Chapter Text
No one was remotely surprised that the South Park High School graduation rehearsal had been a total mess, seeing as the student body had made it their collective mission to inflict headaches upon the teachers and staff up until the very last second. The rehearsal was doomed from the moment it kicked off with a brutal lecture pointed at any students that had potentially been involved in the senior prank. Somehow, someone had gotten away with leading a full grown cow dressed up as their Principal into the front office, where it left an extra special gift on the floor, much to the amusement of the graduating class. Administration had seemingly given up trying to figure out who was directly responsible for the prank in favor of threatening the class as a whole that they would be kicked out of the rehearsal at first sign of things going sideways, resulting to withholding diplomas if anyone caused trouble at the actual ceremony.
There was a collective groan of agreement from the students gathered on the football field, already baking in the early-summer sun beating down overhead. But as the event stretched on, it quickly became clear to the high school staff that certain members of the class had no plans on actually following through with their veiled threats.
It started simple enough, with disruptive applause or random heckling breaking out as the Vice Principal called out announcer’s names, throwing her off her schedule just to prolong their amusement. At some point someone ordered a pizza delivery to the field and one of the teachers had to turn away the driver, prompting another scathing lecture from the Principal, where he emphasized how they were about to be adults, and needed to start taking this thing seriously, Goddammit! Naturally, his reprimanding only resulted in dozens of additional pizzas being ordered in response. Eventually, once the staff was truly fed up with their antics and just wanted to go home already, they rushed through the walk-through to the best of their ability and sent the class home with a final threatening reminder that expulsion was still possible for any of them until they had their diploma in hand.
Butters took his time returning home that afternoon, letting himself stall by the bleachers to chat quickly with Craig and Tolkien about their predictions for how tomorrow would turn out given the ridiculous performance at rehearsal. They all agreed it would probably go off the rails as soon as they took their seats, and after passing up the offer to come over to Tolkien’s and hang out with some of the other guys, Butters began the familiar trek back home.
He found himself reminiscing on the past few years and couldn’t help the immense wave of relief he felt now that they were all finally graduating and he only had a few months before he could escape to college. If it was up to him, he would be out of town the second he had his diploma in hand. After spending his entire senior year constantly looking over his shoulder, petrified that one of his parents would ruin all his plans for school by barging into his room and catching him doing something he wasn’t supposed to be, Butters couldn’t wait another grueling second to get away from his parent’s stifling grasp.
However, when he tried to imagine what college would actually be like once he was finally out of the house, he had no clue what was waiting for him on the other side. He had done plenty of stuff back when he was a kid that got him excited about the unending potential of the future; but as they all got older he’d been constantly subjected to undeserved groundings while everyone else seemingly had the type of high school experience you see in movies. So, despite his antsy anticipation of the fall semester, he couldn't shake the idea that everyone else was more prepared for whatever college life was going to be than he was.
He had already begrudgingly accepted that this last summer before college would likely play out the same as all the others had. He couldn't exactly plead his case to his family... 'Hey Mom and Dad, now that I'm out of high school, how's easing up on all your rules and expectations and letting me do what I want for a few months sound?'
Yeah right.
Spending half of the summer wasting away in his room because of some random life-or-death reason his parents made up on the spot and then spending the other half trying to figure out how to avoid getting sent up there in the first place was more realistic. Butters had thought for a moment that they would loosen their vice-grip on him once he got all of his academics and college admission work together, even daring to hope that once he graduated they might at least extend his curfew by an hour or two. But he knew better than to push his luck after he had been told off for assuming things when he had tried to even slightly hinted at wanting to stay out later than usual one night over dinner.
