I was supposed to get this finished last week but I was too busy playing World of Warcraft LOL. Also, Dark Souls is a children's book in this fic. Let that sink in.

Chapter 14

Twenty-two-year-old Wendy Testaburger, wearing simply a pink tank top, black yoga pants that only went down halfway to her calves, and flip-flops, speedwalked with panic through the summer morning streets of west South Park. Having been told of Stan's possible whereabouts by Dr. Artour Babaev just two days ago, Wendy was on her last possible address according to the note the Canadian doctor gave her. All of the other possible addresses given only resulted in Wendy being seen as clueless or possible even malevolent.

She stopped on the sidewalk at a corner as she waited for her turn to cross the street to the other side. Beyond the intersection was an apartment complex on the right side met by a wide-open parking lot. On the left across the street from the aforementioned complex was a brothel, newly built and furnished, called "Super Fun Time". It brought her back to remind her of the time when Fred Cruz became the president, shortly after Wendy had just started her freshman year in college. Between the president and the legislation, they decided that it would be a good idea to outlaw birth control entirely because they felt teens were abusing birth control too often for their own desires and forgetting about their real responsibilities because of it. While the ravenous opposition of such creation would prove very obviously powerful, the bill, as if by some dark miracle, eventually came to pass.

Unfortunately, that led to an increase of childbirth over the last two years (as well as abortions).

When a bill as powerful as this one eventually goes so very wrong, the natural thing to do would be to lean far back the other way as much as possible in a knee-jerk reaction. Thus the legislation not only re-allowed birth control, but also legalized prostitution. Being who Wendy is as a person, she hated seeing men waste away their life savings just to have one more fun accompaniment by a seedy woman. So naturally, the sight of a brothel so close to the last place Stan could possibly be made her sick to the stomach.

Making her way to the apartment complex, Wendy pulled out the piece of paper Dr. Babaev had given her, Stan's address written on that paper. Seeing that Stan's apartment was number 214, the hundredth digit noting that he was likely on the second floor, Wendy wasted no time making her to the building, walking up the stairs, and walked the balcony not quite all the way to the corner, but up to where 214 was. The window was open, and Wendy could clearly hear what was going on inside, so Wendy glued her back to the wall next to the right of the window, strafed slightly to her right, and out of the corner of her right eye she took in everything that went on inside the apartment. The apartment was rather small, and there appeared to be only two more doorways, one that led into a bedroom and another that likely led into a bathroom. There was one couch in front of the TV, which had a pillow on one end, telling Wendy that Cory likely slept on the couch every night.

"Daddy, I want my Cookie." Two-year-old Cory Marsh sat in his high chair as he tried to reach to the dining table for his teddy bear.

"After we finish the story." Stan held a picture book in his lap as he sat in another regular chair. He was only wearing a white undershirt and black basketball shorts.

"Please?" Cory brought his palms together, as if he was saying a prayer. Cory had a rather short attention span in that he was obsessed with his teddy bear Cookie. Stan gave the brown teddy bear over to Cory and Cory immediately hugged it tightly. "Yay."

"Anyways." Stan continued to read the story. "''The First Flame quickly fades. Darkness will shortly settle. But one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness. Like embers, linked by lords past.' The fire keeper paused for a few seconds, and then as the world faded to complete blackness she spoke her final words. 'Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?''" Those were the last words the book had. Stan scanned the back cover of the book then at the front cover. "Sheesh, this is dark. Well, I guess that's why they call this book 'Dark Souls 3 Abridged'. But still, this doesn't seem like it's supposed to be a children's book. And the last part I just read I swear my mom tells me this all the time."

"What, daddy?" Cory asked.

"Nothing. I...gotta remember that last part." Stan looked up at his son, who was still infatuated with his own teddy bear, and narrowed his eyes. "You didn't pay attention to the last part of the story at all did you?"

"Huh?" Cory took his eyes off his own teddy bear and looked at his dad in confusion.

