Wendy closed her eyes and shivered when she felt a cold gust of wind brush past her face. Maybe this had all been a dream; a really long and terrifying nightmare that she could escape simply by opening her eyes. Everything would be back to normal. She would be back with Stan, Stan and Kyle would be best friends, and Cartman…
Wendy frowned. 'Cartman…' She seethed.
Cartman could go fuck himself.
Chapter 1
Perfect Day
*~*~* September, fifteen months earlier *~*~*
"Hey Kenny, nice jacket." Stan Marsh waved his friend over to the table where he was sitting with his best friend Kyle Broflovski and girlfriend of two years Wendy Testaburger.
"Thanks, it was time for a change." Kyle turned around to look at Kenny.
"Still orange though, dude?" He asked, bumping Kenny's offered fist lightly. He shrugged.
"Old habits die hard. Who'd you get for homeroom this time around?" Kyle groaned.
"Rowe." Kenny and Stan winced at the mention.
"Ugh. What an asshole." Wendy said, her voice acidic. All three boys turned to stare at her as Wendy was usually known for her intelligent and sweet demeanor. Her feelings weren't entirely unfounded however.
Tim Rowe was a tenth and eleventh grade English teacher at South Park High School who also happened to be the junior class advisor. And unfortunately for Wendy, the bitter and cynical man was the overseer and advisor to the school newspaper.
She had tried for two years to get into his good graces, working as a photographer for the newspaper. Her real desire of course, was to make editor when senior and current editor Rich Williamson graduated in the spring. Unfortunately for her, she had made a bad impression on Mr. Rowe on her first day and he had placed a cheap camera in her hands, designating her for photography. She had been doing her best for the last two years to convince him to put her on a story—even something stupid that she didn't care about like the football game—but that had only pissed him off further, and he had commented in front of the entire staff that until she produced anything of value or quality, she could keep her comments to herself and do what she was told.
Wendy took in a deep breath. That was all in the past now. She was an upper classman now and Rowe always had more respect for upperclassman. Her grades and record were flawless and she had spent all summer working on a writing portfolio to submit to him to convince him it was time that she should be moved to staff writer, or at least somewhere where her writing talents weren't limited to writing lame captions for the pictures she took.
"Where the hell do you think Cartman is?" Stan asked.
"Who cares?" Kyle said, not bothering to hide his distaste for the boy.
"Well, I need to get to homeroom." Wendy said, standing up and kissing Stan on the cheek. "See you boys at lunch."
Kenny watched her glide down the hall, smiling and waving to several of her girlfriends on the way. Wendy had definitely grown into a very attractive young lady after a few awkward years in middle school. There had been several interested guys, Kenny being one himself, but Wendy only ever had eyes for Stan. They had finally made it official in freshman year and they appeared to be starting their 'happily ever after'. Being that small town couple suited Stan and Wendy.
"Dude, your girlfriend…" Kenny said looking back to his friends to see that they had pulled out a stack of Pokemon cards . Kenny's jaw dropped. "Are you fucking serious? How old are you guys?" Kyle looked up.
"What? I found my old stash last night and Stan still had his so we were looking over them last night and…you know what? Judge all you want, I don't care."
"The bell's going to ring in like thirty seconds, literally," Kenny shook his head, turning to go to his homeroom.
Eric Cartman strolled into the front doors of South Park High right on schedule—right as the second bell rang signaling the start of homeroom.
"Gooood morning Lions, and welcome back! I hope you all had a great summer—" Cartman smirked at the sound of Clyde Donovan, the junior class president, starting the morning announcements.
"Oh hey Eric!" Cartman cocked his head to see his friend Leopold "Butters" Stotch coming out of the bathroom.
"Hey Butters," he said, not slowing down to wait for the boy.
"N..now Eric, you know I've asked all the kids to stop calling me that." Butters said. Cartman smirked.
"Oh right, you want to go by 'Leo' now. Well I've got to tell you Butters, it just doesn't suit you and I don't approve."
"And now students, if you would all stand and following me in the Pledge of Allegiance…" At that, Butters stopped where he was and placed his hand on his chest.
"W…wait, Eric where're you going?"
"To class Butters, why do you always ask such stupid questions?" Cartman said, still not stopping.
"B..but we have to recite the pledge!…I pledge allegiance, to the flag…" Cartman was spared the rest of Butters' protest as he strutted down the hall.
Ah, junior year. He was finally an upperclassman and now high school could really start. Coach had just moved him up to a starter and he was going to make his name on the field this year, he could feel it. Already, just walking into school felt different. He was already getting uncertain glances from a few lingering people in the hallways and he caught the eye of one or two freshman girls.
He smiled at them smugly. He had finally hit his growth spurt in the middle of last year and sprouted to an impressive 6'1. Working out for the football team added muscle and tone to his naturally large build and gave him a ferocity that the football team could be proud of. And all of the girls had certainly noticed. He no longer needed to manipulate and blackmail them into dates—he found that many of them were more than willing to sleep with him and some even found his abrasive and distant behavior a turn on (something about distant fathers….but what the hell, he would take it).
Cartman paused outside of his homeroom classroom, glaring at the name plate on the outside. Rowe, Cartman thought with disgust. What an asshole. He pushed the door open and the class looked up to see who dare arrived late to Mr. Rowe's homeroom. But Mr. Rowe didn't look up from the newspaper he was reading behind his desk.
