A/N: Chapter two is now up. Enjoy.
The class bell rung, and the children filed out of the classroom. Up next was recess, the one part of the day (besides lunch, of course) that all the kids actually looked forward to. As was the norm, the gang walked out together.
"Lucky bastard," remarked Cartman, to Kenny. "You get to take the whole damn semester off, just so you can go to that choir thing."
"You wanna go?" asked Stan. "I'm not sure I want to."
"Why not?" asked Kenny. "I thought your girlfriend was coming…"
"She is, but…" Stan paused. "I don't know, really. I'm just not up to spending an entire semester away from home."
"Aaw, will wee Stan miss his mommy?"
Stan's face grew red, like it always did when Cartman made fun of him. "Cartman, don't get started, please. I'm not in the mood."
Cartman looked (could it be?) a bit guilty. "Fine. Fag…" Cartman walked off to sit down on a log.
"Thank God he's gone," said Kenny. The other two laughed.
"Yeah, he is a big pain in the ass."
"You gotta admit, though," said Kyle, "he has gotten to be a bit nicer lately."
"Yeah, you're right," replied Kenny. "It's been a full six days since he's made fun of me for being… you know."
"Yeah," replied Stan, "and he hasn't been as ready to pick fights like he usually is."
"That's weird…" chimed Butters, who had decided to join the conversation.
"Go away, Butters," said Stan.
Butters looked confused. "But… why? Why do you want me to leave?"
"This is private," replied Stan. "So leave."
Butters' face grew a light shade of red. "Oh… sorry." He walked away slowly; the last thing they heard him say was, "Oh, hamburgers…"
Stan turned back to Kyle and Kenny. "Do you think he's sick?"
"Maybe he ate too many Cheesy Poofs," said Kenny. They all had a good laugh at this.
"Hey, guys!" came the yell from the other side of the playground. They looked, to see Token holding a football. "We need three more guys. You wanna play?"
"Sure!" yelled Kyle, as the three ran over to the other boys and started playing.
Later that afternoon, Kenny got back home after walking home from school.
"Where have you been?" asked his dad, practically the second Kenny walked into the door. "You're twenty minutes past your usual time."
Kenny lowered his hood just a bit, so his dad could understand what he was saying. "I missed the bus after school; there was a meeting about the choir thing that I had to go to."
His dad's face twisted into a look of confusion. "Choir thing? I've never heard about you doing no damn choir thing. When the hell did you find out about this?"
"Today," replied Kenny. "That choir that I went with last year, the Getting Gay With Kids choir- that's who's sponsoring this year's trip."
Kenny's dad was silent for a second. "How long is the trip?" he finally asked.
"The whole semester."
"WHAT THE HELL?!" yelled his dad, slamming his beer bottle onto the coffee table. "The whole goddamn semester?! What about school? What about your classes?"
Kenny waited a second, for his dad to calm down a bit. When he felt it safe, he proceeded. "The choir's director made a special arrangement with the school; everyone who goes on the tour gets credit for all the classes they would have taken. Mr. Mackey is on the board of directors."
"How much is it going to cost, is what I want to know."
"It's going to be free."
"Free? You're going to be out of the house for a whole semester, and it's all free? Where are you going?"
"Hawaii. We're going to sing about how crime is ruining the paradise there. I think."
"A free trip to Hawaii, just so you can sing some shitty songs? Sounds like a scam to me..."
Kenny's face started to blush; he kind of thought his dad would react like this. "Dad, as I said, this is the same thing I did last year- which, if I remember correctly, you had no problem with, whatsoever."
His dad just looked at him funny for a second, then turned to walk away. "One less mouth to feed, I guess. Yeah, you can go."
Kenny uttered a muffled "YES!", then ran to his room to start packing. He took his duffel bag out from under his bed, and opened it up.
"What to pack, what to pack…" Kenny opened up his dresser and began taking some clothes out to pack. In the midst of his packing, he took out another parka, exactly like the one he was wearing; he packed it in with the rest of his clothes, though, not even realizing that he had it.
