As I approached the bus stop, I found it hard to contain my disappointment at Eric's absence. "Kyle! You ok?" Stan asked upon my arrival. "Um yeah, dude. I'm good." I lied. I knew this heavy feeling inside of me wouldn't go away until I saw Eric, even though I dreaded the awkward exchange that was bound to happen when I did. Kenny watched knowingly, sighing and shaking his head. I watched him for a moment. What was he going to say in the movie theatre? I decided I would ask him on the way to lunch, since we both shared a fourth block.
Eric was apparently not coming to school today, as I had searched for him everywhere, being late to both my morning classes, and had not seen hide nor lard of him. I lied and told myself that I didn't care if the fat bastard failed class and had to be held back. But the nervous way I toyed with my snow gloves was a dead giveaway, and Kenny noticed. "What's up man?" he asked, patting me on my back as he led me from the bustling lunch room. I steeled my nerve, now or never! Can't beat around the bush right now! "What were you gonna say in the movie theatre?" I blurted, blushing slightly. Kenny looked surprised for a moment, before laughing a bit. "Can't say now. Stan'll kill me." He said, shaking his blonde hair out of his face. I pouted, giving him my best puppy dog face (one of the advantages to being the one in your group of friends that didn't get slapped with manliness by puberty) and he sighed, deciding that he was probably gonna die again today anyway. "Stan loves you, man."
"Um yeah, we're best friends. I love him too." I said, a bit confused as to why this was what Stan was hiding from me. Kenny groaned, rolling his eyes. "No, dude. He fucking" he grabbed my shoulders and shook me slightly. "Loves you." For a moment, I didn't get it. But after the word "love" bounced around in my head a few times, my eyes widened. "He loves me?!" I squeaked, breaking from Kenny's grasp and falling back against the lockers, causing a loud crashing sound, luckily no one was around to hear it due to most people being in the cafeteria. "That can't be. That can't be!" I wheezed, my asthma starting to act up. "Hey, hey, calm down! Dude, calm down." Kenny spoke calmly to me, cupping my cheek softly in his orange gloved hand. "What's so bad about him loving you? Thought you two would be a cute couple…" Kenny started, removing his hand from my face and cupping his own chin in thought. "No! This is horrible! Now I can't ever tell Stan who I love!" I had started crying at this point. Kenny looked surprised. "Huh? You don't love Stan?" he asked, truly confused. "No! I love… I love Cartman" I squeaked tears running down my now reddened face. "Oh man. Dude, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Calm down man, please." Kenny pleaded as I slid down the lockers and curled into a ball on the floor. When Kenny reached out to touch me, I flipped. I ran as fast as I could, barely taking the time to get up on two feet. As I shoved my body against the double doors of the schools entrance, I sobbed openly, ignoring Kenny's calling after me, and hoping I could out run the stocky teen when I heard his sneakers squeak against the tile flooring of the main hallway. I had only gotten about a yard away from the door when I crashed into something. Something taller and thicker than me. I grunted as my ass made contact with the cold snow and ground and looked up to see the most angelic thing I had ever seen. Eric Cartman, standing there with his blue Puma book bag slung over one shoulder, the sun trying it's best to shine through the constant grey cloud cover, giving him a kind of halo of light.. His face held an apathetic look until he realized who had just run into him, and then it softened. He dropped his book bag into the snow next to him and squatted down to be on my eye level as I sat in the snow. "Are you gonna end up with ur Jew-boy ass in the snow every time we see each other now?" he asked, laughing slightly. I laughed too, feeling my tears still streaming down my face. "Shut up, you lard ass." I grinned at him, and he at me.