class, especially since looking up words is a tedious task on its own. He barely memorized the words and their definitions, given how much time he spends crafting plans and ways to get at Kyle or maintain his status as an awesome dude at South Park Middle.

Cartman took a deep breath and massaged his head with two fingers from each hand. It's only been ten minutes of looking up five words and he was getting tired and irritated. Has anyone finished the definitions yet? The people that came to mind were Wendy and Kyle, the two smartest kids in class. No doubt would they be done now and doing other homework.

The boy looked around among the working students. To his left was Kyle, and to his right was Kenny. In front of him was Wendy, and behind him was Craig. Stan was all the way across the room. Not entirely sure what he was doing, Eric leaned forward and tapped Wendy's back. The girl whipped around, her hair flying and nearly hitting the boy in the face. She grunted when she saw at Eric, obviously irritated with him. "What do you want, Cartman?"

Eric shrugged. He was always a little nervous talking to the sometimes overachieving Wendy Testaburger. She did beat him up once, after all, and despite his schemes always got the best of him. Regardless, he hid his nervousness and spoke as if he was in good terms with her. "Did you finish finding the definitions?"

Wendy scoffed and rolled her eyes as if she had been asked that a million times. "I'm not letting you copy my list or tell you which page." Eric stared at the angered girl. "That's not what I ask-"

"I did finish, and you should finish by yourself. I'm trying to not be mean, honest. But... please, I need a little space." Wendy turned back to her desk, heaving a sigh. Eric stared in surprise before looking back to his list and dictionary. He didn't even get to scoff and say that he wasn't asking for help and was just there to ask. Wendy must have had an issue to deal with that was stressing her a bit. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Kenny looking at him with confused eyes.

"Dude, what's the problem?" the orange hooded blonde asked. Eric shook his head again.

"Girl wasn't giving me anything. I'm being nice and she didn't answer my question."

Kenny sighed with a bored look. "I sit beside you, so there wasn't anything I didn't notice." He snorted. "Although I am a little surprised you didn't give her some remark like you usually do."

Cartman furled his brows. "I said I was gonna win this, and I will. I'm not losing to Kyle, Kenny!"

"You mean Clyde."

"Clyde, Kyle, pretty much the same. They provoked me, and there's no way I'll lose."

Kenny smiled a tiny bit. "You'd better do the classwork already. I'm almost done, and I wouldn't let you copy me either."

Eric looked at the teen's paper, and stared at him skeptically. On Kenny's paper were amateur doodles of women instead of the vocabulary. Kenny almost laughed.

"Hey, I have my actual paper underneath." Eric rolled his eyes. But he smiled a tiny bit. Kenny seemed to be the only other person, aside from Butters, who respected him a bit more than others do from time to time, or so it seems to be. Although he had to put up with Cartman's insults and manipulative schemes from the past, he stuck with him all the way, just like everyone else. Unlike Butters, he wasn't oblivious to what was happening. Butters was a good kid, and was the humor of the group when he had replaced Kenny for some time. Stan and Kyle were guilty of using him as well, but bygones were bygones, and they remained friends throughout the years.

Eric's tiny smile flipped into a frown. Friends. Then he remembered he smiled a tiny bit, becoming conscious of his distraught face. He looked around, seeing if anyone was paying attention to him. No one was eyeing the teen, rather alternatively switching glances between the board and their papers. He sighed, glad that no one saw that. He remembered why he was looking around his neighbors and tapped a red head's arm.

Kyle looked at his classmate with the same look as Wendy. "No." Eric looked at him with wide eyes and a gaped mouth. His eyebrows furled almost angrily. "What are you talking about, Kyle?"

"Dude, I sit right next to you. I saw you talking to Wendy, and you don't exactly whisper. You can't copy my work," Kyle went back to working on the vocabulary. Cartman huffed, and turned back to his own paper.

The bell sounded. Eric sighed while everyone else packed up their things and rushed for the door. He sighed exasperatedly as he puts away his own things and tosses his backpack over his shoulders. He steps out of the classroom and into a river of students down the hall. Walking on, students break off from the flow and gather into little groups near lockers, talking and laughing with their friends. Eric glanced at each of them he passes by and sighs.

When he got to his locker, he shuffled around the contents of his bag until he stuffed it with his homework. Zipping it up, he put the lock back and threw his bag over his shoulders before setting off to find his friends. I actually made it past the rest of the school day, Eric thought, remembering the bet. He didn't think he'd make it that far, considering his regular choice of words. The guys will be impressed by this.

He found the rest of his group hanging around Butter's locker, talking to a shaky blonde and a brunet with a bright yellow shirt. "'Sup guys. What'cha doing?"

Butters turns to him with a smile. "Oh hey, Eric! The guys and I were just telling Tweek and Jimmy about the challenge you took on, since they weren't sitting with us during lunch."

"I must say, I'm q-q-quite impressed, Eric," Jimmy congratulated. "Although I don't understand why you'd bring me up in one of your c-conversations." Cartman shrugged.

"Nnngh! To be honest, I don't think you'll make it past today, Cartman," Tweek said as he tugged at his shirt nervously. "N-Not to discourage you or anything, but I wouldn't bet you'd make it farther than today. Anyone could agree to that."

Eeeuugh, does everyone really have little faith in me?Cartman thought. Well at least I'm being congratulated for my efforts, because it was difficult as heck. He sucked up his breath and put on an understanding smile. "No harm done, Tweek." The blonde twitched and smiled in return.

"You guys want to watch the Terrance and Phillip reboot with us this weekend?" Kyle asked. "It's gonna be at Butter's."

"S-sure," both boys nodded.

"Cool, the more the merrier." Stan grinned.

"Glad you invited us," said Jimmy. "Anyway, we'd b-better get going. Craig wants us to meet with him afterschool. See you guys l-later!" He and Tweek waves goodbye and walked out the door.

"We'd better get going as well," Kyle turned to his group. "I really want to finish me homework fast." He started for the door which Jimmy and Tweek walked through first. The group followed.

A/N: That's the first chapter! I had this longer, but decided to cut out the rest because this felt like a good stopping point. Plus, if you've seen enough South Park episodes and know how conflicts end, then you know exactly what happens in the next chapter. If that was in this chapter, then I basically rushed the first part, which I don't intend on doing or it would look like this story is less thought out then what I hoped for. Actually this is kinda short... not my best start, but it was my fault for cutting the chapter short. xD

I don't have much of the next one written out, because I take amazingly long at writing the first parts for stories. I want this to be my first actual good fanfic with a good start, so bear with me. It'll come out good.