ButtersxKaren.

There is always someone worse off than you.

Karen McCormick had made plenty wishes on shooting stars.

I was waiting around for my prince charming to my very own guardian angel... I believed in fairy tales because I wanted them so badly to be real. Growing up, there was nothing better than false hope or even an escape from reality... even for a moment.

It was nice to get away and live in a fantasy.

...Because being Karen McCormick is far too miserable.

All through elementary and middle school I felt like that piece of the puzzle that got lost under a rug... or a crayon box that's empty... or a Friday morning where you wake up really early just to realize there's no school.

I'm that feeling embodied.

I'm uncompleted. And... I don't think Kenny could ever help with that either. Not even Mysterion could help me feel better. I felt disconnected. Decompressed... Depressed, yes, that's the word.

It was high school when I first fell in love, no surprise there. Just another clichéd part of life I guess. I didn't want just any boyfriend. I wanted a prince charming in a chariot. I wanted him to take away from all the pain and make me feel good again. Make me feel like life was worth living. Remind me that good things still existed.

And then that's when our eyes met.

I remember it was Monday and I was eating pizza that was slippery with grease. The milk was slightly sour and that morning I had a problem finding socks that actually matched. One was neon blue with a huge hole where my big toe wiggled out.

It was like the little details were imprinted in my brain. I would remember them forever.

And that's when my eyes found Butters Stotch.

As soon as our eyes locked, I could feel this warm feeling entangle me. That this... person radiated comfort. All in one glance. He gave off feelings of joy, happiness and... this feeling I couldn't explain. But it told me that everything was going to be alright.

Somehow, my teen angst didn't matter anymore.

I wanted to say something but I sat there, listening to the hum of my friends. I couldn't hear them, no… But the sound of their voices rang in my ears like a steam shovel.

The prince with the blonde hair and the turquoise turtle neck, he had me under his spell. And as soon as his gaze left mine, I felt cold and hollow again. His attention on me was lifted and I was sad again.

Butters was always so happy looking. Always smiling. Every day he was laughing and chattering about. I emulated him. Although, I never saw much of him in the hallways. He always took the elevator with Cartman.

The only time I got to admire him was in the cafeteria.

Fruitful eyes that stared into mine, I was soon engrossed. With eyes that looked right into my soul, I was enthralled.

And with that I started to wonder what it was like to be Butters Stotch.

The prince had his own chariot alright...

Kenny had told me that he can't walk because of an accident. That he went tumbling across the street. Like an angel with wings made of paper. He went right over the hood and everything that he held in his hands went gliding with him.

Roll, roll and roll, rest... and once more.

I never really understood him as he began to bring a trash bag to school.

Fold and fold, fold, once more. Wait, now again.

He would make these birds out of paper. Like a zombie, I would watch him from afar. Fold and fold scraps of paper into beautiful birds before tossing them carelessly into the bag.

I thought it was odd of Butters to take up a hobby so obscure.

His gaze soon moved from me to those stupid birds. And I couldn't even say one word to him. As the days turned to weeks, my body got colder and colder... I missed his warm gaze. I missed his affectionate look from all the way over there.

Roll and roll, toss, turn and crash.

I never understood it myself. He was always off doing things while I was planted in my seat. Chattering with his friends and doing the occasional trick with his wheelchair. It was the exact opposite about us. As if he was exposed to so much more than I was. While I felt like a stranger in my own group, he was welcomed... openly

I was the missing piece of a mysterious puzzle that was swept under the rug.

How I missed his warm gaze... I was starved.

Ad then it was one day where I bumped into him... Pretending to trip over the large wheel and he finally noticed me again and said with eagerness, "Whoa, be careful there. Wouldn't want ya gettin' hurt." before rolling off and getting on the elevator with a rowdy Cartman.

I was entranced with someone so happy and so.. full of life. I was actually happy that such people existed. That there was still something good in this world.

It was another day at lunch when I observed that his friends weren't sitting with him. I could see them in line, getting their lunches. And I finally had the courage to finally sit beside him.

Butters gave me that same ol' grin, looking up from his folding. I felt warm once more. "Hiya... Karen right? You're Kenny's little sister. You sure are... pretty. I see you lookin' at me over there." he chuckles, pointing to the spot where I usually sat.

I flushed, my voice lost somewhere in my throat and I continued to watch him fold more and more.

I learned that he was making a thousand cranes. I remember reading the story somewhere... It's name was something long and foreign. He was folding them like that little girl... the one with leukemia who kept making them every day she was in the hospital, just for her one wish.

Her wish was life.

Legend has it that if you make a thousand, you're granted one wish.

I could only wonder.

"Butters," I started, trying to admit these feelings inside of me. "I've always wanted to say... h-hello or... something to you."

His long eyelashes batted as he sat back in his wheelchair, he cracked a grin and patted my shoulder. "Well, gee... you can always say hello to me! I'm not gonna hurtcha any! I don't bite."

I smiled, just slightly, seeing him bring his attention back to folding the notebook paper into the cranes, tossing them in the trash bag.

I couldn't contain how happy I was. He was actually talking to me. Looking at me. Smiling at me. It made me feel even better. I was extremely happy... all because of him.

"Are you going to use your wish to ask if you could walk again?" I blurted out, trying to make conversation. I was so curious. He must want something such as that. He must have...

And then he said something strange.

"No, I'm gonna to wish to have the accident happen all over again."

At first I thought he was sarcastic as he looked at me, his knuckles brushing together. He was serious. My eyes widened and my heart sank. "W-why... why would you do that?"

"So I can die, silly." he gave that same ol' smile he always did. The table around me became flooded with boys and his friends. Cartman barked out something I couldn't hear. I was too busy staring at Butters in disbelief.

And then I learned that my position wasn't like Butters.

He would never walk again. He had something taken from him. He wasn't happy. His gaze wasn't warm.

And there were no stars to wish on, no guardian angels and no prince charming.

He was sad, just like me.