Stan sighed again. He picked stood up and picked up Cory, holding him against his own chest with his left arm, his right hand placing the book on the dining table. "You're a smart kid, Cory. You're like - you're like only two, and already you can speak nearly full sentences. You're a lot like your mom Wendy." Stan, still holding Cory, paced around the dining table as he continued to speak. Cory was still busy focused on his teddy bear. Stan let out a harsh exhale. "If only she were with me...keeping her stupid promise."

Initially, Wendy was relieved that Stan seemed to do a good job taking care of Cory by himself for the last two years, but Stan's last words put a dent in Wendy's heart, causing her to sink down to the floor. Throughout all this time she still had her back against the wall literally, next to the window, and from the balcony she could see the brothel across the street. Her next words were softly to herself. "I...I let Stan down...I should have been there for him. Oh God, I miss Cory also. How could I do that to my own son?"

Unfortunately, Wendy made a little too much noise standing up again, and from inside, Stan quickly heard some rustling of clothes. His heartbeats quickened, adrenaline starting to flow through his body. He was certain someone was eavesdropping on him, but he wasn't sure who. "Who's there?!"

Cory immediately took his eyes off his teddy bear and looked upon his dad, his heart beating as well. "D-daddy?" Nervously, Cory clutched his teddy bear tighter.

From outside, Wendy realized that she caught Stan's attention, but she wasn't sure of what to do. Oh shit, what do I do? I want to see Cory, but I don't think Stan will let me. Should I run? Take Cory with me and run? Or maybe kick Stan in the shin? Why not all at the same time?

Of course though, Wendy spent too long thinking and too little committing to one action, so when the door opened, Stan looked around to see the beautiful Wendy Testaburger to his left standing nervously. Studying her features closely, normally any man would be captivated by such beauty, but for Stan, it brought back of painful memories past. He felt his jaw drop, but certainly not due to good feelings. "Wendy?"

Wendy slowly turned to Stan, still frozen from fear. Unsure of how Stan was going to react, Wendy only showed a meek, dumb smile. "Uh...hi?"

Stan closed his mouth, slightly curling his lips. He could feel the hurt in his heart from what Wendy did two years ago, but he still managed to maintain composure. "What are you doing here?" The words came out a little too quickly for Wendy's taste, she could tell Stan wasn't exactly friendly to her, and with good reason.

Wendy walked over to the doorway to Stan's home. "I...wanted to see Cory." She peered into the apartment to see Cory staring back at Wendy, still gripping his teddy bear to his heart. "Hi, Cory," Wendy waved with her left hand.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Stan backed into the apartment and tried to shut the door. Wendy, however, reacted just as quickly, throwing her entire body against the door to try to push it back open. After a few seconds, Stan did end up overpowering Wendy and managed to close the door, but not before she staggered through the doorway and into the apartment. "Ugh...seriously, Stan?" Wendy was slowly starting to catch her breath again as she regained balance.

Stan folded his arms, still unhappy at the company. "You - you wanna explain to me w-why you're here?" Underneath Stan's harsh tone was extreme nervousness.

Wendy could detect Stan's discomfort through his slightly broken speech. She put her right hand on Stan's left shoulder to try to calm him down. "Stan's I am so, so sorry-"

"No!" Stan immediately smacked Wendy's hand away from his shoulder. "T-two years, Wendy! Two f-fucking years! You're two years too late!" Just as Stan's tone escalated, Cory started crying loudly into his teddy bear. Stan went over to pick up Cory, rubbing his back to try to comfort their crying son. "Now you're - you're just going to come back into my life...tell me your sorry?!"

"Me? Sorry? You're the one who took advantage of me at that party!" Wendy shot back, making herself louder so that she could be heard over Cory's crying. She continued inching towards Stan.

"I thought this is about you wanting to say you're sorry!" Stan let out a growl as he continued to try to get away from Wendy, now putting the dining table between each other. "Don't forget about the promise you made me back in the doctor's office two years ago!"

"I..." Wendy's tone lowered now as it struck her again. "...I..."

