Chapter Six: What The Fuck is This Plot Twist

On their way home, Tweek was mumbling to himself, something along the lines of "oh god oh god oh god, too much pressure," in different variations. It was barely audible. Eleanor tried to spark conversation, but Tweek couldn't hear over his force field of paranoia. The smell of coffee radiated from every pore of his pale pinkish skin. Eleanor wasn't a coffee fan, her mother always taught her as a kid "to keep your body clean and pure from toxins" which is also why she was a vegetarian, but the smell of it on Tweek made it so much more alluring. She wouldn't have said no if he offered her some.

They reached the apartment and walked up the steps, Tweek shaking like a twig. Before Eleanor even had a chance to grasp the door knob, a loud ringing noise emitted from Tweek's pocket. He jumped a bit, frightened of the noise. After his heart rate slowed down to a norma (but still fast) heart rate, he fished out the cellphone and answered it.

Some childish logical part of Eleanor's mind told her that only if she grabbed the doorknob and opened the door just before Tweek's phone rang, nothing would have happened and they could have gone in as planned. It was stupid and irrational and Eleanor knew it wouldn't have made a difference, but still she wished she opened the door sooner.

"W-whats wrong?" said Tweek to the mic in his phone. Eleanor vaguely wondered who it was. Most likely a family member. It could be Craig, but wasn't he in the hospital or something?

A pause

"I don't have a car! Jesus Christ, what do you want me to do, walk?"

Pause

"ACK! I can't walk to the hospital. That's like..I don't even know how far! I'd get killed for sure. A man could easi-" he stopped, apparently interrupted.

"I-I'm with.." he looked at the floor and said much quieter than before, "I'm with Eleanor right now."

A long pause.

"W-well I needed help with art and-"

Short pause.

"Okay, yeah. I'll try and...yeah I'll do that too."

He hung up and placed his cellular device back in his pocket.

"Who was that? Is everything okay?" Eleanor asked, concerned.

"Yeah..kind of. Craig's sister is, nnngh, she got in a really bad accident. He wanted me to come to the hospital since school's out now," he said.

"Oh...okay."

Eleanor's heart sank with disappointment, and resentment towards Craig filled her veins like poisonous venom.

"Do, nngh, do..do you have a car?" Tweek asked.

"Oh, no we don't. We never needed one in San Francisco." Eleanor explained.

"Shit," Eleanor noted that this was the first time she had ever heard Tweek swear. It had a sweet ring to it that made him seem mature...and dare she say...sexy, "well the only person I know with a car that can drive is Clyde. I guess I'll have to call him. ACK I hope he doesn't get mad."

"That asshole? God he's such a dick..."

Tweek stood uncomfortably, not wanting to agree or disagree with the statement. Clyde was a friend of his and any comment could and would lead to dismay on his part. Better to stay quiet.

Clyde answered quickly and it seemed like he was willing enough to come and get Tweek. The two teens sat on the steps of the stairs and waited for the cocky brunette to drive up and take Tweek away.

Eleanor and Tweek didn't really talk during the waiting period. Eleanor thought about how amazing it would have been to have had Tweek in her house, laughing or painting or kissing. God please yes, kissing. His feminine body pressed against her mannish one. How ironic and cruel the situation would have been. Switched roles, culturally. Still, it would have been beautiful. It would have been magical. It could have b-

Clyde pulled up in a rusted red pick-up truck that looked like something he found at a dump. It smelled like it had been to one as well.

"Eleanor, are you coming?" Clyde asked as Tweek climbed in.

"Uh, no, I wasn't planning on it," she said.

"Well, do you wannna like hang out with me today, we could go to the mall or down by this neat pond close by or something. Not a date or anything," he rambled, laughing awkwardly at the end. He rubbed his neck, waiting for an answer. He sounded different, a bit vulnerable maybe.

It was hard to turn down since he seemed so sincere about it, "Oh...I guess so. If Tweek isn't coming back then...we could go to a neat pond" making quotations in the air when saying "neat pond".

He smiled really wide and Tweek scrambled into the back seat, a very messing and cramped area. Eleanor sighed and got in reluctantly. Clyde revved the engine and both Eleanor and Tweek buckled up. The floor of the car had fast food wrappers, an array of school papers, and an unused condom stuck in the one and only cup holder in between the two front seats. Eleanor pretended she didn't see that.

"So..." Clyde started about two minutes into the drive. Eleanor had no idea where the hospital was, but she assumed it had to be at least a bit out of the way since she couldn't recall every spotting one since being in South Park.

