South Park © T. Parker and M. Stone. Ella Tweak belongs to me.
Other superlative OCs appearing in this chapter:
Lucy Montgomery: created by Kootie Bomb
Vivi Sykes: created by PiScEs-BlOsSoM69
"Damien's Girls" return in the next chapter with the AntiChrist and his wicked stepsister. We'll also greet a new OC along with Satan's new husband and we'll kick off the holidays in the usual train-wreck South Park style. Woo!
I have to confess, the only purpose of this chapter is to get my pawns in place. Shameless plot advancement ftw.
*
South Park High – Friday, 11:15 a.m.
"Gnnh! GAH!"
"Hold still." Ella commanded, struggling to re-button her brother's shirt.
"Oh God!" Tweek twitched. "Sh-she'll probably say no. ACK!"
Ella fastened the last button and straightened his collar. His hair was pretty much a lost cause. Her parents had wasted no time in pumping Tweek full of coffee after his harrowing ordeal. He went from a pleasant and thoughtful boy to a rambling, twitching mess within the space of twelve hours. She turned to Craig, who leaned against Tweek's locker, watching impassively.
"Daisy." She held out her hand and took the flower Craig handed her, then passed it to Tweek. "Just ask. Maybe she'll say yes."
"Ngh!" Tweek hunched his shoulders. "Maybe she'll say no! Too much pre-" he stopped as Ella clamped a hand over his mouth.
"I'd say no." Craig said.
"Shut up Craig!" Ella snapped and took her hand away from Tweek's mouth. "If you don't ask, you'll never know. She's right over there at her locker. Go on." Ella gave him a shove down the hall, smiling reassuringly as Tweek glanced over his shoulder. When he turned away, she kicked Craig in the shin. "Why do I talk to you again? Remind me!"
"I put the 'a' in 'adorable'." Craig said gravely.
"And 'asshole'." Ella muttered, opening her locker and rifling through it, producing a folded brown hoodie. "See you at lunch. I'm going to make sure Tweek comes out the other side of this okay." She watched Craig nod and walk off, tapping away on his phone. Ella waited until he turned the corner and then headed in the opposite direction down the hallway.
*
Tweek clutched the daisy, his hand trembling. Vivi Sykes was digging through her locker, her red hair pulled back in a spiky bun. He cleared his throat nervously.
"V-V-Vivi?" he whispered hoarsely. Dammit. I sound like Jimmy Vulmer.
"Yes Jimmy?" Vivi asked without turning around, still rummaging.
"ACK!" Tweek coughed and twitched, the daisy wobbling in his trembling hand.
Vivi turned, a lollipop stick tucked in the corner of her mouth.
"Oh! Tweek! I'm so sorry." Vivi smiled apologetically around her lollipop. Her big blue-green eyes drifted down to the daisy. Wait… what?
"Ngh!" Twitch, twitch. "S'ok." Tweek's pale green eyes raced from her face, to her hands, to the lollipop, and finally settled on her nose. He held out the daisy, which quivered in his shaking hand. "D-d-do yo- GAH!"
Vivi took the daisy and tucked it in her bun. Most people didn't have the time or patience for Tweek, but she found something about his nervousness disarming, even cute. She smiled encouragingly.
Tweek's cheeks turned bright pink under her smile. "Sweet Jesus!" He crammed his trembling hands in his pants pockets and took a deep breath."Areyougoingtothewintercarnivalthisweekendanddoyouwanttogowithme?" His nose twitched slightly.
Vivi blinked and slowly worked out what had been said. The South Park Winter Carnival was the official kick-off of the Christmas season. There were rides, food, games, carolers and a variety of other events. It was a place to be seen, and to hook up if you were single. A kiss under the world's largest mistletoe wreath was a Winter Carnival tradition. The tradition hadn't even died when Kenny McCormick had been crushed by the wreath two years ago trying to set a record for number of girls kissed beneath it. Vivi had thought Stan might ask her, but as the days went by Stan talked obsessively about the upcoming game against Denver and little else. It's not like they were going together or anything. He hadn't even kissed her – but she'd thought things were moving that way. Still, as she looked at Tweek's earnest, twitching face, she felt her stomach flip.
"Mais oui, Tweek." She responded, her accent slipping through with a blush. "Yes. Sounds good – meet me there at six o'clock?"
Tweek stared at her, one eye twitching, and then broke into an enormous, endearing grin. "Oh GOD! –Ack!" another deep breath. "Six. Got it." With that, he turned suddenly and walked away, twitching a bit less as he went.
*
"I'm telling you." Token said, in between bites of pizza. "Bebe's got a nice rack."
Kyle shrugged. "You can tell that with her shirt on."
"Yeah, seriously dude. Tell us something we don't know." Stan replied, polishing off the first of four cartons of milk.
Token leaned across the table and whispered something.
Kyle's green eyes widened. "Where?!" His eyes grew wider still as Token whispered the answer.
Stan raised his eyebrows, intrigued. "Still dude. Bebe's kind of annoying. I don't know if I could put up with that, even to get a look."
Token shrugged. "Yeah. She never shuts up – but the view is spectacular. Bebe's the whole package gentlemen."
Stan opened another carton. "Yeah, she's doable - but if you take her part by part, there's always some chick that's better."
