Katy's P.O.V.

Monday morning I wake up as usual for school and put on my everyday outfit that hasn't changed since the fourth grade (except now in a larger size of course.) I check my phone which shows no messages or missed calls. I haven't seen or heard from Kenny since his death on Friday night which concerns me. Every time he dies I always envision him not coming back, actually staying dead. A pang of nervousness runs through me and I quickly finish getting ready.

I walk downstairs to see my mom with her girlfriend, Cindy. My mom had cut her blonde hair into a pixie cut to I guess…..look more lesbian? I don't know. Cindy is taller than my mom and has long wavy red hair (an unnatural red, like, fire truck red, obviously dyed.) She's actually a very beautiful woman, and she's nice too. I think her personality rubbed off on my mom a bit since my mom is almost never mean to me anymore.

"Hey sweetie!" Says Cindy in her normal overly happy tone. She practically skips over and wraps her arms around me. "Good thing you're up early, I made pancakes, and was worried you would miss out on them!" I wasn't really hungry, but it's not like my mom ever feeds me so I decide to go with the opportunity.

"Thanks Cindy!" I say, mimicking her tone. She doesn't notice but my mom does, and she narrows her eyes at me. I eat the pancakes quickly and grab my backpack before heading out the door.

"Woah there, isn't it a little early to be heading off to school?" Says my mom, with a suspicious tone of voice.

"Yeah I want to get to the bus stop early so I can meet Wendy and finish last night's homework." I lie.

"You didn't finish your homework?" My mom puts her hands on her hips.

"I just have a few questions left that I need Wendy's help on, she's the second smartest in our grade you know."

"Well maybe I can help you on thesequestions." Says my mom motioning me over to the table. Uh oh...for once I wish I hadn't finished my homework last night.

"Oh let her go." Says Cindy. "It's good for her to socialize." Thank god for the Cindys in the world.

"It just seems like she's been socializing too much recently." My mom responds.

"Well it leaves more time for us." Cindy responds, stroking my mom's arm.

"Alright fine, go, whatever." My mom says before she turns and kisses Cindy. I turn and leave before I see anymore. I arrive at the bus stop, a different one from the fourth grade but we have the same bus driver since the high school starts earlier than the elementary school. And no, It's not Ms. Crabtree, she was murdered, It's some Mexican guy that has probably never said a word in his entire career. Since I'm the first one there I sit on the bench, pull out my phone and begin ready through old messages with Kenny, still worrying that he won't show up. Cartman is the first to show and he sits down on the bench, taking up half of it. To my surprise he remains silent, he usually has something to brag about or makes a smart ass comment. The silence is awkward so I decide to break it.

"Um hi?" I say.

"What?" He replies, looking out into the road.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He kicks around the dirt beneath him.

"What? Did you finally realize you're fat?" I jokingly say. He looks at me and narrows his eyes.

"I'm big boned…." He says trailing off.

"Have you seen Kenny this weekend?" I ask.

"NO I DID NOT SEE KENNY THIS WEEKEND!" He shouts at me.

"Okay, Okay, Jeez…..Just asking."

"I spent the weekend alone. Do you want to know why? Because Kenny has you, Stan has Wendy, and Kyle has Bebe. I'm fucking alone!"

"Is that why you're upset? Because you want a girlfriend?"

"I'm upset because I'm the only one without a girlfriend! I don't have a girlfriend because…..because I AM FAT, OKAY? I said it, I'm fat! I'm fucking fat as fucking fuck and no one wants to go out with me because I'm fat." I hesitate and look at the ground. I've never heard Cartman say something bad about himself. It was...weird, and why was he telling me this? Me of all people. I guess I'm supposed to make him feel better?

"People aren't going out with you because you're fat, they're not going out with you because you're racist, obnoxious, and a notorious jerk." Wow, aren't I great at making people feel better?

"

Gee, THANKS." He replies. "Bitch! Why did I tell you this anyways?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"Psh...Whateva!" That's when Stan arrives.

"Hey Cartman, Katy." He says before sitting on the other side of me and doing a Justin Bieber hair flip.

"Dude, cut your hair, I don't want to be reminded of Justin Bieber every time I see you." I say.

"Don't tell me how to live my life." He says. "Besides, Wendy loves my hair like this." That sparks a groan from Cartman. "What, fat ass?"

"Wendy loves my hair like this." Says Cartman in a high pitched voice, mocking Stan.

"What's up your butt?" Stan replies.

"He's just all pissy because he's the only one not in a relationship." I say.

"AYE!" Says Cartman.

"Anyways, Stan, have you seen Kenny this weekend?" I ask, which gets an irritated grunt from Cartman.

"Hmm no." He replies. Well no one has actually said that he's dead, so that's a good sign. "Hey speak of the devil." Says Stan. What? I pick my head up and see Kenny walking towards the bus stop. Oh thank the lord. I get up and wrap my arms around Kenny's neck and kiss his cheek, which of course gets another grunt out of Cartman.

"Kenny you had me worried." I whisper into his ear. "I haven't seen or heard from you since your death on friday."

"Oh I'm sorry babe, I just…..had an eventful weekend." He says scratching his head. "I forgot to call or even text you." Kyle shows up and so do a few other kids just as the bus pulls up. Kenny and I sit next to each other like normal, and he puts his arm around my shoulder like normal, but he wasn't talking to me, which wasn't normal. First he doesn't contact me over the weekend, and then he doesn't talk to me? What's up with that? He's staring forward at nothing in particular and biting his fingernails.

"What's wrong?" I ask after a few minutes of silence.

"Hm?" He says, being brought back into reality. He stops biting his nails.

"What. Is. Wrong?" I say slowly.

"Nothing." He says. Geez do I have to be everybody's therapist today?

