Chapter Text
Kyle squinted, lifting up a bony hand to shield his eyes from the ceiling lights. He felt dizzy and the back of his head hurt like crazy. He was reminded of when Token joked around and mentioned that his hair would make a good helmet if he ever hit his head. He was wrong.
Sighing, Kyle tried to get his eyes to focus and when they did he found Stan and Tweek hovering over him. He didn’t focus on what they said, instead trying to sit up against the hard floor of their school’s gymnasium but instead he was pushed back down by Stan.
“Hey, dude, don’t rush yourself. You took a really bad fall.”
Tweek nodded his head quickly, chewing on the skin of one of his thumbs. “Y-You don’t want to hurt yourself more, man.” He glanced around and tried to find their P.E. coach. “You should probably go to the nurse.”
“You guys, I’m fine.” Kyle pushed Stan’s hands away and tried to stand up. He immediately stumbled before Stan and Tweek tried to catch him and hold him up. “W-Woah…” Kyle felt as if his world was spinning. He took a few steps, swaying with each one as he felt dizzier by the second.
Stan sighed. “Tweek, go tell Coach that I’m taking Kyle to the nurse’s office. Ask him for Kyle’s locker combo to grab his shit.”
As Tweek busied himself with grabbing the attention of their coach by the bleachers, half of them having had melted last week from another incident, Stan tried to help Kyle walk to the other side of the school to the nurse.
Stan laughed, “You know, for someone who plays point guard, I never thought a freshman would get you to fall so easily.”
“Ha ha.” Kyle deadpanned, still trying not to stumble as they walked across the school ground quad. “You know that was probably one of Ike’s friends. The little shit probably dared someone to fuck with me.”
“That’s what you get for having a younger bro. You probably fucked him over without realizing it.” Stan puckered his lips and kissed the tips of his fingers. “He got that sweet, sweet revenge.”
He sighed, leaning against a wall of lockers as Stan knocked on the nurse’s door. “Or maybe I’m wrong and he had nothing to do with the 14-year-old who made me fall on my ass and probably gave me a concussion.” Kyle scratched the back of his head, cringing at the bump he already felt growing.
“Or maybe you’re right. But, either way,” Stan grabbed Kyle’s elbow and lead him to one of the beds. “This is as far as my journey goes and Tweek still has a while before he can come here and give you all of your shit.” The nurse began to shoo him out of the room. Stan called out to Kyle before the door could close. “Text me when you feel better! Love ya!”
He laughed before groaning when he felt his skull begin to throb. Laying down on the bed, he grabbed the iced sponge in a small baggie that the nurse offered to him. Staring up at the ceiling as he held the already melting bag up to his forehead, he recited his student number and his mother’s phone number to the nurse. As she called his mother and talked to her over the phone, Kyle felt himself falling asleep. He barely heard Tweek drop off his things, and couldn’t remember how he’d gotten into the back seat of his mother’s car, or how he miraculously appeared in bed under his sheets.
…
“Fuck…”
Kyle woke up without his alarm clock. It was out of habit, he supposed. And he was glad he didn’t have to bear witness to the awful beeping that would wake him up considering the headache he was already suffering through. Stretching himself out, he blindly searched for his phone before checking it.
No new notifications.
Kyle squinted, not sure if he was reading it right. He had been certain Stan would have sent him a message asking if he was alright. Not to mention he had accidentally skipped out on plans he made with Wendy and Nichole to help out the student council. Nichole might not be the kind to send angry texts to him, but he knew Wendy wouldn’t have hesitated at the first thought of his playing hooky on them.
Opening up his messages, he quickly sent a text to Stan.
Just woke up. Sorry, I knocked out back at school.
The text bubble sent itself green but he didn’t have enough time to care about that. Instead, he got ready for school after rummaging through his clothes. Checking his closet for a shirt to slip on, he was surprised when he found one of Stan’s older letterman jackets. It was worn down, the edges of the sleeves tearing, but it looked like it had plenty of love. And Kyle had no clue how it had gotten into his closet. The last time he checked, it had been one of the countless jackets Wendy had borrowed, not one that Kyle kept.