Of course, he was able to find the time to hang out with his friends during the long summer days, but he always had to cut his time with them short whenever plans evolved into crashing at someone’s house or they were invited to a party that would stretch on into the early hours of the morning. Butters’ strict curfew and inability to really let himself stray from his parent’s rules had been a known fact amongst everyone for years now, so while the invite was always extended to him, everyone understood it as just the polite thing to do. He didn’t take it personally, but walking away as Kenny, Kyle, and Stan got to keep spending time hanging out together always left him with an empty feeling of longing for something he just wasn't allowed to have. He could only say “maybe next time” so many times before he began to crave the ability to be flexible like the rest of his friends more than anything; it was suffocating to have to fall in line over and over.
The idea of spending another summer bored out his mind like that just to show up to college with stories that consisted of nothing but sitting around in his free time bummed him out like nothing else. He had been looking forward to this part of his life for as long as he could remember, but now that it was happening he felt like he still had so much to do with these people that he’s known all his life. And the longer that he denied himself from doing things, the stronger his desire to actually go out and just do it became. His parents were still out of the house by the time he made it back, thankfully giving him a reprieve from any immediate chores or tasks they conjured up for him until they returned. He had only just flopped onto his bed to scroll aimlessly on his phone and continue to think about how far away college still felt when he saw Kenny’s message.
Kenny: ur parents home?
Butters: Nope 😀 What’s up?
He didn’t have to wait long for the familiar rhythmic tap at his window. Butters grinned as he slid the window up, beckoning Kenny to step inside.
“Oh! Nice outfit, Ken!” Butters giggled as Kenny entered, decked out in his cap and gown, humming his best rendition of the typical walking music played at every graduation.
Butters joined his humming, conducting Kenny as he strutted around. His contribution to the tune was frequently broken up by fits of laughter at Kenny’s parading display of turning around dramatically and striking different poses to show off the flowing fabric. He presented the gown’s shiny dark green color and flowing sleeves like he was exhibiting a prize show dog before plucking up the numerous cords thrown over the side of Butters’ desk chair, flinging them around his own neck like a long scarf and dramatically waving to the invisible crowd, patting at imagined tears.
Between his snickering hums, Kenny plucked Butters’ own cap from his desk and sloppily placed it on his head. Butters adjusted the awkward hat as their rendition began to close, following his friend’s lead and hooking their arms together, skipping in a little circle until both of them stepped apart to toss their caps into the air at the song’s peak. With that, he and Kenny finally disintegrated into full-on keeling-over laughter, unable to keep the silly act together any longer.
They had been meeting up in his room like this for years now. The sneaky hang outs right under his parent’s noses – or, right above their heads? – were one of the only things that kept him from feeling like a total shut-in. It was also the main way the two of them grew exponentially closer over the years.
The pair had always been friends in some capacity, but things changed noticeably after Stan’s group all gave up on regularly hanging out with Eric in eighth grade. Even all the way back then it had felt overdue. After years of slowly being exhausted by over-the-top pranks and insults, Kyle finally had enough and gave up on trying to talk any sort of sense into him. When the lack of attention got too much for Eric to deal with and he goaded Kyle into settling things like men, Kyle wasted no time in giving Eric a parting gift of two black eyes. Of course that didn’t stop Eric from hanging on like the leech he was, but by high school Butters had been able to slip comfortably into Stan’s little group in his place. He eased into the dynamic quickly, and in the process, Kenny became one of his closest, and realest, friends.
The frequency of their secret meet ups ramped up during their sophomore year, a rough time for each of them in their own ways. For Butters, it was the year of ‘finally getting serious about his life’ and being grounded for longer and longer stretches of time as his parents began to come down harder than ever on both their academic and behavioral expectations. Countless hours of standardized testing, early admission research, academic checks and strategic club involvements ruled his life as he tried his best to keep up with the constant groundings when any sliver of his performance slipped. For Kenny, it was the year shit began to really hit the fan when it came to the everlasting tension between his father and his older brother, Kevin. Kenny would regularly end up in Butters’ room as a way to avoid running into another screaming match between his parents and Kevin, secretly camping out in the Stotch’s house until he had to leave to pick up Karen from one of her after school activities or walk her home from a friend’s house.
