It Must Look Pretty Appealing

Chapter 11 – Spare Me the Details

By: StalkerDex

(Author's Note: thanx for reading! This is a very, very short chapter…just sort of transitional leading up to the good stuff. Hope it's still enjoyable!)

"Hello?" Stan answered his phone. He was currently sitting in his parent's living room searching for an affordable apartment on the family laptop. He had been staying with them for about a month now and he hadn't found anything he could swing on his own; he was growing frustrated.

"Hey Stan…it's Craig."

"Oh…hey, dude. What's up?" Stan asked, perking up a bit. He hadn't heard from Craig since high school…what a trip that he was calling.

"Hey. I'm throwing a party this weekend. I was wondering if you and Kyle wanted to come?"

Stan felt his stomach drop. Of course Craig wasn't aware of their breakup.

"Oh, uh…cool. Well…I can't speak for Kyle, but I can make it. I broke up with him about a month ago…"

"Oh shit, really? I'm sorry…I didn't know that," Craig responded, doing his best not to sound too excited. Fuck…he'd been wanting Kyle for as long as he could remember and he was finally available!

"Yeah, no…it's cool, dude. But, yeah, I'll be there. What time is it? And what day?"

"It's Saturday at seven. Cool. I'll see you then."

"Hey, are you going to invite Kyle?" Stan suddenly asked, realizing that he might have to face his ex if he went to this thing.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I was thinking so. Yeah…" seeing Kyle was the only reason he'd even invited Stan in the first place. Had he known they'd broken up he wouldn't have even invited him.

"Ok," Stan replied stupidly, contemplating backing out of it. However, before he could decline the invite he found himself wondering something else, "hey, what about Cartman? Are you inviting him?"

"Cartman? I dunno…maybe, why? You want me to invite him?"

Stan shut his mouth abruptly. Fuck yes he wanted him to invite Cartman.

"I dunno…whatever. It doesn't matter…I was just wondering."

Please, please, please invite him.

There was a long silence between them before Craig spoke up casually. He was always so fucking nonchalant.

"I'll ask him."

Stan felt butterflies take off in his stomach immediately. He could've vomited right then and there, but managed to control himself.

"Okay cool…it's whatever," he said once more, making sure he didn't sound overly excited to see Eric.

Craig rolled his eyes, not really giving a shit about whatever was going on between Eric and Stan. Those two were a couple of morons as far as he was concerned.

"Later," he said before hanging up, not bothering to wait for Stan's goodbye.

Fuck. This Saturday was going to be his big opportunity! He'd been waiting to pounce on Kyle for years and years now. Of course, he hadn't been as hung up on him as Eric had been. He most certainly wasn't in love with Kyle but he was definitely attracted to him. Hopefully he could get him to come to the party.

He couldn't help but feel a little nervous as he scrolled through his contacts to find Kyle.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi it's Craig," he said, doing his best to sound like he didn't give a shit about the phone call. In all honesty, there was a part of him that didn't.

"Hi Craig," Kyle said, a genuine happiness in his voice. Fuck, Craig couldn't help but notice he actually felt kind of good about hearing his friend's voice.

"Hey, so I'm having a party on Saturday. It's at seven. It'll be cool. You should come."

What a string of factual blather.

"Sure that sounds fun," Kyle replied. Damn, he sounded like he was doing well.

"Cooool…so. Killer, I'll see you Saturday. Seven. Sharp."

"Did you invite Stan?" he suddenly asked, catching Craig a little off guard. Right. Of course he would want to know if Stan was coming. And of course he wouldn't want Stan to be there. FUCKKKKKK.

"No. I heard you guys broke up. I wanted you to come."

"Cool. Then yeah I'll see you there. Thanks for inviting me!"

"Uh…yup. Cool. Killer. Bye."

He hung up, yet again not bothering to receive a goodbye. His heart was racing. Shit…this was probably going to be kind of bad. He thought about it for a moment before shrugging and scrolling through his contacts once more. Maybe if Cartman was there it would help smooth things over. Obviously, since Stan had asked about him, he was into him so if he were distracted it might be okay. Plus, that would leave Kyle open for him to get at. Maybe even a little vulnerable. Yeah, okay, this might actually be a good thing. At least that was what he chose to believe at that moment.

Ring.

"What do you want Craig, you asshole?" Eric answered immediately, catching Craig a little off guard. Cartman irritated him beyond all belief, even after all of these years.

"I'm having a party on Saturday at seven. Stan is coming and he wanted me to invite you so get your fat ass over to my house."

"No."

Asshole.

"Yes."

"Nooooo."

Goddamn dick.

"Yes."

"NO Craig. No. No. No."

Motherfuker…!

"Yes."

A long pause.

"Fine."

"Killer. Now go fuck yourself."

"Fuck you too Craig. I hate you."

And so he hung up once more. Everything was now in place.