Stan's feet dragged as he walked home much later than he had anticipated. Midnight was fast approaching and he hoped that he wasn't missed. He had texted his mom that he was hanging out at Kyle's playing video games but had gotten an angry text and phone call almost an hour ago demanding he come home as it had been too long. His mom had called Sheila who had been confused about Stan claiming to be there.
The phone call had woken up a sleeping Kenny who was both surprised and embarrassed to still be clutching onto a statuesque Stan. He moved away slowly in the fog of sleep and mumbled an apology. Stan had assured him there was no need to apologize and offered Kenny shelter at his house. Stan had been hoping Kenny just didn't want to spend more time with Cartman but he had refused Stan's offer, too, so this was deeper than just wanting to avoid Cartman. Kenny assured Stan he'd see him at school tomorrow and insisted he leave.
Stan looked up at the stars that twinkled brightly down on the town even through the light pollution. If only there was a way to get them to talk, I'm sure they've seen so much, Stan thought rather resignedly.
He found himself at his doorstep and was met with an angry mother and a confused father. Randy didn't understand why he wouldn't have at least bothered to corroborate his story with Kyle before using him as his alibi for whatever he had been doing. Stan accepted his punishment with little protest.
Being grounded for a few days from video games hardly seemed like an issue compared to what he had just witnessed. His whole chest ached. He fell into a fitful sleep thinking of Kenny on a picnic bench outside behind a building that no one used anymore, the blacktop littered with used drug needles. Morning couldn't come soon enough.
Ω
The next morning Stan practically ran to school not even bothering to text anyone with a car to ask for a ride. He arrived at school before the buses even went to the stops. His whole body was twitchy as his nerves were on edge.
He hoped Kenny wasn't weirded out by him and he oh so hoped said teenager would show up to school. It wasn't lost on him that Kenny had easily vanished for four years and, like Cartman feared, could easily do so again and maybe forever. Stan suspected he was starting to fear this more than Eric Cartman.
He wasn't sure how long he stood by his locker scanning the hall. He figured Kenny might be sharing a locker with Cartman but couldn't be sure. And he sure wasn't just going to lounge in front of Cartman's locker. Kyle's voice snapped him out of his reverie.
"You're here early."
"Yeah."
"Dude, what happened yesterday? My mom said your mom called looking for you. Sorry, I didn't even realize until after it happened otherwise I would have tried to cover for you."
"Don't worry about it."
"Okaaaaay. So what happened?"
Stan crossed his arms already sensing that his answer wouldn't be all that acceptable. "I went to see Kenny."
Kyle facepalmed. "Dude, we told you..."
"What am I supposed to do Kyle?! Just leave him alone?!" He leaned closer to his friend to whisper, "He sleeps on a run down picnic bench that's probably full of fucking termites. I'm pretty sure he doesn't eat and there were needles everywhere. I'm just not going to leave him alone and hope for the best!"
Kyle exhaled trying to hide how disturbed he was. "Just don't push too hard, Stan, don't push him too much."
"What are you two homos doing?" Cartman asked approaching them with Kenny in tow. "Lover's spat so you have to be all secretive about it?"
"Goddamnit, Cartman," Kyle hissed, turning to glare at their friends. His eyes softened a little when he spotted Kenny who actually met his eyes for once, "Good morning, Kenny."
"Oh sure, no good morning for me, whatever," Cartman mumbled. Kenny simply nodded in response. Stan's heart raced as he turned to look at his two friends. Cartman was still rolling his eyes but Kenny was looking straight at Stan. He gave a small nod but didn't turn his gaze away. Stan simply mirrored his friend and looked back. Kenny's hair was still greasy and most of his face obscured by it, including most of one eye but he held Stan's gaze despite it.
Kyle and Cartman exchanged odd glances with each other. Kyle hit Stan on the shoulder lightly while Cartman chose to shove his friend to snap him back to reality. "Seriously, what the fuck is going on," Cartman muttered confused before walking away from his friends' locker. Kenny followed after giving one last nod to Stan and Kyle. Kyle watched them disappear into the crowd of fellow students before turning his attention back to Stan.
"What the hell was that? You really are turning into a space cadet."
"Huh?" Stan started, totally lost in his thoughts. Kyle hung his head and shook it, the disbelief clear in his eyes.
"Seriously, dude, what the fuck is up with you lately? You've been acting really weird since Kenny came back." Kyle paused and quirked his head to the side another thought occurring to him. "You're not-you're not scared of him...right?"
