Chapter Text
1 year and 7 days ago, September 5th, 2005
Monday Morning at 06:07
To recap, Kevin had left earlier that month back to his place (he worked at his local auto parts), Cartman had yelled at him about his lost phone (even after his mom had gotten him a new one in the four days he was gone), and the gang had just gotten back from their last-minute vacation a couple of days ago.
So where did this leave Kenny?
Waking up at 6:00 in the morning to get ready for school. Not even Labor Day off, huh?
Kenny shook his head, and spit out the toothpaste he had used into the sink. He put his blue toothbrush into the holder, next to a green one.
He rubbed his face and undressed to shower.
⠂
Kenny had made it to the bus stop first. He had managed to shower for about ten minutes before Karen yelled at him to get out.
Of course, one couldn’t just simply disobey a cranky Karen.
Kenny huffed. It wasn’t too cold yet, but he wore his parka anyway. Couldn’t change the status quo, now could he? He checked his phone.
6:58 am. He was early. The bus wouldn’t get there until 7:15.
A sigh escaped him. He kicked at the ground. A breeze swept by and Kenny shivered. He probably should’ve blow-dried his hair.
Suddenly, his hood was smoothly lifted onto his head. Kenny blinked and grasped onto it. He glimpsed to his right to find Stan standing there, a small smirk on his face.
“Dude, you’re so oblivious sometimes.” Kenny scowled up at Stan, but a smile made its way on his face anyway, “Yeah, well at least I’m not just all brawn and no brains.”
Stan scoffed and looked away. He was still smirking.
“You’re here early, how long have you been waiting?”
Kenny shrugged, “Not long. How was the trip? I haven’t seen you guys since before you left.”
Stan murmured, “It sucked! My mom made us all go hiking and shit. It wasn’t fun at all. Who in their right mind would want to go on a vacation just to hike? There was no end goal.”
Kenny frowned, “I would.” Stan glanced at him, “Yeah, but you like almost everything, Ken.”
Stan then grimaced, “I’m sorry you couldn’t come, Ken. Kyle’s mom was a bitch about it when my mom asked her.”
Stan looked at him apologetically throughout his rambling, but Kenny shook his head, “Nah, my dude you’re fine. I had stuff to do with Karen anyways, so I wouldn’t have been able to go anyway.” Liar.
The worry in Stan’s eyes dissipated slightly. “Oh, okay then. I’m glad we didn’t get in the way of your plans.” Kenny sighed mentally. He could handle Cartman and Kyle’s guilt (as rare as Cartman’s was), but not Stan’s. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but it had always been that way.
“Yeah, so don’t worry about it, man.” He gently elbowed Stan. The other opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.
“WHAT’S UP, POOR BOY?!” Kenny's hood was yanked down violently, and snow was shoved into his back.
Holy shit was that cold.
“Woah- WHAT THE HELL?” Kenny whipped around to find Cartman standing behind him, laughing his ass off.
Stan glared “Really dude? You know Kenny gets sick easily.”
Both Kenny and Cartman paused for a moment to stare a Stan. Stan seemed to realize what he said and sheepishly shrugged.
Kenny ignored him in favor of taking off his parka. He began shaking snow out of it while Cartman began laughing again. At this point, Kyle had joined the group.
“I guess I’m last today- Kenny, why aren’t you wearing your parka?”
Kenny gave one last final shake to his coat before addressing Kyle, “Cartman.”
He heard Kyle give him a hum of understanding while he put his parka back on.
Cartman had also ceased laughing, but he was still grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“That’s what you get for losing my phone, asshole.”
Kenny rolled his eyes and tried snuggling into his coat to warm up.
It didn’t work.
He eyed Cartman as the boy turned his attention to Stan, “You gonna get your bitch back this year, Stan?”
Kenny glanced at Stan, to see him glower at the other's question, “Wendy isn’t a bitch, Cartman. And no, I’m not. She’s dating someone else now, and I’m going to respect that. Plus, I kind of stopped liking her at the beginning of freshman year.”
