Today is the day.
The big 12!
Time to get up, time to get up!
Butters excitedly rolled out of bed, his giggling carried with him all the way to the dresser. The smell of waffles filled the air. His blue eyes beamed in a happy glow. Twelve years old. Wow! That's, like, one year away from being a teenager! How exciting! He grabbed his black comb from the top of the polished wood and ran the plastic teeth through his fine, blond hair. He stared into the mirror as he did so, with more thoughts swirling through his innocent-ish headspace. When will he start growing facial hair? Maybe not until he's a teenager, but maybe he'll be an early bloomer! Like Stan! Will he get taller? Will that scar across his eye finally fade this year? Too many questions, only oh so much time. He wished there was more time in the world, but then again, his birthday party would be too far away if that were to happen!
Satisfied with his neatly combed hair, a rarity, and with a few spritz of deodorant he went running, almost skipping, to his closet. Mamma picked out a nice outfit for him when they were at J-Mart the other day just for this occasion. Open the door, and there it was--hanging up neatly on the back of the door. A baby blue button up with white pants and a nice, black and white striped tie to go with. Oh, how dapper! T-That's a cool word, right? Probably not. Bah, who cares? It's the big day! He threw them on quickly yet gently as he could, making sure not to wrinkle the new clothes or skew the tie. The boy bent over and slipped on his black dress shoes, nice and shiny; ready to be worn whenever they need to be. He went back to his mirror to check himself for anything off. Hmm. Nope! Everything is fine! W-Wait. Oh, hamburgers! How dumb is he? He still has to wash his face and brush his teeth. How is he gonna do that in his birthday clothes? Carefully.
With worried eyes about the potential mess, he stepped out of his room to go downstairs to freshen up. The hallway was a bit chilly, being September of course, but then again is it ever warm in South Park? Interesting. He quietly stepped down the stairs, not wanting to make much noise. Last time Butters "stomped" down the stairs, he got grounded for making too much noise while Mamma and Dad were having a wrestling match. It made his dad lose concentration, apparently. Op, there it is! Freshen up, youngin! Soon you'll meet the rest of the fellas and it'll be so fun! Just put a clean towel over your outfit and… here we go!
"Brush, brush, brush your teeth! Go ahead and make 'em nice and clean! Gotta get ready for the big day! Gotta get the party underway!" He giggled as sung to himself, the toothpaste bubbling with his merry tune. The only other day in the year that ever makes him this happy is Christmas, what with all the festivities and positive feelings and everyone just feeling to plum good about themselves! Rinse your mouth, floss the gaps, pat your lips dry. Simple and clean, beaming boy. Today is Tuesday, a school day normally, but because today is also… THAT day, there's no school in remembrance. Oh, darn it, why do I have to share my birthday with that dreaded date?
"Butters! Come into the kitchen, honey!"
"Okay, Mamma!" He spit out what was left in his mouth and smiled brightly, his reflection paying him back in kind with a pearly white display. He walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, where his parents greeted him with warm smiles and a nice, large breakfast on the table. Waffles stacked high on his plate drowned in maple syrup, with strawberries and whipped cream piled on top. His birthday cake, chocolate with vanilla icing, was in the centre of the table, protected and hidden away by the plastic covering to keep it nice and moist for the anticipated guests. His mother stood there near the end of the table with a camera held up to her face.
"Smile," she said excitedly, but not too loud. "I want to take a picture for your grandma!"
He stood straight, shoulders square and with the cutest face he could muster.
"Perfect!"
SNAP!
Little floaties of bright lights danced in front of his face for a bit, and he tried to blink them away. God, he hates the flash. As long as Grandma is happy, he supposes.
"Butters, why don't you sit down and eat some of your mother's hard work?"
"Yes, Dad."
