The big-eyed brown-haired girl crept out from behind her older brother and held out her hand, "Nice to meet you," she said giving a polite smile. I shook her hand back. She was most likely a freshman but looked like a fourth grader! She had a scraggly old red coat on, I bet it was older than her. The garment drooped over her fingers when her hands rested at her sides. I had no doubt that it was a hand-me-down. Her face was messy, dirty, and covered in blackheads and soot. Maybe Cartman wasn't exaggerating at all and there family really was "poor as fuck."
"I- I'm so sorry I snapped at you," I said humbly. "I just- I-"
"That's OK," she said smiling. "Kenny I'm gonna go find Jason."
"Ok Karen. Kyle's driving you home though," he replied.
The girl left leaving me and the boy in the orange parka. "She's cute," I told him. Kenny just looked down at his shoes. It was hard for me to read his facial expressions. I couldn't take his air of mystery anymore. "Why don't you ever take it off?"
"WHAT?" I appeared to have caught him off guard.
I let all my self consciousness go, "The orange parka. I've never seen you take it off. It's pretty stuffy in here. Aren't you hot?"
"Well, I just… It's that…" his voice started trailing off. I think he was purposely muffling nonsense into his coat. "ii prrrtkks mmmur idddnity nnn shhht."
I giggle at his shyness. He started to blush. "But if you'd take your coat off, maybe more people would understand you."
Kenny stared me straight in the eyes. I could just barely make-out him saying, "Maybe that's for the best that they can't…" His eyed directed back down to his shoes again. They remained there for a while.
"Do you wanna dance?"
"I would love to," he replied looking up at me as if he were waiting for me to ask.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me out into the crown of horny, drunk teenagers. I liked how I could dance like I was having a stroke and, rather than just being embarrassed, he'd do the same thing. Most people were too drunk or high to notice us anyway. Kyle was flirting with a blonde, and Clyde was shirtless and making out with some girl with straight red hair on his couch, and I hadn't seen Stan and Wendy since we walked in the door. During one of the songs I felt Kenny's hands drift to my hips. The next thing I knew there was a dry humping fest behind me a mile long. My head turned to Kenny and kissed his bare forehead blushing but then Token let the music slow down.
Couples around us started drifting back in forth. I don't know how much time had passed since we ran on the dance floor, but I was sweating hard. My face was hot and the top of my shirt was wet. My body fallowed my head facing his direction. I felt self conscience of looking like a tomato. He took off his brown mittens, folding them carefully and placing them in his pocket. His bare hands wrapped around my bare cheeks. His hands were freezing! It was a relaxing feeling, like a cool pillow. My right hand fallowed his left, pressing his hands harder on my face. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh smiling. I felt so intimate, so close to him, I mean, I've kissed people before, but none of them gave me the chemistry as much as this moment right now. I know it sounds crazy, I guess it's just a hard feeling to explain. Maybe… maybe this was love.
I opened my eyes; Kenny was looking over my shoulder at something in the distance. His expression showed anger and shock. I turned my heads as his hands returned to his sides numbly. He was looking at Karen, slow dancing with another boy. A boy who's pants started at his knees and had a tattoo on his shoulder. I could smell weed and alcohol on him from across the room.
"You care about her," I said turning back to him.
"I worry about her," he said still looking in her direction. Kenny was now clenching his fists at his side. Angrily he fished his gloves out of his pocket and shoved them on his hands. "You wanna go for a walk?" he asked turning his attention back to me. "Clyde's par-"
"I would love to," I cut him off smiling.
I fallowed him back to the kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the fridge. "You want one?" he asked looking back at me.
"Why the hell not?" I grabbed aluminum can from him. I've already had a shot tonight. What damage could one more drink do?
We snuck out of the back door in the kitchen and through Clyde's garden. He and I raced through a small wood to get to the street behind Clyde's house. We giggled the whole way joking about Slenderman chasing after us. I stopped when I reached the grass but Kenny "accidentally" tackled me to the ground. We were hysterical as he was crawling over me. He brushed my hair out of my face and put a light pinkish flower in my hair, tucking it behind my ear.
"Do I look pretty?" I asked innocently.
Kenny kneeled to his knees still hovering above me. "Like an angel." His blue eyes sparkled. He stood up and offered me his hand.
The night was calm and quiet illuminated by the stars, the cresset moon, and the occasional street lamp. Kenny's can hissed as he cracked it opened and took a sip. We walked to the end of the block in silence. It wasn't until we turned the corner that I decided to talk.
"I feel like an ass," is the first thing I say to Kenny once we get passed Clyde's house.
"What? 'Cause of the Lily?" Kenny asked chuckling.
"No! No, I love it!" I said reaching for its delicate petals. "For snapping at your sister. I'm such a bitch! That's the second time I've flown off the handle for no reason."
"… what?"
"Remember when I made fun of Cartman at the bus stop?"
"Oh shut up," he said rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his Miller Light.
"I don't really drink," I confessed after a pause. "I guess I just needed a shot to put up with Clyde." Kenny laughed. "It was the first alcohol that's ever really touched my lips."
"Shut-up!" he said playfully nudging my arm. I laughed along with him.