Stan's eyes widened in disbelief. "What, hell no! Why would you think that?!"
"You've just been acting really weird dude! What am I supposed to think?"
"I'm just worried about him."
"He can take care of himself, Stan, he has for the last few years..."
"Barely!" Stan protested. Now Kyle gave him a completely different look and Stan couldn't get a read on him.
"Stan," Kyle started slowly trying to sound as delicate as possible, "I know you like to save things, people and animals included but sometimes..."
"Sometimes what?! What, Kyle?!" Stan exclaimed upset, voice rising. "It's Kenny! Of course, I'm going to try to save him!"
Kyle put his hands up in the classic sign of surrender. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down. Of course it's Kenny and he's our friend and I want him to be okay, too. I'm just saying for your own sake to be careful. Four years is a long time, Stan. And we don't know what he was doing or why or where. Just don't charge into things. I'm just saying is all."
Stan could still hear Kyle's warning ring through his ears as he walked to his class. Yes, of course, Stan wanted to save Kenny. Was there something wrong with that? Why did Kyle act so strange about it, didn't Kyle also want to save Kenny? Frustration welled up within him to the point it was overwhelming all other emotions and he couldn't justify that he was being fair to his friend.
That passion that drove him to want to save things, people, and animals coursed through his veins like fire, it was just a part of him to want to look out and help and protect and save. Kyle was one who saw the world as it was and wanted things to be right and just. Cartman saw the world how he wanted to see it and twisted things to make them fit into his world. Stan saw the world as an opportunity to be kind or at the very least save others from the depression and misery that threatened to consume him at times. He saw the world as a place that was fucked up beyond all repair, but there were things in it that could be saved if someone reached out.
He realized he had no idea how Kenny saw the world, as kids he figured that Kenny saw the world as a playground with lots of titties. He kind of doubted Kenny saw the world like that anymore, he sure as hell didn't see it as a playground at the very least.
Still, he knew that Kyle meant well, trying to warn him not to get too passionate or too involved as Stan had a tendency to throw himself into things whole-heartedly and usually came out with his heart banged up from the experience. It's how he wound up in an animal rights protest that involved fake blood and other images that Cartman had been kind enough to upload to the internet with a funny jingle to match the slide of pictures. Of course, several million people had seen it, but hey in the global world economy of over nine billion what was a mere several million? At least that's what Stan's therapist had said.
His passion also led him to protest deforestation with some other "tree-huggers." That had not gone over well. The best experience was definitely when he had gone to a protest for human rights and against racism. That protest had gotten rather violent fast and landed him and several others in jail until late the next morning. He wasn't quite sure why but he had definitely spent the night on the concrete floor with bars.
He realized Kyle was totally justified in his concerns but dammit if he wasn't going to completely ignore those concerns in favor of saving Kenny. There were some causes that Stan felt were worth being humiliated on the internet, ragged on by peers, or spending a night in jail for. Kenny was definitely worth all three of those consequences plus more that Stan would happily suffer through if it meant getting Kenny off that picnic table in the old parking lot gleaming with dirty needles.
Ω
It was only the second day of school for everyone but it did not feel that way. Stan was becoming more aware of the anger and fear Kyle had mentioned to him yesterday regarding Kenny. Some of the kids that had known Karen and Kevin felt emboldened yesterday but today it seemed they had filled their friends in who might not have known the late siblings. It was much easier to hear the whispers in the halls now, they weren't even whispers, just everyday talk.
It was becoming horrifyingly clear to Stan that he and his friends, Kenny's friends, were clearly in the minority with regards to the student population's reaction to Kenny's return. Kenny's friends were literally the only ones happy to see him and that put them at what- maybe fourteen students of a couple thousand. Kenny was hated and it wasn't just some students, even some of the staff seemed unhappy and irritated when they saw him. Stan hadn't seen it yesterday, he had been so wrapped up in just seeing Kenny. He re-adjusted his book bag and continued walking towards class when he heard Kyle.
"Stan!"
Stan stopped and turned around a little confused. "Didn't I just see you at our locker like two minutes ago?"
"Yes, I heard some kids in the hall, though. We have to get to Cartman's locker." Kyle paused a beat. "He's sharing it with Kenny."
Their friends' locker was on a different floor. Cartman was shaking his head and speaking angrily to a staff member and a security guard while Kenny simply stood nearby looking at their locker. "Redrummer" was sprayed in red on the locker. They could hear bits of Cartman's conversation, "I can't believe this, our locker was vandalized in broad daylight! What are you people even paid for?" No one bothered to correct Cartman that the vandalism had likely taken place the evening before.
