The next morning I found that I had arrived at school uncharacteristically early. It would be the first time I would see any of my friends (other than Butters, of course) after coming back. I wandered slowly onto campus, looking around as I searched for them among the few people who were already there.

Finally, I spotted Stan and Kyle at one of the picnic tables under a nearby tree. Stan was perched atop the table, Kyle standing in front of him, facing the black-haired boy. Kyle's hands rested on Stan's knees as he leaned forward to talk to his friend in a hushed voice.

Not thinking anything of it, I strolled over and plopped down next to Stan. Kyle stopped whatever he was saying abruptly, which was weird. I gave him a look.

"You don't have to stop talking," I told him. "Just pretend I'm not even here."

"Kenny, I really need to talk to Stan in private right now," Kyle replied, his gaze hardening. It was only now that I noticed that something was off. Kyle was acting protective over Stan, which he usually did, but not towards me. Peering around Kyle, I noticed an odd expression on Stan's face. It was somewhat of a combination of guilt, sadness, worry, fear.

"What's going on?" I asked, concerned now. I didn't like seeing my friends upset. "Is everything okay?"

Kyle sighed. "Everything is fine, okay? I just really need to talk to Stan right now. Alone."

I nodded, frowning. "Fine. But if you need anything, come get me, 'kay? I'll be out back. I need a smoke."

"Yeah, sure," Kyle mumbled, turning back to Stan. I got up off the table and walked away.

Just as I was leaving, I heard a faint whisper from Stan. "I'm scared," he murmured.

"I know," Kyle responded softly. "But I'm here. You know that. I won't let anything bad happen."

As I rounded the corner to go behind the school, I wondered what the hell was going on with those two. I hadn't seen Stan so upset in a long time. Sighing, I pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a deep drag as I slumped against the wall.

I don't know how long I had been spacing out for before I was brought out of my stupor at the sound of my own name.

"K-Kenny?" called a nervous voice. I turned towards its origin, exhaling some smoke.

"Hey, Butters," I replied with a soft smile. I felt very tired all of a sudden.

"I-I have your sweatshirt," Butters told me, pulling the mass of orange fabric out of his backpack. He held it out to me. I hesitated, then took it.

"Thanks." I took another drag of my cigarette, turning to lean against the wall again. As an afterthought, I added nonchalantly, "You could've kept it, you know."

"W-what?"

"The sweatshirt. You could've kept it. I wouldn't have asked for it back."

"Well I-I figured you would want it back," he replied, sounding confused. Little did he know, I almost would have preferred for him to have held onto it.

I shrugged. "I've got this one," I told him, gesturing to the identical sweatshirt I was wearing. "If you want the other one, you can keep it."

"Oh. R-really?" He sounded hopeful, like he really did want to keep my shirt. I held it out and he took it eagerly, clutching it to his chest. "Gee, thanks, Kenny!"

I chuckled softly. "No problem." Unable to resist the urge this time, I reached out and ruffled Butters' hair. He grinned up at me.

The five-minute warning bell rang. "Oh geez, we're gonna be late to class!" It was so adorable how he got all worked up about tiny things like tardiness.

"You go on, my class is right inside, I'll make it," I lied, not budging an inch. I felt Butters would disapprove if he knew I was planning on skipping homeroom. I placed my cigarette back in my mouth as Butters disappeared inside.

The following few classes passed in a daze. Finally, the bell rang, allowing us to go to lunch. I sat with my friends, once again with no food. I usually just stole stuff from the other three. Stan didn't seem as though he would be eating much today, so I figured he was my safest bet.

Apparently whatever had been going on this morning was still in the process. Stan wasn't saying a word. In fact, the only thing he did say was when Kyle joined our table.

"I did it," Stan mumbled sadly.

Kyle looked over at him and smiled gently. "Good job. I knew you could. Are you okay?"

Stan said nothing, just shrugged helplessly. Neither of them would answer my questions as to what had happened. Finally, I gave up.

A minute or two later, I noticed a significant absence of Butters. I desperately hoped he hadn't gone back to hiding in the bathroom. Turning in my seat, I scanned the cafeteria, eventually spotting him. He stood off to the side, having an anxious conversation with Craig. That's weird.

As I observed, I noticed Butters glance in my general direction. Craig followed his gaze, staring at our table. As his eyes connected with mine, Butters turned a lovely red hue. Craig turned to Butters to say something, his eyebrows raised in disbelief. He glanced over at me again once he finished talking. It was pretty obvious what they were discussing, but why on earth was Butters talking to Craig about me?

All of a sudden, a blonde girl with curly hair ran up to them – Bebe Stevens. She appeared to be sharing some gossip. I followed their glances, and discovered something new. They were all looking at Wendy Testeburger, who appeared to be in a very distraught state of mind as she was comforted by many of her friends. I looked over at Stan again. Maybe that was why he was acting so weird today. He dated Wendy on-and-off; maybe they had broken up again.

I looked up as Butters took the seat next to me. "Hey, what were you talking to Craig about?" I asked immediately.

"The more important question is why were you talking to Craig? God, I hate that bitch," Cartman added before Butters had a chance to answer my question.

"Oh, I-I just wanted ta ask him somethin'," Butters replied nervously. In an obvious effort to change the topic, he pointedly shifted his focus to Stan. "B-but then Bebe ran up, and told us about how Stan broke up with Wendy!"

"Oh geez," Stan muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose, as was his habit. "Why does gossip in this school have to travel so fucking fast?"

Ah, so that's what was going on. Although it was a bit odd that Stan had been the dumper this time. Usually it was Wendy who left him.

Kyle placed a comforting hand on Stan's back, but seemed oddly glad that Stan no longer had a girlfriend. He caught my eye and raised a brow at me, as if to question what I was staring at. I just rolled my eyes and looked away.

It wasn't like Kyle to keep secrets from me. I considered him to be my best friend, even though I knew that for him, Stan would always come first. But Kyle and I told each other everything. He knew things about me that no one else did – for instance, how I had lost my virginity as a 12-year-old victim of rape and murder. That wasn't the kind of thing you went around telling people. But Kyle knew many of my secrets, and I felt I could trust him for that.

I had thought that he felt he could trust me the same way, but I guess not.