"Y-you k-know, how you always bag on others to keep their promises?" Stan felt Cory slightly slipping through his grip so he picked him up again. "You said you were going to visit me once a week, for the good of Cory." Seeing Wendy again was so emotionally taxing on Stan that he had to pause for a few seconds before continuing on. "But then when people show me your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I always see you post about hang out with other guys, pretending you don't even have a fucking son at all? But you know what? It's not about that, it's that I'm happy, Wendy. I'm happy I know who you really are now. You're someone who can't be counted on! You're someone who can just bail on the people you love! And I'm referring to your son, in case you still don't get it!" Stan pulled up a chair from the dining table and sat down, mentally drained from such a poignant situation.

Ironically, those words were the exact same Wendy told Stan back when he broke up with her when they were both ten when Stan tried to make money off the Washington Redskins franchise. "That's...that's why I came back." Wendy also pulled up a chair across from Stan and sat down. She placed her arms on the table, buried her own head into them, and began to cry. "I-I-I'm s-so sorry! I'm a horrible mother! I shouldn't have left you, I-I want to see Cory again!"

"I...I...guess y-you get it now." Seeing both Wendy and Cory cry made Stan really uncomfortable. Everything gave Stan a massive headache and heartache. For about three entire minutes, Stan was dead silent as the other two continued to sob. Stan, too, wanted to cry, but ended up resisting. And despite the amount of contempt Stan held for Wendy, he could clearly see the hurt on her, he realized that her mistakes also affected her as well. Lastly, he remembered that it was his lust that caused all of this in the first place, so in the end, Stan wanted to be the one to give out a reaching hand, and a loving one at that. "Do you want to hold Cory?"

"Yes!" Wendy wasted no time taking Cory (and his teddy bear) from Stan and cradling him in her arms.

Cory, however panicked, realizing he was being taken by a woman he didn't know. "Daddy!" He tried to reach out, but Stan only sat there. Cory continued to cry, still threatened by the woman unknown to him.

After a few minutes, both Wendy and Cory stopped crying. Cory finally figured out that Wendy wouldn't hurt him, and Wendy was able to maintain some semblance of sanity again. Stan thought for a moment before continuing on. "Do you still wanna see Cory again?"

"Yes, please, Stan, I will honestly do anything just to be with him," Wendy said with pure confidence. "Whatever you want."

Stan nodded. "So anyways, in case you're wondering, I'm working at City Wok and the grocery store, you know, from where we used to go when we grow up. I'm also taking online classes now, can't really major in electrical engineering like I originally planned anymore because of...you know." Wendy listened closely to Stan's every word as she held Cory, who was now playing with his teddy bear again. "Thing is, my dad offered me a job to work with him at the Geology Center, and my interview is tomorrow, and I need someone to take care of Cory. I was going to ask my mom...until you showed up. Are you in?"

"Yes! I am fucking in!" Wendy immediately covered her mouth afterwards, realizing she just swore in front of Cory. "Oops, I probably shouldn't have said that." She let out a few giggles as Cory broke free of Wendy and moved over to Stan.

"Yeah, he is very fast at learning new words, trust me." Stan got up, opened the dishwasher, and got out an empty class. He went over to the refrigerator to fill it up with ice first, then water. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No thanks," Wendy replied.

"I told Cory he'd turn out just like you." Stan then sat back down at his chair.

"I heard from the outside." Wendy took another look around, and the more she thought about it, the more the apartment seemed smaller to Wendy than when she first saw it from outside in. "Honestly I'm amazed how you lasted two years like this."

"It wasn't that easy." Stan took a sip of water, placed the glass on the table, then took his eyes off Wendy and looked down at his palms that rested on his lap.

"What did you end up reading to Cory anyways?" Wendy used her right hand to slide the book that Stan read to Cory over to her end of the table and rotated it so that it was right-side up from her point of view. "'Dark Souls 3 Abridged.' Isn't this like...a really dark fantasy video game?"

"It is, bought it because I found it interesting someone made this into a children's book," Stan replied.

After a few moments, Wendy stood up from her chair. "I should get going, I'm supposed to meet my friends today in the mall here. Did you need anything else before I go?"

