Friday came with a strong wind that weekend, a wind that was to bring about a rather cold, mushy end to the week. And what a week it had been! One friend was grounded - albeit rather loosely - while another was now somewhat pushed into preparing for a date on short notice with an even smaller budget; another was forced into an entirely new ballgame of serious thought; a fourth was allowed to further compile data for his latest scheme of vengeance, and the fifth was burdened with yet another secret. It was not an entirely bright outlook, however, there was still some light to be found, although how much depended on their individual situations, two of which were about to get a whole lot bleaker...

When Karen had proudly shared the news that she had been asked out by a boy on Monday during dinner, Kenny had nearly spit out his left-overs Denny's, but at the same time, he was truly happy for his little sister. Karen was the kindest, sweetest little girl he knew, and it was about time that someone else realized that as well. But with that pride, there also came some brotherly responsibility. Ordinarily it was the kind of thing that their parents should have discussed with her, but since they were pretty much not of use, it fell on Kenny's shoulders.

Overall, the talk had gone good, and Karen had promised to not do anything she wasn't one hundred percent comfortable doing. He still worried about what she might have gotten up to, but Karen was her own person and had to live her own life, which meant making her own mistakes and creating her own regrets. But even still, that didn't mean that he had to go into this trusting the bozo blindly...

It took three days to find and alter his Mysterion costume, but he was left with just enough time to find out exactly who Karen's date was so he could pay that punk a little visit before Friday...

Sitting down with Karen for dinner on Thursday - their parents being held for questioning on a dispute with the neighbors - Kenny asked his younger sister a question that should have been asked a lot sooner, if only for the time it would have saved him. "So, you nervous about your big date tomorrow night?"

Karen nodded into her Styrofoam dish, twirling her fork through the remains of something nearly indistinguishable to science. "He said he wants to take me out to eat. What if we run out of things to talk about before the dinner is over? Or what if we stop talking before we even get there?! Are there things I shouldn't say to him? Kenny, I don't know what to do!"

Smiling down at her gently, Kenny imparted some of the things he had learned in his long years. "If you really like him, I wouldn't be so worried about a few rough patches of conversation, since that might just be nerves. But if you find yourself having more fun looking at the reflections in your spoons, then that means that should be your last date with the guy. But if there is any chemistry between you, it shouldn't matter what you talk about, so long as it flows."

"Like you and Hunter?" As it turned out, Karen didn't come home that morning either, since she was off at another friend's spending the night, so she still had yet to meet Kenny's girlfriend. Although the way Karen heard it, she too was under the assumption that Hunter was a guy. Out of everything Kenny had mentioned to his sister about Hunter, none of it really included the fact that she was a she, and not a he.

That was a good example though, since there was a flow, even if it wasn't always going in the right direction. "Kinda, but you shouldn't start things the way that we did."

There was a dark kind of warning in her older brother's voice, and the girl picked up on that, but it was all just a waste of his breath having to say that. "Don't worry, I already told Avery that I'm not anything like my older brother, and he assured me that he's not his sister."

Wait, did she just say that her date's name was Avery? Kenny was fairly certain that he had heard Karen say Avery was not Hunter, which was only somewhat reassuring in its own right, but that wasn't the issue here. All he knew was that she couldn't have said that her date's name was Avery. Come to think of it, Kenny hadn't quite caught the name of the boy Karen was going out with, between planning the best ways of approaching him that wouldn't make him cancel the date and worrying about planing his own special evening with Hunter, but surely he must have heard wrong just now. "What's his name?"

Sighing in exasperation, Karen had already mentioned his name several times throughout the week. "Avery Bloodworth. He's a year younger than me, hangs out with your friend Kyle's little brother. I've talked about him before."

No, she couldn't go out with him. "You can't go out with him." He crossed his arms and shook his head, looking very much the authority figure. "That's just making real yet another stereotype of how white trash our town is, of how redneck and poor our family is. You can't date that kid Karen."

"You're not the boss of me! I can date whoever I want to!" She crossed her arms in return, scowling like an angry chipmunk. "Who do you think you are?! You're not my father!" Although he might as well have been. "What makes it so wrong that I can't even have a nice dinner?!"

What made it so wrong? What made it so wrong?! Aside from the fact that Avery was the younger brother of the girl he was sticking it to? Nothing, but that was more than enough reason for him that they shouldn't see each other. "How about the fact that Avery is Hunter's little brother? Do you really want another reason for everyone at school to pick on us? Do you really want to be the girl that's only a couple of pegs over the incest bar?"

