𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 / 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧

"y/n!" my friends cheered, raising their solo cups in the air as i joined them in tolkiens living room. well i suppose every living room is his living room. tolkien's birthday is today and he is having a real party before his parents dinner event, which is more formal. "why are all of you in here?" i ask confused, pulling down my dress as i take a seat next to bebe. she slings her arm over my shoulders. "hiding." she whispers in my ear, curly blonde locks tickling my cheek.

i look around the open space of windcourt manor to try to find who they're hiding from. "tolkiens parents are outside." wendy notices my confusion. bebe looks at her and wendy sips to avoid her gaze, hiding behind the cup.

"i'll be back." i tell them, taking my gift bag from a 'little more than tipsy' bebe's curious hands. i can hear her groan as i slide open the heavy glass screen door. tolkiens parents are chatting amongst tolkiens gang with full champagne flutes. a white table full of gifts adjacent to them hosts all of our presents to tolkien. i can tell from the poorly wrapped ones (some with christmas paper) and the plain amazon boxes.

a different, clothed, table is home to the elegantly presented gifts, no doubt from the birthday boys parents. slick ivory wrapping paper encases the gifts. the larger ones have wide ribbon around them.

my gift bag settles amongst the guest table. my eyes wander over the tags. wendy brought a medium sized present that is reminiscent of a disco ball with its glittery, silver casing. craig brought one of the amazon boxes. jimmy brought a thoughtfully, but weakly wrapped gift. some parts of the box poke through and i can tell it's a lego set, but he really did try!stan's gift to tolkien is perfectly square, and wrapped pretty good.

an arm snakes around my waist and i turn in shock to face the perpetrator. "hey." kyle breathes out. his jewlery makes another appearance and gives me an unwanted reminder of our little date. it definitely wasn't the worst date i've ever been on, but it's all too fast for me. and all completely unfair to him.

uncomfortable, i hesitate before responding. "hi." i am at a loss for words. i feel like i don't know him, and that's because i don't. he doesn't know me; i barely know me for that matter. "i'm sorry, is this too much?" he worries, removing his hand from me and placing it at his side.

i look around us to see if anyone's listening. "you're great kyle- it's just we don't know eachother." i empathize. what i'm saying isn't completely true, but it's not a lie either. i've known kyle since i moved to southpark, in fact he's one of the first people i met here. we've just never made an effort to converse with eachother.

"what's your favorite color?" he asks.
"y/f/c." i know that one.
"what's your dream job?" he asks.
"um." i pause. "a teacher."
"where do you want to live when you're older- surely not south park?" he asks.
"northern california."
"what's your biggest fear?" he asks.
"..not being believed. and death- not my own."
"what's your goal in life?" he asks.
this one really makes me think. i wouldn't say i'm a very focused person, nor am i goal oriented.
"to love and be loved." i respond.

"anything else i need to know?" he finishes quietly.

yes. of course there's more to me. what's it matter what my future is when he knows nothing of my past? how what i experienced made me who i am today? who gives a shit what my favorite color is? ask me questions i can't answer, and answer them for me. then you know me. not some ice breakers.

"that's about it." my smile wavers as my disdain for this conversation grows. i want to enjoy the party and celebrate tolkien. not go over details of my life with a guy i kissed.

"kyle!" a voice shouts from a couple feet away. my savior! stan is standing alone on the patio next to the picket white fence that encloses the spacious backyard. white posts are at the corner of the deck where the wood meets the grass. fairy lights are strung between them and today, so is a birthday banner. it isn't like one i've ever seen. when my parents decorated they were always colorful blocked letters; this one is a minimalist cursive one. it's cute but boring.