Cartman made his way to the back of the room and sat down in an empty seat next to Kyle. "Sup Jew?" Kyle didn't even have to look up from his book.
"Sup fatass?"
"Let me see your schedule." Without a word, Kyle slid his schedule over to Cartman's desk and he glanced it over. "Hmm, just history this time around.'
"Hmm." Kyle glanced over at Cartman's schedule. "No look, study hall." Cartman laughed.
"I don't go to that class you dumbass."
"Whatever fuck-tard. Oh dude, you have Rowe for first period? That sucks." Cartman frowned and snatched the schedule out of Kyle's hand.
"The fuck!"
"And that concludes the morning announcements. Have a great first day!"
"Balls." Cartman muttered under his breath. The bell rang seconds later and Kyle gathered his books.
"See you at lunch fatass." He said following everyone else out of the room.
Sighing, Cartman shrugged out of his jacket. He would get stuck with this asshole for first period—the only class that he would have every single day. It wasn't that he minded English class, he was actually very good at it. But he'd heard about all of the bullshit that Rowe had pulled with Wendy from Stan and…
Speak of the devil.
Wendy walked into the room and set her things down in the first row before approaching Mr. Rowe's desk. Cartman didn't think twice about picking up his things and moving next to her.
"Hi Mr. Rowe, how was your summer?" Wendy asked politely. Mr. Rowe lowered the newspaper he was reading a bit to see who had dared address him.
"What do you want Testaburger?" He asked, not looking at her. Wendy swallowed, trying to convince herself to continue.
Damn it! She criticized herself. She would freeze every time!
"I…um…uh…well it's about The Herald…" She started.
"Oh right. First meeting after school today." He said. "Guess I should have put that in the announcements. Good catch, Testaburger." Wendy beamed at his compliment and deciding that was enough progress for now, retreated to her seat. She frowned upon seeing who had decided to join her.
"What are you doing in here Cartman?" Cartman gave her an evil grin.
"Sup ho? I did not realize we were in the same English class." Wendy scoffed.
"You're obviously in the wrong place. This is AP English."
"Hmm, well it would appear I'm exactly in the right place, bitch." Cartman said, looking at his schedule.
"And how did you get into AP English?" He just smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her daily planner.
The first half of the morning passed quickly but by lunch time, Wendy was already exhausted. She set all of her things down next to Stan and gave him a quick peck on the lips before diving into her food.
"Rough day?" Stan asked, sensing something was wrong.
"It just looks like it's going to be a really hard year." She said though a bite of her sandwich. "Having Rowe for first period is really going to suck. I already have a project to start working on for that asshole, three chapters to read in history, and—" she took another bite of her sandwich. "I still have three classes to go, plus the Herald meeting after school."
"Slow down Wendy," Kyle said with a laugh. "You sound like Cartman with all that food in your mouth." Wendy paused and turned to look at Kyle with ice in her eyes.
"Don't. Ever. Compare me to that fat asshole." She said coldly.
"That's right Kyle." Cartman said setting his stuff down next to Kenny.
Wendy jumped, and for a split second felt a twinge of remorse. As revolting and annoying as Cartman was, she always tried her best not to let her anger get the best of her and usually kept these thoughts to herself.
"You just can't compare my magnificence to this pathetic hippie." Cartman concluded, diving into his food.
Then again, it was Cartman.
"Shut up Cartman," Wendy and Stan said at the same time. Cartman rolled his eyes.
"Hey Stan, you up for another round?" Kyle asked, sneaking his pack of cards out of his pockets.
"Dude, seriously? Again?" Kenny asked. But Stan had already pulled his cards out.
Wendy looked at her boyfriend, hoping that he'd see her look of disappointment. This was a frequent happening at lunch. Stan would always have something to do with Kyle, whether it be studying or some bizarre new adventure and she often played second string.
"You guys are such fags, Pokemon is so gay." Cartman said loudly. The boys ignored him as per usual, but looking at Wendy, Cartman noticed a look he had never seen before.
"Well I'm gonna go eat with Bebe and the girls…" Wendy said, slowly starting to pack her lunch up. Cartman raised an eyebrow. He recognized this move. Was she…trying to get Stan's attention?
Stan didn't respond as he eagerly continued his conversation with Kyle. Cartman watched her intently and could almost see her thought process as she tried to figure out what to do next. She was so easy to read as she practically wore her emotions on her sleeve. Cartman chuckled. She just made it was too easy.
"Stan?" She said quietly. When he didn't respond again, she picked up her things and started heading for Bebe's table.
"Oh hey Wendy—" Stan finally looked up. "Where did she go?" Cartman frowned.
"She left, you dumbass." He said. He never understood how Stan could be so inattentive to his devoted girlfriend. If he had a girlfriend like that… Cartman shook the thought out of his head. Steady girlfriends weren't his thing.
"Did she say anything about needing a ride after school?" Stan said, looking around hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Cartman scoffed.
"Well she has that stupid newspaper shit after school—"
"Dude just text her later, we only have like ten minutes left of lunch." Kyle interrupted, bringing Stan's attention back to the game. Cartman rolled his eyes and picked up his food.
"Fuck this. See you later, fags."