Chapter Text
It was just like any other day when their lives took a strange turn. The whole town sparkled as the sunlight reflected off the fresh snow. A flock of birds flew overhead, each bird cawing as they weaved around branches and buildings. One poor bird was unfortunate enough to get blinded by the shining snow. Overwhelmed, the small bird dove down from its spot in the air, flying straight into a window at the local elementary school. No one seemed to notice or care, all the students in the classroom ignoring the loud THUD that came from the window. They were all focused on throwing their backpacks on, rushing out of the classroom the moment the bell rang. Many students weaved through the halls, some headed to their lockers while others went to their next class or the cafeteria. One of these kids was doing just that, grabbing their lunchbox from their locker as they prepared to head to the cafeteria. Their attention was drawn away, however, by the sound of a nasally voice approaching them.
“Hey New Kid, what do you have for lunch this time?”
The “New Kid” gave a quick wave before unzipping their lunchbox, holding it out for their friend to see. The friend, Craig Tucker, leaned forward and nodded at the sight of the leftovers packed carefully in the box, a juice and some fruit sitting on top of the container.
“Enchiladas? Nice. I seriously need to come over one of these days for dinner. You wouldn’t mind if I brought Tweek and Stripe along, would you?”
The New Kid only shook their head, giving Craig a smile and a thumbs up. As silly as it sounded, they had grown accustomed to being called the new kid. They were obviously not so new anymore, but it was hard to shake off the old nickname, especially given the fact that they didn’t really speak. They had been living in South Park for almost half a year now, the longest their family had stayed in one spot. This was also the longest they had actually been able to keep the same friends. So who cares if everyone called them the new kid? It was far better than everyone calling him “Douchebag”, courtesy of the local asshat Eric Cartman.
“Come on, let’s go get a table. I don’t know why Tweek is taking a while, but we better hurry before everyone takes our table.”
The New Kid nodded as the two 10 year olds made their way to the cafeteria, setting their things down at their usual lunch table. Sitting down, the New Kid waved as Craig trudged off to the lunch line. Humming, the New Kid began to take the unopened containers out of their lunchbox as they waited for their friends to arrive at the table with their lunches. Not wanting to eat without their friends, the New Kid began to sip away at their juice as they waited. As they sat there, however, an aggravating voice spoke up from behind them.
“Mexican? Great! Hey, Douchebag, give me some. I’m actually on a strict new diet where I can only eat Mexican food every Wednesday for lunch.”
New Kid just turned around, staring blankly at Eric Cartman. The boy in question just stared back at them, an excited look on his face. New Kid just gave him a blank stare, before shaking their head and turning back to the table. Flabbergasted, Eric scowled as he grabbed the New Kid’s arm, turning them back around.
“Wha- Douchebag! Give me some!”
“Cartman! Leave them alone. You better get in the lunch line before all the good stuff is taken.”
Eric gave the boy next to him, Kyle, an annoyed look as he huffed and puffed, stomping his foot on the ground.
“Shut up, Kyle! You stupid Jew, you and the New Kid need to stop discriminating against me!”
“Cartman, you don’t know the first thing about discrimination, so shut up and get your fat ass in line!”
Shaking their head, the New Kid turned back around towards their lunch, letting out a sigh. A new voice spoke up from before them, annoyance lacing the words.
“He doesn’t know when to stop, does he?”
Wendy sighed as she sat down across from the New kid, Bebe and Heidi sitting on each side of her. The girls all gave the New Kid joyful looks as they began to speak of an upcoming sleepover they had been planning for a week now. Wendy paused after talking about ice cream flavors, turning to look at the New Kid with a smile.
“Of course, you’re always invited to our hangouts, but my parents said you can’t stay overnight this time. My cousins will be there, so my aunt and uncle would throw a fit if you stayed overnight.”
The New Kid nodded, giving the girls a thumbs up as another voice spoke up from their side.
“H-Hey girlfriends!”
“Tweek, don’t do that.”
“Sorry, Wendy.”
Tweek sighed as he stood by the New Kid, his fingers messing with the blue and green fidget cube in his hands, a recent gift given to him by his boyfriend. Bebe and Heidi waved to the boy as Wendy leaned on the table, raising an eyebrow as she spoke to him.
“You’re here later than usual.”
“Gah! I didn’t mean to be late! Stupid Cartman told the teacher that I was cheating on the quiz, so I had to stay afterwards to prove my innocence. When I see him, I’m gonna-”
Heidi frowned as she shook her head.
“It’s best to fight him after school, away from the eyes of the teachers. We don’t want you getting in trouble over someone like him, Tweek.”
The blond sighed as he closed his fists around the cube, slouching as he nodded.
“You’re right. Thanks guys, I think I’m all better now.”
Tweek smiled as he sank into the seat before him. His temporary peace was broken, however, the moment his boyfriend arrived.
“Hey babe, you’re late today.”
“Agh!”
“We had just finished calming him down for you.”
Craig didn’t react as the girls gave him a pointed look, Bebe crossing her arms as she spoke up. Shrugging, he placed a tray down in front of Tweek before sitting down beside him with his own tray. Turning to the blond boy beside him, Craig nodded as he motioned to the first tray he put down.
“Honey, you’ll feel a bit calmer after eating a bit. Look, I even managed to grab some of your favorites.”
“ Hn. Craig…”
Tweek gave his boyfriend a sincere smile as he looked down at his tray. Craig watched him with a small smile before turning to his own tray. He shrugged as he picked up his spork, scooping up some mashed potatoes.
“You don’t have to thank me, Honey, it's what I should do.”