He moved quickly to his plate, and scooted his chair up to the table. Four waffles! All for him! And a tall glass of chocolate milk. Butters can never have something so sweet. Not unless if it's special. Blue eyes scanned around the room, and glanced over what they could see in the living room. The tablecloth was a light blue with dark blue trimming all along the edges. Small, navy blue clouds scattered across the material with glitter sewn in. Multicoloured balloons were tied together with pastel blue ribbons, and blue streamers were hung up around the walls and over the doorways. Those same ribbons were tied in neat bows and placed nicely between the streamers. His father was a bit worried that it was too much blue, and even a bit girly with all the softer colours and satin, but his mamma protested and defended her little boy, stating that Tuesday is their son's special day and what he wants for his party is what he's going to get. What he could see in the living room was the table that would hold all of the presents, with one large box already sitting on top of it.
Presents! Oo, I wonder what everyone would bring! He thought to himself as he stuffed his face with the morning time confection. Stan might bring a Transformer, or maybe a GI Joe! Kyle is a nerd, maybe he'll bring me a cool book. Sci-fi, or historical fiction, or maybe a comic! Spider-Man? Cartman probably won't get me anything, the jerk. A card at the most. Now, Kenny, I don't expect him to bring anything at all. He doesn't have very much, and that's okay. Oh, this is going to be a blast!
"Honey, did you send out your invitations last week?"
"Mmhm! Each one had a cookie in it, like how you told me to. I gave one to each kid in my class."
"Did you tell them to bring their parents?"
"Yes, Dad," Butters said reassuringly. "I know you don't want the house to be a mess."
"Good. There's another reason why we wanted the parents here," his mother said over he shoulder while she pulled the pop out of the fridge. Cherry.
What? The boy started out slowly, "What's the other reason?"
"I'm sorry honey, but some grown-up things have popped up today and we need to be gone for a while. We won't be here for most of the day. Now, don't be sad. We'll be here later tonight. Okay, sweetie?"
He can't believe it. His parents won't be here for his party. Are you kidding me? It's, like, the most important day for him in the ENTIRE year! How can he not be sad? They have never skipped his birthday. Downcast eyes stared blankly at half-eaten waffles. He's not hungry anymore.
"When will you be back?"
"After you go to bed."
"DEAR!"
Oh, come on. That's not right!
"B-But that's not fair!" Butters wasn't very thrilled at the sound of any of this. Like, sure, having his friends over won't mean he's completely alone, but… But! Still! Why did it have to be today?
"Son, you are going to have all of your friends over and all the attention in the world. You are going to have a good time, whether we are here or not! Now, if you don't lighten up--"
"I'll take it from here, Stephen," Linda gently told her husband. Of all the things to ground him over, it's going to be enjoyment? She walked over to her little man, her pride and joy, and bent down to kiss him gently on the cheek, her skirt swishing behind her. She noticed that tears started to form on his trembling face. "Oh, buttercup, look at me," her fingers gently lifted his chin so he could look directly at her warm, brown eyes. "I know it isn't right, but we have to go the the city today to do some very important things. I tell you what, how about we open the gift we got you right now?"
That cheered him up. "Yeah!"
He wiped his mouth with a napkin and put all the dishes away in the sink in a flash, and bolted to the living room. Faint giggles could be heard the whole way through. Such an excitable one!
"Butters! No running in the house!"
"Yes, Dad!"
"Linda, grab your camera."
"I already have it, dear."
The couple followed shortly, big smiles on the whole clan. Butters sat on the chair in front of the table with his legs bouncing in anticipation. It's rather big, the package! It was wrapped in an iridescent white paper, with white spots that splattered on the red ribbon that tied it all together. What could it be? Could it be rollerskates? I hope it's rollerskates! Or a teddy! He doesn't want to admit it to himself, but he hoped maybe it could be a Barbie set. Or Monster High. Oh, could you imagine a set with Clawdeen or Catrine? Or both! His smile only widened at the possibilities.
"Okay! Look at the camera! Smile!"
Another round of that disorienting flash, but he doesn't care. Present time! Present time!
"Alright, now open it!" his father commanded in a mock authoritative tone. He didn't need to be told twice. The sounds of ripped paper filled the living space, leaving a small mess on the floor. The ribbon danced onto the couch alongside most of the paper. He couldn't believe his eyes. No way!