Butters had asked at one point why Kenny chose to spend so much time with him when he could’ve easily gone to Stan or Kyle’s houses instead and avoid the risk of getting caught by his dad. Kenny only shrugged and explained that he figured that Butters needed some sort of distraction just as bad as he did, adding that hanging out with him just felt easier to him, reasons neither of which Butters could argue with.
Once the hang outs became a regular occurrence between the two of them, each slowly began opening up to each other about the trials and tribulations they were dealing with that week. Butters would gripe about the constant pressure and belittlement he was receiving from his parents while Kenny mostly spoke vaguely about fights that turned physical back at his house.
Even once the semi-permanent grounding he was under was lifted at the end of the school year, they continued meeting in secret. And when the wrench of Kevin McCormick skipping his graduation before abruptly moving out of town and cutting contact with the family was thrown into Kenny’s life, Butters was happy to spend more time in his room to simply sit with his friend.
Meeting had been mutually beneficial back then, but as things gradually evened out in their lives as they finished high school, it evolved into a familiar routine between the two of them. Kenny would climb in through the window every chance he got and they’d end up playing a game on Butters’ computer or even studying together, but most often they’d simply lounge around the room quietly chatting. Kenny would share all the random gossip he collected or Butters would entertain the other with imaginings about what they’d do after high school.
They had given each other every little life update sprawled out across the floor, or laying on the mattress with their legs propped up on the wall. Sometimes Kenny would just stop in for a quick visit but when they could get away with it, he’d hang around for hours – it became easy and natural to just exist together, through the good times and the bad.
And on certain special occasions Kenny would surprise Butters – once he brought him a small chocolate cake from the grocery store on his eighteenth birthday, another time he tumbled into the room decked out in a werewolf costume and refused to break character the entire time he was there – saying he was going full method at Kyle’s Halloween party that evening, or like today, showing up in his graduation regalia singing Pomp and Circumstance.
“What d’you think?” Kenny gave a final spin once they caught their breath. “Guess I am walking tomorrow!”
Butters applauded him, breathlessly adding, “And they said it couldn’t be done!”
“Who said that?!” Kenny laughed, shrugging off the cords and gown before kicking his shoes off and plopping himself across Butters’ bed with a satisfied sigh.
“Excited?” Butters asked as he retrieved their caps from the floor, placing Kenny’s onto his friend’s face as he joined him on the bed.
“Ah, I dunno,” Kenny let the cap sit on his face for a second before pulling it off to answer properly, “I guess it doesn’t feel like it’s actually happening yet, y’know?”
Butters let out a long sigh, leaning his back against the wall, “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Imagine if Clyde orders pizza during the actual thing, though.” Kenny flashed his gap-toothed smile up at him.
“Oh jeez, I should’ve known that was him.” Butters chuckled, twirling the tassel on his cap between his hands as he imagined Clyde being kicked out during their graduation with a pizza box in place of a diploma if he actually went through with the prank tomorrow.
“Apparently he was deciding between doing that or streaking, so I guess we lucked out with all the pizza today.” Kenny chuckled as he shuffled himself up to properly sit next to Butters, “How ‘bout you? Ready for all of this to be done with?”
“I can’t wait. It’s literally all I’ve been able to think about lately.” He rolled his head to the side to look at Kenny, as he considered the twist of nostalgia in his chest, “But also… I dunno, it’s kinda sad thinking that we might not see a ton of people again after this. Is that lame?”
Kenny gave him an easy smile that eased the melancholy twinge in his mind, “Nah, I think it’s natural.” The boy fiddled with the golden year charm on the tassel of his cap, “Honestly, I think most people actually feel that way but aren’t sayin’ it. Like, I know Stan is having some sort of crisis over graduating and finally getting on with our lives, but he’s tryin’ to be all unaffected and boring about it.”
Butters chuckled at the idea of Stan secretly getting torn up over the end of high school, “You’re probably right.” He picked at his cuticles for a second before adding, “I mean I’m definitely looking forward to graduating, I’m just not really ready for everything to be over.”