"ACK! It's too quite!" Tweek piped up, vibrating in the backseat, "Can we stop for coffee?"

"Yeah, sure. We'll be passing one in a couple of minutes," said Clyde. Right he was. Four minutes later, an old building with an out of place, brand new sign that said Harbucks was standing right in view. Clyde parked, and Tweek ran out the car and into the shop. Eleanor and Clyde sat awkwardly, not making eye contact, waiting for their friend to return. Eleanor watched a black bird, most likely a crow or something, wobble by. It got scared as a car passed by it and started to flap it's wings. It took off gracefully and glided through the sky, past the snowy mountains, and out of sight.

By that time, Tweek had returned with a piping hot large portable cup filled with black coffee that steamed. Eleanor got out, held his coffee for him, and Tweek scrambled in the back again. The coffee was then handed back to Tweek and Eleanor sat back down in the truck.

Again, they were on the road and this time Clyde turned on the radio. A sickly, syrupy, saccharine pop ballet came on and Eleanor expected Clyde to turn the channel to something more tolerable, but it stayed. He bobbed his head to the high pitched woman screaming her love out.

The songs that followed were all similar and Eleanor got the feeling that this was a station that Clyde listened to a lot. It was funny. Really funny. So funny that she had to look out the window and cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing. She didn't want to offend his macho facade.

Eleanor recognized zero of the hits playing, but managed to enjoy a few. She tapped her fingers to the beat and hummed the repetitive tunes. This lasted for what seemed like hours (in actuality it was around a half an hour) and finally a big white building was in eye sight. This structure made all the other shops and homes seem likes ants comparatively.

Clyde dropped Tweek off at the front doors. He took his coffee with him, almost finished, and walked off. You could tell how nervous he was by his extreme head twitches. Poor Tweek, it must have been being in an unfamiliar place. Eleanor swore she saw Craig waiting in the lobby as Tweek walked through the automatic doors, but wasn't sure because Clyde drove off too quickly to get a good enough look.

"Okay, so you said you wanted to go to Stark's Pond? Instead of the mall? Or we could go to the movies, uh maybe...hmm...bowling. There's not much to do here," he chuckled.

"Pond sounds fine," Eleanor said impassively.

"Cool, cool. Soo...why'd you move?" Clyde asked.

"Mom's an artist...got a job in Denver...stuff like that," Eleanor said, not fond of retelling stories.

"Denver, that's like an hour drive from here. Why move here?"

"Money restraint."

"Oh...Well I'm glad you moved here," he said softly, "Uh...you know, because...shit that was lame,"

"Yeah, kinda," she said, staring at the scenery, out the window, not too caring on the large foot in his mouth.

"Uhm, you seem really cool," he said even more lamely.

"Thanks," she laughed a bit at the weird compliment.

"I'm pretty cool myself, you know," he said suavely, getting his generic pompous attitude back, "We should, like, get together or something."

"We are."

"Oh, are we?" he purred, looking at the road.

"Yes. We are. We're going to the pond...as friends."

"Yeah we are," he said, nodding his head like an idiot.

"You do realize how stupid you sound, right?"

"Girl, what-chew mean? I'm fly as can beee," he said, adding extra "swag", making fun of himself. Eleanor laughed.

"How far is this Stock Pond?" Eleanor asked.

"Firstly, it's Stark's Pond, pshh-"

"Well, sorry."

"And secondly, it's in town so a half an hour away from where we are, I think," Clyde estimated.

"Not too bad."

"So, do you really like Tweek or is this all about the money?" Clyde asked.

"Wh...what kind of question is that?" Eleanor scoffed.

"Well," he raised his shoulders, "I don't know. I was just wondering if you maybe liked anyone else at this school or something or if this Tweek character was like," and he made a hand gesture, making a straight line with his fingers,"You know?"

"Uh...well yeah...he's the only guy I like. Why?" she asked.

"No reason," he said, and stared intently on the road ahead.

"Right..."

"Well...Tweek's gay!" he blurted.

"I'm sorry, but back in San Francisco, we don't use terms like that derogatorily and that offended me."

"Well I'm now saying it derogatorily."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing...it's just...one time...I kinda...kind of caught him..and Craig...uh...they were...uh,"

"They were what?"

"They were..touching," he said, awkwardly.

"Oh," Eleanor said simply, not knowing what to do with this information. Her brain was unable to process and instead, shut down completely. She had questions, she could feels them floating in her mind, but her brain wouldn't allow them to come to her lips. Her tongue was large and uncooperative, her jaw stiff and immovable. Her eyes were dry, but tears wanted to come out. So much was happening in her body and time sped up really fast, reality passing her by.

