Chapter 11
Wendy walked into school on Friday with her head high. Sure, she had planned events for student council before, organized debates on political issues she was passionate about, but none of that seemed to really compare to taking South Park High to the math team state championship!
"BEBE!" Wendy yelled as she ran up to her best friend, who was talking with Nicole. "We made it to state!"
"Wow Wendy congrats!" Bebe giggled as she embraced her friend. She never understood why Wendy enjoyed doing math so much outside of class but if it made her happy that's all that matters.
"Bebe I am so happy! We have been working all year at this; I can't believe its actually happening!"
"Congrats Wendy! " Nicole smiled at Wendy, pleased to see her so excited about her accomplishments. She secretly was interested in joining math team as well, however cheerleading kept her too busy. It was nice to see the team doing well though. "I guess Craig didn't drag you guys down too badly after all."
"No." Wendy was suddenly defensive. "Actually its because of him we are going through! He worked really hard and got more right than Butters!"
"Really? That's actually pretty impressive. Sorry about that, I guess I never saw him work hard before." Nicole could be thoughtless sometimes, but she was one of those wonderful types of people who can admit when they are wrong. Bebe and Wendy are not always like that, so it was quite nice to be around someone who was.
"For some reason he doesn't try very hard in school. I think he's starting to turn that around though. Anyway, I've got to go find Red and Lola. We're still meeting up this weekend right?"
"OH yeah I forgot! We have to help Red get with Tweek!" Bebe smiled, setting up people was almost her favorite thing to do, only second to shopping. "Meet at my house before the concert so we can pick out her an outfit and make plans and everything!"
"Will do! See you girls later!" Wendy ran off; she needed to talk strategy with Lola and Red! The state competition was about a month away, right before break and finals.
Nicole looked at Bebe and raised her eyebrows. "Does she really not realize Craig is in love with her?"
Bebe smiled. "You don't know Wendy, Nicole. If the dude isn't vomiting on her she doesn't think he gives two shits about her. It's better this way though. If she knew, she would be freaking out and overthinking every interaction. She will figure out what she wants on her own; she just needs time."
Nicole just nodded and looked away from Bebe, feeling an uncharacteristic pang of jealousy. Wendy didn't even realize how good of a friend she had! Bebe knew what Wendy needed more than she did herself. Nicole thought of how odd their friendship was to begin with. Bebe and Wendy were in completely different social circles, yet they managed to keep their friendship completely intact. Hell, just them sitting together was weird. Nicole liked Wendy, Red and Lola a lot but if it weren't for Bebe, she never would have talked to them. I wonder if their friendship is really strong, or if high school is just easier than everyone makes it out to be, Nicole thought to herself. Sitting with Stan and Kyle, she felt a strong social divide, a huge sense of us vs them. When they sat with Wendy and her friends, it was just a bunch of teenagers hanging out. Maybe they all didn't dress the same or have the same interests, but they still had a good time together. It's better like that, I think.
At lunch, Craig's group of friends sat down with Wendy and her friends. It had become a new routine, which everyone was quite happy with. For the most part. Lola was slightly upset that everyone seemed to sit with the person they liked except her! She sighed and looked over at the table with Kenny, Cartman, Kyle, Butters, Stan, Rebecca, and Heidi. She really wanted to talk with him, but she would never go sit with Stan when he cheated on her best friend. I guess I will have to find another way to talk to him, she thought glumly.
"Hey Clyde, is it Scott's turn to have people over now?" Token looked towards his friend.
"Yeah, I think so. I went last time, and he usually goes right after me."
"Oh! Is Scott Malkinson having a party?!" Bebe's eyes sparked in excitement as she asked Clyde about the party. Bebe loved going to parties.
A slight flush appeared on Clyde's face, but for once in his life he was able to keep his cool. He must have borrowed a page out of Craig's book.
"Yeah Bebe it's a tradition. After each jazz band concert we have, we have a party to celebrate. It's just a lot of fun."
"Neat! So we will have something to do after." Bebe smiled at Clyde, and true to his nature, he blushed so deeply he put Red's hair to shame.
"Craig, are you in the jazz band as well?" Wendy looked across at Craig.
Token laughed. "Wendy, are you honestly surprised to hear about Craig being involved in something musical at this point? For a while it was definitely the only reason he came to school."
Craig just laughed and punched his friend on the arm. Nicole looked at Token and shot him a quick smile. He really is one to talk up his friends, I never knew that about him before.
The bell rang and they headed out of the cafeteria. Wendy picked her head up as she walked past Stan, not even giving him a side-glance. He glanced at her for a second, then almost aggressively put his arm around Rebecca, drawing her in for a kiss. She smiled and giggled, continuing to kiss him. Rebecca was not a very nice girl, but she did really like Stan. Sometimes she got self conscious that he might still like Wendy, so she tried to bash Wendy and her friends as much as she possibly could. Growing up in homeschool didn't give her very good outlets for dealing with negativity.
On Saturday, all the girls met at Bebe's place. Wendy, Lola and Red had not gone to a party since the disastrous event during Homecoming. This would also be Wendy's first concert. Red and Lola had gone to a Jonas Brothers concert when they were younger.
"It's really not that big of a deal you guys! All you have to do is pick out a cute top with jeans, cute flats, maybe wedges, makeup not too dark! It's simple really." Bebe said matter of factly as she straightened Wendy's hair.
"Ugh!" Red threw herself on Bebe's bed. " Why is this so difficult?! I seriously just want to TALK to Tweek and have a good conversation. Why is that so difficult?"
"Because Tweek shakes uncontrollably and you turn as Red as your hair when he's around" Lola explained as Nicole pulled her hair into a braid.
