One of the things Kyle would never understand about himself is that even though he resents his hair for being strands of merciless, red curling tentacles, was the fascination he had with playing with them when he was deep in thought. Almost unconsciously Kyle will slide his fingers under his hat and bring out a bright red, curled stand of hair and twist it around in between his fingers like he was braiding his own hair. More often than not he would catch himself doing this after seeing he had amassed a small gathering of red ringlets on one side of his face.

And that is where Kyle finds himself in AP World History (part 2) as he is taking his quiz and just before he finishes he finds a stray ringlet has travelled off his finger and gingerly bounced in front of his nose. Kyle seethed in silent anger over this. It was one thing to be constantly hiding the fact his hair would frizz out no matter how short he cut it but now he was adding to the problem by giving himself a perm? Kyle mentally kicked himself for his unconscious and very undignafying behavior.

Before he could hide his ringlets behind his ear a casually folded note landed gracefully on to his desk from behind him. On the front of it a K was printed in his strange squabbled yet neat handwriting. You could always tell it was Kenny's writing if it looked messy but it was still legible, like when a 5 year old neatly practicing writing his name over and over because he's so proud of himself. Of course Kyle huffs a little, this being a quiz and all and he's taking it un-Godly seriously as he dose each and every little thing, to toss a glance behind his shoulder over at Kenny who's diagonally across/behind from him. Kenny only made a little nudging gesture with his head over to Kyle saying: "Read the fucking note or I'll keep bugging you till the quiz is picked up".

Kyle sighed; knowing that in the end he would be defeated and covered in more notes with more and more cussing in them, possibly dirty writing and the end result with having to read it out loud. Once unfolding the intricately folded note (Kenny had a thing for origami) Kyle hid the paper under the desk and looked under to read it:

You look so fuckable when you do that.

Kyle, with a face of pure annoyance mixed with hate, crumbled the note in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket. He was determined to either throw it into the trash can or stuff it down Kenny's throat when he was through with his quiz. Kyle looked back to flip Kenny off who made a look of mock-hurt but then giggled when Kyle turned back to his quiz.

Kenny smiled at Kyle knowing the outcome of his action was really just to see if he could ease Kyle into a sense of let's-not-completely-stress-out-over-one-dumb-quiz that he knew was making him twist his hair around. Other than, yes, being attracted to his red haired friend Kenny genuinely cared about Kyle and did worry about how Kyle would stress out at the minor, really minor, details in life. But then again, if Kyle wasn't always so stressed and serious he wouldn't be the same high strung (and probably dynamite in bed) friend Kenny had known since Pre-school.

Kenny knows he'll pass this quiz. It was history for God's sake. If a person can't memorize a couple dates and tell the difference between the French and the English then they were probably dumb as shit. Kenny was a fairly bright young man, no incredible genius but he did turn out to be a very clever kid (which no one usually see's because it's hidden under all the perverse layers of Kenny's thoughts and actions). With that he had just sort of quickly done all the multiple choice and answered the short answer questions in 1-2 sentences. Kyle was writing a small essay, he knew, and it was only to be expected that Kenny was just too lazy to put in the effort to write more than the stated fact with minimum explanation. If he had to do any more work he probably would have added smart ass comments to his answers as well.

Being bored and in need of entertainment Kenny lets his eyes wander around the small classroom. One of the things everyone likes is that unlike the elementary school the high school is required to pump in extra heat so that the students didn't have to always wear their parkas or jackets. Of course most of the girls appreciated this due to the fact that they could now wear tank tops, halter tops and miniskirts that were school 'appropriate' and guys loved it for the eye candy. Kenny was currently wearing one of his favorite logo shirts that has a collection of almost every logo and tiny mascot for each restaurant in Las Vegas (which he swears when he gets there he'll eat in everyone or at least take a picture in front of like a stupid girl) with his orange hoodie over it and a pair of patched jeans that had to be repaired due to over use. He scanned over Kyle again: Kyle usually wore a light sweater over whatever long sleeved shirt he wore but today you could see the he was wearing a black and white stripped long sleeved shirt with the title of some indie-movie fest that Kyle was pinning to go to. It was cute that he liked that shit so much. From looking around Kenny could see the awesome cleavage shot of Bebe leaning over to look at quiz in her red, deep V-neck shirt. He caught several panty shots and 2 guys passing notes (cheats? On a quiz this easy?) to each other and then he caught a look at Craig. Craig had about 2 classes with Kenny and Kyle and he usually sat in the back either boredly playing with the tassels of his hat or reading some book under his desk when he was supposed to be listening. But today Kenny caught Craig, who sat in the very back, alternating his attention from his quiz to casting quick and embarrassed glances up at Kyle who sat in the front row.

