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Kenny was in the middle of getting ready when he heard the sound of knocking on his front door. He hadn’t yet put his parka on, so he was just wearing his simple ‘restaurant owner’ shirt. He’d gotten it pretty recently during his escapades with Eric and Butters ‘running’ (if you could even call it that) DikinBaus, and new clothes were hard to come by, so he was pretty happy to have it. Whatever shirt he was wearing didn’t really matter much appearance-wise, it would almost always be covered by his parka anyway, but just the feeling of new clothes made him happy.
He headed to the door, passing his brother Kevin, who was busy eating a poptart in the kitchen, as usual. “Who’s at the door man?” Kevin questioned, to which Kenny just shrugged. Kevin rolled his eyes, as if it was Kenny’s fault that he couldn’t see through doors. He just decided to ignore his brother, opening the door to see his girlfriend, Marjorine, looking the slightest bit distressed.
“Marj?” He said, his surprise evident in his tone. “What are you doing here? It’s pretty early.” The blonde girl rubbed her knuckles together, looking down in embarrassment. “Ah, sorry Kenny, it’s just…” She trailed off, feeling childish for her current dilemma. “I really wanna put my hair in pigtails today, but I dunno how to. And I thought maybe you would know? ‘Cuz you do Karen’s hair a lot…”
Kenny gave the other blonde an endearing smile, stepping aside as a way of saying ‘come in.’ Marjorine adorned a dopey grin, the type that made Kenny’s heart absolutely melt, and walked inside, the house familiar to the girl. She placed her backpack next to the door, like she often did when she did when she came in the mornings.
“Is that your girlfriend dude? Groooosss!” Kevin teased, laughing as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Kenny’s brows furrowed, though Marjorine was used to his taunts. Plus, they all knew none of it was serious, just simply sibling teasing. “Shut the fuck up Kevin!” Kenny shouted, turning to his girlfriend right after as if nothing had happened. The girl couldn’t help but giggle at the fact, staying over Kenny’s house always seemed more welcoming than her own.
“How’d you convince your parents to let you come over here? You know they don’t like me.” The blonde boy asked. Stephen and Linda Stotch had always had a certain distaste for the McCormicks due to their social standing, so the fact Kenny and Marjorine had became friends upset the two greatly, particularly Stephen. In his own words, Kenny was a “bad influence on his son,” though Kenny knew he had no idea what he was talking about, because Marjorine had stopped being their son a long time ago.
Given, she’d never came out to them for her own safety, growing out her hair and sticking to putting on makeup at school, while washing it off before she got home, but the point still stood. Kenny knew more about their daughter than they ever cared to know, if anything, they were a bad influence on the girl. The boy had gotten frustrated about the fact countless times, but he was focused on Marjorine and Marjorine only right now.
“Oh, uh. I lied.” Marjorine said simply. “Well, not completely lied. I just told them I got ready early and that I was gonna go out to the bus stop early.” She elaborated, rubbing her knuckles together again. Kenny gave her a small smile, having her over his house was always nice. It had been happening semi-frequently until her parents had started being dicks as usual and stopped her from doing so, so now they could only hang out together and Stan, Kyle, or Eric’s house, when her parents didn’t know the blonde boy would be there.
“Cool. Not like I mind having you over here, but you already know that.” Kenny grinned, kissing her cheek. Marjorine blushed, giggling that dorky laugh that the immortal had come to adore ever since they met. “I’ll start on your hair now, c’mon, I’ll sit on the couch, and you sit on the floor. Just avoid the beer stains.” Kenny stated. Telling anyone else to avoid the beer stains would’ve been embarrassing, but Marjorine was so used to it that it was normal for them.
The two got into their places, Kenny pulling out some spare green barrettes he usually saved for Karen. The immortal began to work on Marjorines hair, as the girl watched a show about Pabst Blue Ribbon and white trash. “Hey Kenny?” Marjorine started, Kenny humming as a response. “I wish I lived with you.” She admitted, not yet taking her eyes off of the TV. Kenny felt a certain sadness in his chest. Marjorines home life was always shitty, it was a fact everyone knew, but the fact it was so bad that she’d rather live in a dingy house like this only instilled it in Kenny’s brain further. Not that it needed any more instilling.