"A GameCat?!" he squealed in joy! Butters snatched up the (rather heavy) box and presented it proudly to his parents. That's the new game system that just came out about a month ago! It had all kinds of cool new games that dropped with it's release, like Sonic Kingdoms and Ship Raiders. The box was freaking awesome! It had the console on it, the controllers, and it's mascot--a pink and blue kitty named Gamma K. Oh, it was perfect!
"Oh my god! It comes with games?! You guys are the best!"
"Smile!"
Yay. More eye pain.
Stephen touched her shoulder gently. "Linda, we have to go."
"Oh! Look at the time! I'm sorry, baby, we have to go. The party is in 30 minutes anyway, so it won't be too long until they get here. Now, Butters, I trust you to be alone for that long without causing any trouble, okay? You're also going to be home alone tonight. No mischief! You stay in this house, got it?"
"Mamma, it's only half an hour! I'll be okay. And I won't be running off anywhere either."
"Okay, okay. In the meantime, you can try hooking up the game cat and play some games until the guests arrive. I don't want you to be ignoring anybody."
"I won't, Mamma."
"Alright, just making sure. I love you, honey. We'll see you tomorrow!" Linda bent over again to kiss him on the cheek, swiping her blonde hair out of the way. Mwuah! She got up again quickly and skittered to the door while throwing on her coat. "Have fun! Bye!"
"Call us if you need anything," his father called out from behind him before the door closed shut.
"Bye!" Time to hook this baby up!
The time on the clock above the television read 9:32.
"Where is everyone?"
Butters stopped messing with the game console a while ago. It needed to be linked to the Wi-Fi to work, and his parents never tell him the password. It's 10:17. No one is here. No one but him. Maybe they're all just late? Yeah, it's only been around 20 minutes. He knows that not every kid is going to show up, and that people like Cartman never show up to anything on time. Just give it a while. Play your DS instead. Yeah, it's just taking them a while, is all.
The blond padded up the stairs to his room to fetch his game. As he walked up them, he could only ponder about what's keeping everybody. Whatever, they'll be here soon.
11:23. An hour and twenty minutes.
He'd been looking out the front window for a long time now, just hoping that someone would come. What's that feeling you get in your chest? When there's a hole in it, a pit, and it sinks and all of your nerves grow cold? That's how he felt. None of the fellas or gals are here. Not yet, anyway. He did put the right times on the invites, right? Maybe he embarrassed everyone with his girly handwriting. He did dot his I's with hearts, after all. Maybe his dad was right. All of these pastel ribbons and sparkles and the like were too girly for him. Or too little kiddy. Well, the students didn't know that. U-Unless, of course, he told them and forgot.
He turned his head from the window and lazily blew on the glitter and sequins scattered on the gift table, the soft sparkles flying briefly in the air until eventually settling into the carpet. That's gonna be a pain to clean out, but at the moment he was too sad to even think about vacuuming. It was his parents' who decided to carry out his silly little fantasies today. It's their fault for the mess. It's their fault for this mess. It's too early for a party, anyway.
12. It's freaking twelve o'clock. If he was feeling crumby earlier, he's definitely feeling like scum now. Nobody seems to care today. Butters had moved himself upstairs, the DS abandoned long ago. His black shoes were kicked beneath his bed haphazardly. His tie lay crumpled on the floor, and his pillow wet. He'd been crying for a while now, considering everything. The nicely combed golden hair now stuck up in various direction from burying his head under his sheets. Nobody cared about him at all. His parents only stuck around for the morning, so they cared kinda. Why would people leave him? He didn't do anything wrong, right? M-Maybe if he went to that goth dude he could have scared everyone into going. Damien. He invited him, too. He invited everyone in his class. Everyone! Not a soul. Not one.
He finally removed the blanket off of his face, and rolled out of bed. He's pretty hungry. Maybe he'll try to do what Cartman does and eat his feelings. One again, he walked slowly down the stairs, his head hung low. Butters only looked up briefly, and he regretted it.
The balloons started to deflate.
And the tears came back with a vengeance. Nobody cares about me.
He trudged over to the fridge and opened it defeatedly. There's some leftover meatloaf. Maybe I could eat all of it and die of a heart attack. He pulled it off of the rack and set it onto the table, closing the door with his foot. He sat it on the table, and reached for a fork. He didn't even bother to heat it up. Just something to eat, just something to eat. Something to eat would be nice.
