Chapter Two

I've only let myself get tricked before twice in my life. I'm normally very careful about it, and people generally know to not fuck with me. The first time it had happened, it was Kenny and his friends having a bet. After putting Tweek into the hospital in third grade over that bet – Tweek put me in there too, but that doesn't matter – people generally haven't put themselves deliberately in a position that might make me want to beat the shit out of them. Therefore, I wasn't often manipulated. I was in the fourth grade last time it happened, and it was Kenny then too. He and his friends tricked me out of my money to make me join some crap pan flute band, and then we got abandoned in Peru, and everything went to shit.

Where does Kenny get off manipulating me? He's been involved each time, and that's what I called this. Fucking McCormick, I'm so fucking mad at him. It was all a trick. Did he plan this from the start? 'Oh, let's just invite Craig to a party and let's seduce him! Yay!' Fucking whore. Yes, I agreed to come, but I didn't think… no. Next time I see him, I'm going to rip his balls off, seriously.

"So, I was wrong, huh?" A female voice called behind me. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. I didn't need this right now, but then again, it wasn't her fault. After I took a final deep breath, I turned around.

"You were right."

"Mm… I like the sounds of those words." She grinned as she put her hands on her hips. When I said nothing, she dropped her hands to her sides and adopted a more concerned expression on her face. "Are you okay?"

I took another deep breath. Of course I wasn't fucking okay. Someone I thought was my friend had tricked me into coming here just so he could take advantage of me. I wanted to kill that prick. Knowing him, he'd come right back to life, just to spite me.

"Yep." I answered, hoping she'd let it go. She frowned at me.

"There's no need to lie." She stated. "You're not okay." Well done, fucking genius. I sighed, and moved to lean against the back wall of the house as she followed me.

"Did he plan it all along?" I asked. I wished I hadn't dropped my vodka, I needed one.

"I don't know." For a minute, all she did was stare at me. "Don't be mad at him."

I laughed at that. "Okay, sure, I'm not mad."

"I'm serious!" She chided. "He just likes you. You can't hate him for that." I sighed, knowing that she was right. Manipulation aside, I knew you can't help who you fall for sometimes. It was all unpredictable like that.

"No." I muttered in response. She seemed appeased at that.

"There anything I can do?" She asked. I shook my head again. "I'm going to get you another drink." Before I knew she had left, she was back with two bottles of a drink I didn't bother to identify. As soon as it was in my hand, the lid was off and I was drinking it. She sighed and drank with me. After a while, Bebe asked me a question I hadn't expected.

"So, you've never even thought about another guy like that?" I stopped drinking for a moment and stared at her.

"No."

"I find that hard to believe." She started to smile again as she drank.

"Have you?" I challenged.

"Of course I have." She responded, as if it was obvious. She rolled her eyes at my shocked expression. "Everyone has, Craig. As Kenny once told me, everyone's a little gay." I considered that for a moment. I honestly really tried to remember if I had ever thought about someone like that.

Then it came back to me. It was in sixth grade, and me and the 'gang' as we called it were having a sleepover. I was walking past the bathroom and Clyde hadn't quite closed the door properly; I'd caught him changing. I remember seeing his bare torso and being slightly turned on. I'd shrugged it off though, and I've never thought about him like that since. No big deal. But, if I'd had that one moment, then maybe Bebe's right, everyone does have a little gay in them…

"Shall I leave or are you coming back to earth any time soon?" Bebe asked, reminding me where I was. I tried to shake the blush I knew had formed on my cheeks, and turned the attention onto her before she noticed.

"Who did you think about?" I asked quickly. She looked at me, suspicious, but answered anyway.

"I kissed Wendy at a club last year." She stated offhandedly. I looked at her, intrigued.

"Really?" She nodded. "Bebe, that's hot." I gave her the first genuine smile of the night.

"I know." She grinned mischievously back at me. We both laughed.

"Details?" I asked perversely.

"No, you dirty little boy." She giggled. I shrugged at her, still smiling.

"I tried." I said as I took another drink. We were quiet for a minute after that, but it was a comfortable silence. Not like before, when I wanted to get up and leave every time there was a pause in the conversation.

"So what are you doing at this party, Bebe?" I asked her, actually interested. She seemed surprised by the question.

"I go to these a lot." She replied. When she didn't continue, I persisted.

"Why?"

"It's just fun." She was lying. The smile had disappeared from her face as she said this.

"No it's not." I continued, watching her. She sighed, but said nothing. I wished for a moment that I hadn't said anything. She looked different without any smile on her face.

"These parties… with these kinds of people… they make me feel better."

"How?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"They make me feel wanted." Her smile had disappeared completely now, and she was looking at her feet. "At school, I get ignored. They don't want me. Everyone wants Wendy. I'm… the one in the background." I felt instantly guilty; I had been one of those people who ignored her. I didn't normally feel guilty about anything, but Bebe just seemed so… sad, basically. So fucking depressed about it. I put a hand on her shoulder. She attempted to smile again but failed. "When I come here, everyone is someone. It doesn't matter who you are… someone will just come up to you, and… really want you. Even if it's just for a night, you know?" I sighed. I didn't really understand, but I don't think it's something I could relate to at all. I was looked up to at school, not especially liked but respected at least, but Bebe… I never really saw a lot of her. I guess she really had been fitting into the background in the past few years. She suddenly looked up at me. "Don't get me wrong though, I do love my friends, especially Wendy!" She had tears in her eyes. Oh fuck, what am I supposed to do now?

"Hey, it's okay." I muttered, in what I hoped was a soothing tone. "I'm sure they know." She just sniffed and turned back to her feet. I stepped in front of her, causing her to look at me.

"You don't have to, you know." I said seriously. "You don't have to hide behind Wendy." I gestured behind me. "You're worth more than this."

"I'm not." She sniffed again, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"You are, when people get to know you, they'll know that too. Fuck, I've known you for about, what, an hour? And I know that already." You know those fucking moments when you just say what you're thinking? I fucking hate those moments. And here I am.

"Really?" She looked up at me, hopeful. I moved back into the position I was in before, realising what I'd said.

"Yeah." I mumbled, attempting a smile at her. She beamed back at me. I debated about hugging her for a second, but abandoned that thought quickly. I'd already said more than I normally would to even a friend at this point. What was it about girls that could make guys say things like that? I shook my head and handed her what was left in my bottle. She drank it gratefully, and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt.

"Thanks, Craig." She whispered.

"Fuck off." I retorted, trying to sound angry. From her smile, it obviously didn't work. Damn. I decided I'd better stop talking before I said anything else stupid and sounded like a fag.

We stood in silence for a few minutes after that. She took the time to recover, and I stood and thought. So, even Bebe admitted to having a gay moment. I now remember that I've had one too… so am I gay? No. I'm sure of that. But… that 'little bit of gay' is obviously there. So what do I do with it? How far does it go? All these questions were confusing me, especially since I was starting to get a bit tipsy.

"So, what're you going to do about Kenny?"

I just sighed and shook my head in response. I didn't have a fucking clue.