"someone wants you." i notify him curtly. i take careful steps across the grass back towards the patio. if i bust my ass out here that would be so embarassing and i would never be able to live it down. kyle follows shortly behind me. i smile politely at stan as i pass him.

i let out a sigh as i plop back down next to bebe. "they're quite the pair, aren't they?" nichole jokes, raising her eyebrows to amplify her sarcasm. i furrow my eyebrows in confusion before realizing she's talking about mr. and mrs. black. i contemplate telling them what has actually got me wound up. truly, i don't care about tolkiens parents. "for sure." i nod along. my friends don't have the greatest advice- so i'll just keep my own secrets for now.

"what'd you get tolkien?" i ask nichole. they have been dating for two years now but they loved eachother way before that. "a photo book of us and a promise ring; i know he's a boy or whatever but still. he's the one for me, and i want him to know that." she shyly states. heidi and wendy both go 'aww' at the sincerity and cuteness of the admission. "ugh you guys make me feel so single." bebe moans unhappily.

i wonder who's fault that is! wendy thinks the same thing and adjusts herself in the armchair uncomfortably. it's quiet in the room for a moment. faint laughter and cheers can be heard from outside. heidi clears her throat and begins talking about something else to fill the silence in the air.

visuals of kyle spin through my head but they're quickly replaced with ones of craig, and wendy, and heidi, and kenny, and my parents. how are they doing back home? they haven't called me. did they stay in southpark this summer or go on vacation? "y/n?" why haven't they called me? am i leading kyle on? why's craig suddenly act so different? is he doing all this just to fuck? "y/n, do you want any?" why would wendy even hurt bebe and stan like that? is he serious about being sober? heidi seems kind of lonely lately. i haven't talked to her lately; i really should.

"y/n!" two voices at vastly different volumes shout at the same time. i open my eyes and settle back into my surroundings. wendy is looking at me expectantly. stan is next to the door, his hand still resting on the handle. they look at eachother for a moment. "i'm going outside for a refill. do you want a drink?" she lowers her tone and speaks in a softer voice.

"champagne?" i ask. i don't really know what they're offering out there. i didn't see a cooler or anything. "uh no. pepsi?" she clarifies. why is bebe sloshed then- unless she drank at home? i wouldn't put pre-game shots past her. "i'm good."

stan is still waiting by the door. he doesn't speak immediately after wendy and instead stands idle for a moment, contemplating when to interject. "can we talk?" he finally spits out.

i look at wendy. her blank expression is unweilding to her inner thoughts so i simply turn to him nod my head yes.

can't i just sit for a second? jesus christ.

he gently grabs my wrist, leading me to a different part of the house. his grasp isn't aggressive or insinuating, but used to lead in the simplest sense. like a shepherd. i'm not a sheep though. just to clarify.

"two things- what was that? and can you help me?" he questions vaguely in a hushed, strained, voice. his questions reveal little to what he's even trying to ask about.

"what?" i'm confused. as anyone would be without proper insight. i don't know stan that well honestly, so i have no idea what he might want despite the lack of background information.

"the kyle thing. his hand on your waist, his blushing. what happened?" he prods. i didn't know stan was one to gossip.

"he didn't tell you?" i for sure thought he would have told his besfriend, but i'm grateful he's kept his mouth shut.

"obviously not." gee. no need to be so sassy.

i'll just tell stan. i don't care anymore.

"we kissed, he likes me or something." i clarify a little too plainly. i notice stan's hair is kind of damp. he was probably in tolkiens pool, but he doesn't smell like chlorine. he smells clean, like lavender or soap. but it's deeper than that- woodier. i don't know.

"is it mutual?" he tilts his head down and speaks in a lower voice than before. i think for a moment before simply shrugging.

"just what do you need help with stan?" i speed up the conversation trying to skip to his next point. the important part. i'm curious now.

"i need to change."

"well sobriety is a long process-." i start before i'm cut off. "no. like change. can you bleach my hair?" he asks. why would he ask me? sure i can do it but still. "i wouldn't call myself qualified." i notify him, not wanting to be responsible for the potential damage and ruin to his hair. and mental state. bad hair, bad life.