Kyle and Stan stood on opposite sides of Kenny looking at the graffiti. Kyle kept squinting at it as if he expected it to change and make sense. Stan just looked at it confused and waited for Kyle to explain. Kyle finally shook his head. "What the fuck. Our literacy rate must be going to hell if someone thinks that translates to murderer."
"Yeah," Kenny's quiet voice caused both boys to jump. It was still gravelly and hoarse. "That makes it better." The tone filled with sadness.
"Kenny…." Kyle whispered glancing at his old friend. "Don't give them that kind of power. Just don't." Kenny said nothing and neither did Stan.
Cartman was suddenly in front of all them, grabbing Kenny's arm. "Kinny, we're going to class." He started pulling him along before looking back at the staff members. "When we get back, this better be gone or I'm going to get my mom in here and who knows who else about this bullying problem." He left, Kenny following along willfully.
The two staff members watched the two disappear and were either totally oblivious to Stan and Kyle's presence or just didn't care if they heard. One staff member muttered, "It's the second day of school. Second day."
Her co-worker nodded and mumbled, "Going to be a long 180 days. 178 to go."
Kyle and Stan left the two as they went about cleaning the locker. Stan shook his head. "Kyle, I don't know if Kenny can survive 180 days of this."
"Only 178 to go after today," Kyle pointed out trying to lift his friend's mood. Stan stopped and looked at the redhead.
"No, I'm serious. Maybe Kenny should keep doing online school."
"Do you think he even actually did online school? Where? At the public library? On a smartphone he didn't have? I don't think Cartman was exactly being honest."
"But he's in the same grade as us. That means he had to do school at some point, right? I know Cartman thinks he was just living in the woods but he had to be doing something in the woods right?" Stan did feel a little silly even as he said it. If he was living in the woods, school would probably be the last thing on his mind.
Kyle shrugged. "Who knows, Stan? Maybe he actually was at an institution or even juvenile detention- let me finish," he said cutting off Stan's protest. "I know he didn't do that to his family but the evidence doesn't favor him. Or maybe Cartman's right and he was in the woods. Maybe when they went to enroll him he was given or had an IEP or something or maybe he tested into the grade. We won't know unless he tells us and he's not exactly talkative, never has been."
"You're right," Stan conceded. "I'm going to class. I'll leave the worries of the school and nation's literacy rate to you," he added with a smile.
Kyle grinned back. "Redrummer! Who does that?" The two were soon laughing before parting ways to class.
Ω
Stan threw all his stuff onto his desk rather unceremoniously. He should have left his backpack in his locker and he knew the teacher would scold him for it, but he already knew he wouldn't have the time he needed to get to his locker and the next period after this one unless he planned to be tardy on a daily basis
"Geeze, what'd your book bag and book ever do to you to deserve that?" a familiar monotonous voice asked from the next desk over.
"Craig?" Stan asked surprised. "I didn't know we had this class together."
"Yeah, I know. You were totally zoned out all day yesterday. Just an fyi we have two other periods together, too. I know I'm just background noise in your life but I'm happy you're acknowledging me today in class."
A stunned Stan stared at him. "Didn't I eat lunch with you yesterday?"
"For like five minutes, yeah."
"I have three classes with you?"
Craig's brows were drawing closer together with concern. "Yes. Are you okay? I know things have been pretty weird what with Kenny."
"Wait- is this my first class with you?"
"Dude, it's like the first class of the entire day." When Craig got no response he added, "So yeah, it's your first class with me. The other two are after lunch."
Stan shook his head still trying to process everything. He guessed the final bell hadn't rung as some classmates were still straggling in. "Craig, do you have any classes with Kenny?"
"Two, you?"
"I only have one. I think Cartman is in all his classes."
"Good, probably for the best. Have you heard some of the stuff some people are saying about Kenny? It's awful."
Suddenly Stan's fists were clenched. "Yes," he hissed, "I've heard." Craig gave Stan another odd look but said no more as the final bell rang and class officially began.
His other classes before lunch didn't have any other good friends in them. Stan knew most of the classmates as most knew him but none of them were Kyle, Craig, Butters, Tweek or Cartman. Not even Wendy, Token, or Bebe were in any of his morning classes. He was starting to think maybe he'd try to switch out a class to be with friends; he was beginning to feel like a lone wolf. The bell signaling the lunch period finally rang and Stan couldn't get to his locker fast enough. Kyle was already there.
