A/N: So... certain parts of this story seem to write themselves, while others take me days and days of work only to end up being scratched out or erased. I tried to do some actual, hardcopy planning, but it ended up turning into a chart of relationships sort of like the kind you'd have to make to keep up with a soap opera. So screw that, I'm letting it take me where it takes me. There is a plot, but it's not set in stone until that fateful click, right? I know I said this would be up earlier, but I have been doing research directly related to the story (and find Wikipedia remarkably unhelpful). BTW: They're juniors in high school. I realize that the perspective is difficult to understand, because I don't have any sort of marker between the switches. I try to make it as clear as possible though.
What the fuck do you think you're doing?
"I'm just goin' over to visit my old friend Kenny." I'm walking up to the front door as the Eric in my mind gets redder by the second. He's mighty sore because I'm not going over to his house today. I fiddle with a hole in my denim skirt, making it even bigger than it had been when I bought the thing.
Turn around, turn around now Butters! You know what Kenny is. You're going over to his house to fuck him!
"No Eric, I'm going over to Kenny's house and we're going to do what normal kids do. Now, could you please just try to stay quiet while I'm here? I don't want him thinking I'm some sort of freak, talking to myself." Psh. Like he doesn't know you're a freak already.
I knock on the door. I'm just beginning to think I should have called first (if Kenny had had a phone) when I hear the pounding of footsteps and then the door swings open. My mouth decides that now is a good time to grin. Eric doesn't like this at all, and he's yelling at me, but I'm getting real good at ignoring my imaginary Eric. Especially when I'm happy. Right now I'm happier than I have been for a while, probably since math class earlier today when I found out that I was getting an A plus instead of an A minus, and wouldn't have to get grounded. "Kenny!" I say, lunging at the orange hooded figure behind the door. I hug him, and he doesn't seem to mind as much as he used to.
"/Dude, Butters, it's been forever!/" I'm still grinning, but my smile wavers a little at the use of my old name. "/How are you, dude?/"
My mouth is still turned up, but I'm hardly smiling from joy any more. I'd forgotten just how long it had been since I last saw my childhood friend. I break the hug and step back. "Um. It's not 'Butters' any more..." A wave of emotions rush my head, but I swallow and push them down. I'm playing with the hole in my skirt again, and I look down at it, hoping he'll make the connection.
"/Wait, don't tell me. Marjorine?/" I nod, and begin to worry. How could I have forgotten he didn't know? Now I have to go through the whole stress of wondering what he's going to- "/Well, come on in, my lady!/" He bows extravagantly, arms beckoning me inside. The irony of the gesture is not lost on me, and I smile again. I gues I'd forgotten what a nice boy Kyle is.
I walk in and carefully pick my way through the discarded take-out boxes (all licked-clean of any food) over to his couch. "You don't... mind, do you?" I ask, not sure why I'm questioning his acceptance. 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth' is one of those phrases I learned quickly, but then after the Awesom-O incident, I guess I'm skeptical of any 'gifts' I recieve. I sit on the sofa, and watch as he sits next to me, stretching one arm over the back and one over the armrest.
"/Why would I mind? It's your deal, man. Ma'am. Whatever./" I'm really, really lucky to have a friend like Kenny. I lean over and hug him again.
Get off him, you little fag! Eric is back in my head. I guess the way I'm on my knees on the couch, leaning into his body to hug him could be sexual, but I'm just not the kind of person who'd realize that without someone pointing it out to me. I sit back against my arm rest, and curl my legs under my body.
"I missed you," I say, blushing at the things only I can hear. Eric's moved on to telling me exactly what makes me a fag, and he's gotten to the... descriptions. I'm not even quite sure it's Eric causing me to think these things any more.
No, in fact, that thought was all mine. And that one. And the one in which Kenny is taking off my-
There's a hand waving in front of my face. "Earth to Marjorine!" I shake my head, clearing my thoughts. "Hey, you were staring at me for like, five minutes."
"Oh." Kenny has taken off his hood, so now I can see his whole face. His eye has a bruise around it, like someone punched him.
"Are you okay?" Even though he's the one with the black eye, he looks genuinely worried for me. I haven't seen that expression aimed at me for... gosh. A while now.
"Oh, yeah I'm fine." My eyes focus on the room around me, and I notice there are no lights on. "Why's it so dark in here?"
He looks around, as if just noticing the darkness. "Oh, the power's out." He smiles at me, making me start rubbing my knuckles together nervously. "It's kinda romantic, isn't it?"
"So, are you still in South Park High?" I ask quickly, changing the subject.
He leans back and grins like he's some sort of bad-boy. "In more ways than one, my small friend."
I can tell by the way he's smirking that this is a double-entendre, but I'm still not quite sure how those work. "What do you mean?" I ask, feeling like a dummy for not knowing automatically.
He stands up, and I'm sure he's going to kick me out for being such a dork, but then he grabs my wrist and pulls me into his room. "I'll show you."
Meanwhile, Eric is yelling at the top of his lungs that I should never go into a horny boy's bedroom. He's starting to give me a headache.
Kenny drags me into his room and directs me to his bed before turning his back to me. See? I told you he was gonna try to fuck you. As Kenny walks to his closet and begins to search inside, I flatten my skirt and swing my legs, hoping Eric's wrong. You're just sitting there, waiting for it. You want him to-
"Here it is!" Kenny's dropping large yellow and orange book on my lap. It's our fourth grade yearbook. I remember the day we took out pictures. Everyone thought that I'd worn makeup to make myself look weird that day. They thought I was trying to ruin the picture. My dad was really angry about that. I was grounded for a long time for not taking picture day seriously.
