That evening, after Jimmy went home, I accompanied Tweek to get what his dad needed him to get. We walked towards the railroads, past all of our houses, until we found what looked like an abandoned house. I was skeptical, but trusted Tweek to know where we were going. We walked up to the garage door that was slightly separated from the house and he knocked on it. It opened to reveal what I assumed to be drug dealers. Tweek handed them an envelope and he was handed a bag of substance which I didn't even want to ask what it was.

As we were leaving, I looked into the backyard of the house and saw Kenny, an older boy, and a younger girl; I assumed those were his siblings, which meant this was his house. They didn't have any toys outside, they were simply playing tag. I understood now why Kenny was always freezing; his family was incredibly poor; their house looked to be crumbling and all they seemed to have was themselves. I made a mental note to get to know Kenny better, since he seemed so nice and it was unfortunate the situation he was placed in.

We didn't have time to stop though, in fact, Tweek's pace quickened as he put the bag of substance into his coat. Maybe he was nervous to be carrying drugs with him; I know I would be. We made it back to his family's coffee shop right as the sun was setting.

"Good, Tweek," Mr. Tweak said.

"Did you have fun, sweetie?" Mrs. Tweak asked.

The two of them were closing up for the day and cleaning the equipment. I needed to get home soon.

"Yeah!" He said. "Em and I went to –"

"Good, now go clean up the back," Mr. Tweak said. Wow, two minutes back and his dad only cares about his store.

"I'd better get going. It was nice hanging out, Tweek," I said. I didn't want to stir trouble, but I wished there was something I could do to help Tweek; he seemed to be at odds with his dad. Maybe I'd ask Father if there was anything we could do to help him.

The way home was dark; there were hardly any lamps, even on Main Street. I walked past many drunkards, which made me nervously quicken my pace. Thankfully, nothing happened and I was able to retreat back to my house safely; I hoped I would never have to endure the outdoors after dark alone again.

"Hey, sweetie, how was your day?" Father asked, whilst cooking dinner. I felt bad that I wasn't home to help, but I know he was happy that I was making friends, so he probably didn't mind as much as I did.

"Good," I said. "Where's Van?"

"Oh, he's having a sleepover with Ike!" Father said, almost giddily. "Mrs. Broflovski said that you were so well mannered that Van was also welcome to stay over anytime."

"I'm welcome to stay over anytime?" I asked, surprised. Nobody ever told me that before; it was usually quite the opposite, although I seldom befriended others.

"Of course, sweetie," He said. "You're a better kid than you let yourself believe. Anyways, dinner is done if you want some; I made pasta with a vegetable glaze."

I walked fully into the kitchen to greet the lovely smelling food and made a bowl for myself. The both of us took our bowls into the living room and watched Terrance and Phillip while we ate.

"Hey, dad," I said as the show was coming to a close.

"Yeah?" He asked, as he took both of our bowls into the kitchen.

"My friend Tweek – his dad is kind of hard on him," I said. "I didn't want to say anything because we're so new here, but I feel bad. I mean, the kid's trying his best but his dad expects so much out of him." I left out the part about having to go get drugs – what was he using it for anyways?

"Hmm, that's a tough one sweetie," He pondered. "Tell you what, sometime this week, I'll leave work early and pick you up from school and we'll go get coffee and if I see anything amiss, then I'll speak up about it."

"Thanks, dad," I hadn't called him dad in a while. It was odd, but it felt right. I'd put so much heat on him after Ted died. It was going to be hard getting used to it again, though.

He came back into the living room and we started up the next episode of Terrance and Phillip.

"I think this is going to be a good town for us, sweetheart," Dad said.

"I think so, too," I replied, quietly.

The next day, I slept in until well into the afternoon and once I finally did wake up, I used the day to finish up all my homework for Monday; the night before I had stayed up late watching television with Father and then we jammed on our guitars together; we hadn't hung out like that in ages and it was honestly exhilarating. I hoped that it would only keep getting better. By the time that Monday morning rolled around, I was actually somewhat excited to go to school; my walk to school with Van was peaceful; it wasn't as cold today so we took our time and admired nature. As we passed by the Goth girl's house, her and her brother Bradley were walking out the door. I stopped Van and waited for them, much to her surprise and Bradley's excitement.