"No." Stan turned to Cory, who still stood next to Stan to his right. "Go ahead and say goodbye to your mother."

"That's mommy?" Cory looked up to Stan, and Stan nodded in response. He turned back to Wendy, studying her features closely. He saw something familiar in Wendy, but he couldn't quite put his tongue on it. Still holding his teddy bear tightly with his left arm, he let out a shy, modest wave with his right. "B-bye mommy."

Wendy came around the table and picked Cory up to hug him tightly. "I'll be here tomorrow, okay?" she whispered just loudly enough for Stan to barely hear. Cory simply nodded, and soon after he was let back down into his chair. When Wendy opened the front door, she looked back at Stan one last time. "Stan, I know things weren't really clean between us and...I'm sorry I ignored you and...you know, broke the promise I made. I did it because..."

Stan waited for a few seconds for Wendy to continue, but she didn't. "Because?"

Wendy gave out a long sigh. "My sorority didn't want me to have anything to do with your son. They're super pretentious about their self image. They think that if the other fraternities found out that I have a child, my sorority will think that other fraternities will think I'm just a slut and they'll never talk to me, and it will mean that I...you know...get kicked or something.

"That's awful," Stan replied. "Have you ever thought of leaving them?"

"I have some really good friends in there, including Bebe," Wendy replied. "I can't just leave them."

"Well sure you can, it's just, uh..." But then it hit Stan on why Wendy was stuck in her sorority. "Oh. Right."

Stan stood up from his chair. Wendy came up to Stan and hugged him. Both could feel warmth, and both could feel their hearts flutter upon contact. "I'll see you soon," Wendy whispered. With a last wave, Wendy walked out the door.

Closing the door, she felt finally relieved, finally free from all guilt. But she looked out the balcony and she saw the brothel once again, staring out at her. There was something amiss about that place, but she couldn't quite put her tongue on it.

Claire Stotch crunched down on her Cheerios at a regular pace. To her, it was just going to be another day at school. No whining, no more drama than necessary, all would be good in due time.

"Butters, make sure you get that recipe book from Eric back. I'll get groceries for tonight." Lola, in her work uniform, waved goodbye at Butters and Claire while she carried four-month-old Hector. "And good luck at school, Claire." She then walked out the door and closed it.

"Guess it's my turn to take you to school today, huh?" Butters said.

"Yep." Claire took another bite out of her Cheerios then looked back at her dad. "Mom's taking Hector to grandma and grandpa, right?"

"To her parents, not mine," Butters replied. "Comeon, let's get to school."

Claire finished eating, got her backpack, and got into the passenger seat of the car, with Butters at the wheel. The car backed out of the driveway, turned to the west towards the school, and started going in that direction. While driving, Claire had a burning question in her mind, so she looked upon her father, who was busy looking at the road. "Dad, have you ever snitched on anyone?"

"Why, I have, but then I was beat up afterward, usually by Eric Cartman, why?" Butters did not take his eyes off the road, his face showing no emotion.

"Oh...um..." Claire panicked. She certainly did not want to be beat up, she could remember the times last year she was picked on. "Just hypothetically."

"A lot of kids don't like being snitched on," Butters replied. "I mean, they don't want to be told on for their bad deeds. It's also peer pressure. You didn't do anything bad at school did you, Claire?"

"What? No. I was just wondering."

When they got to the front of the school, Butters pulled up into the parking lot and stopped into a stall. As Claire took her backpack and got out, Butters gave one last wave at his daughter. "Have a good day at school!"

"Bye dad!" Claire waved back.

Claire went through the front doors to the school, and there seemed to be nothing unusual today. Children were talking with each other, some shoving each other. She went into the middle hallway where she met Leslie Donovan by a drinking fountain. "Oh hey, Claire."

"Hey, anything going on today?" Claire asked. "Did John find out about us snitching on him yet?"

Leslie shook her head. "No, he didn't even talk about it. I don't think he got called into the office yet. You know Principal Victoria say she was kinda busy right?"

"I thought she'd get it done sooner," Claire responded.