"Man, I'm still bummed out that I can't see Ike at lunch. It's been a while since we were in the same school building together," Kyle greeted him.
"Yeah, good to see you, too," Stan said putting his things in the locker, grabbing a book he knew he'd need for the period after lunch. "Craig's in my homeroom, I didn't even realize that yesterday."
Kyle rolled his eyes unsurprised. "Right. Because you were a total space cadet because of Kenny."
"I was just- just surprised!" Stan shot back, cheeks turning a faint pink.
"It's fine, we all were. I'm just teasing you." He nodded towards the stairs after closing their locker and making sure it was locked. "Let's get food. I'm famished." Stan nodded completely agreeing.
Tweek, Craig, Butters, and Clyde were sitting at a table already with food. Stan did a quick scan of the cafeteria and saw Kenny and Cartman in one of the lines.
"You going to join them, Stan?" Kyle asked. Stan shook his head.
"No, I packed today. I'm guessing Cartman is the one buying Kenny's lunches."
"I'm sure buy is a loose word for it, he's probably telling them that he has a running tab or something and never plans to pay it."
"Wouldn't they hold his diploma?"
"Do you think Cartman cares about that? Or even Kenny? Because I seriously doubt they do."
Stan shrugged and sat at the table with their friends.
"Hey Stan!" Butters happily greeted followed by Tweek and everyone else.
Stan smiled in greeting before unpacking his lunch and biting into his black bean salad. Kyle had taken off to get his own lunch as he hadn't packed. Stan listened to the conversation going on around him. It mostly seemed to be Butters speaking about how nice the teachers were and how he was sure he would get all As this entire year so he could get by without being grounded. It was Butters that greeted Kenny and Cartman when they sat down.
Stan glanced up and realized they were sitting across from him, Kenny directly across from him. Great, he glanced to his side and realized that meant Cartman and Kyle would be across from each other, which inevitably meant a fight. He debated switching spots but looked at Kenny and any thought of moving vanished. Kenny had been looking right at him but quickly averted his gaze when Stan looked up. Stan noticed the red that was coloring his friend's cheeks. Was he embarrassed about his breakdown yesterday?
Stan shoveled some more food into his mouth and decided that must be it. After all, most people would be embarrassed even if there was no reason to be embarrassed. Stan felt embarrassed he hadn't tried harder to find Kenny these last few years, maybe they wouldn't be eating lunch in awkward silence- or maybe they would be, who knew. Stan risked another look at his friend. Kenny was still looking down and had hardly touched his food again. Cartman had already almost finished his meal by the time Kyle joined them.
"Jeezus, Jew, did you grill every place to find out if the food was kosher or not? It only took you like ten years to get food."
"Fuck you, Cartman, the line was long."
"Keep lying," Cartman muttered, finishing off his food. Stan was practically done with his but paused when he saw Cartman eyeing Kenny's food. For several long seconds. Cartman then looked at Stan for a minute then back to Kenny's food. Finally, Cartman sighed drawing it out for dramatic effect. "Kenny."
Most of the conversation at the table fell to whispers as everyone waited for Kenny to acknowledge Cartman. Kenny turned slightly towards his friend but said nothing. Cartman went on, "Kenny. You have to eat." Kenny looked back to his food refusing to make eye contact with anyone. He made no response to Cartman who sighed again. "Kenny. You didn't eat breakfast. I know you didn't eat dinner and we all know you ate nothing yesterday at lunch. So you. Need. To. Eat."
Lunch at the table had suddenly become an awkward affair as even the whispers had given way to silence. Everyone waited for Kenny to speak or eat, for Cartman to start yelling, or even for Kyle to start yelling as he sometimes would if Cartman spoke too much. And Cartman had certainly just said a lot. When Kenny still made no acknowledgment, Butters piped up. "Maybe Kenny's not hungry, Eric. Kenny, it's okay if you don't want to eat. Look!" Butters pulled a food container out of his lunch box. "I have an extra container for leftovers. You can put it in here and save it for later if you like."
Kenny nodded still refusing to look at anyone. He took the container from Butters and started to put his uneaten spaghetti in it. A fist banged on the table. "Stop," Cartman demanded. "Butters, Kenny needs to eat food now. He can't just not eat."
"Eric, if he isn't hungry- "
"He has to be hungry! It would be impossible to not be hungry at this point!"
