The very last chapter is here. I just want to thank you all for reading the Great Journey of the Stick of Truth.
Chapter 28 - One Week Later, Friday
"Yo, get up. We're gonna be late for school."
"Fuck off Isaac." I could feel my head spinning as Isaac, my twin brother, was shaking my entire body. "I promise you I'm gonna whoop your ass right now." I was actually about to wake up and punch him in the stomach until I saw the clock on the nightstand that read 7:30.
"I die a little every morning."
I jolted out of bed with a start to stare out the window at the morning sun. I looked out the window and it's a beautiful Friday morning. Putting on a black buttonless jacket with a hood, gray ski pants, and gray ski gloves, I went over to the restroom to comb my blonde hair. It's cropped, went down a little past my ears, and while others thought it was a bit unkempt, I didn't care less. I then went downstairs to the kitchen to see a plate of sunny-side-egg, two pieces of toast, and the one person I did not expect to see this morning.
"Dad!" The voice out of Isaac and me showed our surprise in seeing our dad. Usually, dad is gone because he works as a plumber, and plumbers make quite a bit of money because not many people desire to do that job. But today will already be different. I can feel it.
"Cole! Isaac!" My dad, Joel Dimmons knelt down and had his arms out, and the two of us both hugged him for ten seconds. Then he let us go.
"Don't you have work today, dad?" Isaac asked.
My dad shook his head. "Nope. It's my weekend off. How are you kids?"
I sat down and began eating my breakfast. "Great, actually."
"Yeah, oh my gosh, I feel like I can take on the whole world!" Isaac's cheery comment made me chuckle. I really do miss the optimistic, carefree, airhead Isaac I knew.
My dad laughed. "Glad to hear it. Do you kids want to be taken to school today?"
Isaac and I looked at each other, then both of us nodded at dad. "Sure!"
As our dad drove us to school, I stared outside the window to see the town already repair itself since all the wreckage. The zombies and demons are no more, and the South Park Mall, as well as the rest of the town, has been completely rebuilt miraculously within the span of only five days. The people of South Park were just going about their business as if all were usual, strolling about, saying hello to each other, that sort of thing.
"Good luck at school today, kids!"
With those last words, my dad drove off in his white sedan. Isaac and I nodded at each other, then turned around to face South Park Elementary. Well this was it. After one week of the elementary school being rebuilt from the aftermath of the Stick of Truth, this is the first day we came to school this week. I felt a sudden chill, perhaps its the stingy morning air, perhaps its the fear of how the children are going to react to me. This is the first time I'll be seeing them this week. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my pants and I let out a harsh exhale.
"Nervous, dude?" Isaac asked.
I gulped and nodded as I spoke softly. "A little." I don't want to know how the 4th graders will react to us.
"I don't know what will happen." Isaac also sounded as nervous as I. "But I'm sure it will be fine."
"Well, there's only one way to find out," I replied.
"After you," Isaac gestured. Of course I'm going in first.
The two of us cautiously walked to the front door of South Park Elementary School, and immediately in the main hallway were about one-hundred 4th graders who slowly turned their attention towards the two of us. My heart skipped a beat. This is very nerve-wracking, and I would have just froze there for several seconds until a certain adult came along. "Okay, move along children, these two need their safe space." Good thing PC Counselor came to the rescue. "You better respect those two or I'll break your legs, got that?"
About PC Counselor, he used to be known as PC Principal until Principal Victoria got her job back shortly after Mr. Mackey forged her termination. The three of them made up and now Mr. Mackey is back to being a school counselor while PC Principal decided his role was better served as a second school counselor. He was still heartless and a fearmongerer, but I can't deny that his method of getting everyone else to leave us alone is effective. I gazed at Isaac who shrugged at me. "Uh, thank you PC Counselor," I bowed.
"If anyone tries to mess with you and try to invade your safe space, just come talk to me and I'll take care of it, ok?" PC Counselor said.
I nodded in confusion. "Uh, thanks. I'll make sure of it." I didn't plan on getting anyone beat up today, and I didn't really care about all the crap about safe spaces, I just want to have a clean day today.
PC Counselor nodded. "Oh, and you boys did a pretty good job at destroying Terrorblade and ending his micro-agressions. Thanks to you, his privilege is now checked."
I looked around again and I could overhear kids talking about suddenly losing their WoW powers, going to show that Terrorblade was right about the Stick. As Isaac and I went through the forward door and began to walk through the hallway, there was a certain high-pitched voice that called out to us. "Hey Dimmons!" I turned around and I saw him dressed in all black with thick eyebrows and long black hair combed towards the back with fiery fingertips. "I want to talk to you."