“Yeah, because she turned gay when you let her go to some party. Maybe you can change her back before it’s too late-”
This time, it was Kenny’s turn to glare, “Eric, can you do us all a favor and shut the fuck up? Thanks.”
Maybe it was the acidity in his tone, but Cartman gawked at him wide-eyed, and mouth gaping like a fish.
The bus pulled up just then.
⠂
Kyle had decided to spare both Kenny and Stan of Cartman’s bullshit by sitting next to him on the bus.
Which, of course, had them in a heated argument by the time they arrived at school.
Stan and Kenny hung back as the two bickered while they entered the school.
“What locker numbers do we have?” Stan asked.
Kenny looked at his arm where he had written them down earlier. “Lockers… 17 and 18.” Stan nodded.
Because their last names were so close, their lockers always ended up next to each other. They eventually just ended up sharing the combinations and even their lockers occasionally.
When the foursome got into the school, there was a sign that directed them to the gymnasium.
They sat together as they waited for the announcements to start.
The whole assembly was really only for the freshmen, but they made everyone participate.
Someone tapped on Kenny’s shoulder, and he turned around. It was Bebe.
“Hey,” she said, “you should try out of cheerleading this year.” Kenny raised a brow. Why in the hell would she suggest that to him of all people?
“Uh, no offense, but why?” She huffed, “Because Wendy and I got a look at the freshmen this year, and none of them seem to be good candidates. I wanted you to join last year, but Wendy was being a stick in the mud about it.”
Oh.
“And what would change her mind this time…?”
Bebe smiled, “I’m her girlfriend.”
Kenny shook his head, “you are so spoiled,” he smiled anyway.
Bebe giggled, “Yeah, I know.”
“But she isn’t the Cheer Captain -- how would she be able to even let me in”
“She has her ways, trust me.” Bebe winked at him.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a mic flicking on, and Kenny spun back around.
⠂
Cartman groaned as they headed towards their first-period class. Kenny shared English 10A with him. Sadly. “I can’t believe we still have to go to our first-hour class- it’s bullshit!”
Kenny grinned, “Yeah, but it's only 8:40, we still have 20 minutes of first period left.” He continued to smile when Eric groaned again.
When the two arrived at their class. Most of the class was filled with their grade -- save for the few try-hard freshmen and lacking juniors.
Kenny and Cartman took a seat behind Craig and Clyde.
Clyde whipped around to face the two of them. He was smiling.
“Hey, guys! How was break for you two?”
Before Kenny could speak up, Cartman opened his mouth, “Why the hell are you asking, fatty?”
Clyde frowned, and this time Craig twisted around to address Cartman, “Well look who’s talking.” Cartman glared at Craig. Kenny spoke before he could be cut off again, “It was fine, thanks for asking!” He smiled at Clyde, “You?”
Clyde shrugged, “It was alright -- mostly hung out with the guys. I did land a babysitting gig and-”
“He found out he sucks at it,” Craig piped in.
“Hey! It wasn’t that bad! All I did was fall asleep for fifteen minutes…”
Craig rolled his eyes, “Yeah, and you woke up to the little bastards having you tied up and about to run you over with their toy train.”
Clyde whined at Craig and kept insisting that he wasn’t that bad. Craig ignored him.
Kenny just snickered and shook his head.
⠂
Fortunately, Kenny didn’t have lunch with Cartman first semester.
Unfortunately, Kenny didn’t have lunch with Kyle or Stan, either.
Kenny scanned the cafeteria, holding onto his poor excuse of lunch in a brown paper bag. He spotted some possible candidates. There was Craig's group (who all somehow had the same time slot for lunch, lucky), the cheerleaders, and Butters hanging around some Freshmen -- most likely trying to make them feel comfortable as they were in charge of Welcoming Committee, along with Scott.
Kenny immediately ruled out Scott and Butters -- he honestly didn’t feel like running around and welcoming people.
He thought about the cheerleaders for a moment but ultimately decided against it. He knew Bebe wanted him to join Cheer and all, but he wasn’t sure if he had any time. He also didn’t want to be accused of being a pervert.