It only took him a few minutes to pack everything he needed; he didn't have much, and had learned to get by on very little. After he'd closed his bag, he sat down on his bed and lay down, so he was staring up at his ceiling fan, which was whirring slowly. After a minute, he drifted off into his thoughts… Hawaii? Wow, I've always wanted to go there. This should be fun… I hope-
Kenny was interrupted from his thoughts, though, by a tapping on his window. He looked over at it, but saw nothing. He was about to write it off, when a small hand appeared at the bottom of the window and tapped on it again. He got up and walked over to the window to see who it was. Luckily, his window opened inwards, so it didn't hit whoever was standing out there, Kenny peered over the edge, and was quite surprised as to who it was that he saw there.
"Cartman?"
Sure enough, Cartman was just below his window. "Kenny!" he whispered urgently. "We need to talk."
"Why? I'm getting packed for the trip."
"That's why we need to talk…"
Kenny looked more than a bit surprised at this; why on earth would Cartman want to talk about a trip that he openly denied even wanting to go on? Kenny simply sighed; he would never "get" Cartman.
"Come around front," he said, "I'll let you in."
(Stan's House)
While Kenny was busy packing for his trip, Stan was just walking home from the park. He and Kyle had met up with Token, Clyde, and Butters, and had gone to play football at the park. As much as Stan was tired from the day at school, he'd quite actively participated in the game, even scoring a touchdown- one of the only times he'd ever been able to score with Token on defense (Token was quite fast).
As he walked along the road, the sweat dripping off his face and the cool breeze hitting his sweat-drenched skin, he began to think about the upcoming choir trip: Dammit, this sucks… I didn't want to go last year, and it ended up being one of the worst experiences of my life… Ah well, at least Wendy's going this year. And hanging out with Kenny is always fun. Maybe I'll be able to actually have fun this year…
Once or twice, as he walked along, he could have sworn he saw Butters following him from a distance, but every time he turned around, no one was there. Soon, he gave up looking, and just kept his face forward. He started humming a tune, one he hadn't heard for years, one that he couldn't place the words to, but he was familiar with nonetheless…
This tune managed to get him all the way home; he opened the door and stepped inside. "Mom, I'm home."
No one answered, so Stan went into the kitchen to get a drink. He saw a note on the fridge and walked over to it.
"Dear Stan," it said, "your father and I have gone out on a date tonight. Today is our fifteenth wedding anniversary, and Randy actually remembered to get me something!! Ooh, I'm so excited… Anyways, Mr. Mackey called me and told me you were going on the choir tour again this year. I'm so excited for you!" Stan flipped the note over and kept reading. "Get packed and ready; we should be home by midnight. Love, Mom."
Stan smiled; his parents celebrated every anniversary in a big way, and they always looked forward to that special night. As he passed the table and began to head upstairs, he heard the phone ring; he picked it up and answered it.
"Hello?" He paused for a moment. "Oh, hey, Wendy. What's up?"
"Not much," she replied, as Stan started running up the stairs. "What are you doing?"
"Getting ready to pack for the trip tomorrow," replied Stan, hitting the top step. "I just got home."
"Just now?" asked Wendy. "Where have you been?"
"Went to play football with Token and Butters." Stan rummaged around in his closet, and pulled out his suitcase. "I need to take a shower after I finish packing."
"I've been done for over an hour," replied Wendy. "I had to wash a bunch of-"
Her voice cut off. "Hello?" asked Stan. He looked at the phone. "Dammit, the battery died…" Stan ran downstairs and placed the phone back on the charger, then ran back upstairs to finish packing.
"Let's see… jeans, shirts, socks…" He threw practically every item of clothing that he owned into the suitcase, as he named them off. Too bad Kyle isn't coming; that'd rock even more. Well, I guess I can be glad Cartman isn't coming… He'd ruin it, like he almost did last time. Well, he did go find those construction guys and brought them over to where we were at, so he kinda redeemed himself. I guess.
The phone in his parents' room rang; Stan slapped his forehead- he'd completely forgotten about his parents' phone. He walked into their room and picked the phone up.
"Hey, Wendy, sorry about-"
"Wendy?" asked a muffled voice.
"Oh, damn!" said Stan. "Sorry, Kenny. What's up?"
"You'll never guess who's over here."
"Who?"
Stan listened for a second, then sighed. "What the hell does he want?" He listened some more, then his jaw dropped. "He wants to do what?!"
"I know, I couldn't believe it either. But apparently, he's got his mind set on it."
