Chapter Text
It was fascinating how fast his heart could still beat, even long after that first kiss. How was it possible that the same lips he’d been kissing nonstop for at least the past few months could still have the same effect on him? On his skin, his soul, and his heart.
Even at the peak of his youth and inexperience, he could tell that first relationships felt like this—exciting, explosive, and eternal. But no matter how hard he tried to accept it with his usual pessimistic realism, something kept whispering to him that this felt different. As if deep in his soul, he was certain he would never love like this again. That he would never want someone the same way he loved and desired the bastard currently pinned beneath him on the bed.
Kyle pulled away for a few seconds to catch his breath. He had barely gotten a sip of air before Cartman went after his lips again, as hungry as if he were starving, as if they hadn’t been kissing just earlier that same afternoon.
What really turned Kyle on was Cartman’s need for him. That was when he showed just how crazy he was about him.
"Dude, we really have to stop now or we'll be late."
His protest was ignored with an even more pleasurable kiss, biting his lips. Slowly and painfully, knowing exactly how much force to exert to leave him in a limbo between pain and pleasure.
Cartman laughed when Kyle couldn't hide the moan that came from his actions.
"I don't know why you're so insistent when it's obvious you don't want to stop either."
"I wasn't the one who was bothering him all week about how we weren't doing anything fun lately."
"Okay, I'm guilty, but I didn't know you were going to attack me in my own house the second you got the chance. You're a very wild girl." Playfully, knowing how much it bothered him to be spoken to like that, she emphasized her words by grabbing Kyle's jaw. "And very dirty."
In a heady mix of anger and arousal, Kyle gripped Cartman's shirt with more force than necessary as he pulled him closer to his face threateningly.
"Don't forget who's under whom right now."
"I haven't. And I'm actually enjoying the view," he said as he placed his hands on Kyle's hips.
How he hated that damn smirk he always gave him when they were like this. So arrogant, as if he knew he was safe and at his mercy. To prove his point, Kyle grabbed Cartman's shirt tightly and pulled him into a deep kiss, convincing them both that this was happening on his terms. He released his grip and tried to pull Cartman's arms over his head, but just as he was doing so, he used his distraction and extra weight to flip him over on the bed, thus changing the dominant role he'd been playing.
Maybe that was one of the reasons why he couldn't get enough of this; it was a constant struggle, a tug-of-war for control that never ended. Both desperate to establish dominance, but yielding to the pleasure of surrendering that same control. And thus being able to feel and revel in how much the other desired him.
He allowed himself to enjoy the new position. Cartman had already begun to pull his hair; it didn't bother him. He knew that having him on top of him was only a matter of time. A small sign of how possessive he was of him. He couldn't help but laugh between kisses; his actions revealed without words everything he had said about Kyle... Cartman loved pulling his hair.
Just a few more seconds of that possessive grip would turn his mind to mush. He could see himself being late or even not keeping the commitment they had already made with the boys when suddenly, a nuisance brought him back to reality.
"Fucking hell, dude, this is the fifth time." Kyle pulled Cartman away so he could kill the pesky ant that had bitten his neck. "How many times have I told you not to eat in bed? It's disgusting."
"How delicate, it's just an ant." I've bitten your neck worse, and you haven't complained. In fact, I can do it now." Cartman, who still didn't want to leave the atmosphere they'd created, began kissing his boyfriend's neck.
"It's not about that, asshole, it's disgusting. How long has it been since you shook this bed?"
Cartman's voice was muffled between the pillow and his boyfriend's skin. "What? Did he shake it?"
"Oh my god, get off me."
I couldn't stand to be one more second in a bed that was probably crawling with ants and who knows what else. Kyle got up and started shaking the mattress.
The reluctant Cartmans began to help. "Are you upset?"
"Yes."
"Does that mean we can't do our thing here anymore?"
"Of course not. Where else would we do it? Just keep your trash in its place and clean up at least when you eat." I'd rather find the occasional ant or two than risk my parents finding us.
"Relax. We're covered here."