He tried to ignore the odd stains on the edges of the fabric as he buttoned up his shirt and closed the closet. If anything, he could just throw a pebble at Stan’s window to get his attention but he knew the guy was a heavy sleeper and it would take more than a boulder to wake him up so early in the morning for school. He scribbled a reminder to himself on a sticky note before grabbing his backpack, surprisingly light, and heading downstairs.
Grabbing his personal set of keys to the house, he left quietly and without breakfast. Kyle’s stomach growled angrily at him as he walked through the snow on the pavement to reach the bus stop, distracting himself with his phone until he found himself at the familiar crossing sign. His stomach got louder and he hoped he could find a spare energy bar in his backpack before his blood sugar got too low.
Getting closer, he found Kenny already waiting at the stop. Something seemed off about him and Kyle couldn’t help but slow down his steps.
He came to a complete stop as he watched Kenny puff out smoke from a cigarette he held in his ungloved hand.
Kenny turned his head, staring Kyle up and down before giving him a lopsided grin. “Hey, sweet cheeks. What’s up?”
Kyle felt his heart race as Kenny strolled up to him. He reeked of cigarette smoke and had a devilish appearance that was completely unfamiliar to Kyle.
“Didn’t think you would ride the bus again anytime soon. Thought you said it was gross and only for druggies like me.” Kenny tilted his head, taking a deep inhale before puffing smoke in Kyle’s face.
Kyle coughed, waving the smoke out of his air as he took a step back. Kenny followed suit. “I know damn well I’ve never called you a druggie before. Not to mention I’ve never even seen you fucking smoke before.” He coughed again. “I didn’t know you could afford ten packs a week but not your own lunch.”
Kenny took a step back to stare at Kyle. “I’ve been smoking for a while, dude.” He tossed the butt of his cigarette into the snow before stepping on it. “Listen, if I wanted someone to criticize me I would’ve come to you instead of you coming to me.” He grabbed a new stick from a pocket in his parka and lit it up. “And anyways, I thought you swore off talking to me.”
“W-What?”
Kenny smiled, getting even closer to Kyle. He tilted his head up by his chin, his nicotine-stained nails gently holding Kyle’s head in place. “Or did you finally get word of how good I am and you wanted to take me out for a ride.”
“D-Dude!” Kyle pushed Kenny away. “Get off of me!”
“Fine. You wanna be a tease? Whatever.” He took a puff of his cigarette. “Should’ve known you’re still as much of a priss as you used to be.” The bus arrived and as the doors opened, Kenny turned his head around. “The offer is still on the table, though.” He stuck out his tongue in between his index and middle finger with a wink before walking to the back of the bus.
Kyle walked up the steps to the bus, sitting in the very first spot he could find empty. He didn’t want to turn around and accidentally make eye contact with Kenny. He felt shaken up and even more so had no clue where Stan or Eric was. Neither of them had shown up in the morning and Stan had yet to respond to his text message.
Resting his chin in his hands, Kyle stared out the bus window as more and more students filled the seats. Eventually, he found himself in front of the school and he was the first one to run out of his seat.
The moment he took a step onto the pavement he froze in place. Students brushed shoulders with him, aggressive as they tried to walk past him to get to their lockers but Kyle just continued to stare.
Everywhere he looked, it felt staged. It felt as if everyone was acting a role they were so desperate to fit into that they didn’t do anything else if it wasn’t by the book.
The student parking lot felt like a disaster he wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. It was loud, cars blasting music as students sat on the hoods and chattered about everything and nothing. Some of them were making out as if they were alone but Kyle decided to just turn his head away before he saw something he would regret.
Everything felt foreign to him and he couldn’t find a leg to stand on because he didn’t even know where any of his friends were. Not to mention the one friend he did find was completely unrecognizable.