Well when he put it like that...

[South Park]

It was a good thing that there was only one Avery in the entire town, so Kenny figured it out right away, but it wasn't that easy for Hunter, since she had no idea how many girls named Karen there were in South Park, or even in the school system. However, as she joined her brother in waiting for their dates in the living room, it was unavoidable to see the truth before long...

"So, where are you taking your date, Avery?" Hunter asked as the minutes ticked closer towards pick-up time. The teen was aware that Avery had spent much of his allowance on a place, but she had no idea which place in particular. Honestly, she was more concerned that he had only chosen such an expensive route per her own example. It wasn't like she meant to send the message that it was ok to spend big bucks on securing friends.

He shrugged, yanking at the slender black tie his father had made him wear. "Some fancy Italian place, or maybe it was French... Dad has the instructions synced into the GPS already."

Mr. Bloodworth cleared his throat at his son, disappointed that he hadn't even bothered to remember the name of the place he had bought reservations for. "I still can't believe that you're making your date meet you here. I easily could have picked her up on the way to the restaurant. And stop fiddling with your tie, boy!"

Avery muttered so only his sister could hear him. "Because you would have had a hissy-fit if you didn't get to meet Hunter's boyfriend first."

Hunter covered her smile by helping her brother fix his tie. She wasn't the best in the land, but wearing a tie almost everyday in the sixth grade had really come in handy. "There, you almost pass for a gentleman again." There was a knock on the front door, and in a very un-ladylike fashion, Hunter wrenched the door open, hoping it was Kenny. "I got it!"

It wasn't Kenny standing at the front door - it was a girl, presumably Karen. She was pretty; a little too pretty for her own brother. "Umm, is Avery here?" Soft-spoken little Karen was caught off guard to see a girl answering the door, but when she looked at Hunter, it all clicked in place, so it was a short-lived moment of surprise. Karen thought that she was pretty, in that androgynous Kate Moennig or David Bowie kind of way.

Nodding gently, Hunter stepped aside so she could come in from the cold, "Inside." Turning around just before she shut the door, Hunter extended her hand. "You must be Karen, hi, I'm-"

"Hunter." Coming up the driveway just behind his sister and behind the open sliver of outside, Kenny finished the introduction.

Grinning at the prompt timing, Hunter's handshake was more vigorous than she had originally intended, and she practically shook the other girl's arm off. Showing them both in, the girl beamed back at Kenny, mouthing a simple thank you, since him meeting her father was yet another stipulation of her punishment. Were it not for her father standing just behind her, the blonde had the feeling that she wanted to just throw herself at him and attack with her tonsils, but that might have been wishful thinking on his part.

Standing up from his new crimson armrest, Mr. Bloodworth looked first at the boy with a contemptuous glare of disdain, although he addressed the lady to be polite. "You must be Karen. Avery's told us so much about you!" He bobbed his head curtly, eyes rolling over to Kenny. "And you. Tell me, boy," There was never a syllable uttered with as much venom, not before, nor after. "If I find out that you touch my daughter..." He lowered his voice so that only Kenny could hear, grip crushing the boy's wrist. "I expect her to wear white on her wedding day and mean it."

Well that ship had already sailed, returned to port, and sailed again. "Hunter's the master of her own destiny."

Glaring, Mr. Bloodworth appraised Kenny, weighing his words with care. From what he heard, or rather chose to hear, his baby girl had not and would not engage in sexual activities with this ruffian. He still wasn't fond of this punk, but coming to his own conclusion figured that his trust in his daughter was stronger than his dislike of this Smurf-fucker. Still didn't mean he liked him though.

"So..." Avery looked over at Karen, very aware of the tension in the room. "Have you two met each other before now?"

While Kenny disapproved of them both dating the same family, Karen had argued that it wasn't fair that she should have to back out of date that she had already made. She also argued that there was no telling what fate had in store, so just because they were dating now didn't mean that anything was set in stone for later. "Kenny's my big brother."

Urgh, I was debating about where to put the last section of the previous chapter (obviously it ended up back there), so that caused a part of the delay right there. So many delays! Well six chapters makes up for it, I suppose. I have no idea why I came out with Smurf-fucker. Oh, wait, yes I do - Dances with Smurfs.

I do not own South Park, that's all on Matt and Trey, but I do own Hunter and the rest of the Bloodworth clan!