Chapter 4
"Dude, you gonna eat your pudding?" Kenny asked Stan as he reached over his tray to grab it. Stan said nothing and instead watched his best friend calmly eat his turkey sandwich as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn't saw what he saw last night.
And what was worse...he had to go over again tonight and risk the same thing happening! Stan made sure he downed his Mountain Dew to give him enough caffeine to stay awake for three years.
"How was the chicken?" Kenny inquired.
Stan continued to look up every three seconds for any explanation from Kyle as to what happened. And why.
Kyle made a face. "Ken, this is turkey. At least I think..." he second-guessed, inspecting his sandwich.
Kenny stared at his half-dead friend. "STAN! How was the chicken!" he asked again.
"Huh!" Stan snapped to attention. "Oh, uh, fine dude. Thanks."
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Kenny raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing. I just...I didn't sleep well last night."
"Oh?" Ken smirked. "Why? Did Wendy come over?"
Kyle glared at Kenny. He didn't want to hear about it if she had. Not now, not ever.
Stan looked straight into Kyle's eyes, meeting his scowl upon Kenny's remark. He was taken aback by the sour expression on his best friend's face, not answering Kenny.
"I'll take that as a yes." Kenny winked at Stanley. "So my party starts at six."
Kyle jabbed the peas on his tray with a fork. "Dude, don't tell me this going to be some lame party again. Last time your mom kicked us out at midnight so she could watch her afternoon soaps that she taped."
Stan observed Kyle's every move. The way he captured every pea so strategically, the way he had his hand in a fist, propping up his head from the side.
Kenny rolled his eyes at the Jew. "Kyle, what's your problem? You've been pissed off a lot at me lately and I haven't done shit to you! I'm getting pretty sick of it."
Kyle abruptly interrupted Stan's thoughts by slamming his hands on the table. He looked over to Stan, deep into his eyes. "No, you know what! Nothing's cool! I'm sick of that BITCH you have for a girlfriend, Stan!"
Stan blinked a few times. He didn't respond right away, a bit taken aback by the randomness of Kyle's outburst. Not that he didn't understand -why- the Jew was reacting in such a way.
Kenny's jaw dropped open. He had never, once, in his life, EVER heard Kyle take out his frustrations on Stan. Stan was Kyle's everything. Kenny knew he had a crush on him. Kenny was just people smart like that.
Stan finally opened his mouth. The words still took a second to come out.
"...I...I'm sorry?"
"She's always demanding your attention, she pulls you away from whatever you're doing. She -always-gets priority treatment whenever -we're- hanging out, and when you try to fight back she whines until she gets her fucking way! I'm tired of it!"
Kenny's eyes went wide at Kyle's confessions. It didn't matter if what he was saying was true or not, the fact that Kyle was yelling at Stan meant something happened last night.
"I don't give her priority treatment," Stan started.
"YES YOU DO!" Kyle screamed, his voice rising far above the acceptable decibel of the lunchroom. "Fuck, Stan...we were...we had...you left because of her!"
"I came back though!"
"Yeah, after you finished...-Whatever- with her! -Our- plans came second, just like always!"
"Dude! She was crying!" Stan was defensive now. He didn't know what Kyle's problem was, but he sure as hell didn't need any lip from someone who had jacked off in front of him while he was sleeping naked on the bedroom floor.
"Oh yeah! Well what was so urgent? Huh! What was so fucking important you couldn't make -her- wait an hour!"
"I wouldn't have made her wait an hour, I would've made her wait a -lot- of hours!" Stan pointed out. "Our plans took time, so I wanted to get the other crap outta the way before I had to sit there all night!"
Kenny's ears perked up. "Why were you sitti-"
"SHUT UP KENNY!" both Stan and Kyle screamed in unison, their intense glares turning to Kenny, making him feel like he was two feet tall.
Stan turned back to Kyle, furious now. He leaned forward, hovering above his lunch tray. "Maybe if you had a life, you wouldn't keep tabs on me and her and not care whether or not I'm with her for a few hours every now and then!"
Kyle stood up, growing red with anger now instead of his usual embarrassment. "Well maybe if I had a pair of tits, you'd put me first in your fucking life once in a while, you selfish prick!"
Stan took a deep breath, preparing for his next insult. "Well MAYBE if you didn't freak me out by asking me to pose NAKED for you, I wouldn't have to hang out with her to get away from you!"
Kenny stopped breathing. Whoa, Kyle really must have grown some balls, he thought.
Kyle growled under his breath. He was hurt by that remark, and humiliated since others in the cafeteria had probably heard it. But he sure as shit wasn't going to let Stan see his pain. No. He couldn't give him the satisfaction of winning. "FUCK YOU!" Kyle shouted instead, before storming off.
Stan loomed over his food, his hands pressed firmly on the table until Kyle disappeared from sight. His expression slowly transformed to regret, realizing the aftermath of his last statement. The entire student body had turned their bodies to witness the fight, and with only Stan left standing, everyone's wide eyes and whispers were directed toward him. He slowly sat down, falling back into the daze he had been in before.
