South Park High

Chapter 16-The Basketball Game

The doorbell rang, and Kyle excitedly jumped off the couch. He was ecstatic that he was going to see a Denver Nuggets Game!

Basketball was his favorite sport, and watching professionals play live was thrilling for the redhead.

Kyle grabbed his things and opened the door.

"Hey, Kyle!" Nicole greeted. "Ready for the game?"

"Yeah," Kyle grinned, exiting the door and following the girl toward her car.

Kyle texted Stan as he walked to Nicole's car.

Kyle: Hey, what's up?

Stan: Nothing much. Aunt Flo is in town, and so my mom's acting like a major bitch.

Kyle: Aww, sorry to hear that.

Stan: It's chill, man. I'm going to head over to Tolkien's farm to avoid her.

Kyle: Okay! Have fun!

Stan: You too! And please don't fuck up.

Kyle: Don't worry. I'm not into Nicole like that.

Stan: I'm just warning you

Kyle huffed in annoyance and turned off his phone. 'Animals' by Neon Trees was playing on the radio, and listening to the upbeat song made Kyle feel slightly better.

"Was that Stan?" Nicole glanced warily at Kyle.

"Yeah, he's annoying, but I love him anyway." Kyle smiles to himself. Nicole nodded in response, and Kyle's eyes widened, realizing what he had just said. "As a friend, I mean."

"Okay," Nicole gives Kyle an amused smirk. "So, have you figured out where you're going to college yet?"

"Stan and I promised years ago to be each others roommates and go to University of Colorado Boulder for college," Kyle replied.

"Have you figured out what you want to major in?" Nicole inquired.

"Not really," Kyle sighed, frowning. "I feel like everyone has a plan. I mean, Stan has wanted to be a vet since middle school. He even went vegetarian once when he realized what veal was. I, on the other hand, have no idea."

"It's okay," Nicole reassures the redhead. "I'm not sure what I want to do either,"

"Are you planning on going to UC Boulder also?" Kyle asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Nicole admitted. "I think I might go out of state for a change of pace. Southpark has always felt so closed off from the rest of the world."

"That's fair," Kyle agreed. "I'd probably go out of state too if I wasn't set on going to the same college as Stan."

"Have you talked to Stan recently?"

"No, Why?" Kyle furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"It's just we girls hear things and....."

Nicole hesitantly trailed off and grimaced.

"What did you hear?" Kyle was now ever more intrigued.

"It's really none of my business." Nicole shook her head, silently reprimanding herself.

"C'mon, you can't leave me hanging," Kyle pleaded.

Nicole took a deep breath. "Well...you didn't hear this from me, but I'm pretty sure Stan and Wendy already applied early decision to University of San Diego."

"Oh," Kyle faltered. "Those plans are binding if you get in, right?"

"Yeah," Nicole whispered.

Kyle felt somewhat betrayed. Only a few weeks ago, Stan had assured him that they would be roommates together in college.

The two friends finally pulled up to Ball arena, and seeing Kyle's distraught appearance, Nicole grabbed his hand and dragged the boy toward the entrance in an attempt to cheer him up.

Kyle and Nicole bought some snacks before heading to their front-row seats.

"So....," Nicole drawled. "Do you and Eric have a thing?"

Kyle choked on the buttery piece of popcorn he had just shoved into his mouth. After coughing extensively for two minutes and gulping down an entire bottle of water, Kyle could breathe once more. "E-Excu-se Me?"

Nicole gently patted Kyle's back to help with the wheezing while responding, "It's just Eric said some things to me the other day that gave me the impression...."

Kyle groaned. "What did he say?"

"He just told me to stay away from his man, and I let him know we were only friends, but he seemed super ticked off," Nicole explained.

"Maybe Kenny was right," Kyle mumbled under his breath.

Did Eric really like him? But then why was he so mean to him all the time?

Kyle couldn't wrap his head around the idea that a person could treat someone they 'liked' so poorly.

Maybe he's just jealous? Kyle considered. Yeah, that makes sense.

Kyle thought back to when Eric yelled at him for having everything when they were at Casa Bonita.

Kyle wanting to change the topic asked, "What happened with Tolkien?"

Nicole frowned, "Tolkien and Red were having some fling behind my back. We had just gotten over him kissing Wendy at the back-to-school party, and then he had to go and cheat on me!"

"I'm so sorry," Kyle sympathized, hugging the teary girl.

"It's fine," Nicole sadly smiled.

"No, it's not," Kyle frowned. "You deserve so much better than that!"

"Thank you," Nicole smiled, and before he knew it, Nicole had leaned in and kissed him! Kyle went rigid, frozen in shock, before he gently pushed Nicole away from him.

"Uh, you're a great girl, but..." Kyle hesitated. He didn't want to be insensitive or hurt the sweet girl's feelings, but he also didn't want to lead her on.

However, before he could continue, Nicole cut in. "I know," Nicole said with a genuine smile.

Huh? Kyle was so confused. "But then why?"

"It was on my list of things to do before high school ended. You know I had the biggest crush on you back in the day."

"Yeah," Kyle grinned, relieved that Nicole didn't like him in that way. Kyle brazenly added, "So...who else was on this list?"

"Just you," Nicole admitted rolling her eyes when the redhead smirked at her response. "Don't get too full of yourself."

"I'm not," Kyle weakly proclaimed as Nicole playfully shoved his shoulder with feigned annoyance.

The Denver Nuggets sadly lost against the Lakers, but it was an extremely fun game nonetheless, and the two friends enjoyed catching up.

"Thank you so much for everything!" Kyle exclaimed to Nicole as they finished up their dinner. City Sushi was within walking distance, so after the game, the two were easily able to walk over to the restaurant.

"Of course!" Nicole replied. "It was really fun!"

The car ride back to their neighborhood was peaceful, and the two friends discussed dumb drama that had been occurring at school lately while listening to music.

When Nicole pulled up to Kyle's house, she waved goodbye. "I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

Kyle replied with "see ya," before heading through his front door, tired from the long day.