"Just wait, it will be soon enough," Leslie reassured.

As the two girls continued down the hallway, they rounded a corner and a few yards in front of them was Cory Marsh putting his own backpack in his locker. As he shut the door, he turned around to see Nikki Cartman standing behind him. "Ah!" After realizing that it was Nikki, he groaned loudly. "Ugh, what is with all these people standing behind me all the time?"

"Woah, woah, dude calm down." Nikki put her right hand on Cory's left shoulder. "It's just me."

"Every time I'm at my locker every morning, something bad happens." Cory's voice was whiny, although it wasn't surprising to Nikki why he's so stressed all the time. "So what do ya want?"

"I just wanted to say hi, that's all," Nikki replied.

"Oh. Um...hi." Cory didn't know what else to say. He couldn't think of anything to talk about, and unfortunately for him, it made things really awkward, especially in front of a girl. His mind was racing, trying to find something worthy of conversation, but nothing was working.

"So how's your day going?" It wasn't really a sincere question, it was just a way for Nikki to try to make Cory more sociable. It was one of those questions one would ask when two people want to talk but have nothing on their mind to say.

"A-a-alright, I guess." Cory was quiet in tone like usual. Obsessing over not sounding like a dork in front of Nikki caused Cory to stutter a bit.

"How's school?" Nikki asked.

Cory hesitated for a few seconds. It was one of those more personal questions, and despite her friendly advances over the last two days, he still didn't fully trust Nikki yet. "Just fine."

"Come on, what's your grades?" Nikki fluttered her brown eyes, a tactic she commonly used to try to get boys to open up. "Just tell me your highest grade if you're that private."

Nikki's eye movements sent butterflies to Cory's heart so all he could do is blush. As hungry for love as Cory was, it wasn't surprising for the aforementioned tactic to be effective on him. "B-B-B minus, probably borderline C by now." Cory's eyes shifted down to Nikki's shoes, afraid of her reaction. He felt ashamed that he wasn't doing as well in school as other expected of him.

"Oh." Nikki blinked twice as she folded her arms. "Sorry, I just thought that because you didn't really have any friends, you were...you know...nerdy but super smart, in a good way?" Nikki shrugged.

Cory shook his head. "I guess in my case, I t-truly wish that this is just like those stupid high school chick flicks from the eighties or something. Y-you know, nerd is bullied but becomes successful, and the bully gets his just desserts." Cory could never find anything he was good at, another reason why he felt inferior to everyone else all the time. "Oh, why does life have to be so real?"

"Do you ever pay attention to anything Mr. Garrison says?" Nikki kept Cory's face in her sights, but Cory could do nothing but look down at Nikki's shoes.

"No." Cory wasn't very good at being attentive either.

"I know Mr. Garrison says stupid things and horribly racist and sexist shit, and I get pretty annoyed sometimes as well." Cory could remember the times when Nikki used to speak out against Mr. Garrison, but eventually she gave up as Mr. Garrison was too stubborn, and her grades dipped due to being disruptive in class. "But come on, Cory, you have to at least try to pay attention in school."

"That's the thing, I just hate school, period." Cory shook his head. "I don't get the point of school at all, it's pointless. The teachers are annoying and boring, and the other kids here are especially mean."

"I know that the other people can be assholes to you, but you can't let them prevent you from putting an effort into learning," Nikki reasoned.

"I don't want to learn these stupid things," Cory retorted. "I don't get it."

"What do you want to do then?" Nikki was being increasingly frustrated with Cory as seconds passed. In her mind, she couldn't believe how stupid Cory really is, but she avoided saying anything that could offend Cory, after all, she knew he's not exactly at his best mental and emotional state as of now.

"I don't know, play video games, maybe read a few books - just - just anything to take my mind off these stupid, stressful crap." Cory's tone became whinier, which annoyed Leslie.

"Well sheesh, talk about someone being an entitled idiot," Leslie whispered to Claire as they watched Cory and Nikki interact. "I mean seriously, Cory is so stupid, I'm not surprised that he's easily manipulated by everyone else. He makes the other boys at this school look bad, and that's saying something."

