I finished getting dressed and awkwardly walked back into Kyle's bedroom. Nobody said anything to me; everyone was chatting amongst themselves except Stan who was staring at a wall. I thought it would be better to not talk to him after that uncomfortable exchange. I felt bad that I didn't think to lock the door behind myself, but I assumed everyone saw me walk out of the room.
I wondered if I should fake a stomach virus and go home; Father would know I was lying though and would be upset – not angry, just disappointed. He wanted me to be the lively child I was before Ted's death. I used to be much more open to the world; like I said before, I'm not shy, I just seldom feel the need to say much around most people.
Kyle made it apparent that we had to be as quiet as possible and he turned off his main light; in its place he lit a few candles.
"Candles are so gay," Eric said, unimpressed.
"Shut up, dumbass," Kyle and Stan said at the same time. It was the first time Stan spoke since the incident; thankfully, however, this made him rejoin the group[CR1] .
The boys fell asleep one by one and each time, we'd become a quieter group until it was eventually just me, Kenny, and Kyle.
"In the morning," Kyle started whispering. "We should go out to Stark's Pond."
"That would be pretty cool," I replied quietly. That would be one thing off my weekend checklist taken care of, although I wondered when my Father would want me home. "But, I don't know how long I'm allowed to stay."
"We can go over your house and ask in the morning," Kenny said; earlier in the evening he had taken off his coat and was finally able to speak. Something told me he wore it most of the time, so it was surprising that he didn't wear it to sleep; although, Kyle's house was warmer than my own; his parents must be rich or something. It's not that we don't have heat, we can afford it, but we can't afford fancy heat and Colorado this time of year became freezing at night.
After about an hour, we collectively fell asleep. The next morning, we were awoken by a dramatic Eric who threw pillows at us.
"Wake up, guys!"
I was honestly surprised that the scenario wasn't the other way around; I expected Eric to never want to leave his bed, honestly – or rather, the floor, since everyone except Jimmy slept on the floor; however, nobody was upset with Jimmy, except Eric, because he must've had some painful back issues amongst other things.
We all slowly got ourselves together and headed downstairs in our pajamas; I put my socks on before going downstairs though, because it became colder as the morning air crisped the windows.
"What kind of girly socks are those, Em?" Eric taunted.
I rolled my eyes, "Exactly what you said, girly, Eric."
He scoffed, alarmed that I talked back to him, "What, are you gay or something?"
"What if I was?" I played back. "Who cares, dumbass."
"Guuuyyyyssss, Em called me a dumbasssss," Eric whined.
Nobody replied.
Kyle's mom had made us muffins and eggs for breakfast and I was honestly thrilled. I hadn't had a muffin in years ever since I took on an oath of health. Pizza and muffins, wow. I would have to eat just vegetables for the next few days for my body to not hate me and I didn't care because I was having fun for the first time in years, although, I would never admit it. I was still worried over Father and Van, however. It was Saturday, though, so hopefully they'd still be in bed; Father hardly cared for Van; I trusted him to do it but after Mother died, Van became attached to me and Ted; when Ted died, Van suffered as much as we all did, but being a child made it harder to understand. That's why I always worried over leaving him alone with Father.[CR2]
After we ate breakfast, Jimmy, Tweek, and Craig had to go home. Tweek and Jimmy gave me their home phone numbers in case I wanted to hang out again before Monday, which was nice; they were sweet. Craig was a little odd and standoffish, but I didn't mind him; his vulgarity was similar to Eric's, however his was never targeted towards any of our friends.
As we left the house, I kept insisting that I should go home to take care of Van, however, Kyle brushed it off and told me that his mom made plans with my Father to have Ike and Van hang out together this afternoon; that helped a bit; I trusted his mom.
We walked all the way to Stark's pond which was only a little past the school; I guess two miles in total from Kyle's house depending on which way you took and we took the longer way to avoid the sixth graders' territory. On our walk, we passed by the Goth girl's house; I could tell because she was outside with her brother. We didn't interact or smile at each other, however acknowledgement was made; I don't think she hated me. I hoped she didn't. I thought she was pretty cool; she was one of the few older kids I wasn't scared of.
Her brother, however, yelled out to Stan and Kyle, who waved back at him; I found out his name was Bradley. He seemed nice; awkward, but nice.
Stark's Pond would've been breathtaking if it wasn't completely littered. I hated litter; I saw it all the time in NY; my family was one of the few to always take recycling seriously; it was harder to recycle in South Park, however we still did amongst few other families, Kyle's family being one of them. During our vacations to the shore, I would always pick up litter at the beach before our family went swimming; it made me feel better about spending time at the beach if I took care of it first.
Nontheless, we sat on a bench and looked out, occasionally throwing rocks and making witty remarks. These were the first friends I'd made in a while, even though I only knew them a few days. I hoped they wouldn't learn to hate me for my awkwardness or my silence.
Eventually, Eric and Stan went home, which left me with Kenny and Kyle; they always seemed to stay the longest. It was quiet for a while, until Kyle spoke up.
"Are we the only friends you've made in school?"
I nodded, "Yeah. It's all because of Butters that I have friends. I really owe that kid."
"Mmmpph!" Kenny said, although I still couldn't decipher his muffled words.
"He's a really cool kid, a bit sheltered from his parents… He's always getting grounded for nothing. I worry about him sometimes," Kyle said.
"Why?" I asked.
He sighed, "Because Cartman always convinces him to go along with his schemes and it sucks. He's a good kid whose resorted to doing stupid shit so someone will hang out with him. I mean, we all like him, we just can't always keep up with his hyper activity; it isn't his fault either. It's because half the time he's trapped in his room."
I looked down at the ground, picked up a rock, and flung it into the ocean. Then I stood up.
"That really sucks."
And I took my leave.
"Mmmmph!"
"Where are you going?"
"To see what Butters is doing; I'll catch up later."
"Mmmmph!"
"Okay."