Isaac hid behind me. "Oh no, it's that Damien kid! The son of Satan!" As far as I know, Damien Thorn is the son of Satan - this means that he has evil Satanic powers, as demonstrated from his fiery fingertips, and even though most of us lost our powers, he still has some, just because he is the son of Satan. No one ever talks to Damien and no one ever wants to mess with him, not after the rumors of him messing up Eric Cartman's ninth birthday party.
"Hush now, Isaac. I'm not here to mess with anyone." We were face to face with Damien, the school legend. "Listen, Isaac. Cole. I just want to thank you both for taking care of Terrorblade for me." Isaac stood by my left shoulder as we looked at each other in confusion, then turned back to Damien. Damien's tone was sincere and serious. "It was you both, Stan Marsh, Wendy Testaburger, and that one pink-haired new kid. The one everyone called Douchebag."
Why the hell does everyone keep referring to Ray as Douchebag? "His name is Raymond Irvington. Ray."
"So it is." Damien peered from side-to-side as he stepped closer. "Terrorblade was a real pain in the ass for my father, and you know how much of a pussy my father can be. I'm assuming you both uncovered his plot to cause a nuclear war so he could salvage the mess, right?" Isaac and I nodded silently and Damien continued on. "Just so you know, my father would never do that. No, he'd kill the world through temptation, not just outright destroying everything. It's not the way it should be, and I just want to say thank you both." Damien sighed. "Now I just gotta thank Stan and Wendy - because it's the kind thing to do. Yeah, I know 'Son of Satan' and 'kindness' going together sounds kind of silly, but it's necessary, what you did - it was legendary, honestly. But you know how difficult to catch them only with each other right? I swear to Satan I don't know why they're still together."
I can see what Damien is implying, but I'm also assuming Damien doesn't know about what went on with their relationship. "I think...they're together again." My voice was soft and cautious. I can only say what I interpreted of their relationship, but of course, I could always be wrong.
"Oh? Then perhaps it will be easy for me then." Damien then bowed down. "There is one more thing I want to say. The people you saw in Sovngarde...they might not still be in Sovngarde, just to say. Thank you again, Dimmons." He then walked away.
"Do you know what Damien means by Sovngarde?" I asked. That was very weird and somewhat random. But given this is Damien, and not some random kid, there's some foreshadowing going on.
Isaac and I looked at each other, and he shrugged. "Wow, Cole. I honestly thought...we were gonna get set aflame. And no, I don't know what he meant."
"So did I," I nod. "Uh...did let's just keep going."
"Agreed."
When the two of us rounded another corner, we both met up with our old friends Garet and Jenna. They greeted us with smiles, then Jenna leaned in to hug Isaac and me. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you two are ok!" Jenna then drew away from the hug. I then opened my locker to put my backpack in and closed it shut.
"Everyone in school knows what you two did," Garet replied. "It was amazing! You were all like 'pew pew' and Terrorblade was all like 'noooo'!"
I scratched the back of my head. "Uh, thanks. I didn't realize that this would all be told to everyone. How does everyone know?"
"You know how much of a gossip Wendy can be," Jenna said.
"Oh, right." Of course Stan and Wendy would tell everyone about how awesome our trip was. I kept it in the down-low simply because I just didn't want the attention of most of the South Park kids, and given the history of South Park, if everyone knows you, you should prepare for lots of weird shit to happen to you.
"So how were Stan and Wendy?" Jenna asked. "I never really talked to either of them, that's why I just want to know, and I know that Stan is like the perfect guy, and Wendy is like the perfect girl." Garet nodded in agreement. Of course, those were only Jenna's assumptions. After knowing the two of them, I can safely say that despite their popularity in school, they both have as much personal problems as Isaac and myself.
"They're nice people, but they both can be a bit stingy and emotional sometimes," Isaac said loudly. And I'm not? Haha.
"Keep your voice down, Isaac, they can probably hear you," Garet said.
"What?" I peered around the corner from where we came and all I could see are 2nd graders. "Uh, I don't see anything but 2nd graders."
"Rumor has it that the popular girls are using Lemmiwinks, your class gerbil, as a spy for themselves," Jenna said. "They attached a camera on him. Sort of like Eavesdropper, but not for public. And you know how sneaky Lemmiwinks can be."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course they are." How could I not see this coming? I guess this is the sort of thing the girls have.
"It's like the thought police," Isaac said.
"Um...yeah." I know what the term thought police is, but the girls wouldn't go that far...would they?
"Has any of you played WoW recently within the last week?" Garet asked.
"No, neither of us has been playing," Isaac replied. The four of us began to head upstairs to the 4th grade classrooms. After the events of last week, I don't think I want anything to do with WoW for a while, or any other video game for that matter.
And then the bell rung. "Oh shit, I'm already late. Alright, I'll be seeing you two later!" I waved to my friends.
"Bye, Cole!" The three of them waved.