"He's insecure." Despite Claire's short response, she did not have any strong opinion of Leslie's insulting comment.

"Yes indeed, you got that right," Leslie agreed.

"Cory, you gotta deal with the responsibilities at some point," Nikki said. "And you should see a counselor."

Cory thought he detected sarcasm at the last few words from Nikki so he defensively narrowed her eyes at her. "Um...thanks." The curt reply was followed up by a frown.

"Let's get to class." Nikki walked towards the classroom with Cory on her tail.

As the two left, Leslie and Claire looked back at each other. "Doesn't look like word has gotten out yet."

"Yeah, that's what I just told you five minutes ago," Leslie reminded. "Come on, let's get to class, don't wanna be late."

When morning recess began, Nikki was at her locker again sorting out her books and papers in them. When she closed her locker door, she turned around to see Kelsey standing behind her. "Oh hey, what's up?"

"Not much to be honest." Kelsey let out a shrug, not taking her eyes off the brunette girl. "Just wanted to say hi, that's all." Kelsey tapped her foot four times thinking of something to say before she found something that might interest Nikki. "Saw you chatting with Cory today."

"Yeah, I was." Nikki clenched her teeth, unsure of what Kelsey was going to think. She folded her arms in a rather defensive manner, ready to hear Kelsey express her well-known distaste for Cory, as per usual.

But Kelsey began by saying things Nikki did not expect. "It's rather sad, you know. He's super messed up in the head. He's like your typical airhead from those kids' cartoon shows. But still, I still hate him for what he did to me."

"I know." Nikki looked down at Kelsey's shoes, still folding her arms. Everytime someone brought up Cory, all Nikki ever heard were bad things about him, and the same backhanded insults at that. "Can we talk about something else now?"

"Yeah, actually, thanks for reminding me." Kelsey paused for a few seconds as her memories came back to her. She cleared her throat. "Toby Hoffman in our class is having a birthday party this coming Saturday."

"Okay, and why should I give a shit?" Nikki raised her right eyebrow at Kelsey. Neither girl had any true feelings about Toby.

"Some of the boys and girls were thinking of crashing his party," Kelsey replied. "Hear he has a swimming pool. You know, bring lots of soda, have a wild party."

"Woah woah woah woah." Nikki let her arms fall as she shook her head in disapproval. "Dude. Why are we trashing his place?"

"We? I didn't even come up with that stupid plan. I'm just telling you because I heard about it and I thought it's something you want to know." Kelsey rolled her eyes. "I mean, I know being a bad girl isn't your cup of tea, but don't bitch at me for it."

Nikki brought her hands out. "Who told you this shit?"

"I heard from Will Malkinson," Kelsey replied.

"Figures." Nikki had a hunch feeling that it was the popular boys behind the plan to crash someone else's upcoming birthday party, but like usual, Nikki wouldn't dare do anything about it, lest she be ostracized by her peers. "And I'm assuming you want me to go with you?"

"Hey, if you don't want to go, then don't, I'm not going to force you to do anything. Besides, I just find this funny somehow Toby and his friends don't know about our plans - I mean, the boys' plans."

Nikki was sure that Kelsey truly wasn't behind any of this. "Alright, I'll think about it, in the meantime though, uh...you know what? I just wanna have a normal day with you today."

Kelsey let out a genuine smile. "Alright. Me and the girls were going to play on the swings, if you're into that."

Nikki grinned back. "Yeah, let's go."

When lunch ended and lunch recess began, Nikki had to split from the rest of her friends to go use the restroom. After she was done, she rounded a corner, but as she got to the door to the playground, she encountered Sam, much to her chagrin. Sam wore a neutral expression, although so far, it was difficult to tell how Sam was truly feeling. "Oh...hey Sam." Nikki's voice was low, inwardly she wasn't happy to see Sam today, but she did her best to remain civil.

"You didn't tell anyone about me and Cory right?" Sam's voice was rather shaky.