"well you dyed red's hair that one time.." he trails off trying to explain his thinking. "yeah but that was dye, not bleach. and it was one time." that was a fun night. she came over to my house with soaking wet, untoned hair, and a back pack. she unzipped the bag on my porch and suprised me with a plethora of dyes. she didn't tell me what she wanted me to do, or what she even wanted to do, until we were breaking out plastic gloves. she went with a dark blue. it was cute! but not on brand for her. she changed it to purple, than back to her signature cherry red.

"can you do it or not?" he looks around the room to see if anyone's heard him. we aren't selling drugs stan, calm down. "yeah i can do it. do you have bleach?" i tell him, accepting his request. "yeah. when are you free?" he drops his whispering and talks normally.

"whenever." i don't have anything planned after this party and the dinner. besides lounging on the now-safe beach. "tomorrow?"

eager. "that works." i say. i guess boys also fuck with their hair after a break up. he leans against the wall in contentment and starts talking about something else besides kyle and his hair, but we're quickly interrupted by tweek breaking in and alerting us that we're doing cake and candles soon.

stan groans. "don't like parties?" i ask. i know it's not true. he shows up to all of clyde's parties, but for this one he's abstinent. no sex and no drinking. he's a whole new man!

"birthdays." he clarifies, grumbling as we step back out into the hot sun. we join the others circling tolkien and his rather humble cake. it's a simple white cake with 'happy birthday' written in blue. one candle dots the 'i'.

"alright guys. on 1!" his mom starts. "3, 2, 1.." she pulls out her phone to record.

we sing. some of us sing.

bebe drunkenly belts out the lyrics.
wendy is rather normal, singing the correct lyrics in an appropriate volume.
jimmy sings his own song.
kenny whispers in kyle's ear while he 'talks' the lyrics, making him laugh.
craig mumbles, visible from my position a couple people away.
tweek refuses to sing but smiles happily.
clyde also belts out the lyrics excitedly, but he is completely sober. from what i know at least.

"and many more!" butters adds at the end.

nichole stands behind tolkien and whispers in his ear. his mom snaps a photo and then a couple more as tolkien blows out his candle.

"happy sixteenth birthday!" stan shouts. he laughs to himself afterwards, but then he's nudged by kyle at his side. the opposite side of me. "he's seventeen, not sixteen." stan looks at him shocked. "you've literally been in his car as he drove!" kyle said, laughing at stan's ignorance.

his dad brings out a second cake, fitting when you consider the size of our group. he begins to cut when shouting rises up from the distance.

bebe and wendy are at it again. they've moved away from everyone else and are very clearly arguing despite the unintelligibility of their words. as their volume increases that's no longer the case. every venom-soaked detail can be heard leaving their mouth.

"you attention-seeking whore!" wendy shouts.
"cunt!" bebe responds.
"bitch!" wendy says.
"basic hoe!" bebe.
"slut!" wendy.
"i'm going to KILL YOU!" bebe chases wendy around the yard, who is now screaming. she's kind of screaming playfully though.

"slow ass bitch! you're too scared to do anything even if you could catch up. you have the same stamina as cartman's fat ass!" wendy laughs at bebe's angry, exhausted, demeanor.

bebe charges at her like a bull.

"stop this shit now." tolkien gets up from his table and steps inbetween them. "what the fuck is wrong with you two?" he yells. he's obviously frustrated, but he also seems kind of sad. i would be too if they ruined my birthday with their drama. "tolkien. watch your tongue." his dad scolds, warning him.

tolkien faces him with a blank expression. annoyed. "both of you leave." he points towards the gate. "my shoes are inside!" bebe states, kind of slurred but she mostly keeps herself together. i think maybe she has a flask hidddn somwhere. "OUT." he emphasizes again. wendy clears her throat looking at the scene she's made. everyone is silent watching the three. she leaves quietly. bebe follows after a couple protests.

"presents now, t?" his mom asks sweetly. he gives her a defeated nod but plasters on a smile regardless of the previous disturbance.