I piled in Mr. Garrison's class to see all the other students fall soft to stare at me with neutral. Once again, it gave me that feeling of awkwardness, like when I first stepped in school today. I gulped so loudly I think everyone in the room can hear me. "Um...hi." I really hate all this attention.
"You're late again, Cole. Take your seat." I looked to see everyone in different desks. We must have moved seats. Mr. Garrison pointed at two empty desks next to each other. "The one next to Wendy." I peered to see that I'd be sitting in the 2nd row next to Wendy, who is next to Stan. Wonderful, this day just gets better and better, doesn't it? Without saying another word, I took my seat.
Mr. Garrison then took out a clipboard. "Ok, well unfortunately since my class database has been lost because of the stupid disaster that happened last week, I'm gonna have to call role manually, so say if you're here, and if you have a nickname you'd want to go by, please do so." Mr. Garrison then glared at Eric Cartman. "Except you, Eric, you smartass. Ok...Andrew Anderson?"
"Here."
"Karen Anderson?"
"Here." Furious whispers from most of the girls swarmed around the room when Karen Anderson's name was called out. Karen, Andrew's twin sister, glared at most of the girls, for she knew what I knew: it was clear that most of the girls are in the Pleases and Sparkles Club (Wendy being the leader) and that the girls in that club despised her; in fact, Wendy herself said that the club agreed she was the third-most hated girl. I don't know why she was so hated, but that's just the way things have seemed to roll. I don't know, I never ever talk to Karen or Andrew for that matter.
Mr. Garrison groaned and facepalmed. "Ugh, not this again. Your stupid sparkle club is full of shitheads so shut up and leave Karen alone you dumb whores. Ok, Bradley Biggle?"
"I go by Brad."
"Token Black?"
"Here."
"Kyle Broflovski?"
"Here."
"Lance Carlson?"
"Here."
"Eric Cartman?"
"Sup?"
"Melissa Daniels?"
"Here."
"Cole Dimmons?"
"Here," I replied. Everyone was silent and no one looked at me funny. Good. I like it that way.
"Clyde Donovan?"
"Here."
"Lola Evans?"
"Here."
"Nelly Hall?"
"Here."
"Jason Jones?"
"Here."
"Kal Jorgensen?"
"Here."
"Annie Knitts?"
"Here."
"Millie Larsen?"
"Here."
"Riley Lawrence?"
"Here."
"Kent Leone?"
"Here."
"Stanley Marsh?"
"I go by Stan."
"Emily Marx?"
"Here."
"Kenneth McCormick?"
"I go by Kenny."
"Jessie Mills?"
"Here."
"Allie Nelson?"
"Here."
"Tammy Nelson?"
"Here."
"Francis Oswald?"
"Here."
"Gregory Phillipe?"
"I go by Greg, your honor." Funny, Greg came all the way from Yardale a year ago. He was known to be a political activist and, according to Stan and Wendy, a huge faggot. He tried to date Wendy once because they both shared political views, but Wendy said that he can go "fuck himself right in the ear". Thus, it was no surprise that most of the boys in this class gave a grossed out or angry reaction when Greg's name came up.
"Shut up, boys. Jennifer Simon?"
"I go by Jenny."
"Bebe Stevens?"
"Here."
"Esther Stoley?"
"Here."
"Kevin Stoley?"
"Here."
"Leopold Stotch?"
"I go by Butters."
"Wendy Testaburger?"
"Here."
"Craig Tucker?"
"Here."
"Red Tucker?"
"Here."
"Heidi Turner?"
"Here."
"Sally Turner?"
"Here."
"Tweek Tweak?"
"H-h-here!"
"John Vanson?"
"Here."
"What?" our entire class said. Wait what? I thought that kid died months ago. I thought that kid was still in Sovngarde! I peered to my left to see John Vanson checking out Millie Larsen, who was right next to him to his right as Millie tried her best to scoot away, only bumping into Kyle. Everyone glared at John Vanson.
"Ugh, not this faggot again." Cartman rolled his eyes.
"ERIC CARTMAN, YOU WILL RESPECT OTHERS!" Mr. Garrison shouted.
From my right, I could hear Wendy whisper to Stan, who sat between Stan and I. "Oh no, it's that creep. He's gonna try to hit on my and my friends. Remember the beginning of 4th grade?"
"I thought we left him at Sovngarde." Stan then peered to me. "Right Wendy? Cole?" I shrugged in response. I don't know what to say. I have no idea how resurrection or the afterlife works - I've never died before, and I don't intend to experience death anytime soon.
"Um...who died?" That is all that came out of my mouth.