They finished shaking the bed, but the atmosphere had already cooled down enough, and before it got any later, he started getting ready to go out. If they hurried, they wouldn't be so late with the boys.
Just before grabbing his backpack, Kyle began inspecting his reflection in the mirror for marks or anything that might give them away.
"You don't have anything, calm down, stop looking."
"I don't trust you," Kyle said, annoyed, as he continued inspecting himself. "You said the same thing last time, and my parents saw it. I had to tell them I took the violin in music class so they wouldn't think I had a damn hickey."
Cartman laughed at the memory. Kyle was really upset all week because he had to learn at least one damn scale on the violin to make his lies believable.
—Okay, but now I'm telling the truth. Besides, what does it matter? It's just my mom downstairs. It's not like she cares.
Once his inspection was over, Kyle finished arranging his hair and clothes. All the hand-holding and kissing had undoubtedly made a mess of his hair and clothes. He would have preferred to wear something to cover his head, but it was still warm enough to consider it. Once his hair was in a decent shape to go outside, he rolled up the sleeves of his T-shirt to his elbows for greater comfort. "Maybe he knows we're together, but he doesn't know we slept together."
Cartman laughed. "Of course he does. Who does he think washes the sheets?"
"Dude, that's gross..." Kyle squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing the embarrassment and discomfort of someone witnessing what they were doing in the bedroom. "Let's go before you say anything else."
They both went downstairs and said a quick goodbye to Liane, who barely heard them from the kitchen. It wasn't a coincidence; they tried to be as quick as possible since Kyle never got to look her boyfriend's mother in the eye after spending the afternoon with him, doing well, everything.
Liane might be a bit dismissive, and she wasn't sure how good that trait was in a mother, but she was infinitely grateful that she had at least feigned innocence since they told her they were together. If it were up to Kyle, the secret would have stayed between them. But they hadn't exactly been discreet the past few months, and frankly, they were tired of sneaking out just to spend time together.
Once she'd caught them one afternoon when she came home early from work, there was no going back. It was an awkward conversation, but not nearly as awkward as it would have been with her own mother. At least it served as a turning point in their relationship, finally giving them a name. That had been two months. She wasn't convinced of Liane's ability to keep secrets, but she decided to have faith, even though she had no choice. And he had to admit he felt less guilty that at least someone in their families knew.
It was even stranger among his group of friends, who still had no idea. It was a little harder to fool them the first few months since everything was still so new and intense, but little by little they managed to maintain the illusion that everything was still the same as always. It seemed like the boys had come to the conclusion that they were just getting along better. Although the strange looks still appeared from time to time.
Having a secret relationship could be very exciting, but if he was honest with himself, Kyle felt guilty deep down. Guilty for lying to his family and friends, for not being honest. But most of all, he felt guilty for Cartman, whom he actually had to give credit to since he knew that deep down he wanted to go public but gave in to Kyle's fear of what might happen.
He preferred Kyle's peace of mind over his own desires, and he truly appreciated it and treasured it as a reminder of how much their relationship meant to Cartman. Even if it wasn't fair to him. They both knew things would have to be talked about at some point, but that time wasn't today. Today they were young, stupid, and reckless, and they just wanted to keep having fun with their friends.
Which was exactly where they were headed.
Cartman revved up the engine of his mom's truck while Kyle texted Stan, bringing up any of the problems he had preselected as excuses for these situations.
We're on our way. Cartman had to pick me up after all…<<
Kyle gave his boyfriend one last look before locking his phone.
For a small town, South Park had three full movie theaters. The newest one was in the mall; it wasn't very big, but it was the most modern and clean. People used to wait in lines for ages to get into that theater whenever a major movie came out. The second was a smaller, dirtier, and clandestine theater located in the most dangerous part of town. They usually only showed very old adult films, although lately it was used more for awkward male gatherings. The last was the Bijou Theater, the first to arrive in town, the largest, and also the oldest. They hadn't made any improvements to their facilities for a long time, and it only existed as a memory of the past.