Kenny could not help but smirk at this. Even if this could easily be blown over with the explanation of Craig just being freaked out about this morning or wondering if Kyle meant to do that on purpose, it was still entertaining as shit to watch. But Kenny got bored of it, seeing as all it really was just one guy who looked more confused about what he was actually doing and the other was just twisting his hair around while pondering which vocabulary term he should use next. Okay, Kenny had to admit that Kyle looked adorable when he played with his hair like that. Like, almost any girl looked adorable when they're just doing it without realizing it, but Kyle looked especially cute because it was only on one side of his face and he had to keep going under his hat like he was sneaking out secret codes and answers in the depths of his brain.

Everyone handed in their quiz and resumed the low chatter buzz and conversation they had in beginning. Kenny took this opportunity to go up and sit atop of Kyle's desk in an attempt to rile him out of his post-testing trance.

"I really mean it you know," Kenny said while looking down at Kyle who was staring blankly up at the white bored like he was emptying his brain. "I fucking wanted to take you right then and there while you were playing with yourself."

Kyle kicked one of the legs of the desk in order to jar Kenny and freak him out enough to hold on to the table for dear life. Kenny had a weird fear of earthquakes.

"Shut up you fucking creep," Kyle said while smirking, seeing a look of horror played out on Kenny's face. "And quick passing me notes like that! What if landed somewhere else and someone else read it?"

"Then I'd just fuck them instead." Kenny said very matter-o'-factly with a benevolent smile. It's not that Kenny was a slut… okay, maybe a little bit. But Kenny did enjoy people and wierding them out because he could always pull it off as some kind of joke.

Kyle rolled his eyes and looked away. "Dude, someday you're going to get sued for sexual harassment and I swear that even though you're one of my best friends, I won't go easy on you."

"Gee, thanks." Kenny says in a monotone with one of his looks usually reserved for 'I'm bored out of my mind' and 'yes, I'm listening to what you want to order you stupid fuck'. "I'm going to be so lost without my life-savings of $5 and that deflated blow pillow I call a bed. Maybe if we sold the house we could get me a nice suit from the J-Mart and the judge'll go easy on me."

Kyle cracked a smirk and hit Kenny on his shoulder.

"Well, you could always pay me back with your body." Kyle joked, getting into an almost playful mood now that Kenny had de-stressed him. Something that took a little time and always put Kyle in high spirits.

"Really!?" Kenny said quickly with bright eyes and a wide smile.

"God," Craig huffs as he over hears their conversation. For the record, it isn't that Craig doesn't have any friends, quite the contrary as he is a part of the football team and also the baseball team. Right now he was hanging around Rebeca, Heidi and a kid named John whose house is in the district closer to South Park than Little Town. "Can you be anymore of slut, Kyle?"

Craig always spoke in a monotone; it was like a bored drawl that he never got rid of. It may come from being both a little stand-off-ish and also a little shy when it comes to social situations. But he was pretty popular, more or less.

"Can you be any more of a dick, Craig?" Kyle questioned back, barely turning his head to look over at Craig. Craig and Kyle would never stoop to calling each other Tucker and Brofloskie. Mostly the reason behind it was to save the town from pitting the 2 of them in constant fights or add another layer of passive-aggressive hate to themselves.

Craig simply flipped Kyle off which twisted Kyle up inside a little. This morning may be the most embarrassing morning of his life, surpassing the time his mom followed him to school the entire day in 5th grade because there was terrorist threat to a high school in Middle Town. And honestly, all he knew was that Craig was continuing to call him a Fag and may be telling everyone Kyle had a crush on him.