Nikki grumbled underneath her breath. "What? No, I told you I wouldn't rat you guys out. I mean, I do care about Cory, but I'm not going to break our promise, jeopardize...you know, whatever's between us."

"Why are you doing this, Nikki?" Sam studied Nikki's frustrated facial expression, as if trying to detect any insincerity from Nikki. "I still don't believe you just woke up one day magically believing Cory is a good person when really you hated him just as much as I do now."

"I..." But Nikki couldn't tell Sam the truth about her true motives and how she really felt, especially after all the talks about her own father.

"It was that egg project we had like two weeks ago when he told you everything, that's my guess." There was no purpose for Nikki to attempt to lie, so she slowly nodded. "Well nothing is going to make us friends again, ever, so that's that. And honestly, I don't care that our dads were friends, because it's like you told me at the fair, right? Don't give a shit about what our parents did when they were our age?"

"Sam, are you listening to yourself right now?" Nikki could nearly cry at this moment, but she still managed to hold back her true emotions. "The fuck is wrong with you? Cory needs help! Why won't you do anything?"

"Because he hated me all along, because he told me to kill myself, are we really going to go through this again?" Sam impatiently turned his back on Nikki.

At that moment, Nikki realized that the entire argument that encompassed the last two days just went full circle and would result in a never ending verbal war between the couple. She let out a drained sigh. "I'm...just going to hang out with some friends."

"You go do that." Sam did not turn back at Nikki, he simply was the first to walk outside.

Nikki raised her fists in the air. "Unbelievable!" She then noticed footsteps behind her, so she turned around, spotting Kelsey. "Oh, it's you."

"I saw everything." Kelsey narrowed her eyes at Nikki. "Whatever's going on between you two...is it really about Cory?" Kelsey held her breath to contain the laughter she nearly burst out because it would have been especially poor taste for her to be rolling on the floor laughing at this moment. Straight outta some poorly written drama...this is too funny, oh my God.

"It's just stupid drama," Nikki grumbled. Kelsey nearly laughed again. "The hell's wrong with you?"

"S-s-sorry, j-just..." Kelsey forced a few coughs to not make herself so obvious. "Nearly choked on water just a minute ago."

"How do you...oh, whatever, I am so annoyed right now." Nikki turned back to the door outside. "Wanna just meet up with the rest of our friends?"

"Yes." Kelsey cleared her throat a few more times. "Let's."

At around 2 PM, back in Mr. Garrison's classroom, the children all sat around bored as Mr. Garrison continued to drone on about his past self. "And so children, Member Berries like to bring back the good memories, but don't remind us anything of the bad. It's like in Rick and Morty in that one episode where many aliens disguised as other people tried to be a part of the Smith family, but they figured out who was fake because the fakes could only recount the good memories." The children who were paying some attention had their jaws dropped on mass confusion.

"Did Mr. Garrison try to relate a drug to a TV show?" Nikki was among one of the confused children.

"Dude, what is going on?" All Kelsey could do was shake her head.

"Ahem." Mr. Garrison narrowed his eyes at the two girls. "Nicole, Kelsey, is there something you two want to share?" But before anyone else could say anything the phone rang. Mr. Garrison went over to his desk to pick it up. "Herbert Garrison here...yeah...uh huh...oh? Oh really? Ok, gotcha, bye bye." Mr. Garrison then put down the phone. "John, Sam, Ricky, Fred, Will, Kurt, James, Calvin, Steven. The Principal would like to see all nine of you. Right now."

After two whole seconds, suddenly, Nikki realized that the only reason those nine boys would be called into office would be about Cory. Nikki's heart skipped a beat as murmurs and whispers began to erupt around the room. "What...this can't be...but I didn't tell anyone, I swear..."

"Tell anyone about what?" Kelsey asked.

Nikki panicked, realizing that Kelsey knew nothing about anything, and she was certain Cory wouldn't want her to tell Kelsey the truth. "Uh...the...um...party, the one you told me about during morning recess, right?"

Kelsey leaned into Nikki. "Yeah, you didn't tell Toby about people crashing his party right?" Nikki shook her head. "Good."

