Monster Under The Bed -Crenny

Chapter 3

Detention. Wonderful. Kenny, me, and a stocky 5th grader are the only kids here. Mr. Garrison sits at his desk. Listening to music and reading.
"Psst Craig!" Kenny whispers my name, his voice muffled by the parka.
"What?"
"What are you doing after this?"
Is he serious? "Going home dip-shit."
"Screw that. We should do something together."
"Hell no."
"Come on Craig, pleeease." He sticks out his lower lip.
"I said no, McCormick." I turn away from him.
"Are you afraid you'll get in trouble? Don't be such a pussy." He scoffs.
"No!" I retaliate. "I'm not afraid of getting in trouble!"
"Then you'll hang out with me." A smile spreads across his face, exposing his crooked teeth.
I know I'm going to regret this. "Fine."
Detention lets out and Kenny immediately drags me in the opposite direction of both our houses.
"Where are we going McCormick?" I sigh.
"Starks Pond." He answers.
"Why Starks Pond?" I ask.
"You'll see." He replys in a creepy tone.
My brain comes up two possible situations. The first is that he's going to brutally murder me and I should run right now, but the second really worries me. What if he tries to kiss me again? Either way I should run. But Kenny has an iron grip on my hand. It gets tighter as I try to pull it away. Oh god. He's going to kiss me and then murder me. Maybe if I kiss him back he'll let me go. No, then he'll probably rape me.
Kenny speaks and I realize I'm being ridiculous. He won't murder or rape me. He might kiss me. But would that really be that bad? It was only two seconds the first time.
"Did you even hear what I said?" Kenny lets go of my hand.
"Uh, no." I admit.
"Nevermind." He shakes his head.
We arrive at Starks Pond. It's already dark out, even though it's only around five-thirty. Kenny slips his backpack off his shoulders and drops it to the ground. He pulls out matches and large fireworks.
"Dude." I breathe. "Where'd you get those?"
"Found them under Kevin's bed." He shrugs like it's no big deal.
We search the ground for a empty beer bottle, finding one, we fill it with mud from the pond and stick in the firework. Kenny lights the fuse and runs to join me on the other side of Stark's.
Nothing happens for a moment, then the fireworks explode into a mix of red, green, and pastel blue.
Kenny laughs. I stare in amazement. "This is fucking sweet!"
The fiery display ends and the wailing of a police car becomes audible.
"Run!" The poor kid shouts.
We take off threw the woods, grabbing our backpacks as we go.
We stop near Tokens gated house. I lean against the wall trying to catch my breath. But it's no use because the both of us can't stop laughing.
"I don't think I've run that fast since Peru!" I steady myself and get up.
"Dude! That was epic!" Kenny grabs my shoulder to keep from falling over. "But we're not done yet." He gestures towards his backpack.
"Oh man. What else do you have in that bag of yours?"
"What don't I have in this bag of mine?"
Kenny winks.
I roll my eyes.
"So," He searches around. "How handy are you with a spraycan?"
"A spraycan?" I repeat.
"Yes Craig, a spraycan." Kenny chuckles.
I take one of the cans from him. "Well what are we gonna do with it?"
"Something illegal."
"Okay, but I need to be home at seven."

The school is our target. We sneak back towards the playground. It's deserted and kinda creepy. Kenny shakes up his can and begins to spray the empty yellow wall of the school with black spraypaint. He steps back to admire his work, then gestures for me to finish.
Only a few feet away from us, a door opens and someone yells; "Hey! What are you kids doing?"
"Book it!" Kenny screams.
I run as fast as I can for the second time that day.

Kenny walks me home, we're laughing the entire way. "See you later, dude."
"Kenny, hold on." I tap his shoulder as he starts to go.
"I'm holding Craig." He pretends to freeze. It makes me laugh even though it's really stupid.
"What did you say earlier? When we first got to Starks Pond. I wasn't listening."
"I know." He sighs and fiddles with his pockets. "I said 'sorry in advance.'"
"Sorry for what?"
Kenny kisses me right below the eye. "That." Then he turns and walks away.
"Where have you been, Craig!" Mom screams when I get inside. "Your father and I have been worried sick!"
Dad hardly looks up from the TV. It seems like he couldn't care less.
"I got detention." I tell her flatly.
"Until seven-thirty at night?" She's not buying it.
"Yep."
"Well go up to your room. You missed dinner." Mom flips me off and I return the favour.
I stop by Ruby's room. "I'm home."
"You weren't before?" She sneers.
"Bitch." I mutter.
I enter my bedroom, suddenly feeling better. Even if I'm not upset or anything, being in my own personal space improves my mood. I refill Stripe's food and water. I open the window and stare at the concrete sidewalk. Of fucking course, my thoughts drift to a certain dirty, poor, stupid, STD-infected blonde.
Kenny McCormick.
Why did he have to appear in my life and fuck everything up. It's been happening since 1st grade. It's always him and his dumbass friends. But lately, it's just been him alone. He just had to kiss me didn't he? I don't know whether to feel mad or happy. Mad, I should feel mad. I didn't give that gay-wad permission to like me, and I definitely don't like him back.

At recess, all the kids are gathered around the wall, staring at the words 'fuck off you fucking faggots' written in big black letters.
"That's so childish." Token mutters.
"Well we are children." Clyde reminds him.
"Shut up."
"Okay children, what are we all staring at?" Mr. Garrison pushes threw the crowd of kids. "Oh that's real mature. Who's the wise guy?"
Kenny catches my glance. He's obviously trying really hard to laugh. Cartman is making up some ridiculous reason why it's Kyle, because he's a Jew, and Kyle blames Cartman because this is something he would do. Stan looks depressed. I bet this will lead to one of their crazy adventures. Hope they have fun.
"Kyle and Cartman! Detention for two weeks!" The teacher yells.
"Lame!" Cartman shouts.
"But you don't even know if it was us!" Kyle protests.
"Well life's just unfair like that." Mr. Garrison says.
Kyle looks ready to beat the fat off of Cartman. Stan puts a hand on his shoulder and whispers something to him. Kyle calms down.
Fags.

"Hey Craig."
"Hi McCormick."
"Isn't it sweet we got off clean? Man, Kyle is pissed." Kenny chuckles.
"That's nothing new." I reply.
There's a pause.
"Craig, did I make things awkward between us? Like because of this weekend, the bus, and last night." He rolls a parka string between his fingers.
"I don't know. I don't know if it's awkward. I don't even know what it is." My eyes avoid his.
"Right. I'll see you later." He mumbles.
I forget that encounter and continue with school. At the end of the day, I'm at my locker when three voices echo from down the hall.
"You're a fag, Kinny!" Cartman's.
"Dude!" Stan's.
"Shut the hell up!" Kenny's.
I turn towards the noise. Kenny is so red I think he might explode. Kyle is staring at me, the other two follow his gaze.

Shit.