Kenny sat quietly, reluctant to bring up ANYTHING that would set Stan off again. But he wanted to know. What did Stan mean? What had they done?
Kenny tried to sneak away from the table as quickly as possible. He wanted to get away from Stan, both to avoid public inquiry into a matter he honestly knew nothing about, and to hopefully get the story from Kyle, wherever he was at the moment. He was more likely to talk than Stan at the moment, Kenny reasoned, since he was the one nice and pissed off, and therefore more eager to tell all and ruin Stan's life the way Stanley had just done his. At least as far as high school was concerned.
Kenny dashed down the long corridors of the school turning his head from side to side in search of a steamed Kyle. He spotted him near Stan's locker, his hands folded, hiding his face.
"Kyle!" Kenny called out, jogging over to his friend.
At the sound of his name, Kyle turned to face away from Kenny, bringing his fist to smash against the locker. "Don't talk to me, Kenny," he said. His stance said anger, but his voice was shaky and weak. Was he crying?
"I can't not talk to you." Kenny explained, approaching Kyle very cautiously from behind.
He placed a caring hand upon Kyle's shoulder, feeling the tenseness and underlying stress. "Dude, I'm here to listen. You're gonna need someone to vent to, I know this."
Kyle tried hard to fight back the tears that had been streaming from his eyes. Falling freely down into a small puddle on the floor. He sniffed, his whole body making the motion. "I just...I can't believe he fucking said that... I can't believe he fucking...he fucking told the whole school that!" He sniffed again. "And what's worse...he told me he wanted to do it. He AGREED TO IT!"
Kenny nodded. "Uh-huh" he said, listening just as he'd promised to do. He then reluctantly posed a question to Kyle, looking for confirmation, and if possible, elaboration.
"...So he agreed to...pose naked for you?"
Kyle looked at Kenny. "Yes."
Kenny blinked several times, nodded, and swallowed. "That was a bold move right there, man. Does he know how you feel about him?"
Kenny felt Kyle's shoulder tense up again.
"Wh-what do you mean?" he questioned innocently before giving another sniffle.
"Kyle, come on dude." Kenny said. "He got naked in your ro-"
"It's for art!' Kyle snapped defensively.
Kenny smiled. "But you wished it was for something else."
Kyle dropped his gaze to the floor. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Kenny shook his head. "Dude. Its not obvious or anything. I'm just good at reading people. And I know."
Kyle gave a deep sigh. He hadn't told anyone yet. Maybe it was time? His friend had already figured it out anyway, and he seemed to be taking it fine. It's not like Kyle had anything to worry about by 'coming out' to Kenny at this point.
"Well, I bet it's pretty fucking obvious now." he finally spoke bitterly.
Ken shrugged. "Not really. Stan's pretty thickheaded. Naive sometimes, you know? He probably thinks you are actually pissed cause of Wendy. Not the fact that he's with her instead of you."
Kyle bit his lip. "Ken...I did something bad yesterday."
Kenny smirked behind Kyle's back. Finally! Here comes the good stuff.
"Oh? What?" he asked while placing his second hand on Kyle's other, still tense shoulder.
"Well," Kyle started. He paused, darting his head around the hallway, and then turning to face Kenny so he could whisper. "Stan fell asleep. He was on my floor and he was...there he was without...he looked so...he looked perfect."
Kenny fought hard to keep a smile from forming. "Yeah?"
"And...well...he was sleeping and I got all...Kenny...I...uh..." Kyle leaned in closer. "Kenny..." He couldn't quite spit it out.
Kenny decided to help his friend find the words. He tried putting two and two together in his mind as his hands lightly massaged Kyle's shoulder blades. What could Kyle have done? It was obvious he did it while Stan was asleep. That could be a few things.
"...Did you do this?" Kenny guessed. Without warning, he leaned his face forward and very quickly touched Kyle's lips with his own.
"Mmph," Kyle protested, pushing himself away. "KENNY! WHAT THE FUCK!" he cried, stubborn!
Kenny appeared hurt, but tried to go back to massaging Kyle's shoulders. "I'm just trying to help y-"
"Well DON'T! I don't need your 'help'!" Kyle looked offended and repulsed, but only for a second until Kenny gestured for him to come back into Kenny's reach. He resumed massaging his shoulders. It was obvious to Ken that he needed comforting--he didn't even get pissed enough to throw a punch at that.
Kyle sighed weakly again. "I...I-I...jacked off..." he mumbled to the floor.
Kenny felt a tinge of jealousy, and a rush of blood to his manhood. Victory signs were posted in his head, there was a band and everything. Just the thought of Kyle jacking off to sleeping naked Stan made him want to do a flip with joy. But for his friend's sake, he remained calm. "You did what now?" he asked, hoping for further imagery stimulation.
