[Four Years Ago]

Highschool. Finally. Only fourteen, but he already had a cigarette addiction, it was annoying to bum them, so he worked under the table at Skeeter's bar doing dishes a few nights a week, it didn't pay too much, but it was enough to get him a pack of smokes every few weeks. The rest, went into savings so he, his mom, and Karen could leave the shitty house they lived in. It wasn't much, his contribution, but it was something.

Over the summer, he, Kyle, and Stan had all finally exorcised Cartman from their lives. None of them had ever particularly liked him anyway, but Cartman had crossed one of the few lines Kenny had, and he had nearly beaten the boy unconscious, he would have, perhaps even gone much further, if Kyle and Stan hadn't pulled him off the bruised and bleeding boy.
It had been a comment about Karen, Karen was only eleven. That fat fuck was lucky. He told him as much, if he ever came near any of his family, he would do permanent damage and fuck the consequences.

David helped him calm down while they all sat at Tweak Bros, he bought everyone coffee or hot chocolate and helped Kenny to calm down. They had hung out occasionally, despite Cartman's ribbing. But David was happy they had all finally kicked him out of their group. Butters happened to overhear the conversation and stuttered anxiously, asking if Cartman would come after him, as he had done so often.
Kenny had turned ice blue eyes on his friend and told him if he did, Kenny would carry out his threats. Butters gulped nervously and tried to protest, but Kenny held up a hand.
"You're my friend too. Tell me if he fucks with you."

"B-Buh-But won't he spread rum-rumors about y-y-you?"

"I don't give a fuck."

Butters stared at him silently for a few moments, but then looked quickly away and didn't speak again for a very long time.

"You should be careful," David chided, "You don't want to go to juvie."

Kenny sighed, dropping his shoulders, some of the tension leaving his body.
"You're right, but I can't fucking stand that piece of shit. He's been ribbing all of us for years, you stood up to him, but he needs a thorough ass kicking."

"I won't deny that, but be careful," David emphasized again with a sigh.

"Anything for friends and family," Kenny replied with a grin at the table and over to Butters, who sat at the adjacent table.

Butters blushed and stammered something, eyes on his drink.

Kenny took a drink of his hot chocolate, it burned, but it was a pleasant kind.

Tweek had wandered over, Tweak Bros apron on, "Cartman?"

"Yeah, finally told that piece of shit to piss off," Kenny confirmed, looking up at the wiry blond that had a permanent twitch.

He bit his lip before asking, "I know Craig would beat him up, but..., if..., if I needed you to, would you?"

Kenny looked at him in surprise, Craig was ... territorial, very touchy of Tweek.
"Well, of course, we're friends aren't we?"

It was said with the same easy smile as always, but he was uneasy, such an offer could make him a target for Craig's rage. That guy was unpredictable, though often too lazy to do anything.

"Thanks," a brief smile and then he was back behind the counter, taking orders and making drinks.

Actually, it was a wonder Craig wasn't at the coffee shop, usually he and Tweek were never far apart.
Whatever though, it wasn't his business. He returned his attention to the table where an enthusiastic Stan was relaying the full tale to David. Kenny smiled, but it wasn't genuine, he didn't normally lose control like that. It was only because of what had been said about Karen. He forced himself to calm down and take another drink.
He was incredibly angry, about lots of things, obviously. But he couldn't go off like Kyle, who would turn red and have angry yelling fits, or like Craig who would routinely have bruised knuckles. He was happy-go-lucky Kenny, always down to party.
But was he though? No..., No. He wanted more out of life, a better life for him and his family, more than South Park. Kevin, who was a junior or senior, was taking vocational classes, to become a mechanic while getting his high school diploma. Which was great for him, even if he was an asshole, but he wanted something different. He wasn't sure what though. But he thought about it a lot, over the summer.

It was the first week of school when Kenny found himself in the counseling office, looking over the pamphlets for the few colorado colleges. It was his luck, that Mr. Mackey, his counselor was coming in as he was thumbing through one.

"Hey Kenny, are you looking into college?"

He put the pamphlet down, embarrassed though unsure why.
"Kinda?"

If Mackey was surprised, he didn't let it show, instead he said, "We should schedule a meeting so we can discuss this more in-depth, if you are serious. Most colleges have rather strict GPA requirements, and you would have to take the SAT or at least the ACT."

"I..., you know I can't afford those." Kenny said this quietly, eyes downcast.

"There are forms you can fill out to get fees waived and even transportation if we don't hold one here, usually, there's one in this high school though, on a weekend. However, those aren't taken until your sophomore or junior year, you can of course, take them multiple times, though two is usually the limit for the fee waivers."

