I DON'T OWN SOUTHPARK OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS

so this is definitely a lot longer than the other chapters. also i'm quite scattered lately so if something doesn't make sense sorry! please leave reviews :).

That night, we didn't talk much more. When I decided I should go back home, Craig asked if we could exchange numbers. I thought it was nice. So I said 'sure' and we did.

I went home and laid in bed and thought about how odd that was.

I just hung out with Craig Tucker. And I have his number. I could text him right now if I wanted.

I think I might sleep now though.

...

Saturday, 10am

...

I don't remember falling asleep, but waking up was terrifying. I heard glass shatter and a shrill scream.

"OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS, NOT AGAIN! TWEEK, HONEY?" I heard my mother yell from the kitchen.

I rolled out of the bed onto the floor, because it seemed easier than pushing my blankets off myself and standing up.

I grunted as I stood up, and groggily walked towards the kitchen, where I passed by a mirror.

You know when you look in the mirror and you don't recognize yourself? It's such a strange feeling, when you run your fingers along your jaw, you feel it. And you know it's you and you realize just how strange and complex and beautifully frightening humans are. And when you look into your own eyes, you feel yourself and your entire being slowly start to slip away. My green eyes are barely noticeable because of the bags underneath, a result of going to the park instead of being sensible and sleeping.

I looked away from the mirror, and continued to the kitchen.

My mom is picking up pieces of glass scattered on the ground.

"What happened?" I asked her, helping pick them up.

She looked at me and smiled, shaking a hand off and patting my head.

"Well, I was going to bring you some coffee but I lost my grip on the mug and...this happened. Oh goodness me, I'm so clumsy!" She laughed for a second, and returned to picking the pieces up.

"Oh, and I'm sorry for waking you up like this honey...You got home late last night huh?" She added.

I stopped picking the pieces of glass up for a second.

"Oh, I forgot. I went to the playground last night." I told her. She grinned.

I love when my mother smiles, and cause she's such a generally happy person she smiles a lot. She appreciates life and she lives each moment fully, and I admire that. I think it's fantastic and she must have such a wonderful view on everything.

I smiled back.

After a while, we finished picking up the glass. I washed my hands off and poured myself a new cup of coffee. I think my dad was at the shop, usually is.

"Honey, I need to go help your father, remember safety first and..call us if you need anything okay?" She said.

I don't really know, I think she's just naturally protective, but it's kind of funny when she worries over me. I mean, I think I would worry over someone that much too if I had a reason.

"Sure mom." I said.

So she left. And I was home alone.

And I decided to do exactly what every teenager does when they are left home alone.

Nothing.

That's kind of a joke because I know that doing nothing is actually impossible, and I actually just spent my time reading and painting. I painted beautiful landscapes, portraits of people I've never met, I read stories on actual people who did amazing things, and stories on fictional people who went on amazing adventures.

And then I felt something vibrate in my pocket.

Which frightened me enough to make me drop my book on the ground.

Looking towards the clock on my wall, it was 3 PM.

I checked my pocket, and my phone was there with a new text message.

Hey - Craig

When I read that message, I figured my book was okay on the floor for now so I decided to leave it and reply.

Hello - Tweek

are you busy? - Craig

I looked around.

I saw some plain white coffee mugs on a desk across my room, my book on the floor and my easel and paint right by the white coffee mugs.

No, not really.

Nope. - Tweek

Cool, I'm at the playground. - Craig

And I looked around my room again, but not really because I wanted to see if I was busy, or if there was some imaginary monster crawling around the floor. I looked around my room because I was very, very confused.

Was he inviting me to hang out with him?

Am I supposed to ask?

Oh, alright - Tweek

want to come? - Craig

I look around once more, and I decide that it sounds like a good idea.

sure. 10 mins - Tweek

alright seeya then - Craig

I grinned at my phone. I think I am slightly flattered that he invited me, but also vaguely nervous because what if it's more than just him? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not that bad at socializing but I just don't know how to prepare. Normally I have some time to think about how I'm going to go about talking with people. I don't know how many people to prepare for.

I think I'll be okay anyway, though.

I slipped on a jacket and sneakers and made sure that everything would be okay while I was gone. And then I walked out the door, towards the playground.

...

I stumbled a bit on my way to the playground, my lack of sleep catching up to me.

Looking around, the snow on the ground was very sad. And I'm saying this in the most respectful way possible in regards to the snow, because I think snow is beautiful usually. But then everyone walks on it. And it gets muddy. And it melts and it looks sad.

Which is what this snow is looking like, right now.

Muddy and sad.

So I tried my best to walk lightly and not step on the muddy patches, because I like my shoes and I like snow. I don't like mud that much.

And then I saw some trees. And I thought that the trees looked really nice today. Compared to the snow, actually, they looked magical. And I thought it was nice that the trees probably didn't have to worry about what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives when they were only 15 years old. And I thought it was probably nice that the trees didn't have to worry about hurting someones feelings. Or any of those other emotions that are terrible.

They do have to be worried about being chopped down though.

Do trees worry?

In the midst of this very upsetting thought, I happened to run into a fence post that was just by the front of the playground.

"Ow." I said. Truly upset by the fact this fence post just appeared, I forgot about worrying trees and everything else and looked towards the playground.

And Craig was there.

And he was alone.

And he was sitting at the top of the playset again.

And he looked very, very nice.

I'm not saying that he doesn't normally look nice, and I'm not saying that he looks different than he usually does, but he looks content. And content is nice.

And while I was admiring him, he noticed me.

"Hey there." He called over to me.

"Hello," I replied.

And he smiled, so I smiled.

To be quite honest, I wasn't really sure why we were smiling but any reason to smile must be a good one. And then after he stared at me for a second, he patted the spot next to him on top of the playset.

I took that as an invitation, and I forgot about the fence post and the trees and the snow and all I could think about was how funny it was that I was here, right now. With this other teenager who was here, right now. And we both were completely aware of how much we actually exist, and it was funny. And I couldn't help smiling a little bit as I walked over towards the playset, because it actually really was quite funny.

So funny.

And when I got to the playset, I realized it was actually very easy to get on top of.

And we sat there, and didn't really talk. We just sat there. And it was alright.

"Today isn't very interesting." Craig said.

And I thought for a minute, and I think that every day is actually very interesting because we exist and that on its own is very interesting.

"Everyday is interesting, but it depends on how you look at it." Was what I said.

And then Craig thought for a minute, I think because it made a lot of sense.

"You're right. Today is very interesting." Was what he said.

And I laughed a little.

And he did too, because it was funny.

"You are very interesting, Tweek." Craig said.

"I don't think I'm that interesting." I looked at the ground from where I was sitting above.

"You really are. But a good kind of interesting."

I tilted my head and looked towards him. He was looking at the sky.

"You too."

And it was funny.