"Ok, quiet down children, we have two new students in this class today, even though it's really late in the year, I don't know..." Mr. Garrison looked at the door to the hallway. "...who should be here any second..." Nothing. "...any second now..." Then the door opened. Two kids our age came through the door, a girl, then a boy. My class stared like hawks at the new kids as if we are the predators and they're the prey, as per usual. New kids come into our 4th grade class sometimes, but they get scared off literally.
The girl has blonde hair that is tied in a ponytail and she wore a blue jacket with a dark green collar and black pants. I immediately recognized her to be Kelly Nelson, the girl whom we saved from the Twilight vampire attack. The boy had long pink hair and wore a green jacket and brown pants. Ray.
"Aw weak, not this betraying douchebag!" Cartman leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes. Ray shot Cartman an angry glare.
"Eric, one more word out of your mouth and you're going to the principals office!" Mr. Garrison stood up seething. He then sat back down. "My apologies you two. Go on. Introduce yourselves."
Kelly introduced herself first. "Hello. I'm Kelly Nelson and I moved to Middle Park from Ohio, and now I'm here. I'm ten years old. I'm part of the Getting Gay with Kids choir so I know some of you in this room from our previous tour last year."
Ray then took his turn. "Hi. I'm Raymond Irvington, but you can tall me Ray. My name is not Douchebag." He glared in Cartman's direction, then turned back to the rest of us. "I moved here from Nebraska. and as you all know, I'm also Dovahkiin."
"Lovely to meet such interesting and wonderful children." Mr. Garrison's tone was very sardonic and sarcastic, usually whenever a new kid comes. "Take your seats." Kelly sat next to Kenny while Ray sat next to me.
I beam a smile full of delight. "Ray."
"Cole." Ray offered out a fist, and I fistbumped him. "Apparently the other Dovahkiin is here. I think his name is John."
"Yeah, I don't know how this happened." I honestly don't.
For the next hour or so, Mr. Garrison talked about how Maury Povich and his TV show is a cancer to society, then the morning recess bell rang. I piled out with Ray and the two of us met Isaac, Garet, and Jenna outside in the playground at the merry-go-round.
"So Ray, here's Isaac, and here's Garet and Jenna." I motioned towards the rest of my friends.
"So you're the Dovahkiin everyone talking about!" Garet said cheerily.
"Pleased to meet you, Ray," Jenna smiled. "Where'd you move from?"
"I moved here from Nebraska," Ray replied. "Small town just like this one."
"Why move at all?" Garet asked. "Not tryna be mean or anything. Just wondering."
"Well apparently I had to move here to get away from the government." Ray then turned to Isaac and me. "Or should I say Matt Parker. Thank God he's dead now."
"Matt Parker?" Jenna asked.
"He's just some big bad government guy," Ray replied. "It's just some..."
The five of us fell silent as we all turned our attention to the middle of the playground. It was most of the boys in my class along with John Vanson and Pip. Funny, Pip came back too. Which means I might see Chef and Ms. Ellen today. That said, the boys were busy yelling at John and Pip.
"Go away you freaks, no one wants you here!" Funny, same could be said to Cartman himself.
"Oh, you guys are so funny." John stifled a laught.
"Oh dear, John, I think they really mean it." Pip tried to tug on John's shoulder.
"Wait, didn't they both get stomped by Mecha-Streisand a few months back?" Jenna asked. "How are they still alive?"
"Maybe...they resurrected?" Garet tried to sound stupid. Of course though, he may well be right.
"Maybe...you're right." Jenna rarely ever agrees with Garet when he says something that is (or should be) stupid. "But how?" Jenna turned to Isaac and me for answers.
"I don't know." I really don't. But no matter, we just proceeded to sit back and enjoy the fun.
"John, no one likes you because you try so hard to be cool." Kyle walked back and forth between John and Pip. "You're not being yourself. You need to stop."
"Kyle, I know you're just saying that because you're trying to be funny," John said. Damn, this kid is really oblivious.
"No, John, we're all serious! You need to go away!" Stan yelled.
"Ask Pip, he'll tell you." Clyde twirled the football in his right hand.
"Comeon, John, we should really go," Pip said.
"Alright." John turned to walk towards the girls in the jungle gym as Pip followed.
"And don't you dare go near Wendy!" Stan shouted.
Of course though, John did walk up to the popular girls. "Hey ladies. Nice tits."
"Ew!" the girls shouted. As one can see, subtlety was not John Vanson's strong point.
"What a creep!" Bebe said.
"Seriously go away, John!" Wendy yelled.
"Yeah, we're gonna get the boys to kick your ass!" Red added. The girls then turned to leave.
"Hey wait, come back!" John sauntered off after the girls with Pip on his tail. That's when I've noticed that neither Stan nor Wendy are hanging out like they promised to. But what do I know about relationships? It's whatever.