Speaking of the devil, Kyle felt Kenny brush his shoulders before walking towards the side of the school where Craig was leaning against a wall. Kyle watched as Kenny took out a box and Craig picked out a cigarette to smoke as if he hadn’t barely finished the one he already had in his mouth. The air around them was murky and they barely spoke a word to each other but Kenny’s hand was traveling somewhere and Kyle didn’t want to see where it would end up. He almost sighed in relief when he noticed Craig shove him away, despite it not stopping Kenny from trying again.
Realizing he’d been standing in the middle of the walkway like a fool, Kyle speed walked to the school entrance, hoping he could get past the student body without seeing something he’d regret being witness to. Instead, he nearly immediately ran into Tweek by one of the lockers inside.
Falling to the floor, Kyle watched at Tweek tried to gather his things but dropped them again each time he did. The thermos he’d been carrying had spilled over with coffee but no one in the hallway seemed to pay attention to him.
Kneeling down, Kyle tried to help Tweek collect his papers that had fallen out of his binder. When he handed the extra papers to him, Kyle couldn’t help but notice how jittery Tweek was: his hands shook, his body trembled, and he looked pale and frail. He looked as if a strong enough gust of wind would blow him away, especially when he was drowning in that shirt that looked two sizes too big for him.
“Hey, Tweek, you alright?” Kyle hesitated to grab his shoulder, afraid of spooking him.
Tweek pushed everything into a messy pile onto his binder, not caring about the torn or wrinkled papers. “Y-Yeah! I-I’m -ngh- I’m f-fine.” He let out a little squeak as he stood up, the locker door behind him slamming shut enough to scare him. “I-I gotta go!” He leaned down to grab his empty thermos before running off down the hall, little squeaks and grunts escaping him as he did so.
Standing up, Kyle cleaned the dirt off of his knees as he stared down the hall. He knew Craig and Tweek acted at times as if they were attached to the hip, but watching Craig appear out of nowhere to comfort Tweek while keeping his cigarette in his unused hand wasn’t something Kyle expected to see. Tweek screeched and yelped while pulling his hair, fumbling with the things in his hands as Craig barely spoke a single word. At a moment’s eye contact, he flipped Kyle off and Kyle decided it was time to turn the other way to head to his locker.
Opening up his locker, he stared at the inside of the door. A small calendar was stuck up with a magnet and it was covered in highlighter marks. Each one marked an exam or study period or deadline for a college application, all of them brightly neon and enough to hurt his eyes if he stared at it for too long. Flipping through the future months, he found them all almost identical. Kyle couldn’t help but scoff when he noticed that every college was somewhere expensive and nearly impossible for him to get accepted to on account of his criminal record alone. He wasn’t sure who he was kidding by writing the deadlines for Harvard and Yale in thick black ink but he also couldn’t remember ever writing them in the first place.
Although, the very sight of the calendar was enough to make Kyle nervous so he quickly grabbed it and threw it in a nearby trash can before grabbing his things and closing his locker.
Staring at the sea of students passing by, he took a deep breath before nearly heaving it out. The more he thought about how out of place everything felt, the more nauseous he felt.
He walked opposite to the stream, taking the shortest route to his first class of the day. Nearly tripping on his way to the door, he realized he was the first one there. It was absolutely empty, even lacking a teacher, and it was enough to make Kyle double check the room number.
Shrugging off his nerves, he sat at his usual assigned seat near the front of the class. He stared at the door, hoping that someone he could recognize would enter the classroom and ask if he did the English homework or not. He didn’t, but that's beside the point.
He was used to getting to class early to talk to his friends but now he was scrolling through his timeline on his phone because he had fifteen minutes to burn before classes officially started and they felt like years passing by.
And then the bell rang and suddenly everyone walked in all at once.
