It Was Always You / Style Southpark

A Party Game - Stan

I stare at Kyle's message, unsure what to say. So I replay it in my head.

wish I was still at the arcade with u, I had fun lol

What do I say? Fuck...I don't know. I stare at it for a while. Nothing seems like the right thing to say. I shut my phone off. It's been too long I don't wanna reply now without an excuse. Why am I like this?

...

The next morning I walk through the chilly outside air. I see the bus stop ahead. It's a familiar sight; a boy stands there all alone, he's wearing an orange parka and blue jeans. It's Kenny of course. Usually (like today) he's the first one at the stop.

When I get closer I call out to him "Hey Kenny!" He turns and waves to me "Hey!" he chirps in reply.

Not long after Cartman wobbles over to us. "Hey guys!" he greets us. Neither of us reply. I don't have a reason for not replying other than I don't want to. Cartman grumbles some choice words under his breath and me and Kenny continue our conversation.

After a bit Kyle arrives, followed by Butters not long after. It's a pretty typical morning.
Nothing new or even exciting happens. The bus pulls up and I get on and listen to music with Ky on the way to school.

Though our normal spot on the wall is empty today. It's only me and Kyle sitting there. I'm a little nervous he'll ask why I left him on read.  The true answer is that I'm stupid. I guess It's not that big of a deal I'll just him I got distracted or something.

As though he read my mind he asks "So why'd you leave me on read?" I let out a sigh "I got distracted, my mom was getting on my ass about cleaning my room," I lie. He chuckles and nods "Sounds about right."

For a moments neither of us say anything. At least to me, it feels oddly tense. Maybe it's because being around him makes me want to spill my guts out to him and knowing that doing that would be beyond stupid. Of course, I've been kinda an idiot lately so it wouldn't surprise me if I did tell him everything just out of nowhere.

I don't — yet. Instead, I just do the usual shit. School and all, the day's over in the blink of an eye. After school, I'm bored as hell until I get a text from Cartman. Just inviting me over for a sleepover after school on Friday. He says that Kyle and Kenny will be there too (I assume Butters is busy or something). I reply to him, this weekend will be boring otherwise so I say yes.

Wednesday and Thursday are normal days. I (temporarily) stopped being a dumbass. Didn't leave Kyle on read or ignore him at all. Things have felt almost normal.

"Hey, Mom I'll be back tomorrow morning!" I shout on my way out the door. I trek through the cold early February weather. I knock loudly on Cartman's door and Kenny swings it open after a moment.

"Kyle should be here soon," Kenny tells me as he leads me to Cartman's room. "Hey guys," Cartman says as we enter his room. "Hey dude," Kenny replies. We end up just chilling for a while, Cartman shows me the occasional fucked up meme but other than that its quiet.

Eventually the sound of a knock on the front door makes us all glance up. "The jews finally here," Cartman remarks. He hops up and starts down the stairs to the door. It is Kyle. This time when we're all back in Cartman's room he closes the door and grins.

"Later tonight there's supposed to be a party at Clydes again, Y'all in to sneak out and go?" he asks. At first I think this is a bad idea but I look over to Kyle to see his response, he nods casually. I do too, idea doesn't seem as stupid now that I know Kyle want too. Kenny agrees as well. "Sweet, this party's gonna kick ass," Cartman says.

...

The street lamps make the road warm and glowy. Snow falls all around us. I stumble up the steps to Clydes door and knock three times. This part — I can already tell — is a lot more tame than the last one. I can't hear any music blasting from inside and if you peek in the windows its a lornkess crowded.

"Hey dudes, come in," Clyde welcomes us. Kenny gives him a fist bump in the way in and I see mostly my classmates. Among them is Bebe, Tolkien, Tweek, Craig, Heidi, Allie, Pip and the dreaded Wendy. More people I recognize too obviously. I go for a cooler I see. Inside isn't any beer, to my surprise. Instead I grab a Dr.Pepper and awkwardly stand to the side.

After a short while the chatter that fills the room stops when Clyde suggests we all play truth or dare, or something like that.

Eventually they come up with a game. It's a cross between spin the bottle and truth or dare. Basically, you spin the bottle you can either kiss or that person can choose to take a dare. It goes as expected a few people kiss a few choose door and then it's my turn. I take the bottle and spin it excitedly. And a little nervously. It's spins and spins and... JUST STOP SPINING JESUS. It slolwyyy lands on... Tweek.

"AGH!" He shouts out while twitching. Craig leans over and whispers something in his ears and he takes a deep breath. "D- dare," he says anxiously. "Take a shot of toilet water," I command him. Clyde stands, grabs a shot glass and gives it to Tweek. He stands up walks to the bathroom and returns with a glass of toilet water. He sits back in his seat and eyes the glass. He takes or quickly and makes an ick face. A few of us laugh (me included). I look over to Kyle who also chuckles at this and I smile.

The game goes around the circle again. It's Kyle's turn again. He grabs the bottle with a small grin. It spins around and around. I start to reach for my phone until it slows down on me... ME?! He looks at me waiting for me to say kiss or dare. Time to shoot my shot I guess. "Kiss..." I mumble unsurely. He blushes "oh... really?" he mumbles back. "Yeah, why not?" I ask a little more confidently this time. The only person between us is Kenny who scoots back to get out of our way.

I plant one of my hands into the ground as I lean in. I tilt my head to close the final gap and bring my hand up to cup his face. Only a 3 or so second peck is required but to make it a little... exciting. I slide my tongue into his mouth. He pulls away pretty quickly after that but I can see that he's blushing. I smile and I feel the spit string that was connecting us hit my chin.

He scoots back to his spot and Kenny fills back into his spot as well. Kenny turns and whispers something to Kyle that results in Kyle punching him in the arm. I know a few people in the circle are smirking at Kyle and I but I decide to ignore it. Crazy how a party game can lead to you kissing your crush.

Kyle passes the bottle to Kenny and the game continues as normal.

After a round or two more most of us grow tired of the game and Clyde turns in some music. We all just vibe to it. It's mostly chatting but a few people dance and a few people are playing cards at the table. Me and Kyle just stand off to the side on our own. "Your a pretty good kisser," Kyle confesses. I give him a questioning look and he blushes a little "I mean like objectively..! An- and You did have a lot of practice Wendy so-" "I got what you meant, it's fine Ky."

After a tense moment of silence he looks over at me. "Wanna ditch the party?"

(omg I'm so sorry that chapter took FOREVER I'm at a leadership retreat and don't have a lot do time time to write. Sorry!)