His friend looked back at him with a nod, “Yeah, that’s fair. Everyone’s gonna be off doin’ their own thing pretty soon.”
Butters chuckled, a slight shyness making its way into his tone as he admitted, “I think that’s what I’m not ready for.”
“Whaaat? Not excited to move to the big city, Leo?” Kenny leaned towards him, “To make it big at your fancy school, never come back, and forget all about us small town people?” his friend put on a faux hurt expression as he pretended to choke back tears.
Butters laughed at his act, “You know what I’m talkin’ about!” giggling as he shoved Kenny’s pitiful face away from him.
The other boy dropped the bit to laugh at Butters’ response, “I knowww, I know.”
Butters leant back against the wall with a satisfied smile, “Besides, I’m not like, the only one leaving.”
With that, Kenny revived his bit ten times as hard, throwing himself at Butters, “I know! You’re all leavin’ me in this boring-ass, shitty, lame-ass town! I’m never gonna make it here on my own, dude!”
“Aw jeez, as if, Ken!” Butters laughed, once again trying to evade Kenny as the other continued his whining.
“You’ve gotta defer a year, dude! Keep me company!” Kenny laughed as Butters finally shoved him away.
“I would if I could.” Butters laughed, only half joking. “You could always hang out with Eric if you want, I heard he’s taking a gap year next year too.”
“Ugh, yeah right.” Kenny crumpled at that suggestion, “Of course his dumbass is the only other one sticking around here. I’d rather just secretly move into your dorm instead, I could be like… an ESA or some shit.”
“Well, you’ve already got an open invite once I do move in.” Butters chuckled at his idea.
“You’ll see me there every weekend in that case.” Kenny snickered.
Butters smiled at him and replied with added sincerity in his voice, “Honestly, please do. I’m gonna miss getting to hang out like this so often.”
“Same.” Kenny sighed, but didn’t allow the downcast look that creeped onto his face to linger for more than a second, brightening again as he said, “But think about how easy it’ll be to just get together and do shit next year. Got all of Denver to fuck around in instead of this place.”
Butters huffed in agreement, that promise of freedom on the horizon was probably the thing he was most looking forward to about moving out for college. For the first time in his life he wouldn’t have to coordinate his entire being around his parents' overbearing rules and expectations, and would finally be able to live on his own schedule. The world was finally opening up to him to do anything he wanted, but something about the way Kenny looked at him excitedly reminded him of how there was so much he was already behind on.
Butters picked at his nails for a brief moment and voiced the thoughts that had been nagging at him, “I… I’m actually kind of nervous about that part.”
Kenny’s eager look turned into one of confusion, “Wha’d’you mean?”
Butters blinked as he looked around his room, “It’s like... I feel like I have so much to catch up on once I’m there…” He looked back to Kenny and could tell the boy wasn’t exactly following. “I mean – Compared to everyone else, I just haven’t really done anything.” Butters avoided Kenny’s face as he explained, embarrassed to admit his insecurities out loud. “With my parents always on my case about stuff, I feel like I never got the chance to actually do any normal teenager stuff.”
“Ahh, I get you,” Kenny perked up, “But you shouldn’t feel, like, shitty about that, dude. You don’t really need to experience anything, and there will definitely be other people at your school who haven’t done nearly half the stupid shit that people around here get into.”
“I know that, I know.” Butters chuckled at Kenny’s reassurance, thankful for that initial response, “But it’s just something that makes me nervous about freshman year. I know there’s nothing wrong with not doing anything in high school – or, even in general, I guess – but it’s just… such a thing in my brain when I think about going to school and feelin’ like I have to catch up with all that stuff suddenly.”
“Of course, you don’t wanna be a total loser.” Kenny jokingly affirmed, nodding his head the way a doctor would when listening to your ailments.
