Chapter 19: Setting (Yourself) Up For Success

"Whew! That was a pretty rough practice, Clyde!" called Butters as the two of them walked through the front door of his house.

"I'll say!" responded Clyde. "I have no idea why the hell Garrison made us do a hundred pushups after we finished the hard workouts. I mean, our game is tomorrow!"

"Well, we got to get mentally tougher… If we play soft, we'll lose to Orange County for sure!"

"Yeah, but doing that was just torture! Seriously, he can be such an asshole sometimes…"

At that moment, the two of them were greeted by Mrs. Stotch herself.

"Hey Butters! How was your day at school?"

"It was pretty good, Mom!" he answered.

"That's good!" said Linda, turning over to her son's friend. "Hey Clyde! Are the two of you hanging out tonight?"

"Yes, ma'am," responded Clyde.

"Excellent! Now, Butters! Your father and I are going out to eat tonight. We'll stay late so I have some leftovers in the fridge for you to eat. There's enough for the two of you to share!"

"Thanks, Mom!" replied Butters.

"You're welcome! Now, I have to pick up your father, so I must be going now. Goodbye!"

"Bye, Mom!" called Butters.

She walked out the front door and Butters turned to Clyde.

"You ready to practice?"

"Yeah, let's do this."

They opened the door to the basement and descended the stairs. Waiting for them was a drum set and an electric guitar with an amp plugged in, ready for use.

"So, what song do you have in mind?" asked Butters.

"Got it right here. How does this look?" asked Clyde, with printed out sheet music he had pirated online.

"Oh hamburgers," said Butters. "If we want this to sound good, we better start rehearsing…"


"That was a really good rehearsal," remarked Clyde. "You're really getting the hang of my little number for Bebe."

"Thanks, Clyde!" responded Butters. "You're doing a great job learning my song too!"

Clyde smirked. "Damn straight. Who did you say it was for again?"

"Uh, you'll see on Saturday," replied Butters.

"Okay. Well, we should be good for Saturday; we probably don't need to rehearse together face to face again. If you want, we could FaceTime or something like that to practice."

"Sounds good! See you tomorrow!"

"You too!" called out Clyde as he shut the door.

Butters waved goodbye and went to his fridge. He opened the door to find leftover lasagna, which he carefully took out of its container and heated in the microwave. When it finished, he took it out of the microwave and began eating it. While partially occupied with his meal, he grabbed his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. There were several missed calls from Stan and Kyle.

Butters hastily called Stan back. He sat back in his chair, phone to his ear, eagerly awaiting for Stan to pick up. After four rings, the call went to voicemail so Butters hung up. He called Kyle instead. With each passing ring he grew more sure that Kyle wouldn't pick up. Thankfully, with little time before this call would also go to voicemail, a familiar voice was heard on the other end.

"Hey!" greeted Kyle.

"Hey there, Kyle!" answered Butters. "Why did you call?"

"Stan and I tried getting a hold of you because we need to make sure you're getting everything ready for Saturday. There won't be any time tomorrow due to our game."

"Oh, hamburgers!"

"Shit! Butters, you haven't done anything?"

"Gee, Kyle. I've been really busy so far. I completely forgot!"

"Damn it, Butters! We really got to get everything in gear! Do you have the essentials at your house?"

"Essentials?"

"You know. Like the stereo system, the mini-fridge, the hot tub, the video games, and the party games?"

"I mean, the hot tub's been ready for use so we're good there... I'll do my best to get everything else together…"

"Ok, just try to get it done tonight. Stan, Cartman, Kenny, and I will help you with last minute set-up on Saturday but there's only so much we can do then, so we need you to get as much done as you can now."

"Okay, I've got it. Thanks Kyle."

"You're welcome, Butters. I know it's been a tight timeline, so thank you so much for your flexibility about this whole thing. I'll see you tomorrow dude."

"See you tomorrow."

Butters hung up the phone and panicked. He knew he had to get going and fast. His parents would be home within a couple of hours and he needed to get as much done as he could. I am so screwed, he thought. I never should have gotten involved with all this. The party would be much better if it were held at Eric's or Token's house.

Running low on time with few options remaining, Butters had an epiphany. In a moment of clarity, he knew exactly what to do. He opened up his phone and scrolled up near the top of his contacts list and pressed the call button. By the second ring, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Annie, were you serious earlier when you said you could help me with the party?"

