unreadable // south park - firkle x ike

12 - Ike

     "It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you.."

     I mumble the words to "Africa" by Toto when I see the door open out of the corner of my eye. "Oh, hey, Firkle," I greet him, sitting up so that I can actually look at him. Once I'm up, I briefly turn to mute my speaker.

     He steps into the room, glancing around as if he's never seen the place. "Hello," Firkle says, closing the door as he walks over to the bed and sits down across from me. "Sorry I'm late."

     "Late?" I look at the clock. 5:17. "You're not late."

     "I said I would be here at 5:16, but I got to your room at 5:17, which means I was late," he explains, but I'm not exactly sure why it's such a big deal to him. Maybe he has OCD or something.

     It reminds me of the time one of his goth friends, Pete, I think it was, told me not to worry about why he pays such close attention to detail and everything lining up. I had asked Firkle that exact question the day before, but the only answer I got from him was the subject being changed. "It's not a big deal," Pete told me. "It's just the way he is. So don't worry about it."

     "Well, I don't mind," I end up saying, gently grinning at him. When I look at him, he's looking at the carpet for a few seconds before he realizes that I'm looking at him. Firkle awkwardly smiles at me, and it makes me want to smile more.

     "You were joking about thinking that I was a mannequin, right?"

     I purse my lips inwards, unsure if he's serious or not. "Yeah, I was," I answer, glancing towards the window.

     I see that Firkle nods out of the corner of my eye, and I decide to start a new conversation. "Do you remember in the third grade when I got stuck in that tree when you were over here?"

     He paused, nodding. "Yeah. I thought throwing pinecones at you would help, but I didn't throw any, because I couldn't find any that were big enough." Firkle exhales, quietly laughing. "But that would have never worked, anyway."

     "Is that why you were walking around the base of the tree?" I ask, and he nods. "Oh my God- I'm pretty sure I thought that you were trying to keep me prisoner or something."

     "That may have been an idea that crossed my mind," He says, softly smiling at me. Firkle rarely laughs or smiles at school, but he does it all the time in my room. It makes it feel a little bit more personal to see his smile, I guess. "Why did you tell me to come over?" He suddenly asks.

     I pause, thinking over the question. I'm not actually quite sure why I did, I didn't have a plan or anything. I just kind of wanted to see him. Is that gay? That sounds a little bit gay. Maybe I'm a little bit gay, but for Firkle? I don't know.

     It's only when he gently clears his throat when I realize that I didn't answer his question out loud. "Oh- sorry. I'm not exactly sure why I invited you over. I don't think there's a real reason."

     "Oh. Alright. Sometimes I do things without a real reason, too. Henrietta says it's what everybody does," He tells me.

      I nod, gently smiling. "She's right."

//

586 words.

happy early halloween💕