At that moment the bell rang for classes to switch. Kyle began picking up his books and realized he had some sort of trash in his pocket. When he pulled out a crumbled piece of trash he figured he must have forgotten it in his jeans a few nights ago and just left them in there by accident. Just before leaving he saw Craig flip him off again (something Craig did to everyone but also whenever he felt like pissing someone off) and Kyle, deciding to be less passive-aggressive and more proactive, threw the wadded up piece of paper at Craig and left the room with Kenny.

Kyle left before seeing the piece of paper hit Craig in the forehead and land in his hand. It didn't hurt, but it sure as hell pissed Craig off that Kyle had actually tried to hurt him. Token and Heidi laughed as they left, joking about how the 2 of them were constantly between the line of ringing each other's necks or making out, when Craig saw that there looked like there was something written on the paper. He saw the letter 'K' which he supposed stood for 'Kyle' and then turned the paper over to read the message on the other side:

You look so fuckable when you do that.

· *

"Dude," Stan called out over to Kyle as he saw Kyle waiting for Kenny at Kenny's locker. Kyle waved over at Stan as he approached them. "Hey, sorry that I basically ditched and left you with Wendy in the hall earlier. It was just… you know… weird."

Earlier that morning, after they got off the bus, Wendy had tracked down Kyle, who was hitting his head against the school bulletin board, and coaxed him into a sense of calm. I say 'sense' because at first all he did was groan and grumble until Wendy somehow persuaded that no one actually thought anything happened. And Stan was apologizing because he literally had just pointed to where Kyle was at and then walked directly to his first classroom, no stopping at his locker or to talk to anyone, and left Kyle with a supportive yet slightly over-bearing Wendy.

"Oh yeah, I bet that was weird for YOU. What with MY head being stuck in Craig's lap and all, and then Wendy trying to tell me that my perceived sexuality wasn't in danger." Kyle said this with a smile yet his eyes told that he was pissed off and he talked in grudging, sour tone. "Oh, and let's not forget the part when Wendy pulled Butters and Bebe over to try and 'console' me."

"Oh my God." Stan pinched the skin in between his eyes and looked down at the floor. Truthfully, he really was just doing this to keep Kyle from seeing the grin on his face. "She didn't-"

"She fucking did!" Kyle shouted, now in complaint mode rather than 'I'm-angry-as-piss' mode. "Butters looked like he was being interrogated and almost cried and Bebe just sat there and laughed at me!"

"Oh my God."

"And that's not even the worst part! I was almost late to class because she was actually trying to set me up with Bebe!"

"Oh my God…."

"I know! I mean, she wasn't saying it out right; she was more like hinting at it. But the entire time we were talking she would get Bebe and Butters to say something about how I'm like- WILL YOU STOP FUCKING LAUGHING AT ME YOU GIGANTIC ASSHOLE!"

It was at that time he noticed Stan was shaking with laughter and couldn't hold it in any longer. Stan was leaned over and laughing hard with Kyle seething in anger, his face hot and red from embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," Stan eventually managed to breathe out as he straightened up, still grinning ear to ear and a little red. "I'm sorry… I'm really… It's just, oh God, I just can't believe she actually tried setting you up with Bebe while saying nobody thinks you're gay!"

"I know," Kyle said begrudgingly, knowing Stan was really only laughing at the situation rather than making fun of him. He could just tell with Stan. "I'm mean, I don't mind the thought, I'm flattered actually. But seriously, you had to do it while asking her to agree with her that I'm not gay. I mean, yeah, it doesn't look at all like she's trying to be my cover or have someone else be. And God, she had to do it all in front of Butters…!"

"Yeah… We'll have to apologize to him and make sure he isn't too traumatized later."

"Him!? What about me!? You don't think I need some kind of therapy now!"

"Alright, alright, alright already!" Kenny shouted as he slammed his locker door shut. "As much as I love ogling you 2 and hearing about how Wendy demasculated Kyle, I've got a class to get to. Now get yer asses out of my way."

Kenny smirked as he passed them, thinking of just how amusing those 2 can be. Kyle and Stan, taking the hint that they also needed to get to class, walked over to the locker that they shared. Again, most of this was due to a shortage in lockers due to a recent homicidal HD TV attack that happened in South Park, but also because it worked to the best-friends advantage. Kyle always remembered the locker combination, meticulously organized things and kept a schedule on what classes where split between 2 days and which day they took those classes. Stan liked this because he constantly forgot his combination, constantly used to lose stuff in the locker, pile trash and leave in the locker and would constantly which classes he had for which day.