Kenny's opened the book and flips to the page with our class on it. Everyone's there. All those people I used to know before I left... But in this copy of the yearbook, there's numbers next to everyone's picture. "What do the numbers mean?" I ask quietly as he sits down next to me. I can feel the heat of his body, and it makes me feel too hot in my pink hoodie. He points to a long string of numbers beneath a name.
"These numbers in blue are phone numbers."
"Wow, you have every girl in South Park's phone number? You must be mighty popular." I told you he slept around, didn't I? I pinch my leg to keep myself from talking to Eric out loud.
"Yeah, well when you've lived here for so long..."
"What are the black numbers?" I bet its how many times he tricked them into sleeping with him before they realized he gave them an STD.
The blond boy takes the book from me and closes it. He turns to face me, and I feel a shiver going down my spine. "What do you think they are?"
"Well Eri- I mean, is it how many times they've... uh... you know- with you?" Kennys eyebrows shoot up. I must have said the wrong thing. Oh, god, I hope he isn't mad at me. I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. Now he hates me, just like everyone else. I blew it. You can say that again. You should leave. Eric seems to have accepted the fact that I'm trying to ignore him, because he's not yelling any more.
"It really has been a long time." Huh? I wasn't expecting that. "You've changed. When did you start thinking about sex?"
"Probably around the time I started having it." My hands fly to my mouth. Eric's voice is back in full fury. THAT WAS A SECRET, REMEMBER? He's really sore at me. If the real Eric knew what I'd just said... I don't even want to think about it. The words "/I'm sorry,/" are barely audible through my hands. I'm not sure who I'm apologising to.
Kenny's staring at me like he's never seen me before. No, actually, it's worse than that. He's staring at me like he's seen me a million times, and then suddenly I unzipped my skin and turned out to be a giant green alien with a flatulence problem in disguise the whole time. I have no idea where I got that metaphor.
Several minutes later, he's still staring at me. Eric's still yelling, and I'm just staring at my hands, which I've moved from my mouth to my knees. We're both waiting for the other to say something, but I know it's certainly not going to be me who talks next.
"You... um. When was that?" He's looking at my neck, avoiding direct eye contact. His face is a little green, and a little red.
I'm not sure what to say to that. It depends on what he'd count as... that. I guess, officially, it's been around three years. I tell him that, and the colours on his face just seem to get worse.
"That... is a long time."
My jacket is too hot. I'm feeling claustrophobic, and I don't want to be here any more. I stand up.
He seems startled by my sudden movement. "Where are you going?" he asks, standing up as well and gently touching my wrist. I don't have an answer for him, and he seems to know that. "Stay."
I sit back on the bed obediently. He's still standing, and I can feel his eyes looking me up and down. I wipe my hands on my skirt. They're sweaty- my whole body is too hot. I pull at my jacket collar, trying to give myself more breathing room. I can't look up at him. I feel so ashamed, I'm not even sure of what.
Kenny looks down at the girl in front of him. She acts just like Butters, and she sounds like him. She even rubs her knuckles together when she's nervous. Right now she's pulling on her collar.
Kenny simply can not imagine Butters losing his virginity before himself. He begins to wonder why this girl, this Marjorine, came to him. He had thought it was just to catch up, two old friends who hadn't seen each other in a while hanging out. But if this new-Butters isn't a virgin, maybe he guessed wrong. Maybe she wants whatever it is every girl wants from him. But Butters?
"Who?"
He squeezes the syllable out, throat constricting and voice cracking. There is something wrong with this picture. Butters would never have agreed to anything... yeah, he would have. If he didn't know what he was getting into, and he trusted the person... he'd do anything to impress them. Kenny's eyebrows drop, and his eyes turn to slits. Who else did Butters trust? Who else would have been so... so uncaring and evil? Only one person would do that to him.
"It's a secret." Marjorine mumbles, pretty green eyes downcast. Kenny inadvertently takes a step back.
Doing what he does, Kenny is privy to a great deal of painful knowledge. Boyfriends who cheated were the most common, of course, but there were many more reasons than that for turning to Kenny McCormick. Sane, healthy, happy girls and boys just weren't the type to come searching for his services. He knew every one of South Park's dirty little secrets from the mouths of the victims, and from the mouths of the perpetrators. He knew about Clyde slipping something into a certain someone's drink before taking advantage of him at Token's last party. He knew who Mr. Garrison was meeting with after class every Wednesday. He even knew which girl Bebe had slept with to get revenge on Clyde for cheating on her.
But this is just too much.
Just... too wrong.
She pulls her collar from the other side, and he catches a glimpse of the edge of a red spot on her neck that isn't a freckle.
"I'll fucking kill that fatass."
A/N2: Well, there you have it, Chapter 2. I wanted to portray our little one as a bit more mature, but still the same old Leo Stotch we love. Hopefully any questions you have will be answered in the next few chapters, but if you don't get something, or I fucked this up somehow, leave a review or message me. Or do both! ((It makes me smile to see reviews and messages, even if they're small. Anything to show I'm not alone out here on the big web.)) By the way, do you mind that I just kind of jumped into the drama right away, or should I have put another chapter in between one and this one? I won't leave anything unexplained by the end, but perhaps for cohesion's sake there should be some extra padding? Like I've said, I'm new at this whole "effort" thing.