All the public's attention was easily absorbed by the mall theater, so the old Bijou, as the teenagers called it, offered many discounts to keep visitors coming. That, and they occasionally re-run old classics. It wasn't as cool as going to the mall, but it was cheaper, and there wasn't as much security. The public constantly bought food and came and went as they pleased. Plus, workers could get in with even bigger discounts.
Over the summer, it began to become a place the kids could hang out, but since they returned to school, they gradually abandoned it. Kenny and Cartman kept nagging them that there was nothing to do lately and that they barely did anything together, so when Kenny texted saying he had free tickets, there was no arguing about leaving.
Stan checked the time on his phone for the fifth time. It was fifteen minutes past the scheduled time, and the kids hadn't arrived. More than annoyed, he was bored. He might as well go into the theater with Kenny right away, but it didn't feel right.
"What do you want to do when the show's over? It's still early," I hear Kenny ask, utterly indifferent to the time.
"I don't know, we'll see when we're all there. What time did you say the movie started?"
Kenny searched his pocket for the battered tickets Henrietta had given him. "It says seven o'clock here." For now, only the trailers should be passing by.
Colorado had been experiencing a heat wave last summer. Its final ravages were already fading, the nights were starting to get chilly, but there was still a certain warmth in the air. People, accustomed to colder climates, greatly appreciated any opportunity to start showing a little more skin and change up their wardrobe. But Stan was still wearing the same worn sweatshirt that perfectly covered his shoulders to the tips of his hands. Kenny wondered if his friend wasn't feeling hot.
"Let's just go inside. When they arrive, let them text us."
"Didn't you say they were on their way? What's the point of waiting five minutes?"
"I canceled my date with Wendy today because I was going out, and Kyle can't just be on time?"
Kenny simply stood up, not really caring about the situation. They waited three more minutes when Kyle and Cartman finally seemed even slightly agitated. At least they bothered to act concerned about arriving on time, though neither of them believed it.
When they finally reunited and entered the theater, everything seemed fine and normal. Kyle approached Stan and Kenny approached Cartman. It was during a moment where they were ordering popcorn that Stan could notice Cartman discreetly leaning into Kyle's ear to tell him something, and Kyle laughed in response. Afterward, they all returned to their normal positions.
Stan had noticed the obvious: for several months now, these two seemed to have somehow healed their strange relationship. They still argued over silly things, but there was something different about their interactions. As if they were now careful about the most hurtful insults, and the physical fights were finally over. He assumed that working together at the theater all summer had made them look for things they had in common so they wouldn't kill each other.
Kenny and Stan truly appreciated the change in energy in their group, and although he and Cartman weren't the closest of the four, he appreciated him as a friend and could tell the whole situation seemed to have made him mature a bit, or maybe it was the other way around. However that was, that wasn't the issue at hand.
It was Kyle.
He constantly acted strangely, as if he was guarding his words around them, trying not to say the wrong thing. Stan couldn't even admit it, but he could be somewhat dependent on those closest to him. And who is closer to him than his lifelong best friend?
It didn't feel like it to him anymore. As if an important support network was faltering, and he didn't even know why. He also didn't feel safe enough to simply confront the situation.
They entered the theater and sat in the middle seats, the perfect place to enjoy the entire performance. He took the first step, followed by Kyle. He was sure he'd seen Kenny following, but it seemed Cartman had gone ahead, so he was the third, right between Kyle and Kenny.
It was a bad '80s horror movie with just enough gore to make it eye-catching and just enough to make the old effects laugh. By the time they left, it was already nighttime, and even though tomorrow was Monday, they still had enough energy to kill time with something else.
They were currently walking aimlessly, hoping to find something interesting to do.
"I give it seven out of ten. The plot was a bit weak, but the shots of light when the girl finally died saved everything," Cartman said, taking his blond friend by the shoulders in a hug as he took the opportunity to steal the rest of his popcorn. "What do you say, Kenny?"
"Nine out of ten."
"Really?" Kyle asked. "That high?"
"The topless blonde the whole movie was definitely a great artistic decision," he replied as he reluctantly finished giving Cartman the rest of his popcorn. "You don't think so?"