When we got back into class, I've noticed that Mr. Garrison was not here, but in his place was another woman. Ms. Ellen. "Ok class, Mr. Garrison has to leave for a bit and he won't be back until after lunch. Until then..." Ms. Ellen dug through Mr. Garrison's desk for a few minutes. "What the hell..." She then peered at the empty chalkboard then bent down. "Did Mr. Garrison leave a lesson plan anywhere? I can't seem to find one."
"No we usually talk about how Democrats should be fucked to death." Kenny more-or-less summed up Mr. Garrison's lessons nicely.
"Um...ok..." Ms. Ellen scratched her head. "Anyways..." She scribbled her name on the chalkboard. "My name is Ms. Ellen and I'll be your substitute teacher from now until lunch. Anyways we're going to do a little activity I call 'Circle Time'."
"Aw, weak dude!" Cartman groaned.
"You. I know you, Eric, so keep quiet." Ms. Ellen's voice was low and threatening. "Now, there's like forty of you, so there will be two groups of twenty. Basically, you're all just talking about yourselves."
"Ahahahah, that sounds so lame!" Cartman began to laugh as everyone else glared at him.
"Eric, you will shut up right now before I send you to the principal's office!" Ms. Ellen yelled. "Now...you can get into your groups now."
We all arranged the desks into two big circles. I initially ended up in the group with Francis, Jason, Brad, Kent, Andrew, Greg, John, Lance, Ray, Emily, Riley, Jenny, Kal, Tammy, Melissa, Karen, Nelly, Jessie, and Allie. As I turned to sit next to Ray, Cartman took my seat. "Kyle is such a fucking asshole."
"Get out of my seat." I glared at Cartman. I have no problem being an ass to Cartman because he was an ass.
"Make me, faggot." Cartman stuck his tongue out.
"Get out of my seat!" I clenched my hands. I'm about ready to kick Cartman's fat ass.
Then someone poked me on the back. I turned around to see Wendy. "It's just a seat Cole. You can join us." I peered around Wendy to see the rest of her group all staring innocently at me. Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Butters, Craig, Clyde, Token, Tweek, Kevin, Bebe, Red, Kelly, Lola, Sally, Heidi, Esther, Annie, and Millie. Unnerving really, specifically considering that last week, I wasn't really on good terms with them, sort-of-speak.
"Do I really have to?" As I said that, I immediately clamped my mouth shut. Shit. I should not have said that. I might have come off as an asshole there.
Wendy just nodded. "I know how uncomfortable you feel. We just don't want Cartman here." I guess that makes sense, but still.
"Alright." I nodded. I took at seat between Butters and Sally. It was awkward at first. We were waiting for Ms. Ellen to tell us what to do.
"Well all you need to do is just talk to each other. You know, like normal kids." Ms. Ellen began to walk around for a bit.
"Why do we need to do this?" Lola asked.
"Well I'm sure that making friends with others is way more productive than being taught how Maury Povich is a cancer to society, right?" Well Ms. Ellen does have a good point right there. "Besides, I'm sure you can spread your friendships to those you don't know." Real funny. My heartbeats are quite quick since these people honestly make me nervous.
There was silence in the group for a few moments. Then Kyle turned to speak. "Well everyone already knows everyone here so I'm not actually sure why we're doing this."
"Yeah..." Craig's voice trailed off until his eyes fell on me. Then everyone else's eyes fell on me. My gut almost bursted from the nervousness.
"Um...hi?" That's all that came out of my mouth.
"So you and your brother were the ones who were with Stan and Wendy last week when you left town," Annie said.
"Yeah," I replied. "I did."
"So how was it?" Token asked. "The trip."
"It was fine," I replied. "It was fun." I guess I'm going to be the center of attention now.
"Hey, Wendy told us about what you did," Bebe said, "and that was pretty cool of you to help her like that. By the way, have you guys seen the new kid? He's totally hot!"
"I'd slam on that!" Esther added.
While the girls chatted on about Ray, Kyle then turned to the rest of us. "Stan, I have a big problem. You know how in preschool-"
"Trent Boyette is out of jail," Stan interrupted.
"Yeah, wait, how do you know?" Kyle asked.
"Wendy and I ran into him and well we got in a fight, as you'd expect...wait, where is he now?" Stan looked around the room.
"Apparently he's living in Middle Park now," Kenny replied. "Although seriously, I'd rather him be in North Park."
"Nononononono!" Stan shook his head. "He should not step anywhere near North Park!"
"Why not Stan?" Butters asked. "He tried to beat us up remember?"
"Trust me, Middle Park is fine," Stan replied, "Not North Park though." Speaking of North Park, apparently all of the 4th graders in North Park did survive the Nazi Zombie attack, even Harry Potter.
