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Karen McCormick felt ridiculous, for many reasons. One, she was walking through the streets of South Park at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday. The streets were empty, every business closed hours ago, most people tucked safely into their house. Two, she was walking toward the Tucker’s house, which inhabited two adults she’d never met, a boy who ran around with Kenny, and a girl she hardly knew. And three, she was wearing her brother’s old Mysterion costume, underwear over the pants and all. But it was getting closer and closer to midnight, and she didn’t have much time to worry about these things.
The problem started a few weeks ago. When word had gotten around school that Carol McCormick had finally passed, most people started treating Karen differently. The teachers, usually dismissive and rude, began giving her credit for work she didn’t do and letting her skip tests she hadn’t studied for anyway. The guys just gave her about a five foot radius at all times, going from oblivious to avoidant, as if she had turned into a bomb, ready to explode upon the briefest touch. And the girls, who had made quite the sport out of sneering at her and mocking her every moment, had stopped tormenting her. Unfortunately, that vacuum was soon filled by the next easiest target: Ruby Tucker.
There is no good reason for them to hate Ruby. By most people’s standards, she should be popular. She was slight and petite, her frame reminiscent of some sort of woodland fairy creature. This was only amplified by her soft, ginger hair and wide, expressive eyes, which were a very pretty hazel, shifting between blue and green depending on the day, the light, what have you. She always wore the cutest outfits, all dresses and frills, her hair usually pulled into a messy bun, her face bare because she didn’t need make-up. Add in her genial nature and quick wit you’d think she’d be on the prom queen track in no time. Except for one thing.
God, Karen remembers the exact day it happened. It was in gym, the only class she was actually good at, in the locker room just before the mile. Ruby always changed in the bathroom stall. She said she was just shy, self-conscious. But of course, they couldn’t leave that alone. So, when Ruby went to the stall to change, and found them all full, she panicked. She tried to wait them out, but they all informed her that they’d be there for a long time. And Karen watched, as her eyes filled with dread. She tried to go change in the teachers office, but of course they had a girl stationed there, to cut her options. And to make sure no one could save her. And god, she tried so hard to hide it, but they saw.
“Wow, you really are a tucker, aren’t you!” One of them shrieked, causing her friends to join in a chorus of cackles. Some of them were angry, demanding she leave and change in the other room. But most just laughed at her, mocked her, tormented her. And in Karen’s mine, it was her fault. She took way these girls’ favorite punching bag. Of course they had to find a replacement.
As Karen ran, she saw Ruby walking around the track, slow, defeated. If she was crying, she hid it well. But what was Karen supposed to do, go hold her hand? She barely knew her outside of class, and probably hadn’t spoken more than a handful of times in the past eight years they’ve been in school together.
Ruby’s torture didn’t stop after gym. Everyday for the next week, Karen watched them mock her. Trip her. Leave nasty notes for her. And then finally, in 6th period history, when they were supposed to be taking notes about the slides on the screen, their laser-targeted focus on Ruby started working in her favor. Because Karen sat right in front of them, and she heard everything. The next night, they were going to make sure everyone in town knew Ruby’s secret. They had everything they needed. One of their moms gave them a card, so she could buy the supplies for her “school project”: lots of eggs, lots of toilet paper, and lots of spray paint. And when she looked across the room, at Ruby, who was intently taking notes, probably just grateful she could have a reprieve from the torture for fifty-five minutes, Karen damn near snapped her pencil in half. Of all the people she’d ever met, Karen had never met someone who deserved this the least. But the teachers and faculty had done nothing to help her so far. And Karen was sure Ruby didn’t want her parents to know about her bullying anymore than Karen had wanted hers.
So now, at eleven thirty, she was up in a tree, in a costume, taking matters into her own hands. She looked at the Tucker house for a long time, memorizing it. She could see the room that must be Craig’s. The lights were off, but his curtains open wide, and the soft glow of what must be a hundred of the stupid glow-in-the-dark stars was clear to see from her perch. Actually, Karen was pretty sure if she jumped just right she could land on that little stretch of roof under Craig and Ruby’s windows. Ruby’s room, night next to his, had the soft pink curtains drawn, but a light was still on. Maybe she was just up late studying. Maybe she always left the light on. Maybe she heard about the plan.