"It doesn't matter, it was an open ending. What kind of ending is that?"
"I agree with Kyle," Stan said, taking a sip of his drink. "So much time spent searching for the said witch and wondering who she was, only for us to end up not knowing if she burned to death or not."
"It wasn't an open ending; it's obvious she died."
"We won't know. Kenny, the movie ended just before he was rebelled." Kyle commented as he slowed down to walk eye-to-eye with Cartman, then voluntarily handed him the rest of his drink. Cartman took it, happy he didn't have to ask.
"Please, it's obvious the girl burned since she wasn't a witch. People talked about the smell. When a body burns, it gives off a peculiar odor."
"We're not going to ask you how you know that, buddy."
"Witches are sexy. I wish I had been one."
"That reminds me, Kenny," Kyle interrupted, still walking beside Cartman. "What's up with you and Henrietta? Why did she give you the tickets?"
"I don't know, she was just being nice."
"Ha!" Cartman mocked as he discreetly switched places with Kyle so he could be on the side facing the street. "Let's just say her conversations are interesting. And she's open-minded enough to listen to stories many people don't believe." Kenny looked at Stan, emphasizing an old conversation.
"Yeah? Like what?"
"What I was telling you before these two arrived. She tells me there's some kind of witch in town. That's why she gave me the tickets to that show. After we saw it, I got the impression she wanted me to educate myself on the subject or something."
"What do you mean, witch? Like flying broomsticks and potions?" Kyle asked skeptically.
"More like the ones who are in weird cults and tell fortunes."
"Kenny, I thought you were smarter than that. That's pure garbage."
"She knows things, Kyle, things about me that none of you could possibly know or believe."
"I don't know why you have such a hard time believing what Kenny says. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's ever happened here."
"Just because you're crazy and think you're seeing strange things doesn't make it real, dude."
"Hey!"
"He's not crazy!"
Cartman and Kyle both jumped.
The boys turned to look at them, impressed that Kyle had jumped to their defense.
"I mean…" he stammered. "…He's not crazy, he's just a…" He hesitated, choosing his words carefully so as not to give them away and offend his strange boyfriend as little as possible. "A lying asshole."
"Yeah, right…" Stan replied, deciding to let it go. "It could also be a scam, Kenny, like that Scientology thing."
"Their place is just a few blocks away. Why don't we go? It'll be fun."
"Tomorrow's a school day. We should be back."
"Come on, Jew, it'll be fine. Besides, something tells me you'll feel right at home."
Kyle glared at him, giving him a silent warning. "Stan, what do you say?"
"Why not? We're already outside."
As Kenny said, he walked alone for a couple more blocks and arrived at a strange shop tucked away in the center. An old "Open" sign greeted them, along with the most intense smell of incense they had ever experienced.
At first glance, it looked like just a somewhat run-down herbalist's shop, but among the shelves were some strange objects. The boys spread out around the store, inspecting them at their leisure.
Stan and Kyle stopped to look at a strange branch displayed on the wall.
"That looks disgusting," Kyle commented, since the branch had the peculiarity that the longer you looked at it, the more it looked like a human hand.
"Yeah... I'll give you five dollars if you touch it."
"Gross! No!"
"It's just a branch, Kyle."
"Then you touch it."
"I'll touch it!" Kenny offered, already wearing some kind of old poncho he'd taken from somewhere in the store. It only took a few seconds. "Okay, where's my five dollars?"
He extended his smiling hand to Stan, expecting his reward. "It wasn't supposed to be that easy."
"Guys, look at this," they heard Cartman's voice behind them. "It's the most lifelike fake corpse I've ever seen. I can almost see the bone fibers in this part."
"I don't think it's fake, fat," Kyle said in disgust, seeing how the "corpse" still seemed to have remnants of hair and strange nails on its hands.
"What are you doing?" They all turned around when they heard a strange voice accompanying them. "If you're not going to buy anything, you can't touch anything."
The woman approached Cartman and smacked his hand, which was still touching the "corpse," hard with a piece of an old magazine. "Ouch." He looked at her suspiciously, like every adult who tried to set a limit. She just stared back, practically smoking in his face.