The next hour consisted of the girls talking about how hot Ray is. And then afterwards, it was lunch time. As I headed out to see my friends, I was stopped by Stan and Wendy. "Hey, Cole, I have some bad news," Wendy said.
"Hm?" I'm not sure what to expect to be honest.
"Remember what we talked about that one night, where you admitted who was hot?" Ah, I remember now, it was back after we fought PETA. "Well, I tried to matchmake you with Heidi, but she's not interested. Sorry."
I shrugged. I almost completely forgot about her, she nearly slipped my mind. No matter. I wasn't planning on dating her anyways. "It's fine."
"You're okay with it?" Stan asked.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Alright, we'll be seeing you." Stan and Wendy waved goodbye to me as they headed off towards the cafeteria.
A different girl's voice called out from behind me. "You. I need to talk to you."
Catching my attention, I turned around just to see a girl from my class stand right in front of me as if expecting me. She had brown hair tied in a ponytail, a green jacket with a blue collar, blue gloves, and blue pants. "Karen Anderson. May I...help you?" She wasn't with her brother Andrew, who is also in my class.
"Had fun with Wendy over the past week, huh?" I could feel the venom drip from Karen's voice, I can already tell she's extremely jealous. But what qualm does she have with me? I rarely even talk to her, if ever.
I folded my arms together and gave Karen a stern glare. "I can see where this is going. Just say it."
"Cole, you know Wendy and her friends are bad news. Hell, you know they've done mean things to you, and you're still going to associate yourself with them? Walk with me to lunch." Well so much for seeing Isaac, Ray, Garet, and Jenna. The two of us began to head downstairs towards the cafeteria.
"Karen, Wendy's not a bad person, and neither is Stan. I don't see what the problem here is." I rubbed some condensation off my forehead.
"Wendy and her gang will find any chance to use boys. You know this, so why do you talk to them?" Karen asked.
It took me a while to come up with a good answer and by the time I could finally talk, we were already near the front of the line to meet the cafeteria chef. "You just gotta give them a chance. You know."
Before Karen could say anything more, we got to where they would be serving food, and surely enough it was Jerome McElroy, or Chef. "Chef!" Karen and I both exclaimed.
"Hello there children!" Chef then smiled at me. "Cole. I remember what you did." I'm sure everyone does. "How are you both this fine day?"
"We're good," Karen and I both said. Chef gave us both two slices of combination pizza. Afterwards, the two of us then sat alone at a table - a table right next to the popular girls', although Karen herself didn't know it because she was on the side of our table in which her back would be faced towards the popular girls.
"Look at how happy Stan and Wendy are together." Karen gazed past my shoulder and I turned around to see Stan and Wendy sitting alone at another table chatting away. It hit me in the heart again because now I can confirm that their relationship was more-or-less completely rekindled, and that made me happy because (and I can't believe I'm thinking this now) seeing them happy made me happy. I would not have cared about them had none of the Stick of Truth stuff ever happen.
"What about them?" I asked.
"It's just not fair. Wendy's the perfect girl dating the perfect guy, and all I ever do is get excluded and bullied by her friends." Karen reminded me of me from a week ago since she thinks their lives are perfect, but they're not.
"They're lives aren't perfect. They have as much problems as you and I. Why do you hate her so much?" I took a bite out of my pizza.
Karen took a bite out of her own pizza. "We used to be close friends in 2nd grade. But ever since 3rd grade, we kinda split apart, and then Wendy became a bitch. It kinda started when she started dating Stan." She sighed. "I don't know. I kinda wish I have a boyfriend like her's. Not that I like Stan, because I don't."
I turned away from Stan and Wendy and looked down at my food. "I know how you're feeling. I really do. I've been there before. But dwelling on those you hate isn't going to make things any better. Please believe me."
Karen sighed again. "Sometimes I try to figure out ways to break them up just because."
I blinked twice as my next words began to tremble in fear, saying my exact thoughts. "K-Karen? Why would you want to do such a thing?"
"It's revenge." Karen shook her head. "Her stupid friends write lists that fuck up everything. They gossip, they spread stupid rumors, and I'm pretty sure her, or maybe Bebe, is the head leader of them all. I'm not all good at forging evidence for Stan being a cheater, but I've made good attempts."
I looked back at Stan and Wendy. They were laughing with each other. I then turned back to Karen. "Look how happy they are. You're telling me you're going to just...just crush that just because?"
Karen sighed again. "You're right...I just hate them! I hate all her friends!" She didn't know it now, but she was beginning to attract the attention of the popular girls, and when their attentions are attracted, soon the entire cafeteria's will be.
I waved my hands downward. "Karen, you gotta quiet down-" I peered cautiously at the popular girls who were now staring at the two of us.