Karen checked her watch. Five minutes to go. And so she turned toward the street, crouching, ready to descend upon them and serve some justice. Almost at midnight on the dot, she saw them biking up the street, backpacks full of ammo, giggling the entire time. Karen let them get just close enough to think they were safe. Then she jumped.
“AH, WHAT THE HELL!” One screamed, as Karen knocked her down in her landing. The other girls looked terrified, backing away, and the girl on the ground scrambled to rejoin her friends. Karen positioned herself in between the group and the Tucker house, and tried to look intimidating.
“You have all made a grave mistake tonight,” Karen growled in the deepest, scariest voice she could muster. “Ruby Tucker is off limits. For now and forever.” The girls laughed, some nervously, others mockingly. Finally, one stepped forward, so close they were almost nose to nose.
“Or what,” she sneered. This was the part Karen was looking forward to most of all. She straightened, braced herself, and smirked.
“You’ll have to deal with me.” The girl obviously did not expect to get punched square in the jaw, because she dropped like the mic at the end of a sick rap battle. Karen dragged her back to her feet by her collar, and pushed her toward her friends. The girls tried to keep her upright, but she was shaky and disoriented. Karen was pretty proud of herself.
“This is your last chance. Leave now. Do not come back. And if you ever try to hurt Ruby again, in anyway,” Karen paused, cracking her knuckles, and her neck, a crouched into a fighting stance, “You’ll answer to me.” It didn’t take them long to get their bikes and run. The girl Karen punched cried the whole time, and she could see even in the faint moonlight her jaw was blooming purple with bruises. Now seeing her explain that, Karen would like to see. But she was distracted, because the pink curtains were drawing, and the window was opening, and Ruby Tucker was leaning out of the sill.
Karen looked up at her, meeting her eyes, holding up a finger so Ruby would wait for her. Karen ran back to the tree, climbing it quickly, and testing her theory about that jump. Ruby gasped and her masked avenger landed in front of her, and carefully crawled across the roof to meet her. And with the girls long gone, Karen felt safe enough to lower her hood and take off her mask.
“Karen?!” Ruby gasped, seemingly unable to process the information that not only did someone dress up as a superhero to save her, but it was Karen McCormick of all people. Not that Karen blamed her. And for a moment, they just looked at each other. Because no one teaches you how to act when someone enacts vigilante justice for you. Finally, Ruby just wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling her in close, and cried. She cried in thanks, she cried in relief, she cried out her frustration of the past few weeks, and she cried for Karen, who hadn’t been able to cry since the heart monitor croaked out that last long beep. God, how long has it been since someone else has touched her at all.
Slowly, Karen wrapped her arms around Ruby’s waist, her mouth right next to Ruby’s ear, and for a moment she just breathed. Then she promised her everything she wished someone would promise her. That she was safe. That she was loved. That someone cared. That someone would protect her. That she never had to feel alone again. That she’d be there for her as long as she wanted her. She’d be her guardian angel. She’d be her friend.
They stayed locked in embrace for a long time that night. And when they finally pulled apart, it was only so Ruby could invite her in. They stayed up that entire night, Ruby demanding the details of the fight, the two of them laughing and ripping on those dumb girls together. She told Karen about her transition, how she knew basically her whole life, how they moved here from Pueblo so she could live like a girl where no one ever thought she was a boy. How her mom and dad were supportive, even if it basically ostracized them from the rest of the family. Karen talked about her mom for the first time in weeks, how she missed her, how everyone in the family seemed to drift apart. Sometimes, they just laid together in the dark, holding hands, knowing from now on they didn’t have to face any of this alone.
At some point, Ruby’s alarm went off, making them jump. And they laughed, getting dressed together, stealing some of Craig’s jeans for Karen, and Laura didn’t seem shocked at all to find them come down stairs together. She must have heard some of what happened last night, because she even had a plate of waffles ready for her. And as Karen dug in, she gave her a quick hug from behind, and so softly she almost wasn’t sure she heard it, whispered a thank you into her hair.
Ruby and Karen walked into school together that day, and everyday thereafter. But on that first day, as they walked past those rotten girls, one of them with a bunch of makeup on to poorly conceal her beat up face, Karen wrapped an arm around Ruby’s shoulders. And she made sure to make eye contact with each and every one of them, sending shivers up their spines. After the last one, she smiled down at Ruby and they both laughed. For the first time in weeks, both of them were happy. No one was bringing them down ever again.