"Well remember I'm only an over-achieving 15-year-old," I laughed looking down at my own Miller Light. If I opened it, it would probably spray on me from when we ran through the woods. Wait… does that happen to beer? Or only soda? I grasped the can in front of my chest with both hands. "I guess the placebo made me think… I was drunk or something…"
"What?"
"Nevermind," I quickly said. I looked down at Kenny's hand dangling at his side. I dropped my left hand and looked over at him. He shot me a look and I tried to avoid eye contact. Then his mitted hand interlocked with mine. Kenny's cheek bones were raise. He had to be smiling, so I shot him one back and cracked open the beer can with my one hand taking a long sip.
"I need to stop," he said looking down ashamed. "My mom and dad are both alcoholics. I don't wanna end up like them." His eyes became watery. "I REALLY CAN'T end up like them"
"I don't see what the big thrill is with under-aged drinking. I would choose a Dr. Pepper over this shit any day," he let up a small chuckle but it had a saddened undertone. "You know it's genetics that causes you to be addicted to things like alcohol, weed, or chocolate. It's a gene that gets passed down to a child from a parent… I'm sorry am- am I boring you with science talk?"
"Naw dude I'm into smart bitches."
"Shut up!" I laughed.
"I like your necklace," he said.
"Oh thanks," I said looking down at it. "My father gave it to me." Kenny was silent as he just stared at the little gold pendant attached to a black string. "You know he got it for me from one of those old crank machines, you know, where you put in a quarter and one of those plastic balls with a prize in it comes out of the metal compartment?"
"I never would've guessed," he paused. I sensed he wanted to say something but was unsure.
We heard a car's breaks screech in the distance. It made me jump as I wrapped my arm around Kenny's squeezing tight.
"Afraid of the dark?"
"A little…" a lie. I am petrified of the dark and I always have been. I took only my second sip of alcohol. "Will… will you walk me home? It's real close…"
"Sure," he replied.
It was silent for most of the walk. "Her coat looked a little big," I told him.
"Whose?"
"Karen's. I probably have some old one's that'll fit her a little bit. I mean, they';; still be big, but you know… they'll be girls' coats."
"Yeah the one she had on was Kevin's" he replied in a monotone voice. "He pretty much turned out like my dad, except he's actually got a job. You know, down at the umm…" his voice trailed off "sriip cluuub."
I raised my eyebrows and opened my mouth to speak, but decided it would be best to keep silent. I took a drink again and squeezed his arm tighter, resting my head on his shoulder. "I'm tired."
"Which one's your house?"
"The umm… this… this… this green one up here! Yeah we're like two blocks from Stan's house right? Yeah here's my house."
Kenny laughed. "You're drunk! You've had what… two sips of beer?"
"Hey! It was three!" another mouthful of liquid traveled down my throat. "Now it's four!"
Kenny laughed again, "placebo?"
"Probably."
He walked me up to the porch to my door and gave me a hug. I turned the knob and cracked the door.
"Oh wait shit! How- how are you gonna get home?"
"Don't worry about it," he said taking my hand. "I'll find a way." He bent over and kissed my hand. I blushed as his cold lips touched the back of my palm. "Goodnight," he said as he turned away.
I entered the house, closed the door, and right there sunk to the floor. My heart was fluttering at a million miles an hour. I took my beer to the kitchen and poured it down the sink. I couldn't put the can in the trash or recycle, Aunt Susan would find it. So I went back out through the front door humming "I Miss You" by Blink 182 and thinking of Kenny. I tossed the can in the blue plastic bin on the foot of our driveway. That's when I saw the neon orange coat out of the corner of my eye and immediately stopped humming.
He was a few houses down the street. I sat on the edge of the sidewalk watching him sip his Miller Light as he stumbled down the road. I could see him pull the strings of his coat when a cool wind passed. I thought of calling out to him, or blowing a kiss goodbye, but I decided to watch him walk away mysteriously. It turned out to be the worst mistake I made. One of the street lights started to flicker. Kenny was directly under it. He looked up at the light when out of no were the bulb shattered from the socket, electricity sparked, and a muffled "oof" was heard in the darkness as the boy fell to the ground. I stood-up shocked and ran dizzily down the street to him crying out his name. I reached him but nothing could be done. The sharp blades of glass managed to cut through his skull and neck.
"Oh my god…" my lips trembled. "They… they killed Kenny!" I started crying. I yelled, screamed, and threw a fit in the middle of the street. "YOU BASTARDS!" I don't know who I was yelling at. I don't know why I was mad. I had a mental breakdown and started sobbing over his body, letting the tears drip down my face and form a damp spot on his parka.
After a minute I started to pull myself together. I sat up and squeezed my eyes shut for a few minutes. I had been crying for at least a half hour. What would happen to poor Karen? He was so young, why did he have to go tonight. I thought of what he said to me before leaving my porch. His last words ever spoken on Earth; " don't worry about it, I'll find a way." "Goodnight."
"Oh my God!" I said aloud as I opened my eyes. Before I pieced my thoughts together the body that was lying in front of me was gone. There was nothing there but a few shards of glass and rats.
Terrified I ran back home, through myself on my bed and cried. His words ran through my head; "don't worry about it, I'll find a way." "Goodnight." He pulled the fabric from his coat down to kiss my hand, and then he said one word. One unmuffled word, and I can't remember his voice, and I'll never be able to hear it again. I cried until I fell asleep.