"Guys, this is Nessa, the witch I told you about."
"I told you I'm not that, kid."
When Kenny started talking about the woman he met, each of the boys imagined a different person, but none of them guessed right.
Nessa wasn't a strange-looking old woman with a terrifying face like the stories portrayed, nor did she look like the image of an angelic fem-fatal keeping a secret like the movie you just saw. She wasn't even close to the modern idea of a kind of gothic city witch. She was a woman in her late twenties with a look as simple and bitter as an elementary school teacher's. She looked more like a depressed receptionist or secretary than someone who had contact with the supernatural.
She wasn't the typical image of a witch, in any of its stereotypes. Each one was disappointed in their own way.
"Our friend told us that..." Kyle paused, unsure of what words to use. "You were able to guess things about her life."
"So what? Do you want a session or something? That's not what I do, and besides, I'm almost out of business."
"For what a shop like this earns. Even if you're a charlatan. Can you really afford to turn away potential customers?"
Nessa took a long drag on the old cigar she held between her fingers. Her nails were unpolished, the bracelets on her wrists looked as old as the store itself. She gave the tallest boy in the group a long look. Cartman felt exposed and analyzed. "He's your fat friend, right?" Her words came out through the smoke she had inhaled a few seconds ago. "It would be fun to bother you with that used cigarette butt you still keep in your closet as a precious memento. But I don't think it's wise, right?"
"What's he talking about?" Stan asked.
"None of your business, Stan!" Cartman shouted, embarrassed.
"Fine, let's assume what you said was true."
"Can you give us a session, Nessa?"
"I don't like teenagers, especially those who call me a charlatan. That's not what I do. I'm a herbalist. Buy a damn plant or get lost."
"Are you sure? Your stiff friend back there doesn't seem to agree."
"Elvis? He's just my guardian, fatty."
"Hey!" Cartman exclaimed, offended.
"He won't say anything stupid anymore," Kyle said.
"What if we get you something like... I don't know, that old branch?"
"Can you?" Kenny asked, putting on his best puppy face.
"Whatever, my night was already ruined anyway. Come over here and don't touch anything, Elvis can see everything."
The guys went behind the counter. It was a small room, barely lit by a red lamp that was struggling to make its last few hours. A round plastic table sat in the center, so small it barely fit the five of them.
"So... you only do herbal medicine?" Kyle said, stalling for time while the woman set the table.
"Traditional medicine. I dropped out of medical school because of some issues and took over my uncle's shop once he died."
"So why does Kenny say you're a witch?"
"Henrietta told me."
"Henrietta told you I wasn't, and that you'd better get an education."
"So you do these things, see the future and read minds or something?" Stan asked.
"I don't do any of that, kid, I just notice things. People can give a lot away if you pay attention."
"Besides, his parents were in a Cthulhu-following cult. It's very likely he missed something there."
"Experience speaks for itself." Nessa sighed. "It doesn't matter. Now, what do you want to know?"
"I don't know, same as Kenny," Kyle suggested.
"I told Kenny the near future and showed him when he'll die. Do you want to know too?"
"WHAT?!" the three boys shouted in unison.
"Don't your friends know?"
"Technically, no."
"Kenny, what the fuck? How can you be so calm?" Stan asked.
"It's really not a big deal."
"Who goes first?" Nessa asked after preparing her cards.
"No one here wants to know when they'll die."
"Maybe this isn't a good idea," Kyle agreed with Stan. "What if we just leave things here?"
"What's wrong, Kyle? Are you scared?" Cartman asked.
"It's not scared, idiot, but I'm not interested in knowing such dramatic information."
"Well, I'm not scared, it's obvious we won't die."
"How are you so sure?"
"We're 17," Cartman concluded, obviously.
"So?"
"Nobody dies at that age."
"They're about to start..." Stan lamented.
"Idiot, 17-year-olds die all the time."
"Yeah, but we don't."
"Have you checked your cholesterol levels yet?"