"No! I won't quiet down!" Karen's shouting began to silence the whole cafeteria and the dirty looks everyone else was giving us. "I hate them both. Her and her stupid bitch friends can..." She then did as I say and stopped talking, and looked the cafeteria. She then looked behind her and all she saw were the dirty glares of the popular girls. "Uh oh."
"You...hater!" Bebe yelled.
"We heard everything you guys said," Red added.
"Is that it?" I turned around to see Wendy at her table stand up angrily. "You wanted to sabotage our relationship, Karen? You're a bitch!"
"That's why we put you on our most hated girls list!" Jenny added. Holy shit, such list exists? That almost made me vomit, how horrible.
"Girl's I'm..." but nothing more could come out of Karen's mouth. Met with too many angry glares from the cafeteria, she began running out crying. I saw my own friends with Ray at a table a few yards away. Jenna, her face full of worry, mouthed something I could not understand. I shrugged.
"Cole, trust me, there's a reason we don't like her," Heidi said.
I took deep breaths for ten seconds to avoid lashing out and saying something stupid. All of this made me angry - Karen is an idiot and the popular girls are horrible. I closed my eyes for four seconds then opened them back up. "I'm gonna find Karen to see what's up." Before anyone else could stop me, I quickly got up and left.
As I stormed out of the cafeteria and began marching through the halls looking for any sign of Karen, I repeatedly called out "Karen?" When I reached the three restrooms (boys, girls, and cissy), I could hear crying from the girls' restroom. "Karen?"
"Just go away Cole." Of course though, I'm not going to do that. But I can't march into the girls' restroom...can I? Well I just hope no one sees. Checking both ends of the hallway to make sure that no one was looking, I quietly and cautiously snuck inside.
There were toilet stalls: three regular ones and one for handicapped people. That said, the source of the crying came from the back stall, or the handicapped one. I walked over to the stall door and knocked. "Karen, it's alright."
Karen sniffled quite a bit. "C-Cole. W-why are you h-here?"
"To make sure you're alright." I rested my back against the door. "Please come out."
Karen ceased crying as she unlocked the stall. I got up from the door as she opened it. "You know what happens if one of the girls see you in the girls' restroom."
"Yeah I know." I shook my head. "Listen, you made quite a scene there."
"Cole, I-" Karen started to say.
"Karen, listen to me." I sighed again. Maybe I'm being a jerk right now, but this is probably for the better. "You have to let go of this conflict. I know they've hurt you before, but please you've got to stopped getting involved with them. You're being a hypocrite and an idiot right now because I'm telling you what you told me just earlier just now."
Karen looked down at her shoes. "Would it be agreeable to you...if you met me at Stark's Pond after school, I can tell you all about this crap?"
"Why there?" I asked.
Karen looked into my eyes. "You know why we can't talk here. And I bet Lemmiwinks is spying on us."
My stomach churned. If this is true, then I might as well be screwed already. "Yeah. You're right."
After school, I quickly parted ways with my friends to tell them I'm meeting someone. They asked me who it was but I didn't say. That said, I went over to Stark's Pond to find Karen sitting alone on top of a huge boulder on the east side of the pond as tall as a one-story house. It took me about three minutes to climb the damn thing which by that time I was already exhausted and breathing heavily.
"Nice...make me have to climb this damn thing, would you?" I was huffing and puffing quite a bit.
"This is good for you. You gotta do something other than play video games, man." Karen chuckled a bit.
I rolled my eyes. "Haha. Real funny." I sat down to the right of Karen as we both gazed into the pond. "So...what's your story? You know...with Wendy?"
Karen shook her head. "As I said before, I used to be her friend. She became a bitch to me in 3rd grade, but despite that, Melissa and I got on the list-making committee in the beginning of 4th grade." Melissa Daniels is another girl from our class, and she too avoids associating herself with Wendy's gang. "Yeah, we were both on the Pleases and Sparkles Club. Did you know that?"
I shook my head, my breathing slowing from having to climb the rock. "No. I didn't. What about Melissa?"
Karen shrugged. "She left after two weeks. Said it was not for her. Also, she told me she didn't feel good gossiping and spreading shit about others. She begged me to leave as well, but I didn't listen to her. I still wanted to make up with Wendy and her friends. I wanted status." She sighed deeply. "Needless to say, I should have listened to Melissa."
"What happened next?" I asked.
"They started to trashtalk Melissa behind her back. They talk about how ugly she is and how un-cute her clothing is and how she spreads lies and bullshit about the club."
I raised my eyebrow. "She's not that bad looking."
"Yeah, but you know. Not all gossip is true." That made me chuckle. "Anyways, I couldn't take the crap anymore. I stood up and tried to stand up for Melissa." She sighed and shook her head again. "Big mistake. First rule of thumb Cole, you don't try to stand up against the popular girls. If you do, they'll come after you. Or if they're a guy, they'll seduce the guys so that they come after you. I learned that the hard way."