"Yeah. Lucy Montgomery has nicer legs." Kyle put in.
Token snorted, but Stan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and Vivi Sykes has the most amazing eyes. Wendy has nicer hair."
"There are plenty of girls who have a nice rack too, Token." Kyle said. "Red is prettier overall, and Ella's got a hot a-"
"Do you guys know why you can never keep a girlfriend longer than three months?"
The three boys looked up and found Craig Tucker standing at the end of the table, his face impassive.
"It's because you talk about girls like they're cars, or animals, or objects." Craig said. "Does it ever occur to you that this makes you sound like Neanderthals? No. No it doesn't." Craig continued. "Because you guys are jerks. And that's why you can't keep a girlfriend longer than three months." He turned and walked to the next table and sat down, fussily arranging the silverware on his lunch tray.
"That dude is such an asshole." Stan said finally.
*
Lucy Montgomery, seated at a nearby table, witnessed the entire exchange with amusement. She picked up her tray and moved over to Craig's table and set it down, filled with a bit of admiration for his little speech.
"Hey Cwaigles!" she said cheerfully.
Craig gave a stoic grunt and concentrated on cutting his pizza slice into perfectly even pieces.
Lucy shook her head. "Pizza is one of many foods you can eat with your hands Craig." She picked up her own slice and demonstrated, pulling the cheese out in a long string.
"Nope." Craig said, spearing a piece with his fork and chewing thoroughly. He concentrated on his plate, but underneath the table he bounced his knee nervously. He listened to Lucy chat idly about classes, teachers, and who was taking who to the Winter Carnival. When she focused on her food, he watched her. Her bangs were insanely purple, exactly matching her suspenders. He still wasn't sure what to make of her. Nothing about her was right, but everything was. "Who are you going with?" he asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.
Lucy shrugged and took a sip of juice. "I thought I'd round up some of the girls and we'd all go together, then we could see whoever we wanted when we got there. No pressure." She paused, watching his long fingers curl around his fork. "What about you Craigasaurus?"
"Eh." Craig said, striving for an indifferent tone. "I might not go this year."
"Of course not, granddad." Lucy reached across and patted his hand. "You stay home with your nice cup of cocoa. The carnival might be a bit much for you."
Craig poked her hand with his fork. "What I meant was, Bebe's obviously going with Token. Who's left to ask?" he said, raising a single eyebrow.
"Bebe?" Lucy made a face. "Bebe?!?!" she repeated and then caught a whisper of a smile tugging at Craig's thin lips. "Asshole."
"Bitch." He said contentedly and speared another piece of pizza.
*
Ella darted through the quad, dodging giggling girls and rowdy football players as she went. The temperature was a relatively balmy 20 degrees, and several students were taking their lunch out of doors. She jogged over to the labyrinth of buildings behind the metal shop, leaned against a wall and waited. She tucked her hands in the pockets of her powder blue coat and watched her breath. He'll either show for a smoke, or I'll spend another lunch with Towelie.
Ella saw shadows moving on the wall opposite and held her breath momentarily, exhaling as the goths rounded the corner, Henrietta glaring daggers. Ella made a face in return and gave her the Craig Tucker salute. She held her finger up even as they turned their backs and walked away.
"Shocking." A thin hand reached around her and folded her middle finger down.
"Ahhh!" Ella yelped and turned around to find a smirking Kenny McCormick leaning against the wall behind her, sans jacket. She swatted his arm. "Don't do that!"
Kenny pushed the hair off his forehead, a patch still covered his left eye. "I can't promise anything. Looks like you get up to all kinds of things when you think nobody's watching."
"Not really. It's Henrietta…" Ella waved her hand. "Nevermind." She pulled his hoodie out of her bag and held it up to him. "You'll need this."
Kenny took his ratty brown hoodie out of her hands and unzipped it. The inside was newly lined with thick brown flannel, the frayed cuffs repaired. His chest tightened as he slipped his arms into the sleeves and zipped it up. It smelled like spring. He impulsively reached out and touched her cheek.
"Go to the carnival with me this weekend El. Please?" he said, with uncharacteristic gravity.
Ella froze at the brief touch of his fingers. "Grounded." She said. "Til Christmas Eve."
Kenny made an exasperated noise and fished a smoke out of his bag. "Girl, you're grounded more than Butters." He lit his cigarette and took a jerky, irritated drag.
"I know." Ella said. "I wonder if the Stotches would adopt me."
"Christmas Eve? Whatdja do?"
"Got a D+ on an algebra test." Ella shrugged. "I'll be grounded until February if I can't write a decent paper for English."
Kenny closed his eyes briefly. "Your dad used to be cool."
"Now he only looks like an aging liberal hippie douche. He's actually an aging neo-nazi, crypto-fascist douche." Ella jumped as the fourth period bell rang.
Kenny pitched his smoke. "Go on. Your dad will probably disown you if you're late." He said, feeling sulky.
Ella nodded, turned to leave and then turned back. She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips lightly, quickly, against his cheek. "I would've said yes."
Kenny watched her go, her curls jouncing. He leaned back against the wall, his cheeks burning, heart hammering against his ribs, and lit another smoke.
*
Yay! Meaningless rambling, plot advancing, character manipulating randomness. Whee!
I effing love writing Craig Tucker.
Bear with me. There's a point to this, I swear.