Kenny glanced up at Stan. Stan saw the panic starting to spike in his eyes and knew he had to act fast if he wanted to keep Kenny from having a meltdown and wanted him to keep attending school. Kenny was getting scared and he wouldn't keep returning if he didn't feel safe with his own friends especially with most of the rest of the student body ready to torch him. Stan stood up suddenly. "It's okay, Cartman, he'll eat later. Kenny come on, I have something I need to show you. Kyle, do you mind finishing packing his lunch up?"
Kyle had remained unusually quiet during the whole exchange and nodded. "I got it."
"Thanks, this way Kenny," Stan directed his friend as he joined him. They exited the cafeteria and were in the halls again. Lockers lined all the walls interrupted only by classrooms. "Just a little further," Stan assured his friend. Kenny followed behind saying nothing. They made it to an exit door.
The fresh air greeted them and Stan breathed it in still leading Kenny away from the school. He knew of a couple of wooded areas nearby that hopefully were sparse with students. The bell would be ringing soon so most should be clearing out. They'd already seen a couple go past them shooting them funny looks. Finally, they were far enough away that Stan thought it safe to stop and turn around. "Kenny." Kenny was still looking at the ground, blonde hair obscuring his face. "Look at me," Stan commanded.
Kenny looked up, silent tears were already shining in his eyes. Stan's face softened. "Oh Kenny," he whispered stepping forward and hugging his friend. Kenny instantly returned the embrace clinging tightly.
"I can't," Kenny ground out between deep breaths, striving to keep the tears at bay. "I can't do this."
"Yes, you can," Stan countered. "I'm here for you. Kyle is, Cartman is. Butters is with his handy food containers." Kenny let loose a quiet laugh and Stan's heart soared. It was the best sound he had ever heard and he wanted to hear more of those laughs preferably with fewer tears. "Kenny, you do have to eat though."
"No," Kenny disagreed breaking the hug and swiping at his eyes. "I don't need to and I don't want to."
"You'll die if you don't eat," Stan said trying to emphasize the point as best as he could. "You have to eat food, it's just basic nutrition."
"It doesn't matter."
"Kenny, please tell me you're not trying to kill yourself by not eating!" Stan exclaimed feeling fear in his bones in a way he'd never felt before. "Please."
"You don't get it, it doesn't matter. Eric knows that, he's just fucking with my head or something, I don't know."
"What?" Stan honestly couldn't think of anything else to ask; he had no idea what Kenny had just said, it made absolutely no sense to him. He grabbed both of Kenny's hands, inspecting the wrists. "Seriously, Kenny, you're not trying to kill yourself or anything like that are you?"
Kenny opened his mouth to say something but no words came out like he didn't know what to say or how to explain. Stan took this to mean that Kenny was definitely planning some kind of suicide. He looked at his friend, fear in his eyes. "Please don't, please," he pleaded.
"I can't go back in there," Kenny mumbled miserably. Stan shook his head. Maybe Kenny just needed to feel safer at school. It was only the second day, surely all this stuff with Kenny would blow over in the next couple weeks as other kids became targets. Kenny just needed to get through the next week or two.
"No, yes, you can. You know what- forget about the food, let's go back in. You can do this, Kenny, you can do this." Stan took another step back and looked at Kenny. "You can. I don't care what we need to do. If I need to get into all your classes like Cartman I'll find a way."
Stan was rewarded with a small smile for his efforts and a hesitant nod. Stan smiled. "Come on, follow me. It'll be fine, I promise."
Once they were inside, Stan realized they must have been out longer than he had planned as the halls were mostly deserted with some exceptions. "Where's your next class? I bet Cartman is there already."
"I can go," Kenny said quietly. Stan shook his head remembering the graffiti on the locker, the beatdown yesterday, and some of the hall conversation he had heard. "No way. Cartman might be crazy but this is one thing he is right about. If you run into some of these people alone they might try to hurt you or worse."
"It really doesn't matter," Kenny said tiredly.
"Stop that!" Stan exclaimed spinning around to look at him. "Yes, yes, it does matter. You matter, why don't you see that?" Kenny looked down unable to hold Stan's intense gaze.
"This way," he mumbled heading towards the next class. Stan followed him praying that Cartman was actually in the class. Kenny stopped short of the class and turned to face Stan. "Thanks for… everything," he said sincerely. Stan nodded, suddenly there was an awkwardness in the air.