That left him with… Craig's people.
Don’t get him wrong, he got along with them! But there was this unspoken rivalry between them. He didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea…
But then again, he really couldn't give two shits about the rivalry his closest three friends claimed they honor.
With that, Kenny made his way over.
As he walked closer he saw Jimmy practicing his stand-up act to the group at the head of the table, with Tweek giving the boy an encouraging smile while Craig sat next to the blonde ignoring the act. Clyde sat across from him eagerly taking Tolkien’s unwanted chips. Tolkien himself was looking amused as Jimmy stuttered his way through his routine, passively handing Clyde some of his food.
Kenny quickly made sure no one was sitting on the other side of the black boy before gracelessly plopping himself down, interrupting the group.
“Hello, my favorite people!” Kenny offered a big smile to the others and placed his lunch on the table.
“S-sup, Kenny?”
“Wasshup ‘ude!”
“Nng- hi Kenny.”
“Hey dude.”
Kenny smiles at the chorus of responses he gets from the group sans Craig, as always.
“Where's your myriad of clowns? Also Clyde, shut your mouth. That's disgusting.” Craig says, flicking Clyde an annoyed look.
Glancing over, Kenny chuckles when he spots Tolkien giving Clyde a disgusted look. Clyde himself looked up from his sandwich, mumbled “Wha?” from his full mouth.
He hears Jimmy laugh and a small “Gross, dude.” from Tweek.
⠂
By the end of the day, Kenny had memorized his Monday schedule as best as he could. English 10 1A first hour, then Biology 1A, Algebra 1A, Creative Writing, and Band. So the first half of the day were all of his boring classes. Wonderful.
Kenny was currently walking with his boys back home -- they had decided to stay back to play basketball with Craig and his friends. Kenny was still slightly irked because they lost. His friends were chattering in the background.
It wasn’t like he was extremely competitive -- it’s just that Cartman had gotten distracted when Heidi had stopped by with some of her friends to watch.
They had a very brief history -- basically, they dated in Middle School but broke up because Cartman accused her of being too controlling, only to end up back together the next week. This cycle continued. Eventually, Heidi got tired of Cartman's BS and broke it off with him for good.
Cartman, of course, being Cartman, was still hooked on her.
Suddenly, it was quiet.
Kenny noticed Kyle and Stan looking at him curiously. Oh. He wasn’t paying attention.
He smiled, “Well… I think that this conversation has come to an end-” He gestured to the two diverging paths on the sidewalk. Kenny’s house was the exact opposite of town.
Cartman ignored the trio while he kept trudging towards his house. He probably wasn’t in the mood after seeing Heidi.
Stan looked unsure, “Well, we know you weren’t paying attention, but we were asking if you wanted to hang out at my house for a while.”
Kenny considered it for a moment, before shrugging. “Sure, why not.”
The three walked on over to Stan’s place, and Kenny and Kyle began taking off their coats and shoes while Stan shouted to his mom.
“Mom, I have friends over!” Kenny plopped himself on the couch, Kyle following suit. Stan’s mom popped her head in, “Who- Oh, hello boys. Do you two want anything to drink?” Kenny politely declined while Kyle asked her for just a glass of water. She nodded and left for the kitchen.
Kenny turned his head towards Stan when he situated himself on the floor between Kenny and Kyle.
Kenny raised a brow, “What, you too good to sit with us now?” Stan laughed, “No, I just play better on the floor, man.”
Kenny was sure that if Cartman were here, he would make a joke about Stan being a bitch -- because only dogs sit on the floor like good girls. Which… really wouldn’t make any sense.
Kyle spoke up, “whatever you say, man,” Stan’s mom walked in to hand Kyle a glass of water. Kenny tapped Stan with his socked foot.
Stan glanced at him, “What’s up?”
Kenny grinned, “What are we playing today, Mr. Marsh?” Stan blanched, and Kenny began to giggle. “Dude, don’t call me that, that’s what people call my dad!” Kenny began to full-on laugh at the response.
“What happened?” Kyle asked, taking a sip from his water.