Wendy giggled as she put on a light shade of brown eye shadow. She never liked putting on too much makeup anyway. This would be the first time she put on makeup for a while. I forgot how fun this is.
"Well we don't want to be too late." Wendy had finished up her eyeliner and was ready to go.
"Alright, does anyone else find it funny were basically the groupies for the jazz band tonight?"
Bebe's comment elicited giggles from the rest of the girls. They spent the rest of the way there talking about the guys in jazz band, who they thought was cutest, how they couldn't believe that Scott Malkinson was throwing parties, etc. Wendy listened but didn't really participate. Thinking about it, she would have to say Craig was definitely the cutest boy in jazz band. He was getting pretty fit from running each day. To the outside observer, his face was fairly expressionless, but his dark brown eyes were definitely the windows to his soul. Wendy could tell when he was deep in thought, although it was difficult to discern the reason behind it. Adding that to the musician vibe Craig gave off made him quite attractive. He's actually really handsome; I think I would say hot even…Wait what am I even saying? Wendy blushed to herself and shook herself out of her thoughts. They had arrived at the school.
The girls filed into the auditorium giggling. Soon the audience shushed and the director came out. He started speaking but none of the girls were listening. Wendy scanned through the band, looking for Craig. She spotted him in the saxophone section, adjusting his mouthpiece. His eyes jumped around the audience, but he never made eye contact with her. He probably can't see anything from the lights, Wendy thought.
Soon, the band started to play. Wendy looked at the girls, they seemed to actually like it!
"Look at Tweek, he looks so cute!" Rebecca whispered.
I am surprised he's so good! I thought with his spazzes he wouldn't be able to keep a steady beat. To Wendy's surprise, Tweek was actually a very accurate player. His jitters even seemed to go down. I guess music is good for him.
Soon, Craig stood up and went towards the microphone. He started to play and Wendy was captivated. She never even really liked jazz, but the energy and spark Craig put into the song held her interest greatly. Craig didn't really seem like the type of person to be super expressive, but Wendy was less surprised than the other girls. She was getting to know him pretty well. The song was over, and the next one started. She glanced at her other friends in the band, Token on the Trumpet and Clyde playing trombone. I never thought I would find myself here. Wendy thought of her usual Saturday nights, studying in her room until she wanted to go to bed. This is way better! Maybe breaking up with Stan helped me become more adventurous.
After the concert was over, they met up with the boys.
"So when are we going to Scotts?! By the way you looked cute up where with your trombone." Bebe winked at Clyde who blushed furiously.
"oh, uh thanks Bebe. Yeah lets head out!"
The group piled into two cars and soon were at Scotts house. Wendy went in, feeling a bit apprehensive. Parties still weren't exactly her scene, and she was a bit nervous considering her experiences at her last party. She rejected a drink from Bebe and watched as the other girls started drinking some jungle juice and laughing with the boys. She joined in, enjoying herself to a certain extent. She smiled as she saw Red actually talking with Tweek. She seemed to have gotten some confidence from the alcohol. Wendy liked seeing her friends happy and loosening up.
"Wendy, come play beer pong with me." Craig was walking towards the beer pong table, playing against Token and Clyde.
"Craig, I don't want to drink though."
"It's fine, just play with me. I won't make you drink." Craig was a little tipsy; Wendy had not seen him like this before.
"Alright then" She giggled and took the ping pong ball. "What do I do?"
Craig slowly explained the rules for her. He was surprisingly good at the game, while Wendy was awful. They just about balanced out each other, but Clyde and Token were very good. Craig seemed to be chugging a cup of beer every few minutes.
"Craig I am sorry, I am so bad." Wendy did feel guilty for making him drink so much.
"ItsalrightWendydontworryboutit" Craig slurred, he had taken shots with Tweek right before the game, and it all had hit him. He really was not looking so good. Wendy looked on with concern. Did he always binge drink like this?
"Don't worry Wendy he gets like this a lot" Token whispered to Wendy, walking past her on his way to talk to Nicole.
"This isn't alright though…Craig I am going to take you home."
"Awesome" Craig mumbled to himself, getting into the passenger seat of his own car, handing the keys to Wendy.
The car ride was surprisingly silent, pulling up to Craig's house in a short amount of time.
"Don't make me stay here, Wendy."
"What? Why not?" Wendy looked at Craig. " I thought that things were better since your dad left."
"You could cut the tension in my house with a knife. They need me so much, its so hard. I worry about him coming back every day. He broke my collarbone in 5th grade, you know." Craig rambled on, not noticing the horrified look Wendy gave him.
"You can stay on my couch Craig, its fine." Wendy was honestly in shock Craig had told her so much. She remembered him breaking his collarbone, but he had told everyone he fell off his bike.
At Wendy's house, she prepared the couch downstairs for him. She pulled a garbage can to the side of the couch, put it on top of a towel, and got a clean blanket, sheet and pillow for Craig.
"There, now if you have to puke try to make it to the bathroom, but just in case you can go here. I left some paper towels here so if you make a mess. There's a glass of water, and if you want more the kitchen is right around the corner. " She pulled the blanket up to his chin. "There, you should be comfy now."
"Thanks Wendy" He mumbled and looked into her eyes. He felt his heart beat faster looking at her. He wanted to tell her how he felt, with her taking care of him like this. I want to take care of you. Even in his inebriated state he couldn't make the words come out.
"Wendy, I think you'd be a good mom." Craig's eyes closed and he fell fast asleep.
Wendy smiled. "Goodnight Craig." She went upstairs and told her parents she had a friend over, then took a quick shower and went to sleep.