"Can't you ever remember the combination," Kyle questioned as he bent down to open the locker. Somehow he wasn't that mad anymore; probably from having Stan hear him out and then Kenny brush it off like it was nothing. "I mean, what would you do if I didn't show up to school?"

"That would never happen Mr. Perfect Attendance," Stan bemused as he leaned back against the lockers. This really was the best option, since Kyle was already shorter he usually handed Stan whatever he needed and did so fast while reorganizing in accordance to what they would need next time they stopped here.

"Oh yeah? What if I was bed ridden with some sort of deadly disease?"

"Then I'm sure you'd still cart your ass here just so you could infect Cartman."

Kyle snorted in agreement. School was important to him and his mother made sure he was at the bus stop and at school on time each morning if he didn't wake up early enough. In fact he had to promise his mother that he was perfectly fine getting ready on his own without his mother's help. As Kyle stood up and handed Stan his books Cartman had walked over, seemingly out of his way for no real reason other than to be a pain in the ass.

"Gee Kyle," Cartman said while smirking after Stan had taken his books. "I didn't know how much you coddled Stan. All you need to perfect the picture is kiss him on the cheek and send him packing."

"Shut up Fat Ass," Kyle said aggravated. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with this.

"Ay! Don't call me 'Fat' you fucking Jew!"

"Are we seriously going to have another fight before the next class has even started," Stan complained. There was nothing more boring than seeing the 2 of them in some sort of insult slinging match. Sure, it was funny when they were 10 but they really hadn't gotten any new or better material to use over the years.

"Ugh," Cartman said, just as Kyle and Stan were about to leave. "See this now? This is me leaving. So then: screw you guys, I'm a' goin'-"

"To class, Eric Cartman." Mrs. Humpfreeton completed for him. Mrs. Humpfreeton was not only a counselor with Mr. Makey but also the computer science teacher and had Cartman in her class. She was strict, ever vigilant and fun sucking ever since she moved to South Park with her husband. "As I expect you 2 to do as well Stanly Marsh, Kyle Broflovski."

"Yes ma'am," both Kyle and Stan said in union. She wasn't a scary woman, but she was intimidating and had a sense to her like she had connections. Stan and Kyle both quickly turned and walked to their separate classes, hoping that woman wasn't staring at them and wondering how exactly she knew THEIR names as well as Cartman's? They haven't taken Computer Science before and she wasn't their counselor.

· *

Lunch was in between 2nd and 3rd period for the students at South Park High. Like the bus, there was a silent code to where you sat and with who and when changes were appropriate. If a change happens suddenly and without notification a small panic occurs in the close knit community where rumors are spread and tears are shed.

The table closest to the window is always occupied by the same mass of friends since elementary school: Craig, Clyde, Tweak and Token. This table would also have others sit with them occasionally, like Timmy, Jimmy, Red, Duggy and John from Middle Town but mostly those 4 would be secure in their "private" conversations. But this conversation was slightly strained. Token was complaining about the marathon runners in the Colorado Fall Cross Country Run that he couldn't participate in. Tweak talked about the dangers of cars (one of his most feared objects) and what running does to your legs after years of training and getting tired on the track, falling behind and then getting run over. Clyde reminded Tweak that he doesn't run for fun and reminded Token about how great the next game was going to be because everyone in town was coming to watch it. And Craig just stared at a piece of paper under the table, not being able to think straight.

"Hey Craig," Token said while Clyde was trying to reassure no one was going to purposely run him over for no Goddamn reason. "You okay, man? You've just kind of been staring down at your shoes all this time and haven't said a word. Did something happen?"

"Um," Craig began, he was freaking out slightly. He backed away from Token a bit and stuffed the paper down into his pocket so no one would see it. "Yeah man, I'm good… Just a little… tired…."

"Are you hot too?"

"What?"

"Hot? Like, do you feel warm? I mean, you're all red in the face all of the sudden."

"R-Really?"

"Well, yeah man, you've been red for a little while but now it's more noticeable."

