South Park High

Chapter 17-Guidance Counseling

The redhead was not prepared for the onslaught that came when he stepped into school the following Monday morning.

Apparently, a badly photoshopped picture of Nicole and him kissing had been circulated throughout the entire school.

But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was the horrible, degrading racist caption that had been added on.

Kyle was frustrated beyond belief. Why couldn't he just get a moment of peace?!?!

After numerous interrogations and threatening Butters with telling his parents, Kyle narrowed down the picture's origin to one Eric Cartman.

Kyle had never felt so angry before. His jaw was clenched as he gritted his teeth. His face was a dark red, and his hands were tightly wound into fists.

Spotting Eric talking to Craig at his locker, Kyle stormed up to the bigger boy. Eric turned around with a smirk "Oh, Kyle---,"

Kyle swung quickly, shutting Eric up and sending the two boys to Mr. Mackey's office. Mr. Mackey was the guidance counselor at South Park High and although PC principal usually took care of fights between students, since he wasn't there, it was up to Mr. Mackey.

South Park's guidance counselor was a lanky tall old man with round Harry Potter-shaped glasses and a comb-over. He was dressed in a collared green shirt with a black tie.

Eric enters Mr. Mackey's office while Kyle sheepishly trails behind him. Kyle loathed getting in trouble and could only imagine the disappointed looks on his parent's faces when they found out what had occurred.

"I wanna hear both sides of the story, m'kay?" Mr. Mackey stated.

Eric huffed in irritation. "I was minding my own business when Kyle over here attacked me!"

"That's not what happened, and you know it, fatass!" Kyle retorted. Eric could practically see the steam coming out of the Jew's ears.

"Now boys, calm down, m'kay?"

Kyle ignored Mr. Mackey and glared at Eric. "I understand that you hate me for some unknown reason, but why the FUCK do you have to bring innocent people into whatever this is!" Kyle gestured between the two of them, screaming.

"Kyle! Language!" Mr. Mackey interrupted.

"Nicole didn't look that innocent with her tongue shoved down your throat!" Eric sneered.

Kyle cringed at the bitter scorn-filled expression on Eric's face. What did he even do to make Eric loathe him this much? Eric glowered at him with eyes full of hostility.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Kyle asked softly, whispering the one question that he had always wondered.

Guilt and inner turmoil flashed across Eric's face, and Kyle could tell that the other boy was conflicted. "I--I d-don't..." Eric stammered, unable to get the right words out.

Suddenly, Eric bolted out of Mr. Mackey's office and out the school's front door.

"Eric! Come back here right now!" Mr. Mackey yelled.

Kyle turned to the guidance counselor. "Let me talk to him."

Mr. Mackey hesitantly agreed, hoping the two students could resolve their issues independently.

After receiving a nod from Mr. Mackey, Kyle bolted out of the school to find Eric.

Thankfully Eric hadn't run too far and was sulking on a creaky wooden bench right in front of the school.

"Eric?" Kyle cautiously approached the temperamental boy.

"Go away," Eric spat, crossing his arms like a little child throwing a tantrum. If the situation wasn't so serious, Kyle would have found Eric's pouting face adorable. Kyle disregarded the request and sat down next to the bigger boy.

"I don't know what I did to you, Eric, but I'm truly sorry," Kyle apologized. Eric refused to reply, and after a few minutes, Kyle pleaded for the boy to respond.

"It's not what you did but what you didn't do," Eric cryptically remarks, frowning.

"What didn't I do?" Kyle asked, bewildered.

"Ugggh! You are such an idiot!" Eric threw his hands up angrily before pushing the redhead roughly against the bench and kissing him.

Sparks flew,, and all the anger and tension the two boys had pent up was finally being released.

Eric was the one to finally pull away, reluctantly, albeit. Kyle's entire face was flushed a pretty pink. His eyes were wide, and his lips parted in surprise.

"I like you, Kyle!" Eric confessed. "Hell, I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you!"

"Really?" Kyle gasped. Even though Kyle had been suspicious, hearing it directly from the source was completely different.

"Yeah," Eric admitted nervously. "Ever since 4th grade."

"I dunno," Kyle began rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Sure, Kyle liked Eric a lot but wanting someone and being with them were two completely different things.

Eric looked crestfallen at Kyle's response before his face returned to the hateful expression it always wore. However, this time Kyle could see the insincerity of the facade.

"Whatever!" Eric scoffed. "This was all a joke anyway to see if you were stupid enough to believe me!"

"No, it wasn't," Kyle rolled his eyes. At some point in time, Kyle would have taken Eric's words to heart, but now Kyle knew better.

Eric was doing what he always did—hurting people and lashing out to avoid dealing with his lack of self-worth.

"I really like you too. I don't know why but I do," Kyle chuckled in amusement.

"Really?" Eric gazed at the redhead, hopefully.

Kyle nodded but put out his hand to stop Eric from hugging him. "But I don't want to be with you unless you prove to me that you will be a better person."

"I can do that!" Eric rapidly nodded excitedly.

"Until then, we're just friends. Okay?"

Eric furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "How will I prove myself?"

"That's for you to figure out," Kyle replied in a serious tone.

"Okay," Eric agreed. The two boys shook on the agreement and headed back in for their remaining classes.