Chapter Four

Tuesday Evening 7:00

Wendy's Point of View

I look in the hall mirror and pat down the few stray hairs sticking out on my head, how they dare step out of line I don't know, I run a perfectionist military operation there's no place for fly-aways! I glance down at my outfit one last time, I'm wearing blue skinny jeans which emphasise my toned legs, a pink swirl patterned scoop neck top and a brown tailored jacket: I love this jacket because it makes my waist look super slim. I apply a touch more lip gloss and smiling at my reflection state: "you're looking good girl." I know that the place we're going on our date isn't fancy and I've been on hundreds with Stan but I want to show that I have the same level of enthusiasm he does. I've tried the best that I can to hide the dark circles underneath my eyes and my foundation seems to have done a good enough job. As I'm just about to head out of the door and drive over to Stan's house to pick him up my phone starts ringing, it's Token.

"Hey Token!"

"Hi Wendy, just calling to say I heard through the grapevine that sir loves our project!"

"Really, who was saying that?"

"Clyde, he said it got used as an example for their class who are about to start doing them."

"That's fantastic; all our hard work payed off."

"Well let's face it Wendy, you did most of the hard work, you spent so long on it!"

"Thank you but it was a joint effort Token, you had some incredible ideas."

"Cheers, you deserve a big rest now though; I hope you're stretched out in bed right now with a big tub of ice cream and a romantic comedy to watch!"

"Actually, I'm about to head out to meet Stan..."

"Wow do you ever stop? Where did you get that energy from?"

"Oh ermm I don't know."

"Well anyway I hope you have a nice time tonight."

"Yep, you too, have you got anything planned?"

"No way, I'm whacked, about to go for a bubble bath actually DON'T TELL ANYONE!"

"Ha-ha I promise!"

"I knew I could trust you,' he says laughing, "see you tomorrow."

"You too," and with that I hang up. The truth is Token, I really don't think I have the energy to keep up this bravado, I should have cancelled when he gave me the chance, I just wasn't sure if he really meant what he said! I sit down and take a deep breath: I'm already late.

Stan's Point of View

If Wendy arrives now, we'll only be ten minutes late, that's alright NO NEED TO PANIC... I'm sure she's just held up in traffic, (oh yes, there's so much traffic in this small Colorado mountain town.) I shake the thought out of my head; there must be another perfectly good reason why she's late. (Maybe she's fed up with you but just doesn't know how to tell you,) no that's definitely not true, I gave her the opportunity to cancel and she said she'd love to go out with me. Wendy's been late to loads of dates in the past and I've never worried... it's just that she did seem off with me this morning, or is that all in my imagination? I jump as my phone vibrates; this is going to be Wendy cancelling isn't it. I slowly pull my phone out and look at it, oh wait its flashing green, it's Kyle:

"Hey dude, I went to the dentist after school and without warning he pulled out two of my teeth! Apparently my mouth is too small for them all to fit... anyway it hurts like hell!"

"Dude I do feel your pain but telling me things like that makes you sound very gay, MAN UP." I laugh, hit send and put my phone back in my front jeans pocket, well that's distracted me for all of a minute. Just then I hear a honking from outside, there was never a need to panic then, she's only fifteen minutes late after all, I grab my jacket and noticing that it's snowing outside grab my hat too. I don't bother to shout goodbye as I head out of the front door, nobody would shout back anyway.

"Hey babe," I say as I climb into the passenger seat of her light blue Renault, she loves this car and keeps it in spotless condition, I notice her frown when snow falls off my shoes and onto the mat. I laugh 'It's just snow Wends it will melt!'

"I know," she replies with a wink, "I'm just messing with you, so where are we heading?"

"Well, I had reservations for that new Italian restaurant that's just opened but I don't think we'll make it now."

Wendy looked guilty, "I'm sorry that I'm late Stan, are you sure we can't make it if I flaw it?"

"Yeah it gets very busy they'll be serving another couple by now, but don't worry we can go somewhere else, how about City Wok?" I know how much she loves Chinese.

"I love Chinese," she replies half heartedly but with a smile on her face.

"I know you do, I am your boyfriend." I reply bitterly, I didn't mean it to come out that bitter but it's obvious that she still doesn't want to go out with me!

An awkward silence fills the car as Wendy starts to drive toward the town centre. "So why were you late?" I decide to ask as I look over at Wendy, she keeps her eyes fixed on the road and seems to be deciding very carefully what to say, after a few moments she replies:

"Token phoned."

I clench my fists and take a deep breath, "oh really, what about?" I try to say as calmly as possible.

"About the History project."

"Wendy you finished that stupid project this morning!" I snap.

"Yes but he'd heard that the teacher liked it."

"Of course the bloody teacher liked it; you worked on it long enough." I glare at her.

"I knew you'd get annoyed, you never understand!" She retorts.

"Oh whatever makes you think that Wendy? My girlfriend talks to her ex-boyfriend on the phone about a project they've spent all their time working on together, whilst I sit at home waiting patiently to treat her to a nice romantic meal! How could that possibly make me annoyed?"

"Stan you're not being very fair."

"...and to top it all off she acts like the victim!" The car suddenly jolts to a stop as Wendy slams her foot down on the brake.

"How can you be so horrible about me after everything I've done for you? I know you're having a bad time but that doesn't mean you have to take it out on me! I am trying my hardest to stay upbeat for you but it's getting a lot harder than it used to be," she yells.

"Oh so what you're saying is that being my boyfriend IS A CHORE?"

"WELL IF YOU WANT TO PUT IT LIKE THAT THEN YES STAN THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'M SAYING!"

"Well then you know what you can do about it," I say coldly hoping that she'll realise what she's said and apologise.

Wendy sighs, "the thought hadn't even crossed my mind until this point but I'm starting to think that we should... take a break."

"W-w-what," I stutter, "NO PLEASE WENDY, we can make this work DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"I have to Stan; at least for a little while, you leave me with no choice," she said solemnly, "I'll take you back home."

"DON'T BOTHER!" I yell as I shove the door open and force myself out, slamming it behind me. I turn and run towards the direction of my house, annoyingly I can feel the warm tears stinging my face as the cold wind blows. Even discovering dad's secret hurt nowhere near as much as this.


A/N: I hope you've all enjoyed what I've written so far, this is my first time writing a story so I'm very interested to hear any thoughts and whether you're on Stan or Wendy's side!? Thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed. More to come very soon!