"You said you told him about his near future. Can you tell us about ours? Just the good parts," Stan suggested.
"One where nobody dies, preferably."
"Okay, how boring." Nessa took several cards from her deck and asked the boys to shuffle them with their hands. Once ready, she placed them on the table while turning them over slowly. "I can see here that the four of you have known each other for a long time. Practically your whole lives. You're going through a lot of changes, and it seems you'll have to make important decisions soon."
"Yeah! Exactly!" Look, guys, I told you it was great.
"Kenny, we're seniors and we've lived here forever. He just stated the obvious."
"I'm not talking about your silly changes after graduation. All four of you here are keeping secrets, but two of you especially have major secrets. Secrets that can and will fracture your relationship, probably permanently, if you don't act on them soon."
"You're talking nonsense."
"I'm just saying what I see, fatty. Nothing is certain. The future changes all the time. Every decision you make fractures the storyline in different ways. For now, the path you're taking will lead you there, but you can still do something."
"Like what?" Stan asked.
"I don't know, it occurs to me... Be honest?"
Cartman gave Kyle a discreet glance, a silent question hidden in his eyes.
"Shall we tell them?"
But Kyle shook his head.
"I... I don't think anyone here is keeping secrets," Stan said.
"Good, then you have nothing to worry about. That's your near future. That, and the redhead will fail his music exam on Thursday."
"What?!" Kyle exclaimed.
"Can you help us?" Stan asked.
"With the music exam?" Nessa asked, holding up the cards.
"No, with the near future."
Nessa sighed. "We can ask the Ancestor to help you, but he always acts in ways..."
"Mysterious?" Kenny tried to finish for her.
"Absurd, I'd say."
With great effort, Nessa pulled a huge box from under the table and dropped it very carelessly. The kids watched as she removed the lock that held it closed. As soon as she did, the box opened sideways, exposing what looked like some kind of giant, rotting eye.
"What the hell is that?" Cartman took the words out of everyone's mouths.
"This is the Ancestor's eye. An old family possession, if you want to call it that. They said it brought good luck, and it's also the only connection I have to whatever gives me abilities. It's the most precious thing in this store." Nessa took a moment to contemplate it. Just a few seconds for the teenagers sitting with her to feel the weight of what was before their eyes. "Now everyone stick your finger in there."
"What?!" they all shouted.
"No way. We don't even know what that is."
"Aww, that's cute. Guys, Kyle's scared."
"It's not scared, you big fat fuck, it's disgust."
"I'll touch it," Kenny volunteered.
In disgust, everyone watched as Kenny stuck his finger into the big, fat, "Eye," the woman on the table had given them. The faint sound that came out when Kenny inserted his finger sounded disgusting and wet.
"How's it feeling, dude?" Stan asked. "I could have sworn I saw that thing try to blink."
"It's not really that disgusting, it's kind of cold."
"I'll go." Cartman was even more abrupt than Kenny, letting his finger slide all the way in. "I've put my finger in worse places."
Kyle glared at him. Stan was next. Then Kyle.
"So... now what?"
Nessa was last, and as soon as her fingers touched the ancestor's eye, the old lamp began to flicker slightly. "We're making a connection. In this moment, the ancestor assesses your souls and what you desire. He will seek the path that will bring you closer to what you want, even if it's under mysterious circumstances."
It only lasted a few seconds, but Kyle could swear a strange shiver ran through his body, but he couldn't be sure. He wondered if he was the only one who felt it. Nessa continued speaking, almost as if she were praying. "Whatever happens will end when the conflicting souls find the epiphany that resolves the chaos."
They remained silent for what felt like a full minute. The boys were so uncomfortable that they chose to remain silent in the face of the strange situation. And out of nowhere, as if it were just any old thing, Nessa withdrew her finger and proceeded to wipe it with an old tablecloth she found. "I suggest you do the same; that thing stinks inside."
They all withdrew their hands in disgust. "Wait, is that all?" Stan asked, annoyed.
"I already told you. He makes his decisions, not me. I don't control anything. So as far as I can see, you have two options. Either wait for me to act, or come clean right now, and we'll avoid whatever could happen."