“Exactly, you get it.” Butters’ laugh dissolved into a defeated groan as he slid down the wall to stare up at his ceiling, “But seriously, I feel so socially unprepared for college… and now that we’re already graduating it’s like I missed the window to go out and try stuff with everyone here when we’re all just gonna move away at the end of summer.”
“Well…” Kenny leaned into his line of vision, “D’you want help with that?”
Butters blinked up at him, “With what?”
“Feelin’ prepared for all that stuff, dude!” Kenny smiled, waving the tassel from his grad cap into Butters’ face, “It’s not like you’re moving out tomorrow, y’know.”
Butters laughed as he dodged the tassel, sitting up to focus on his friend’s offer, “What do you mean?”
“You could have a plan for the summer.” Kenny elaborated, “We could go out and do shit to help you feel more ready.”
Butters shuffled and bumped his knuckles together in a nervous habit, a little embarrassed at the idea that he needed to plan out how to be a ‘normal’ teenager. “Jeez, Ken… I don’t know, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
Kenny leant back, “Well, what kinda things are you nervous about?”
“Um, I guess it’s a lot of little stuff…” Butters trailed off as different scenarios ran through his mind, “I think it’s mostly that I don’t wanna be the only one at school who didn’t get to do all the stereotypical ‘coming of age’ things, y’know?”
Kenny hummed, “So, you want me to schedule a crazy bender for you?”
Butters snorted at the idea, “Y’know maybe not that… But, sort of along those lines?”
“Gotcha.” Kenny laughed before snapping his fingers to point at Butters, “Okay! Well, how about tomorrow night?”
Butters jumped at Kenny’s immediate suggestion, “T-Tomorrow?”
“Stan’s having some crazy grad party at his place, did you hear about it?”
Butters scrunched his face as he began to recall mumblings of a party after graduation, “Uhhm, maybe? I dunno, I’ve kind of written off going to parties as a possibility for a while now, y’know? I can never get my parents to agree to all that.”
“Then how about you don’t tell them this time?” Kenny grinned mischievously as Butters' fidgeting hands fumbled in surprise.
“Wh-what? Like go on my own?” Butters rambled, cracking his knuckles to ease his nerves at the very thought. “N-Nah I don’t think I could… I’ve never –”
“Snuck out?” Kenny cut him off, “Dude, that’s perfect, that’s like… THE corny coming of age classic!” Butters watched the gears turning in Kenny’s head as his friend went on, “How about we start there? List out the things you haven’t gotten the chance to do yet and I’ll make sure you can knock them all out before you go to school this fall.”
“Like a bucket list?” Butters asked.
“More like a fuck-it list.” Kenny snorted at his own stupid joke, pulling out his cracked phone to open the notes app, “Alright so, what else do you want to try?” Kenny looked up at him expectantly.
“Well… I’ve never legitimately been drunk. Or smoked… cigarettes or weed.” Butters couldn’t help but smile, enjoying Kenny’s enthusiasm to help him as he typed out his answers. “So I guess that’d be a good place to start?”
Kenny nodded as he looked at the short list, “We could knock these out in like, less than 24 hours… maybe 36 is more realistic.”
Butters leaned over to look at the screen, considering what else he would want to try this summer. “I’ve never pulled a real all-nighter.” he admitted.
“What? Like ever?” Kenny whipped up to him.
Laughing, Butters elaborated, “Well, only for like… school reasons. I feel like I whoule have one just for fun one day – er, night?”
“Alright, done and done, dude.” Kenny chuckled as he continued to type.
“A-and I wanna try some drinking or party games… Those feel pretty integral to the college experience, I’ll need to know how to play some when I get there.” Butters added.
“Oh, good point,” Kenny leant back and pushed his bangs out of his face to address Butters, “Okay, so far we have… drinking, smoking both ways, playing a drinking game, pulling a real all-nighter, and sneaking out.”
Butters let out a sharp breath, “It already sounds like so much to me.” He laughed.