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just, your siblings are so nice, and your parents actually kinda like me. Well, your mom does.” The girl said. It wasn’t that Stuart didn’t like her, per se, he just didn’t really care. Kenny’s mom was more willing to be polite to the girl, that’s all. “I just wish I could come over your house more often.” She sighed, a hint of melancholy in her voice. The blonde boy felt as if a fire had been lit in his heart at that moment, knowing he had to say something.
“Hey, maybe when we’re 18, you can live with me?” Kenny proposed. He knew it was really early to be talking about living together, they were in 4th grade, for gods sake, but it didn’t matter to him. It had been on his mind for a while anyway, he didn’t want his girlfriend to be in that god forsaken house any longer than she had to be. “Oh gee Ken! I wouldn’t wanna bother any of you guys! Plus, what if your parents don’t like the idea?” Marjorine fretted, though she wasn’t opposed to the idea. She could finally be with Kenny more, and she wouldn’t have to hide who she really was anymore. She couldn’t help but worry about anything possibly going wrong, a side effect of constantly having to worry about being grounded.
“I’m sure they won’t care. They never cared when you had sleepovers over here, it’s basically just…A long sleepover, right? Plus, we wouldn’t be living here forever, just until we can afford to buy a house of our own.” Kenny explained, hoping to soothe Marjorines nerves. Marjorine stayed silent for a moment, thinking it over. “Listen, if you don’t want to we don’t have to, okay Marj?” The blonde boy assured, but Marjorine only shook her head no. Not enough to disturb her boyfriend’s progress on her hair, though.
“Nono, I think it would be pretty great. Living with you, and all. If it’s ever possible…I’d like that a lot.” She finally said, a soft smile on her features. Kenny’s expression softened, running his hands through her soft hair. He knew his house wasn’t the best, but it was better than the Stotch house for sure. Plus, it gave him more motivation to move out as soon as he could. Speaking of…
“Uh, do you mind if Karen would live with us? I was thinking that I’d take her with me when I moved out, so…” Kenny questioned, to which Marjorine laughed. “‘Course Ken! You know how much I love Karen, I wouldn’t mind one bit.” She smiles, relieving the boy greatly. “That’s great, Marjie. Oh, and your hair is done!” He got off of the couch, signing for Marjorine to stay where she was. The girl tilted her head in slight confusion, but she understood once the boy came back holding a small, lightly cracked hand mirror.
“Sorry it’s not in the best shape.” Kenny apologized, though Marjorine was too focused at her appearance in the mirror to care. She looked beautiful, she thought, and the girl felt no better than when she felt beautiful. “Oh, I love it Ken!” She exclaimed, placing the mirror on the couch. She practically jumped on him, pulling him into a warm hug. Kenny’s face heated up, his cheeks flushing red. “Thank you Ken, I love you so much.” Marjorine pulled away, but only to shower her boyfriend in kisses. By the time she was done, Kenny’s had a lovestruck grin, and the red on his cheeks had only darkened.
“Thanks Marj…I love you too, so, so much.” He kissed her on the forehead, which he had to stand on his tippy toes a bit to do so, due to her being taller than him. Kevin made a fake gagging noise as he passed them, his backpack over his shoulder. “Hey lovebirds, your bus is gonna be here soon, if you guys can stop making out to pay attention.” He snickered, a shit eating grin on his face as he opened the door to the McCormick house.
“Shut up Kevin! He’s right though…I’m gonna go get my hoodie and my backpack, alright Marj?” Kenny said, to which Marjorine nodded in response. As Kenny left, she grabbed her own backpack, slipping her arms through the straps to put it on. A figure entered the room soon after, though it wasn’t Kenny, it was Karen.
“I heard you guys talking about me, was it good stuff?” Karen questioned, curiosity clear in her tone. “Aw, ‘course Karen! I’d never talk bad about ya, and Kenny sure wouldn’t either.” She assured her, giving her a genuine smile that did more than enough to convince her. Her eyes began to inspect Marjorines hair, her eyes lighting up with joy. “Hey, we have both have pigtails! We’re matching!” The brunette giggled, clapping her hands together. Marjorine couldn’t help but laugh, nodding and agreeing with her sentiment.
Kenny came back into the living room to see Karen and Marjorine laughing and giggling with each other, a warm feeling filling in his chest as they did.