Both girls ended up sighing with relief, though for different reasons. However, Nikki remembered what is happening just now, and so it left her panicking again. Oh my God, what is Sam going to think? He's going to think I snitched. But I didn't snitch though, but he won't believe me either. For the rest of the day, Nikki couldn't concentrate at all about Mr. Garrison's ramblings about Member Berries.

As soon as the bell rang, half the class erupted from her seat. Nikki was among one of the few who took off running. She quickly got to her locker, grabbed her backpack, and got outside. She did not get on the bus today, instead, she figured it was better just to walk home. "Okay, Nikki, just calm down, maybe they aren't in trouble, maybe it's probably some teacher's award." Of course though, talking to herself was useless, and she completely failed at deluding herself. "Oh gosh, what the hell am I going to tell Sam?" At that moment, all she could do is cry, knowing what was going to happen very soon.

It was about 9 PM, and Sam, Kyle, and Bebe sat at the dinner table, although dinner was already finished. Kailey was sent to her room via request of the parents, as they wanted to chat with Sam and Sam only. Needless to say, neither Kyle nor Bebe were very happy to give this talk. "So you lied to us," Bebe stared.

Sam was rather panicked, afraid of what his parents were going to do to him. "Mom, I just-"

"You've always been telling us that you two were good friends, but now all it seems is that you were a complete jerk to Cory!" Kyle was already stressed from the yelling he received from Stan and Wendy over the phone. "Why?"

"I-I just didn't want to be friends in the first place." Sam was looking for anything to try to get out of this argument at this point. "And besides, he told me to kill myself!"

"Was that before or after you were hazing him?" Kyle asked.

"After." Sam couldn't lie to his parents anymore.

"If your friends are bullying someone, you don't go along with them, I thought we taught you this already!" Bebe continued. "What you're doing to him - it's just not right at all, what do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I-I d-don't know..." Sam was left speechless.

"I thought you two could be friends, you know?!" Kyle furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well, maybe, unlike you and his dad, we're just not right for each other, you know?" Sam tried.

"If you didn't want to be friends with him, why didn't you tell us earlier instead of manipulating him like you did?!" Kyle's question completely stumped Sam. There was no way Sam was going to win this argument.

"How could I say anything when you are so obsessed with treating me and Cory like we're butt buddies like how you and Cory's dad were? It's not twenty years ago!" Sam hadn't felt angrier at his parents in a long time.

"S-Sam, what had gotten into you?" Bebe's tone became shakier as she began to realize that her son wasn't the good natured boy she thought he was.

"Maybe I fooled myself the entire time, because I don't like Cory, there I said it." Sam folded his arms.

Kyle sighed, feeling nothing but sadness. He had hoped that Sam and Cory would carry on the legacy that he and Stan had left when they were younger, but the more he learned about Sam, the more he realized that it would never become reality. "You're still grounded, you know this, right?"

"Yes," Sam begrudgingly replied.

Bebe shook her head. "That means no video games, no hanging out with friends. Not until all this gets sorted out somehow."

Sam brushed his teeth, went up stars, changed into his pajamas, turned off the lights, and plopped down onto his bed. He was fortunate enough that Kailey did not attempt to barge into his room. As he tried to fall asleep, he heard a vibration on the nightstand. Knowing it was his phone, he picked up up to take a look at it and there was a message from John.

He's going down tomorrow.

Sam let out a sigh. Things were already spiraling out of control, but at this point, Sam had no more desire to partake in the drama, for he did not want to dig himself deeper than he already had. Closing the message on his phone, he sorted through his list of contacts, and his eyes fell on the name that read "Nikki". He tapped on her name which showed her phone number and other options. Sam let out one last sigh, and as tears began to roll down his eyes, he pressed the "delete" button, and no more than a second later, he was taken back to his list of contacts, although with Nikki no longer there.

Emotional chapter. Anyways, surely, I left enough foreshadowing for you guys to know what goes on next chapter, in the flashback and in real time. As always, do leave a review. Until next time.