A blink of an eye later and the truck was stopped, parked in the middle of nowhere. A partially frozen pond stood in front of them, as did a sign saying "Stark's Pond". An array of flowers popped out of the snow, presenting the spring that was soon to follow the frigid winter.

It was peaceful and beautiful. Fog drifted only on the floor from the temperature difference between the ice and the warmed air. Birds chirped and bees buzzed. It calmed Eleanor's brain into a functioning mood and she looked at Clyde with wide eyes.

"This is gorgeous," she whispered.

"Yeah, when me and all the other guys were kids, we used to come down here all the time." he said, watching a ladybug crawl on a patch of dirt that was surrounded by snow.

"So Tweek's gay...wow," Eleanor murmured.

"Well...at least I think so. It was last year, in the bathroom at lunch, and I just ran out as fast as I could. They never said anything to me and I didn't ask. Neither Craig or Tw-"

"Nor."

"Neither Craig nor Tweek ever dated any girls. It's surprising, because Craig is pretty popular with the chicks here..they all talk about him like some god," he admitted.

Eleanor said nothing, but brushed some snow out of the way near the pond and sat down on damp soil.

"Here, use my jacket," Clyde said and took off his red button down sweater and smoothed it out on the ground. Eleanor blushed unexpectedly and felt kind of weird. She couldn't recall anyone ever acting like a gentleman to her.

"So the classy man finally comes out, all alone in the wilderness," Eleanor said, trying to sound cool, but her voice shook a bit. Her face felt warm and her heart beat quickened when he sat down next to her. What the fuck is happening to me, Eleanor thought to herself. In a weird way, she felt like she was cheating on Tweek. Obviously, she was being completely unreasonable, but she couldn't' shake the feeling that this was wrong.

Clyde looked so attractive. His doughy physique became desirable. She tried to ignore these feelings. It was so hard and he was so close to her. No one talked; they both gazed out into space.

Suddenly, Clyde leaned closer to Eleanor and turned his head to meet hers. She turned and was dumbstruck by gorgeous brown eyes. The pond could not compare in beauty to these luscious chocolate orbs. His nose was touching hers and his breath was minty fresh. Clyde's lips were getting closer and closer. No more than a hair's distance left. Oh god, what's happening?

Eleanor pushed Clyde with all her strength. He fell back and instinctively, Eleanor leaned forward to grab him before he fell into the water. Her calculations were off and she toppled on top of him, the second time in a week she'd fallen on a boy. Their combined weight pushed them over the edge of the pond and they crashed into the freezing water. The icy sensation burned their skin and they both scrambled for air. Eleanor was disoriented and just started swimming in what direction she thought was up. She swam and swam, waiting for the surface to arise. Nothing came but the cold water. She felt rocks and knew she was at the bottom. She opened her eyes and it stung. She needed air. She was sure she was going to drown.

Her legs launched off the rocky surface without her brain asking them to and she sped towards the blue patchy sunlight. The impact the air had on her wet face was worse than going in. If possible, it was even colder. She swam, exhausted, towards the edge of the pond and scrambled out. Soon, she spotted Clyde coming up to the surface as well and he too climbed out of the water. Eleanor's teeth chattered and she shook intensely from the cold.

"What the fuck was that?" he half yelled, half whispered, in a hoarse strained voice. He too was shaking.

"I-I-I'm s-so s-so-sorry! I...don't know!" she stuttered. He stared at her as if she was crazy. They stood there, looking at each other, drenched in icy water.

"Why the fuck did you push me into a lake?"

"I...I just...ugh! I am freezing!"

Both of them started taking off layers of clothes. Clyde went fully nude, but Eleanor kept on a shirt, her bra, and panties. She would have blushed, seeing him naked, if she wasn't so cold.

"God, you could have just said 'Stop!' or 'Wait!' or 'No!' or something," he scolded.

"I know! I'm so sorry! Do you have any blankets in your car?"

"Do I look like I carry blankets in my car?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Well..." she shrugged.

"Yeah. I think I have one."

He walked over to his truck and pulled out a blue knitted blanket and walked back over to Eleanor. He handed it to her.

"Don't be silly, we...we can share," she said, trying not to stare at his penis.

"No, it's fine," he said, still mad.

She wrapped the blanket around her, gratefully.

"Wanna get out of here?" he asked, a little bit nicer.

"I want to get you some clothes," she smiled.

"Clothes would be nice."