Kenny looked up at him sharply, not daring to speak yet.

"If you're serious, we can discuss those tests and what courses you should be in for the best results. And, I know you're still friends with Kyle and Leopold, they could help if you ask them. Leopold runs the tutoring club, and Kyle usually tutors though less frequently."

"Shit...," Kenny breathed, looking away from Mackey.

"Just fill out a form, and we can sit down and discuss everything, it doesn't have to be right away, but I would advise you do this sooner than later, mkay?" And then Mr. Mackey was walking to his office, leaving Kenny in a stunned silence, left to think about everything that had been said.

He did, fill out a form, and then went to class.

Days later, sitting in the office, he and Mackey talked about what colleges Kenny was thinking about, what degree he had in mind, what courses he would need to take and the scores he would need to achieve. He was also told of practice tests and prep courses he could take, if he felt he needed the extra help.
"I want you to succeed Kenny, mkay," Mackey said as the session was winding down.

"I believe you can, if you really buckle down and get serious about this mkay."

His mind was racing, but he nodded and went dazed, back to class.
For so long, he had just been scraping by, convinced he couldn't. But what if he could?
He had always enjoyed art, maybe he could let that be his career? Obviously, it would take work, everything did. At least, he would enjoy what he was doing, right?

Mackey was right, it would take a lot of effort, but there was no reason he couldn't. He was Kenny fucking McCormick.
Days passed, he grinned his usual grin, began taking serious notes and asking questions, answering some too, he approached Butters for help along with the other students that ran the tutoring club. Instead of partying on the weekends, he worked, studied, or practiced his art. He had read he would need to build a portfolio for admittance into an art program. He didn't have a definite medium, wasn't sure what he wanted to do in the art scene, but he had a while to find and define his style.
A whole new Kenny.

/

Tweek twitched involuntarily, gazing about his dark room indecisively. Normal for him was this, twitching in the dark as his family slept, unable to sleep. Sometimes he thought of new coffee combinations to try at the shop, other times he thought about Craig, rarely he thought about the future.

He and Craig had been inseparable, for a long time now. At only fourteen and already pushing six-feet tall, Craig was terrifying to most. Tweek mostly found comfort in his tall boyfriend, but sometimes, he was afraid of him. It was the random rage, but Craig controlled it as well as he could. Tweek understood a lot of Craig's issues, but there were things the taller boy wouldn't tell him. And Tweek didn't want to upset him by asking. So he didn't, instead he tried to be there for him, but it didn't always work out. Sometimes, Craig told him to leave, and so he would. Even when he felt as though he shouldn't.

Maybe that was why he had asked for Kenny McCormick's help. If he should ever need it.
It would piss off Craig, probably, but Craig usually wasn't motivated to do anything.

And while Tweek didn't like to contemplate the future, he was. It filled him with lots of anxiety, but high school was about to begin. He didn't want to take over the coffee shop, surfing the web during his insomniac nights, he found a love for computers and everything web-related. Years before in their technology class, he had learned some basic programming skills and that had motivated him to ask the teacher about any more advanced classes on programming. The teacher was bored and didn't know, but offered him a few books he had read during his college time, and while, outdated already, it had inspired him. Technology became his obsession, and he got as many books as he could, as many free seminars as his parents could take him to, despite the constant anxiety thrumming through him, he enjoyed the learning experiences.

He was biting his nails, with effort, he stopped and continued staring up at the ceiling now.
College could offer him a lot, most tech classes weren't that large or were even done remotely. Of course, that left his other, core classes, but he could do it. Couldn't he? But would Craig? They had never really discussed the future, mostly because it gave Tweek so much anxiety. And while it still did, he had been in therapy and on a working medication long enough that he could contemplate these things now.
Maybe he could bring it up with Craig. See what he thought.

Whatever happened with Craig, he would go to college for this. As terrifying as it would be without Craig, he would do it for himself.

He would have to see his counselor and see what he would need to do at the high school level to be ready to get into whatever school. Probably something somewhat local, in Colorado. He accepted he wasn't ready to be out of the state, but definitely out of south park for a while at least. He thought his therapist would be proud of his progress. He glanced at the clock, green numbers read 5:13am.
Almost time to go to the coffee shop. One or two more shifts and then it would be time for school. He hoped Craig came by the shop that day. Usually, he did, unless he'd gotten grounded again or was doing one of the endless chores his father assigned him.

A strange feeling in his chest, he was..., hopeful for the future, for himself. He smiled in the darkness as he twitched again, this one not as severe.