Kyle watched as they flooded into the classroom, all of then sitting wherever they please but none of them making any contact with him. The teacher had walked in, already writing on the board. She didn’t take attendance, she didn’t tell anyone to quiet down, she didn’t even ask for last night’s homework.
Turning his head, Kyle found Bebe sitting behind him and fixing her makeup as she chatted with Red. Tapping her desk, Kyle caught her attention. “Hey, Bebe, I know I missed out on last period yesterday but did anything weird happen?” He tried to ignore her glossy scowl.
“Um, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She grabbed a tube of her mascara and used it to lift Kyle’s hand off of her desk. “But I’d rather not talk to the school nerd. If I ever need to cheat off your test again though, I’ll give you a call.”
Red leaned over from her chair and whispered something in Bebe’s ear while staring at Kyle. The two of them fell into a fit of giggles as Kyle’s face turned red. He turned around before either of them could insult him.
Sneaking his phone out of his pocket, Kyle slid down on his chair and looked at his phone from under the desk. He had no replies and he couldn’t find anyone else recognizable in the classroom. Trying to distract himself with games on his phone, he felt each minute pass by unbearably slow as the teacher refused to do her job and he continued to catch little pieces of Bebe’s conversation with Red as she popped her bubblegum and talked shit about other students.
He was the first one to run of the classroom when the bell rang and he ran to his locker in hopes of finding some sort of solace. Exchanging his English textbook for his Chemistry one, he sighed before bracing himself for his next class period. Kyle had no clue what had happened to his friends and he wasn’t ready yet to see what else he would have to face.
On his way to his classroom, he bumped into someone, both of them falling to the ground.
“Shit, sorry about that.” Staring ahead, Kyle’s eyes went wide. “S-Stan!?”
Stan stared back at Kyle, cleaning himself off before standing up. He didn’t offer a hand to Kyle.
“Dude! Where have you been!? I’ve been trying to talk to you, like, all day and you didn’t respond at all!” Kyle stood up, taking a better look at Stan and his jock attire, “Woah, what’s with the outfit? I’ve never seen you take being in football so seriously before.”
“I don-”
“Oh!” He snapped his fingers, “And I meant to tell you that I found one of your old varsity jackets in my closet. I don’t really know how it got there but it’s covered in these weird stains and not to ment-”
Stan immediately covered Kyle’s mouth with his hand. His voice was to a whisper despite the hallway being extremely loud. “We swore we would keep this shit on the down low.”
Kyle licked Stan’s palm to get it off of him. He smirked for a moment when Stan reeled back in disgust. “What ‘shit’? Last time I checked we’ve been pretty open with everything.”
“O-Open? Dude!” Stan shoved him to the side. “I don’t know who the hell you’ve been spilling shit to, but if anyone comes up to me I’ll deny everything.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Kyle stared at Stan with confusion. Everything just kept getting worse and worse.
“Hey, Stan.” And speaking of the devil, Eric walked up from behind Stan. He sneered at Kyle. “So, this nerd bothering you or something?”
Kyle took a step back. Eric looked… handsome? Kyle remembered him as the overweight guy he saw yesterday at lunch, nothing at all like this. “I’m not a nerd, Cartman. And anyways, when did you lose the triple chin?” He angled his head, wondering if maybe Eric’s sudden weight loss was an optical illusion.
Eric shoved Kyle harder than Stan had, enough to make him hit one of the nearby lockers. “Shut the fuck up! I’ve always been like this.” He walked past Kyle, the tardy bell ringing as he did. “C’mon Stan, we gotta get to P.E. before Coach has our ass.”
Stan followed behind Eric before catching up to him.
“Stan?” Kyle watched as Stan matched Eric’s pace, not even glancing back at him. He cupped his hands around his face, yelling, “Some way to treat your best friend!” Kyle watched as Stan followed behind Eric, fumbling in his steps at the sound of his words. He barely took a second to reorganize himself before beginning to chatter to Eric about their upcoming game.