"Why does he even want to?" asked Stan, as he flipped the fan on in his room- it'd gotten a bit hotter since he'd left just a moment ago.
"Don't ask me," replied Kenny. "I have no more clue than you do."
"Well, are you going to let him?"
"He says he's got his money and everything, and that all he needs is a ride."
Stan stopped in his tracks. "So, you're telling me that he's got all the money he needs for this? Does he even know how much it'll cost?"
"He says he does."
Stan sighed; what was he going to do with him? "I guess I don't mind, really, as long as he doesn't pull shit like he did last year."
"Eh, I guess so. Hey, I gotta run- my parents are back."
"See ya tomorrow, Kenny." Stan pressed the End button, and went back into his parents room to replace the phone.
So the fat-ass really wants to go? Maybe because it's Hawaii, instead of some God-forsaken rainforest way out in a third-world country. Stan re-entered his room, and cranked the fan up a notch. He finished up what little packing he had left to do, then shut his suitcase and put it on the floor. He lay down on his bed, fully intending to simply stare at the ceiling. His eyes soon drooped, though, and after a minute, he was fast asleep.
The Next Day
The town of South Park was just waking up, and yet a tour bus was already idling in the parking lot of the South Park Elementary School. The bus driver was taking a quick nap- he had a long drive ahead of him before he hit LAX and dropped off the kids and chaperones at the airport. Then, he was home free- until his next busload, that is…
Kenny was the first one to arrive at the school; he'd woken up an hour before normal today. He just couldn't sleep very well, he was so excited about going, so he got his stuff and decided to walk to school. Since he didn't live but five minutes from the school, he got there before anyone else did.
He didn't have to wait long, though; Stan's parents came about ten minutes later, and dropped both he and Wendy off. Kenny helped Stan and Wendy lug their baggage over to the bus, where the driver loaded it up for them.
"You excited?" Stan asked Kenny.
"Hell yes! I hope she's here."
"Who, Kelly?"
"Yeah! I really want her to come this year, too."
"What does she look like?" asked Wendy. "Blonde hair, freckles?"
Kenny's eyes lit up. "Yeah, how'd you know?"
"She's right over there," replied Wendy, pointing over to the bus. And sure enough, Kelly was just coming around the corner of the bumper. When she saw Kenny, her eyes glowed just as much as his had, and she began to run over to him.
They met halfway. "Kenny!" said Kelly. "Great to see you again!"
"Great to see you again, too, Kelly," said Kenny. Through their many phone conversations, Kelly had learned (like the residents of South Park) to understand what Kenny was saying almost perfectly. She'd even learned his name.
While Kenny and Kelly were talking, Stan and Wendy sat off to the side observing them. "He really seems to like her," said Wendy.
"She was all he could talk about, after we got back the first time."
Just then, they heard an "Ahem" behind them. Stan and Wendy turned around, and were absolutely shocked at what they saw.
"Cartman?" asked Wendy. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Coming with you guys, what does it look like I'm doing?"
"You weren't even invited," said Stan. "Only me, Wendy, Kenny, and Token were."
"So looks like you're not coming," added Token, who had just gotten out of his car.
"Actually, he is."
Stan recognized that voice; he turned around to see Miss Stevens standing behind them.
"Eric and his family paid for the whole thing themselves. I couldn't help but say yes."
"You're here," said Kenny, who had just walked up, holding hands with Kelly. "I left you at the house…" They all had a quick laugh at this.
"I called my mahm, and she came and got me and brought me over here."
"Everyone, load up!" Miss Stevens called out. The kids made their way to the bus, along with the regular members of the choir. Stan, Cartman, and Token got on; Stan and Token got a seat next to Kenny and Kelly, who were deep in conversation. Cartman got a seat behind them.
"Everyone ready?" she asked. Her question was met with a resounding "Yes!"
"Alright then!" She turned to the driver, told him something, then turned to the kids again. With a big smile, she announced, "We're off to Hawaii!!"
A/N: Hope you all liked this one. Yes, Cartman is going on the trip with the rest of the choir, so Loca Bambina, you won't have to worry about that.
Chapter three should be up… well, I can't tell you when, but it'll be soon. Oh, and positive comments are much appreciated. So are cookies.