South Park High

Chapter 9-Shakey's Pizza

When the two boys entered Shakeys, they were surprised to find the place mostly empty. A family of 4 in a corner booth shared a large pepperoni cheese pizza, but besides them, the rest of the building was vacant.

"I've got my mom's wallet, so dinners on me." Eric insisted with a smirk. Eric sauntered up to the front of the store to order a large cheese pizza.

"It'll be $14.50," the cashier responded.
Eric handed the cashier a $10 and $5 bill and told them to keep the change.

Eric then turned towards Kyle, and they made their way to a small red booth in the corner of the restaurant. Shakey's Pizza gave off a small-town diner vibe and always played early 2000s songs. Kyle started singing along to the music that was currently playing through the speakers.

"I'll keep you my dirty little secret," Noticing Eric listening to him, Kyle blushed. Kyle loved singing, but he wasn't the best singer and was always self-conscious singing in front of others.

"Don't stop on my count," Eric teased lightheartedly. Kyle just shook his head and slid into the booth across from Eric.

"So, are you going to tell me what you we're doing walking around all by yourself?" Eric finally queried.

Kyle bit his lip, reluctant to say anything. Eric noticing the other boy's hesitance reached his hand out across the table and placed it gently on Kyles. The gesture warmed the other boy's heart.

"Look, I know we aren't super close, but you can trust me," Eric reassured. Kyle took a few minutes to organize his thoughts before finally saying, "Stan, and I got into a fight,"

Kyle began tearing up and used the palm of his hands to wipe away the tears that were starting to trickle down. "I think it may be the end of our friendship."

"I'm sorry," Eric empathized with a sad smile. While Eric was pleased to learn the Stan had screwed up, he didn't like to see Kyle sad. Unfortunately, Eric wasn't the best when it came to comforting others. Thankfully, he remembers what his mom does when he is upset. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Can we talk about something else?" Kyle offered, looking up with teary eyes and a wavering smile.

"Sure, ummm what's your favorite color?" Eric asked.

Kyle burst out laughing "Are you really going to start with that question? It's so cliché."

"Just answer the question, Jew boy," Eric replied, rolling his eyes and sticking his tongue out like a little kid. For the first time, that phrase didn't anger Kyle. In fact, the phrase felt somewhat endearing.

"Well, it was gold or green. I have always loved green," Kyle hesitated, thinking about how Stan's eye color was pretty golden brown. "But I think blue is becoming a new favorite color," Kyle concluded, looking at Eric's dark ocean blue eyes.

"Mines red," Eric admitted.

"Really?" Kyle squeaked in surprise. "You always make fun of my red hair." Eric rubbed the back of his neck nervously and just mumbled something incoherent.

"Huh?" Kyle questioned in response.

"I don't really hate your hair color," Eric reluctantly repeated blushing, avoiding Kyle's wide eyes.

"What?" Kyle inquired, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"You heard what I said," Eric grumbled. "Let's talk about something else."

"Okay," Kyle yielded. He had never seen this side of Eric before. Eric looked extremely cute, twiddling with his fingers and blushing profusely.

The large cheese pizza then arrived, and the two boys munched away as they talked about their likes and dislikes. An hour later, the boys, filled up, decided to head back home.

Eric took the long way to Kyle's house in hopes of stretching out their time together. When they finally pulled up in front of Kyle's house, Kyle was hesitant to get out. Kyle reached towards the door handle but paused before grasping it and turned towards Eric with a genuine smile.

"Cartman, thank you for this. I really needed it."

Eric could see the sincerity shine through the ginger-haired boy's eyes. At that moment, Eric wanted nothing more than to kiss Kyle senselessly. However, he knew that it would take time to get Kyle to trust him fully.

"It was my pleasure," Eric beamed. Kyle grinned back and got out of the car. As Kyle walked away, Eric could feel his heart squeeze in pain.

He didn't want Kyle to leave. Eric took a moment to allow his heart rate to slow down before starting his mom's car and heading home.

Arriving home, he saw an unfamiliar black chevy pulled up in his driveway.

Must be one of Mom's customers, he thought to himself. Thankfully Eric had become accustomed to his mom's nightly business practices and knew that as long as he avoided the basement, he would be safe.

He entered his house quietly and trudged up the stairs. When Eric went to bed that night, it was with a slight smile on his face reminiscing about the 'date' with Kyle, and for the first time in what felt like years, Eric got a good night's sleep.

The following day, Eric woke up relatively early and decided to head downstairs to make some breakfast. Eric had a secret guilty pleasure for cooking. So whenever he had the time, he would whip up a full course breakfast for his mom and him.

Knowing that his mom most likely went to bed late, Eric did his best to stay silent in the kitchen to avoid waking her up. Taking out a carton of eggs, he proceeded to break six of them into a bowl. Eric then put salt and pepper into the bowl and thoroughly mixed them.

He poured oil onto a lightly heated metal pan and started to make scrambled eggs. After he was done with the eggs, Eric made hash browns, turkey sausage and put four slices of wheat toast into the toaster.

Once he was finished, he put all the food on a large wooden tray. He glanced at the kitchen and saw the disastrous mess he had produced. Pondering cleaning it for a moment, Eric then laughed. He may be making breakfast for his mom, but he's not that nice.

Eric picked up the long wooden tray with both of their meals neatly placed on it along with two glasses of orange juice and headed towards his mom's bedroom. Thankfully, his mom never allowed any customers in her actual bedroom, so it was always pretty comforting to be in there.

Eric gently knocked on his mom's bedroom door before quietly cracking the door open and sneaking a peek inside. His mom was fast asleep, draped across the bed in some slutty maid costume.

She didn't even change Eric, though to himself shaking his head. Of course, his mom's customers had all kinds of preferences, so it was common to see his mom wearing odd outfits or revealing attire around the house.

Eric placed the tray on the nightstand right next to her bed and pulled the covers over his mom so that she could sleep more restfully. Then, Eric took his plate out of the tray and left the room silently, deciding to let his mom get a few more hours of sleep.

Eric's soft spot was his mom, and even though he treated her like garbage, Eric really loved her deep down. He only pushed her away because he was afraid of one day losing her. She was all he had.

Eric finished up his breakfast and decided to watch some tv. It was 10 am, so Eric had a few hours before heading over to the church for Shelly's wedding rehearsal.

Since Shelly and Skylar decided to throw their bachelor and bachelorette party together, after the practice run-through, there was going to be a big party at Casa Bonita.

After watching a few episodes of Terrance & Phillip, Eric reluctantly got up from the couch to get ready for Shelly's wedding rehearsal. "This is going to be a long day," he quietly muttered to himself.