-different part of the lunch room-

"Well hello children," Chef says with a smile like always after they say "Hi Chef" in union. The same routine happened every day, but he enjoyed it because it made him feel like he really helped lives. "How are ya'll doin'?"

"Pretty good," all 4 of them say in union. Chef smiles', knowing that means they'll have a problem coming along in a day or 2.

"Hey Chef," Stan asks, getting his attention.

"What's up, Stan?"

"How does Mrs. Humpfreeton know all our names?"

Chef stopped working and looked at them in absolute horror.

"Ah," he started, carefully looking around as if making sure no one was watching him. "Now childrun, I-I don't think it's any of my business to know what Mrs. Humpfreeton's thinking."

"Well we just want to know why she would-"

"Oh! Sorry childrun, there's more lunches to be served and you're blocking the line!"

Chef hands each kid their own custom plate he's understood how to fix for years. Stan gets the standard issue, Kyle gets one with white milk and is a bit smaller due to the fact he doesn't eat much, Kenny gets extra by taking the food scraped off of Kyle's and Cartman's only looks bigger so he won't complain.

The boys go to their own table that's in the middle of the lunchroom where Stan and Kyle sit across from Cartman and Kenny. In fact, the only time this seating order is ever changed is if Butters sits with him. But since Butters usually spends his time in the library that usually doesn't happen.

"Dude," Kyle starts while opening his milk. "What was that about? Why would Chef get freaked out by Mrs. Humpfreeton?"

"Um maybe because she's a fucking psychopath," Cartman comments, looking a bit freaked out. "Goddamn it, I hate her! She's like some sort of fun-sucking witch who just wants to make everyone's lives miserable!"

"Yeah," Kenny commented absently. "But she's got great tits."

Kyle and Cartman thought about this until nodding their head in agreement. For a bitch with a stick up her ass and no sense of humor, she had a pretty great rack.

"Okay guys," Stan said, ready to change the topic. His voice was now very serious. "New question: What are we doing for Halloween?"

Kyle looked at him astonished.

"Dude, seriously?" Kyle he questioned Stan. "How is that more important?"

"I'll get to it." Stan waved off with a slight smile. "I just need to know what we're all doing."

"Well, trick or treating has been off the table for, I don't know, 6 years."

"Kyle, please," Cartman started in his calm yet bossy tone. "You are missing the point here. You see, unlike you, WE have a social life. And also, unlike you, we do not have such childish, frivolous manners such as yourself."

"Shut up, Cartman! Just last year you tricked then entire 2nd grade into trick or treating for you by telling them to give you their candy or else Santa wouldn't of shown up!"

And in the back of his mind Kyle wondered how that plan even worked…

"And I would of gotten away with it too if some meddling JEW didn't call al their parents on me!"

"You were traumatizing them!"

"Okay guys, stop!" Stan yelled, trying to get their attention. "What did we try to do last year that we did the year before but we didn't because of Cartman?"

"We went to a party." Kyle answered blankly.

"Okay, and who's throwing this year's Halloween party?"

The group had to think for a minute before Kenny remembered.

"Craig," Kenny said cheerfully. "His parents got that new stereo set and are all going over to Stan's house for the parent's party."

"Aw, Craig?" Kyle sighed. "Really? Him? I would have thought Token was hosting it again?"

"Nah, Token's parents decided they were gonna host some sort of call in charity for some TV show and there's not allowed to be any alcohol or teenagers humping."

"Alright," Stan said while smiling. "Now, we know that my parents are having the party for adults, and that means there's gonna be a lot of boozing going on there."

"Oh no," Kyle said while pinching the skin in between his eyes.

"So we get ready at my house and sneak some really good booze away and bring it to the party."

"Won't they already have booze there? I mean, Craig (the asshole) would be smart enough to have beer and saved some wine for the party."

"Yeah, but they won't have any hard liquor, and guess what? A bunch of adults and parents have been hiding their liquor, all the hard stuff and really weird shit, over at my place 'cause they don't want their kids sneaking away with their stuff."

"And so we bring all that really hard and weird shit to the party and really get things amped up," Kenny said while smirking. Kenny had already known his dad had hidden a thing of moonshine at Stan's house and couldn't wait to get a hold of it.