"Nice try, seriously, what's up? Why are you acting weird?"

"I'm not acting weird..." He trails off.

"Really? You're going to try and convince me nothing's wrong. Something must be really wrong if you're going to do that. Seriously Ken, you tell me everything."

"I can't really tell you this...I can't tell anyone this." Well at least he admitted something was wrong.

"You can't tell me?" I say. He nods and goes back to being silent. Now I'm kind of offended. I take his arm off my shoulder and cross my arms.

"Okay, I'll tell you the main point how about that?" He says.

"Okay? Fine, if that's all I'm getting."

"I found out...that Karen has been self-harming."

"WHAT?"

"Karen has been cutting her wrists. She's losing it and I'm getting really worried about her. I just really hope she doesn't start doing anything worse." I remember the time back in fourth grade when Karen was only six. I told her that if she ever needed someone to talk to, I'd be there. I know her life sucks and I didn't keep to the promise I made when I said that I'd be there for her. I probably haven't even had a full conversation with her since then...I feel partially guilty.

"When did you find out?" I ask.

"On Saturday..." Poor Karen, and poor Kenny! Kenny loves his sister more than practically anything. He must feel so bad.

"How did you find out?" I ask.

"Um, Mysterion told me."

"Who?"

"That's not really important." He puts his arm around me again, kisses my forehead, and the rest of the bus ride (all of two minutes of it) was silent. School was relatively normal. I talked with Kyle, Stan, Bebe, and Wendy for most of it. Kenny sulked most of the day, but still talked to me. Cartman sulked to bring attention to himself. Part of me felt bad for Cartman, like I should help him get a girlfriend or something. The other part reminds me that I hate him and he has done nothing to deserve my help.

After school I decide to pass by the elementary school. And sure enough, I see Karen sitting on a swing in the playground, reading a book. I make my way to the swings and sit down on the one next to her.

"Hmmmm I haven't been here in a while, how's it going Karen?" I start, trying to sound casual but my eyes can't help lingering down to her wrists, they're covered by a coat but I know the scars are there. Karen shrugs as a response, but keeps her eyes on the book.

"How are you, Katy?" she says flipping a page.

"Oh, same old, same old. Whatcha reading?" I ask.

"Scrotie Mcboogerballs." She looks up and closes the book.

"What now?"

"It's a book written by Butters that became famous. No one else that I know has made it past the first paragraph without puking, so I've made it a personal goal to see how far I can get. I've made it to page fifteen so far and haven't lost my lunch."

"Butters wrote this?" I ask. She hands me the book and indeed there is a picture of Butters on the back, he looked about nine. "Butters." I say, handing her the book. How can sweet little Butters write such a grotesque story?

"Uh-huh, Kenny tells me that it was actually him, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman who wrote it. And that they said it was Butters so that they wouldn't get in trouble."

"Some how that seems more believable, but you never know." I respond. She opens the book back up and continues reading. I push my feet against the ground so I swing slightly and start to awkwardly tap my fingers against my thighs. I should tell her, I should just tell her that I know. I have a mental battle with myself for about three long, silent minutes before Karen speaks.

"So why exactly are you here, Katy?" She says.

"What? Two friends can't hang out on the swings together?" I nudge her arm playfully. She looks up at me, but keeps the book open.

"Since when have you ever been my friend?" She replies. Okay yeah that hurt a little. I think now would be a good time to tell her.

"Okay Karen, you got me. I actually came here to tell you….." I trail off and she raises an eyebrow at me. "To tell you that…...I know you've been self-harming."

"What!?" She drops the book. "H-How did you…."

"Kenny told me."

"Well how the hell did he know?! I never told him!" She's almost screaming now.

"He said that someone told him….who was it? I don't remember the name."

"Well the only person I told was….." She snaps her head up. "MYSTERION!" She stands up and starts to storm off.

"Oh yeah! Mysterion! That was it! Karen? Karen wait!" I stand up and start to follow her.

"That fucking asshole! I can't believe he would do that! I mean first he ruins my life and then he goes off and tells everyone my biggest secret? GAH!" She picks up the pace of her walk.

"Karen!" I run forward and grab her by the shoulder.

"STOP IT!" She rips herself away from my grip. "Stop trying to help me! I can't be helped! No one can help me! I was sitting on the swings alone because I don't have any friends! Everyone hates me! Everyone fucking hates me! I can't take it anymore! There's no point! Why am I still living?!" Her words cut deep into me. I try to reach forward with sympathy as tears are streaming down her face and she frantically tries to wipe them away. She turns around and breaks into a sprint before I can say anything.

"KAREN!" It's no use, I try to catch up, but she's too fast. She's gone, running home, who know's what she's going to do. I whip out my phone, call Kenny, and continue going as fast as I can.

"Hey babe." He answers.

"KENNY, ARE YOU HOME RIGHT NOW?" Now there are tears in my eyes.

"What? No, what's wrong?"

"YOU HAVE TO GET HOME NOW!"

"I'm at Tweek's Coffee, Katy. Calm down, what's wrong?"

"It's Karen!"

"I'm on my way, what happened to Karen?!"

"I think she's going to kill herself!"

Author'snote (you can skip):

DUH DUH DUHHHHHH. What will happen next? Who knows? I don't! Anyways I decided to make another author's note because I said in my last one that I would be uploading more chapters, more recently, which I haven't been. SO I'M SORRY. I've been on vacation and I actually wrote this chapter two days ago, but never got around to posting it. And also I would like to say that I know that the genre of this story says "Friendship/Humor." REALLY I DO REALIZE THIS, and I've been talking about rape and self-harm. And I know after this chapter this story REALLY doesn't seem humorous or friendly. I will do different P.O.V.s eventually and hopefully get more humor in soooooooo thanks for reading and all that jazz! Have a nice day :)