“Kenny’s being an ass.”
Kyle rolled his eyes, “What’s new?”
Kenny stopped laughing and moped at Kyle, “Hey!”
Kyle shrugged but smiled nonetheless behind his glass.
“Okay okay, enough,” Stan intervened, “Xbox or PS2?”
“PS2-”
“Xbox-”
Kenny and Kyle stared at each other for a moment, before Kenny turned to Stan, “I genuinely don't care which one, I’m not picky.”
Stan shook his head, “Lady McCormick requested PS2, so PS2 we shall play.” Kenny barked out a laugh as Stan bowed to him and went to set up the PS2, while Kyle sat back and began grumbling.
Honestly, though, Kenny could go with any system. All he had was an old Nintendo. The only game he could play was Ocarina of Time. Which had been played… many times. And apparently, his dad had found it in the dump half functioning -- Kevin had been able to fix it though.
Anyway, you could only play the same game over and over for years on end so many times before getting sick of it.
The trio ended up taking turns playing GTA 3. They then turned to Metal Gear Solid and ended up at Silent Hill.
At that point, Stan had wound up back on the couch, Kyle was sitting up straight in high alert, and Kenny was hiding behind Stan as much as he could.
After pausing for a fourth time that day, Stan put down the controller and stretched.
“Hey Ky, y’know what time it is?” Kyle glanced at his phone, only to leap up. “Shit, dude it’s almost 8 o’clock. My mom has been calling me but I turned my phone off goddamnit- I’ve gotta go.” Kyle walked around the couch to put on his shoes.
Stan sighed, “I would say that she’s just a house over, but she’s also a control freak, so I can’t really say anything to help. At least she likes me -- she’ll just be mad at you.” Kyle groaned, and shoved on his coat, “I know, she’ll just be pissed I didn’t text her where I was -- I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” And with that, Kyle left.
Kenny whistled, “Well that’ll be fun to deal with,” he looked towards the window, “I should probably head out soon too.” Stan nodded, “Okay man, see you later.”
Kenny got up and slipped on his shoes and coat. He put up his hood and mask and walked out.
⠂
Unlike Kyle, he had already texted his mom when they first got to Stan’s. She let him know that dinner was ready about 20 minutes ago. Macaroni and mashed potatoes. Yum.
When he got there, Craig was there… which probably meant Tricia was there. Craig raised a brow as Kenny approached his home. "Thought you were already here, McCormick -- were you skipping rocks somewhere or what?” Kenny’s lips turned upwards, and he shrugged, “Nah, I was at Stans.” Craig just hummed. “You waiting for Tricia?” Kenny asked. “Yeah, she’s taking for fucking ever. I’m tired, and Tweek’s waiting for me at home.”
“Oh? You two going to-”
“No.”
Kenny pouted, “No? Oh wait -- your parents are probably gonna monitor you, aren’t they?” He shot Craig a sly smile.
“Who says they know he’s there? He can climb y’know”
“Ah- he climbs you a lot, O’Neal?” Okay, not his best, but Craig was the tallest in their year. Sue him.
Craig rolled his eyes, “No, and also, he’s just sleeping over. His parents keep trying to give him their cracked-up coffee to taste test.”
Kenny frowned, “Won’t they notice that their only child is missing?”
“Again, no. Those assholes won’t remember him until he talks to them first. Then they’ll force all their bullshit onto him.”
“Ah, well-”
The front door slammed open to reveal Tricia and Karen. Kenny’s mom was behind them. “Alright, Karen. Say goodbye to Tricia-” ''Mom! We’re not babies!” Kenny huffed out a small chuckle. Karen glared at him, but smiled when she realized it was Kenny, “Hey Kenny! You’re back!”
Tricia stepped out and looked at Craig, “Let’s go asshat.” He flipped her off, and she returned it. The two waved at the McCormicks and descended farther down the road.
Kenny’s mom ruffled both Karen and Kenny’s hair, “Alright, you gremlins. We need to eat.” Both siblings complained but smiled as they followed their mother inside.