"Mind if we walk with you?" I asked.

Van seemed a little skeptical and tried to hide behind me but Bradley's warm smile and 'hello' was enough to distract him from the Goth girl.

"Um, I guess that's not so lame," She said.

"Cool, my name's Emma, by the way," I introduced as we began walking.

"I knew you were a chick," She commented. "Everyone thinks you're a dude, you know? I'm Henrietta."

"Really? Is that why the guys are hanging out with me?" I asked, honestly shocked.

She shrugged, "I guess. Anyways, you like Manson?"

I nodded, "Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"Oh, that's Pete's favorite," She said. "We were playing it the other day when you walked by us."

Oh, that was where the riff was from; it was a cool song, but I didn't think she'd remember me saying something so subtly.

"Cool," I said, because I didn't have anything better to say.

Once we arrived at school, she told me, "Oh, um, if you don't have anyone to hang out with at lunch, meet us near our steps; we always ditch and go to the diner."

"Will I be back in time for class?" I asked.

"Probably," She said and then disappeared into the hall.

I went to class to be greeted by Eric, Butters, and Clyde; the rest weren't there yet since class didn't start for another five minutes.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" I greeted. "Butters, how was your weekend, we didn't see you at Kyle's sleepover."

"My weekend was good; I spent time with my cousins and aunt; it was really fun," He said, enthusiastically.

"That's great," I said, "What about you two? How'd you spend your weekend?"

"I went on a few dates," Clyde bragged. "Bet you can't get any girls, huh, new kid? If you want, I'll teach you sometime."

"Um, no thanks, I'm good," I said, politely. He seemed to switch personalities a lot, especially when he had girls on his mind; I'd deciphered this from only knowing him for a few days, too.

"Don't worry, Clyde," Eric said. "Em is gay anyways. He wears girly socks."

So they do think I'm a guy!

"Why were you checking out Em's socks?" Clyde asked condescendingly. "Doesn't that make you kind of gay, too?"

"Well, even if I was gay, Em is gross, man," Eric said.

"So, you are gay," Craig said, joining in the conversation as he and a few others entered the classroom.

"No, I am not!" Eric said.

"Yeah, Eric isn't gay, he has a crush on Heidi!" Butters exclaimed, which made Eric turn bright red and shut up.

"Score one, Butters," I chuckled.

"Shut up!" Eric whined.

Mr. Garrison took his place in the front of class and said, "Settle down, kids." which made everyone sit in their seats, quietly. "Today, we will be learning basic math skills."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. This was my most dreaded subject and has always been. Kyle noticed this and turned around to face me.

"Don't worry, I get better grades in math than anyone in here," He whispered. "Well, besides Timmy, he's pretty smart. So, I'll help you."

I smiled, "Thanks."

"Kyle!" Mr. Garrison yelled. "Do you have something to share with the class?"

Kyle turned around, flustered, "Um, no, Mr. Garrison, sorry!"

"Well then leave her alone, jeesh."

"Her? But – wait, Mr. Garrison, he's –"

"Kyle shut your trap!" Mr. Garrison yelled.

"Yes, sir."

Kyle was quiet for the rest of class, even when Eric piped up and tried to harass him; I guess he felt bad for getting in trouble. The bell rang for lunch and as I was leaving, Jimmy came up to me.

"Hey, um, do yuh-you wah-want to sit with me and Craig for luh-lunch?"

Do I hang out with the Goth kids or with Jimmy and Craig? The thought raced in my mind as I tried to think of an answer; there was always recess and Henrietta was nice – it might be my shot into making friends with similar music taste as me….

"Why don't we hang out at recess, Jimmy? I was already asked to hang out with someone else during lunch." I felt bad telling him no, because besides Kyle, he was one of the few really nice ones who talked to me. But, there was always recess.

"Okay, see you," Jimmy said and caught up with Craig and Clyde, who were waiting for him.

What if I regretted my decision?