This is the worst party ever.
2:03. He isn't even upset anymore. Numb. Numb is the feeling. He finally figured out the password and got the GameCat up and running, but he wasn't paying much attention to the game he picked out. Some FPS that he isn't very good at. Naturally. He was so happy this morning, so thrilled. That all went away. It was crushed like a small bug on the sidewalk. Crushed like a boulder down a mountain pass. Crushed like a can in the dumpster. This whole thing is a dumpster fire. This isn't a birthday party. This is a pity party. A pity party that Butters is the only one in attendance. Butters shouldn't have even thrown a party at all. He, h-he--
There was a knock at the door.
Butters froze, his heart catching in his throat. Someone's here?!
Another knock.
He snapped out of his shock and leapt to his feet. Someone's here! Wait, it could be the mail lady… Or someone else! Maybe his parents came back early?
His smile from earlier returned. He looked like a mess, but then again he always did. He's still too short to look out of the peephole to see who it is, and he didn't even think about looking out the window. He opened the door so hard, it startled the other person on the other side.
A flash of orange.
"Kenny!"
"Mmmprh!!!"
"O-Oh, sorry about that! I-I didn't mean to scare ya! What took so long?"
"Oh, mrmmrmrmrmphrphrmmrph--"
"I'm gonna have to cut you off, Ken. I can't understand ya."
The other boy rolled his eyes, and tugged his hood down enough in front of his face for his mouth to move freely. He was breathing hard and his face was red hot. In between breaths, he explained his tardiness.
"I woke up late and tried to get my parents to take me here, but they were busy and told me no. I wanted to get you a present before I came, so I tried going to the shops today but they were all closed. So I went to the Dollar Tree allll the way across town and got you something. Walking takes a long time." He then placed his hood back where it belonged.
Butters didn't even notice the yellow plastic bag in his hand. Wow, of all the people to show up. With a gift no less. He excitedly motioned him to come inside, and he did gratefully. "You want some ice cream? Cake? Some soda? It's cherry!"
Kenny nodded hard, and mumbled ecstatically when he saw the GameCat as he walked through.
"Yeah! Mamma and Dad got me that! What do you think?"
"Mnit's frkn awmsom!"
"Right?! Come on to the kitchen! Sit down!"
They both sat at the kitchen table, talking each other's ears off and laughing. The other blond finally took off his hood. It's too hot in here to keep it on. Kenny went on about all of the crazy things he saw on his little journey to the Dollar Tree, ranging from finding a penny on the ground to an old homeless guy chasing a chicken with a frozen Hot Pocket. He complimented the pretty decorations, commenting on how he'd prefer something nice any day over the edgy garbage Cartman had for his birthday. Butters told him about how terrible he felt all day, how his parents left him alone and how nobody showed up. Nobody but him.
"Your present! I almost forgot! Happy birthday!"
Kenny reached for the grocery bag beneath the table and shoved it to Butters's chest.
"Oof! What's in this?"
"Open it and see, duh!"
"Okay, okay. No need to be hasty there, friend."
He immediately went against his own words and almost savagely fumbled with the bag until the prize fell out onto the table. He quickly grabbed it and--
"GI JOE!" Blue eyes widened in disbelief. "You got this at the Dollar Tree?"
"Right?" Kenny parroted the same emotion back to the birthday boy. "It's crazy what can be cheap and what can not be… Cheap. Sorry it isn't very big or as detailed as the usual ones."
"Oh, you hush--it's perfect! Thanks so much! AH!" he ripped into the box to get the toy out. It wasn't a large toy, only about five inches high, and the paint job could have been a bit better. The weapons had obvious seams. But who cares? Kenny is here and he cared enough to show up. There was yet another mess on the table, but the amounts of rat tushies he gives equal to zero. He'll clean it later. There he was, a friend, a person. He turned in his chair and gave him a hug, once again startling him.
"Butters, please. I stink."
"I know," he squeezed a bit tighter. "I don't care." He pulled away from him and looked him straight in the eyes. "Wanna play Sonic Kingdoms?"
"Hell yes!"