"You heard me." Kyle said sternly.
Kenny cursed in his head. Oh well, you can't win them all.
"Heh...He must look pretty hot then." Kenny joked. "Did you actually...get the painting done?"
Kyle frowned. "Of course not. It is a two-step process. And Stan was with Wendy until late, he didn't even come back until well after 7:30."
Kenny couldn't help but smile. "Came back?"
Kyle nodded. "He went to go see her, 'cause she was bitching about whatever as usual...A-and then he came back so we could do the art thing."
Kenny stopped massaging Kyle's shoulders to grip them forcefully. "Dude. You're an ass," he said plainly.
Kyle gasped in shock. "What? WHY!"
"Because he came back! He was with her, if he wanted to bail, he would have stayed with her! Don't you see? Maybe he ...wanted...to do this for you!"
Kyle frowned. "Maybe...But I bet he's not gonna come back tonight now."
"You don't know that," Kenny said, reassuringly. "But you have GOT to apologize to him."
Kyle looked to his right and to his left before staring at Kenny with a surprised expression. "ME! DID YOU HEAR WHAT HE SAID!"
Kenny nodded. "I know, I know...He was kind of an ass too, but the worst thing he said was a slip of the tongue. You guys are friends, and you wanna be more, so you gotta both say you're sorry and move on. That's what friends do...And lovers."
Kyle opened his mouth as if to say something else. Instead, he looked into Kenny's thoughtful blue eyes, closed his mouth, bit his lip and nodded. "I know just what to do," he said aloud. "Thanks, Ken!" he yelled, already halfway down the hallway.
Kyle spotted Stan, hunched over a water fountain, collecting himself. He trotted over to him, slowing down the closer he got to him. "Uh, hey, Stan," he said cautiously. He had to make sure Stan would talk to him first before he could do anything else.
"...Hi." he replied with as little emotion as possible in his voice. He didn't want to set Kyle off again by having a certain tone of voice. Besides, he was actually surprised the other boy was talking to him again so soon.
Kyle closed his eyes. "First, let me say this," he began. He waited a few moments for Stan's cooperation, and after hearing nothing, he went forward. "I'm sorry I blew up at you. There's a lot going on. I'm nervous about this project and I get mad at a lot of things going on in my life. And even though it bugs me so much that you'd rather spend time with Wendy than with me, I should have never blown up on you like that and I'm sorry."
Stan looked downcast. "I'm sorry too." he admitted, the emotion in his voice coming back. "The truth is, maybe I...do spend a little more time with Wendy than you...Sometimes anyway..."
Kyle opened his eyes. He didn't expect Stan to admit that! Maybe all he would have to do it apologize. That was one reason he loved Stan. Always forgiving. "Uh...well...but she IS your girlfriend," he continued to get on Stan's good side. He needed him there to finish that project.
"...And...And I'm -really- sorry about...The bad stuff I said." Stan added. "...Especially when I said...Well, you know..."
Kyle closed his eyes again. He would be hearing about that for the rest of the day. Week. Month. Hell, probably year.
"It wasn't like I didn't agree to it," Stan acknowledged. "I wanted to help you out, dude." With that, he smiled at his best friend, momentarily forgetting that he had seen him in the compromising position the night before.
Kyle nodded. "And I really appreciate it. Without you, I know I'd have failed this thing."
"Heh. You could have gotten Kenny. He'd be all over it," Stan joked.
"Meh" Kyle shrugged. "I couldn't trust him like I can you though. He would've been moving and trying to...You know..."
Stan nodded. "Right."
"...Is -that- why you didn't want me picking him?"
Stan stared blankly at his friend. He had forgotten he was against that. But why was he against it? Why would he care? Why didn't he want Kyle to see Kenny naked?
Did he want Kyle to see him naked? Stan backed up, putting his hands up. "Whoa, whoa...I didn't care. You could have picked him."
"Oh...Okay." Kyle said, putting on a somewhat false smile.
Stan echoed the falseness in his own smile. "I wouldn't have cared," he repeated.
"Right...Of course not." Kyle nodded.
"Okay."
"…Yeah..." Kyle shuffled his feet nervously. They seemed to be on good speaking terms again. He had to ask him now. The free period was almost over.
"But um, the thing is, I-I still need you to...Uh...Come back..."
Stan's eyes traveled from Kyle's feet back up to Kyle's hopeful eyes. "Oh!" he overly-exclaimed. "Um...I can do that." He looked as if he was processing this in his head. "Yeah. I can be there. No problem." He had completely forgotten the awkward situation from the night before.
"Alright," Kyle said. "And…don't worry, you won't be there long enough to even fall asleep again," he said, triggering the memory in Stan's mind. His eyes opened wide, staring insanely at his best friend.
"...O...Okay then..." Stan said, once again trying to his voice of the mixed emotions he was feeling thanks to this agreement.
"Cool." Kyle said as the bell sounded. With that, the deal was made and the boys were off to class.