"Oh man you guys," Cartman said while fantasizing in his head. "Can you imagine what everyone's gonna be like? All fucked up and shit face, and then they'll have US to thank for it."

"We'll be the life of the party," Kenny said while staring at the celling, imagining 2 girls drunk and horny and thankful to Kenny for the entertainment.

"Alright," Kyle said with a huff, annoyed by his friends obvious over exaggeration at all this. "I think we're missing a point here. Craig isn't inviting us, I mean beside Stan he relatively despises us. He wouldn't let us in."

"That's why we go in about 2 hours after the party's started," Stan says smiling. He knew Kyle would bring that up but knew what to say. "By then they'll all have a light buzz and when they see our cartel, they'll beg us to come in. So we go in looking fashionably late AND like the coolest kids in South Park."

"We'd be cooler if Kyle's dad still owned that liquor store," Kenny bemused while eating. "I mean those all night parties were A-mazing, dude!"

Kyle rolled his eyes at that. He knew that really the only reason his dad started the liquor show was so that they'd be the coolest family with the all night parties and booze connections. It was just sad though that Kyle didn't drink and, even after owning a liquor store, never learned how.

"Alright, I get it," Kyle said, shaking off the nagging feeling of mild discomfort at this idea. "So that's the plan? We bring booze to the party, got it."

"Actually," Stan smiled, feeling very amused.

"What," the 3 of them said in union, interest picked.

"I was thinking we could all drive to Denver during the day and come back at night for that party. You know, do a little partying in the big city before crashing Craig's."

Kenny smiled widely, amused beyond what his other fantasies were. Kenny loved Denver. Not only because it wasn't South Park but that it wasn't South Park and had entertainment almost constantly. It was there that he picked up all the maps of places he was planning on traveling to and one of the few places he didn't mind constantly dying in.

"Sweet, dude!" Kenny nearly squealed while jumping a little. "I think I can get the truck from my dad as long as-"

"No need, Kenny." Stan said smugly while rapping his arms around his chest.

"No way," Kyle said with an ear to ear smile. "You mean-"

"Found out just after class. My dad called me all excited saying Uncle Jimbo found an old buddy with a van that was in pretty good shape and was selling it for cheap. And no, Kenny, it won't explode when you start it."

"Sweet, dude!" Kyle said nearly tackling Stan over from excitement. "When do you get it?"

"A week, right before Halloween so we'll be all set to party."

"Aww man, do you guys know what this means?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and said in union: "No more bus."

At that the lunch bell rang meaning there was 5 minutes until classes started again. The group went to dump their trays in the trash cans when Stan looked over at Kyle.

"Dude," Stan said while eye-balling the only half-eaten tray. "You sure that's all you want to eat?"

"Yeah," Kyle said while about to throw it away before seeing Kenny eye-balling it. He sighed and handed it over to Kenny who stuffed the pizza and fries in his jacket pockets. "Why?"

"Well it's just… Dude you've gotten really skinny. Like almost unhealthy skinny."

"Like a girl," Kenny tried to say through a mouth full of food which came out more like: "Riff ugh hurl."

Kyle glared over at Kenny. "I'm not gonna do anything right now and let you off the hook since I couldn't make that last comment out, Kenny."

"Oh jezz," Cartman said while rolling his eyes. "They mean you like a sissy, anorexic girl whose acting like she's constantly on the rag!"

"Shut the fuck up Cartman!" Kyle nearly yells, unconsciously making sure not to cause a scene. "I do not look like a fucking girl, Fat Ass!"

Kenny exited this conversation quickly, knowing it'll lead to nothing but his pain. Cartman just smiled and left the lunch room, thoroughly pleased that he got Kyle so riled up in so short a time. Kyle walked out slowly, fist clenched and teeth gritted. There was nothing in the world that didn't piss him off so much than knowing he was too skinny and short for a basketball player and looked so effeminate. Stan wrapped his arm around Kyle's shoulder and pulled him into a hug, somehow defusing some of Kyle's anger. Kyle looked up to see Stan smiling down at him and rubbing his shoulder reassuringly.

"For what it's worth," Stan said in a hushed voice. "You're a really pretty girl."

Usually this would make Kyle resent him, but Kyle just smiled up and Stan and kicked him ankle while laughing.

"Fuck you, asshole."