"Yeah, don't mention it, just be careful please." Kenny nodded before disappearing behind his classroom door. Stan went the other direction to his own class. He walked in a good twenty minutes late but he didn't care. The teacher paused and waited for him to sit down before continuing the lesson.
Stan glanced around and nearly keeled over when he saw Craig sitting next to him, giving him a small wave. He had forgotten they had two more classes together. Towards the end of the period once the teacher had finished and left the last few minutes to the class Craig leaned towards his friend.
"Hey, what happened with you and Kenny at lunch? Is he still here?"
Stan nodded. "Yeah, he's still here. We just talked."
Craig didn't hide his surprise. "Ah, so he does speak."
Stan nodded forgetting that no one besides himself, Kyle, and presumably Cartman had actually heard him speak. "Yeah, he does." Stan rubbed his temples feeling a headache coming on. "I don't know, though, he's-he's-"
"Messed up?" Craig supplied. Stan looked guilty for even having the thought. Craig nodded. "His family was murdered. That would mess most people up."
"Right. So it's normal."
"Normal to be messed up? Yes, it's pretty common. Even more normal to be really messed up if your family was murdered so yeah." Stan nodded falling into brief contemplation over it while Craig looked on fascinated that Stan could disconnect so easily.
The bell rang. Stan stood up. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
Craig rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Stan, you really are becoming a total space case. We still have another class together today- last period, I'll see you then."
"Oh-oh yeah, okay, see you then," Stan stuttered. He had totally forgotten the last class and the amount of people telling him he was a space case was concerning.
Soon Stan found himself in his art class again. Cartman and Kenny were already there sitting at their table. Stan sat down across from them. "Hi."
Kenny glanced up but didn't say anything before looking back down. Cartman rolled his eyes. "Hi Stanley. Were you able to talk any sense into my friend here? You kept him long enough."
Kenny didn't show any signs of even hearing what had been said but Stan knew that he had. Stan nodded. "Yes, I believe I did so we're good."
"So he's actually going to eat?"
"Let's not push things," Stan warned. Cartman shook his head and muttered under his breath. Stan didn't care enough to be bothered by him at the moment. All of his attention was on Kenny who simply kept staring down as if he could burn holes into the floor. The class droned on and on, while worry dragged Stan down and tired him out. The class ended too fast and it didn't register with Stan that they were leaving until he heard Kenny's voice, quiet as always.
"Stan?"
Stan snapped to and looked around realizing it was just the three of them and the art teacher giving them an odd look from his desk. Cartman was looking down at Stan, too, actually showing a slight bit of concern which was quickly hid. "What the hell Stan? Lost in space again? Class is over, move on to the next class, thankfully the last class."
"Right, right, uh, sorry," Stan apologized grabbing his book, standing up, and pushing his chair back in. He was losing his mind. He followed behind Cartman and Kenny. He so badly wanted to say bye to Kenny and beg him to come back tomorrow. Stan suspected he'd probably visit him later as he was terrified that Kenny might actually try to kill himself. "I'll catch you guys later," Stan piped up letting them know he was taking off.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Cartman waved him off. Kenny said nothing.
Ω
Craig was sitting by him again. Stan stared at him. "Okay, I know there is no way I missed you sitting next to me in all three periods."
Craig shrugged. "You definitely did."
"What's going on with me."
"Probably shock."
"What?"
"Our friend from sixth grade just basically came back from the dead and you were close to him when we were younger so it's only natural."
"I guess."
The final bell rang and Stan was so zoned out Craig had to snap his fingers in front of his face a couple of times before Stan realized what was going on. "Dude, you might want to see a doctor. Or therapist."
"I'm fine."
"Okay." It was clear Craig thought otherwise.
Ω
Kyle was already at their locker waiting for Stan. "Hey, is everything okay? I heard Kenny was still here." It was just like Kyle to totally ignore using his cellphone all through the day. Butters had texted Stan at least four times asking if Kenny was okay and to tell him to tell Kenny he could keep his food container. Kenny now had one more possession to his name.
"Yeah, he's still here. Things are still normal, I guess." Stan shrugged. "Or at least as normal as they can be for South Park."
Kyle shook his head. "Yeah, only 178 days of South Park High to go until break," he dissolved into laughter at this and Stan soon joined. Both were relieved it was the end of the day and began the walk home catching up on what had gone on in various classes. They parted ways and as Stan got closer to his house his feet suddenly decided he should go in another direction. He had to be sure.