Operation: KYLE

19

I look for the sign for these, then my eyebrows raised when I saw what it said. 'DIY Custom Skateboards!' I blink again. You could customize a skateboard? I gently grab of what seems to be stickers in a package. Huh... that's... pretty cool, I guess. I mean, I knew you could decorate it a little, but fully customizing it...? I glance back at the skateboard, then out of nowhere, a smirk seems to appear on my face. I think I just figured out what to get for Butters...

Some time later, we finally come out of the store, but with plastic bags in both of our hands, it's already three PM. "What'd you get?" Stan asks curiously as he tilted his head. I don't bother to answer, so instead, I just stare at particularly nothing. He shows me a pout. "Aw, come on. Tell me what you bought. I'll tell you what I got." "No, that'll just ruin the surprise. Wait when Butters' birthday arrives." "But that'll take forever! Please, I'm so curious, you can't leave me hanging!" I watch as Stan continues to whine. "It's just a day away..." "Exactly!" He finger-guns me.

I roll my eyes for what seemed like a millionth time. "Just wait until tomorrow," I turned to my heels. "Anyway, I'm gonna go home. So, see ya." "Wha...?" His voice barely trembles. I pause, and peered back. He had this... some kind of sad expression on his face, and I really don't know why. I confusedly raised an eyebrow. "What?" I asked. His face begins to turn red not long after, and shyly lowers his head, stuttering something I almost couldn't make out. "I-I mean, like, I-I just, y-you know– expected for us t-to, uh, hang out..." He admitted.

I could feel my forehead wrinkling as I stared quizzically. "But... we hang out plenty, already?" I said, not meaning for it to sound like a question. He licks his lips, his eyes wandering back, and forth at me, and somewhere else. "No, no, I mean, like... j-just the two of us, you know?" He makes these sort of weird gestures with his hands, trying to figure out what to even gesture. I must've made a strange face, because Stan visibly jerked back a little, almost dropping his bags in the process.

Then, he begins to laugh, but it's not one of those hearty laughs. "Er... you know what, nevermind. Forget I said anything-" I accidently interrupt him by making a weird noise with my throat, but try to play it off. "Oh, yeah, no, uhm... yeah, we could hang out, for sure." I pathetically stammered out. I mentally punch myself in the face, and continue to yell myself for the next ten seconds in my head for being so pathetic. He avoids to meet my eyes. "A-are you sure? I-I don't wanna be a bother, or anything." He says, pretending to scratch the back of his neck.

"Come on, Stan, you know you're not a bother for anything." I repeated Stan's laugh. "Ah, right, ha..." God, we're acting like we haven't been friends since forever. We both stay silent while keeping our heads low for some reason. Is this my karma for not hanging out with Stan one-on-one lately? We both stay silent. I don't know how, but I finally managed to had the guts to raise my head up high after a while, but it seems that Stan had also rose up his head, so we both raise our head synchronously. "Oh, uh, you go first." "No, no, you can go first." I purse my lip, waiting for him to begin. He takes a silent deep breath, then opens up his mouth.

"You wanna head to the arcade?"

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The arcade was crowded, that's for sure. Kids from all ages, and even a few young adults surrounded the machines, all entering their coins excitedly, and I think I even saw a few people I know from school here, wandering around with smiles on each of their faces. I continue to observe the games until I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Stan with tokens of coins in a small plastic cup. "I bought the coins. Ready to go?" I give him a smile, and pull out a five dollar bill to give, but he simply pushes the money away gently.