“It’s only hypothetical.” Kenny reminded him with a gentle smile, “I know you said it already, but you really don’t have to do any of this for real.”
“Yeah, I know that.” Butters returned his smile, imagining the golden opportunity he suddenly had to experience these things alongside his friend. “But… I think I do want to try at least.”
Kenny’s smile grew at Butters’ resolution before returning his attention to the list.
“What’re you writing?” Butters stuck his head over Kenny’s shoulder to peek at the phone in the other’s hands.
“Well, if you’re trying new stuff… I might as well too.” Kenny replied, “Granted, I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot of stuff we aren’t even thinking of right now. So, lemme know if you think of anything else.”
Kenny leant back to present the screen to Butters. Butters’ sudden laugh burst out as he read the new list item, “Pfft – You can go skinny dipping on your own! I don’t think I’m gonna be with you on that one.”
Kenny laughed at Butters’ reaction, “Hey! I will if you will, y’know?”
“I think you will even if no one else will, Kenny.” Butters giggled.
The pair cackled together at the idea until Butters caught a glance at the time. “Aah,” He breathed out, wiping away tears from his laughter, “I think they’re gonna be back soon.”
Kenny checked the time, “Oh yeaaaah, I better head out.” The boy stood to gather his things and put his shoes back on as Butters slid the window back open for his exit.
“Alright dude,” Kenny turned back to Butters as he started to leave, “I’ll see you tomorrow then? We can figure out how to break you out of this place after graduation.” Kenny grinned.
“Maybe.” Butters’ smile dropped as he heard his parents enter the house, turning to usher Kenny out of the window once he heard them both in the kitchen. “Sorry – I didn’t realize they’d be back so soon today!” Butters grimaced in a whisper.
Kenny squirmed out of the room as gracefully as he could, “No problem! I’ll be quick!”
“Be careful!” Butters advised in a hush as Kenny scaled down the short roof outside of his room.
Kenny looked back to him with his gap-toothed grin, “Don’t worry – I don’t feel like adding ‘getting shot by your dad’ to the list. I’ll text you when I’m back home!”
Butters gave him a quick wave before Kenny disappeared from his sight. He turned back to his room, the space feeling much emptier than it had just a few seconds ago.
He picked up his graduation cap to play with the tassel as he imagined completing the list Kenny began. He’d be lying to himself if he said that he totally had it in him to risk getting caught by his parents doing any of the tasks. He knew that he was already pushing the limits in a major way by letting Kenny sneak in while they were out. He didn’t want to suddenly get too adventurous and ruin his summer completely when he could just wait the next three months out and try all these things at college without the worry of his parents catching him.
But when he imagined doing all of the things on the list around new people, instead of his friends that he knew all these years and always wanted to experience these things with? Without Kenny? He didn’t see the point in it. Knowing that Kenny would be by his side during all of it, he felt more at ease, much more confident to actually try this stuff because he knew that he’d have someone like him to lean on if he ever felt too out of his depth.
Besides, Kenny had been doing these types of things for years now and he knew better than anyone how strict his parents were, so Butters trusted him to take the obstacles they would be up against into account. It really was the most logical choice when he thought about it. The longer he mulled over how attempting to complete the list could turn out, the more and more he convinced himself that maybe he could try at least some stuff out this summer with his Kenny's help.
“Butters! The table isn’t going to set itself!”
Butters rolled his eyes at his father’s voice, setting down his cap until tomorrow. He stalled in his doorway, pulling out his phone to see that Kenny messaged him a screenshot of their list.
Kenny: c u tmr to demolish this shit >:)
Butters grinned at his screen, deciding to himself that he would try his best to commit to their plan, even if it was just so he could make a few more last minute memories with his friend.
Butters: Let’s do it!! 🙂
“Butters!!” his father’s voice called again, louder and with a firmer edge. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and rushed down the stairs, a giddy twinge lingering in his brain as he began to envision a summer that didn’t have him cooped up in his room for the whole season.