All the boys remained silent, looking at each other.
"There you have it. That's ten dollars."
"What?!" Kyle exclaimed.
"Each of you."
"What a cheap witch," Cartman complained. He was ready to fight, but everyone started pulling money out of their wallets and pockets. "I only have seven."
"And I have nothing left."
"Guys, it's not fair. You're always the ones telling you where to go and you never have any money."
"Okay, Stan, I'll put up Cartman's missing three dollars." Kyle looked at his boyfriend with annoyed eyes. "You owe me."
Stan sighed. "I guess I owe Kenny."
"Thanks, Stan!"
With bills, coins, and what looked like an old button, they managed to complete the payment. Nessa started counting them. "Teenage girl money, thanks so much for coming. Now get out of my store."
Nessa practically slammed the door in their faces, leaving the four kids outside in the night wondering what had happened.
"That's the last time we follow Kenny anywhere." She's crazy and took ten dollars from us.
"Yeah, right, ten." Kyle rolled his eyes angrily. "It was only because you've been putting her in a bad mood since we got here. You always put adults in a bad mood."
"She started it!"
"It doesn't matter anymore, kids. Let's just go home. Cartman, you can still take us all, right? It's the least you get since you never bring any money."
They all started walking toward Cartman's parked truck.
When they were kids, they never thought he'd be the first to have a certain level of freedom behind the wheel. Stan had gotten an old used car for his 16th birthday, but it lasted less than a week before it was completely destroyed, courtesy of Randy Marsh. Kenny couldn't afford a car, and the one they had was at the service of his family. Kyle's parents, on the other hand, could afford a car, but their parental controls didn't allow them to give such a huge responsibility to a minor, and they only let him borrow the car on rare occasions.
Being an only child and the most spoiled of the four, Cartman ended up being the only means of transportation thanks to Liane's permissive upbringing.
Although she couldn't buy him a car, it was at Cartman's disposal. The boy had somewhat abused that control at first, but once Kyle joined them, he didn't hesitate to try to make his boyfriend less of a son of a bitch to his mother. At least now he bothered to only use it when his mother didn't need it for work, and he spent his own money on gas. That's why he almost never had any money.
"I was only three dollars short. What's Kenny supposed to do? He didn't have anything."
"He shouldn't have to do anything. He's forgiven because he's nice."
A tinge of jealousy settled in Cartman. "So why don't you go out with him? Huh?"
Kyle glared at him with furious eyes. He almost always made little comments that could give them away, but today he was going too far, and they both knew it.
Before he could say anything, Kenny hung on him, taking him by surprise. "Yeah, Kyle, why don't you go out with me?"
At least the absent-mindedness of his friends could be an advantage in these situations. While he was searching for his car keys, Cartman noticed something missing from his pockets.
"Wait a minute. Where's my phone?"
"Don't you have it?"
"No, Stan, I don't have it," Cartman replied angrily as he continued searching. "That bitch probably stole it."
"I didn't steal it, you idiot, you're just paranoid." Kyle tried to calm him down. "You didn't take it out all night, you probably left it at your house."
"Or probably a witch we just met who hates me took it. Be realistic, Kyle. Which makes more sense?"
"Let's just go, you'll find it at your house." Stan walked to the car.
"I'm calling first!" Kyle watched as Kenny moved forward to the seat he usually occupied.
Once Stan and Kenny were inside, Cartman discreetly approached Kyle. "Will you help me look for it?" He wasn't an idiot; he knew he'd pushed Kyle's buttons way more than allowed on an important issue.
"Look for it yourself," Kyle whispered. "Besides, I'm pissed at you."
Without another word, Kyle hurried into the car next to Stan, who was too distracted typing on his phone to notice the exchange.
>>So, are you coming? I'm gone for the week tomorrow. I want to at least be able to say goodbye to you in person, Stan.
Don't worry, I'm on my way.
Are you sure I can stay all night? <<
>>Sure! My parents won't be home until the afternoon. Stay all night.