The New Kid smiled at the sight, the three girls all smiling as well. One by one, everyone else filled the table. After everyone was seated, the New Kid happily opened their containers and began to dig into their meal, a content smile on their face as they savored the taste. Halfway through the lunch period, however, they were approached from behind. They immediately knew who it was once Heidi’s smile morphed into a sad and uncomfortable frown. The New Kid placed their empty containers in their bag as Heidi spoke up while averting her eyes.
“Eric.”
“Oh, hey Heidi, didn’t see you there. You look fatter-”
“Don’t talk to her like that, fatass!”
“Shut up, Kyle, you fucking Jew!”
“Leave him alone, Eric!”
“Right, I’ll leave you to badmouth him, Heidi. You’re a professional at that.”
Heidi’s eyes widened as she turned away, avoiding everyone’s gaze with a shameful look of her own. Kyle frowned, giving Cartman another frown. Shaking with annoyance, Tweek glared at Eric as he pointed his spork at him.
“What do you want, man?”
“Right, right, right. I’m just here to make a deal with the New Kid, that’s all..”
“Agh! Leave them alone!”
“Shut up, spaz. New Kid, hey, if you eat this bowl of chili in under three minutes, I’ll give you $10.”
“No you won’t.”
“Yuh huh, I already gave Kenny his ten!”
Rolling their eyes, the New Kid pulled out their phone and began to type. Pressing the play button, they gave the bigger kids a pointed look as the robotic voice came out from the phone.
“ If I eat it, will you finally leave me alone? ”
“Ugh, fine, but just for today.”
With a shrug, the New Kid turned their body around, having already finished their leftovers. Rolling their eyes, they held their hands out, accepting the bowl of chili. Wendy hummed nervously as she spoke up, shaking her head as she spoke up.
“I don’t think this is a good idea…”
Bebe shrugged, leaning over to Clyde as she mumbled.
“As long as it gets him to leave us all alone.”
Clyde stiffened as Bebe’s arm brushed his. He nodded in agreement as he peered back to the New Kid, no one bothering to acknowledge Tweek’s growing anxiety. Steadying themselves in their seat, the New Kid threw their head back as they downed the chili in two strides. Handing Cartman the bowl, they frowned as their stomach gurgled. Glaring at the boy, they held their hand out as Cartman shoved $10 in their hand. Rushing away from Cartman’s boisterous laugh, they made their way to the bathroom as Kyle yelled at the bigger boy.
“Cartman! You fat jerk!”
“Hahaha!”
The New Kid had managed to make it into a stall, something they were extremely grateful for. Wasting no time, they quickly sat down on the toilet and prepared themselves for what was to come. Nothing, however, could prepare them for this. As they were ripping a fucking big, fat huge one, the building began to shake. Lights flickered as screams were heard from the hall. Teachers were yelling in the hall over the students’ frightened screams, trying to do what they could in the situation..
“It’s an earthquake! Quick, over here to safety!”
Eyes wide and full of fear, the New Student hurried to finish before the ceiling caved and crushed them while they were still on the toilet. Seriously, they did not want anyone finding their body on the shitter with their pants down. How embarrassing would that be? As soon as they were done in the bathroom, however, it all ended. Standing in the silence, the New Kid took it all in as the cries and whimpers from the hall died down. Quickly washing their hands, they made their way back to the cafeteria, hands up as they quickly signed. Tweek peeked out from underneath the table, not bothering to try and pry Craig off of him, the latter having had clung to his boyfriend the moment everything started.
“New Kid, you’re okay!”
The New Kid tried signing again, hands shaking as they didn’t even reach for their phone. Kenny’s muffled voice spoke up from underneath the other table.
“Mmmm Mmm Mm!”
The New Kid sighed in relief, shoulders dropping as they nodded. Everyone was okay. Looking around at everyone, though, they would have thought differently. Tolkien, Butters and Scott were covering Jimmy and Timmy. Tweek had crawled out from underneath the table, helping Craig out as the two dusted each other off. Kenny was standing in front of the New Kid, waving. Wendy, Bebe and Heidi were sprawled across the floor, each of the girls slowly opening their eyes. Stan was covering Wendy from above, Clyde doing the same for Bebe, and Kyle doing the same for Heidi. Cartman was underneath the table on the girls’ side.
“What. The. Fuck?!”
Kyle stood up, an angry Stan joining him as they faced Cartman. Clyde was just as angry as he helped a disorientated Bebe sit up.
“What is wrong with you, you fat fuck?! You can’t just pull and push people away from safety like that!”
“Uh, what was I supposed to do, Kyle? We just had an earthquake.”
Stan glared as he bared his fists, marching over to the table, only to stop when he saw Cartman struggling. Clyde laughed from behind him.
“Look! Eric Cartman is stuck under the lunch table!”
Laughter filled the cafeteria as Cartman cursed out those around him, demanding that someone get him out. No one moved to help, opting to grab their things. Wendy and Bebe thanked Stan and Clyde for helping them dust off. Heidi avoided Kyle’s face as she mumbled a thanks as he helped her to her feet. Kyle only nodded, just as eager to avoid her gaze. Just then, PC Principal could be heard through the PA system.
“Attention all students! Get to your homerooms to check in with your teachers. Once you are accounted for, you are free to leave for the day. We will be announcing whether or not classes resume tomorrow.”
Cheers and smiles filled the room as everyone filtered out. New Kid spared Cartman a glance, before walking off towards class, leaving the boy to throw a tantrum beneath the table.
“Alright, just sign your name, and you’re free to go.”
The New Kid skimmed the list of names, their pen eventually landing on their last name. Signing their initials, they waved goodbye as they left the classroom. Catching up with Kyle, Stan, and Kenny, the four made their way out of the school.