I shrugged "Figures...hey, I shouldn't have called you an idiot earlier today." I have got to stop doing that.
"No, you were right to do that Cole. I was being an idiot."
"Huh?" I tilted my head to my side. Is Karen really not angry at me?
"I see what you're thinking, Cole. Too many girls in our class...they're too damn sensitive about themselves, yet they themselves won't be to others." Karen then looked at me, her eyes full of sadness. "So I've heard about you ending Terrorblade. Wendy was with you. What was she like then?"
"I think..." I thought long and hard about what I was going to say, which took me about a full minute. "...I think she's definitely gotten better. I can't say the same for the rest of her friends. But that said, I've noticed she's become alot less mean and alot nicer to her boyfriend. Stan."
"Really." Karen looked back at the pond. "How does that happen?"
"I think...I think it involves going on an adventure to destroy the ultimate evil." As cheesy as that sounded, I have learned that if you want to make friends the right way, you have to accomplish challenges with each other. Not that I hate Garet or Jenna, I'm still on good terms with them.
"I see your point." Karen is actually perceptive. She can interpret what I say really well.
"That said, you know why I can't have you try to break up her relationship? Or anyone else's for that matter?"
Karen shook her head. "No. Why?"
It shows Karen has never been in, or actually witnessed a real relationship. "Relationships...they're...sacred. I mean, I can't explain it well...but they're...special, sort to speak. It's kind of like...friendship and happiness...that's my best description. Honestly."
Karen nodded. "Yeah. That wouldn't be the right thing to do. So you used to be on the soccer team?" Karen asked. "So was I."
"Oh, what position?" I asked.
"Offense. You?"
"Midfield. But I sucked this season, I think this year is gonna be the last year I play. Soccer season just ended two weeks ago." This is all true.
"I'm not that spectacular myself," Karen admitted. "I just brought it up because we both played soccer. So...you never told me. How'd you kill Terrorblade?"
"Um..." I scratched my head a little. "Ray, the new kid, farted on his balls."
"He did what?" Karen then began to laugh. "That's it? Isn't that some kind of rule or something? Farting on someone's balls?"
"'The Gentlemen's Code is the universal code of honor. To fart on a man's balls is a symbolic offense to the male genitalia, and is dishonorable.' That's the one, right?" Karen began to laugh harder and I rolled my eyes while maintaining a smile. "Yeah, laugh all you want Karen."
"I'm sorry I just...breaking some code is all you have to do to kill Terrorblade?" Karen asked.
"Uh, yeah. Apparently I didn't know that word on the street is that we should be breaking laws more often." The events of last week still felt funny in my head. It's like a fairy tale almost, or a terribly written fanfiction perhaps. "It seems as like the Crab People said, 'some codes of honor are meant to be broken.'"
"Crab People?" Karen rolled her eyes now. "Like the crabs who tried to shove Queer Eye for the Straight Guy down everyone's throats and turned all the guys into metrosexuals?"
"Yeah, they're the ones," I replied. "But yeah. The point still stands. Apparently we should break rules to save people. Funny how life works." We were silent for a few minutes, but then something popped in my mind. "Hey, Karen?" I asked.
"Hm?" Karen replied.
"Just promise me one thing: the next time you see Wendy, just try to be nice to her. I know it's a tall order and we barely even know each other, and I know she and her friends have been awful to you, but just try to make up with her. I know it won't be easy, but even if it all fails, at least I want to know you made a good effort." My voice sounded a bit nervous, but that was probably due to the surprise kiss just now.
Karen looked into my eyes and smiled. "For you, Cole."
The two of us sat on the boulder and stared into Stark's Pond as other 4th graders began to hang out around Stark's Pond. In the end, though, I did it. I helped kill the bad guy. Perhaps my life is a lie, and I was never meant to be this happy, but I never again questioned my friendships. The pain I suffered through the journey of the Stick of Truth had meaning at last. And there can be no question that the friendships I've made last week when we fought Terrorblade, that imbue me and give me strength in confidence, are real beyond any doubt.
What is with Karen Anderson? Where the heck did she come from? Why did the girls react poorly for no reason to a made up OC?
This wasn't done for no reason, and Karen Anderson isn't exactly an OC either. In "The List" and in the actual Stick of Truth game, the Pleases and Sparkles club made a list of most hated girls and it's posted on the wall. A girl by the name of "Karen" showed up as #3, and I'm assuming they are not referring to Kenny's sister. I just attached the surname "Anderson" because I felt like it and called it my OC, even though she's only kind-of-an-OC, but not really.
Well, that's a wrap, folks. I hope you enjoyed the fic as much as I do. I don't know if I'll ever write another fanfic ever again. Merry Christmas, everyone.