"Yeah, of course, Butters."

"Do you think you could please help me out right now? The fellas are really getting after me because I haven't set anything up yet."

A small pause. "Absolutely I will."

"Thanks so much, Annie!"


DING-DONG!

Butters ran to the door and opened it.

"Thanks for coming, Annie!"

"No problem, Butters! I had just finished up my homework for Garrison so I had nothing else to do! Now, what do you need help with?"

"Well, I need you to tell me what sort of stuff I should be setting up. I was given some ideas from the guys."

"What ideas did they have?"

"Kyle mentioned a stereo, setting up video games and party games, and getting a mini-fridge. He also wanted the hot tub up and running, but I already have that done."

"Okay, let's start with the stereo system," suggested Annie.

"Okay, I've got one in my basement… Let's go!"

Butters turned on the light and the two of them went down the staircase. When they reached the bottom, Butters wasted no time in searching for his dad's stereo. Annie was too preoccupied with something else to help though.

"Butters, is that your drum set? It's so cool!"

"Yeah, but I don't play it much anymore…"

Annie saw the instrument next to it. "Is this electric guitar yours as well?"

"Yeah. In fact, I still play it. If we weren't so pressed for time, I'd show you some cool stuff I've been working on."

She smiled. "That's so sweet, dude! Why do you have everything set up?"

Butters quickly thought of a lie, not wanting to ruin the surprise. "I thought… I'd learn a new song or two…"

She glanced at him, confused. "Then why are both instruments out?"

"I… uh… wanted to record two separate tracks and overlay them on each other. I've got to be efficient, I mean, I don't want to waste time putting them away."

"Damn, mixing tracks? That's impressive. Do you think you could send me a copy of the song when it's finished?"

"Uh… sure, why not? It… um… may take a while to finish though..."

"Sweet! Anyways, let's get to work on that stereo…"

They managed to find an aux cord as well as a set of speakers and hooked everything up. When they tested it, the entire basement rumbled with bass.

"I think that's rockin' enough for the party!" exclaimed Annie. "Do you have music picked out yet?"

"No, Kyle is working on that."

The two of them moved over to the flat screen television and set up a plethora of old game systems that the Stotches kept in storage.

"Yeah, let's get some of the really fun games out," said Butters. "We need Melee and Double Dash for the GameCube… perhaps Mario Party 2 for the N64…"

"Do you think we should connect some of the consoles to your TV in the living room as well?"

"That's a good idea. We probably should, but that might draw suspicion. I'll just set a reminder on my phone to connect them on Saturday after my parents leave."

He quickly did so and the two of them got back to connecting various sets of red, white, and yellow RCA connectors.

Annie smiled. "I have a feeling this is going to be the best party ever."

"You think so?" asked Butters. "I'm worried that everyone will think that it sucks. I don't want my party to be remembered like Craig's."

"Don't worry about it! As soon as we get everything set up, you'll see how great this is going to be!"

They hooked up the last of the RCA connectors.

"Alright, what next?" asked Annie.

"Well," responded Butters, "We have to get a mini-fridge somehow."

"Don't worry, I've got one. You can just borrow mine."

"Yippee! Problem solved!" cheered Butters, pumping his fist. "Thanks so much, Annie!"

Annie laughed. "You're welcome! I can get it to you on Saturday. What time would you want to get it?"

Butters thought for a moment. "Well, probably late afternoon after my parents are gone, so I don't get caught."

"Sounds good. What's the next item on our list?"

"Party games. Do you know any good ones?"

Annie thought hard. "Not off the top of my head, but I can talk with the girls tomorrow and get a good list going. If there's anyone who knows some great party games, it's definitely them."

"Okay, excellent. We'll get that straightened out and everything will be all set. Thanks so much for your help!"

"Awesome!" Annie replied. "I'm so excited for Saturday; I know it's going to be great!"

"Well," said Butters, twiddling his thumbs, "I hope so."

"C'mon! Have some self confidence! You have video games, a sweet stereo system, a hot tub, and a great crowd going to show up! It's going to be awesome!"

"Yeah," said Butters with a growing smile, "I guess you're right."

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow, Butters," said Annie with a warm smile, heading for the door.

"Bye Annie! See you tomorrow!"

He closed the door and took a deep breath, relaxing. At last, he thought. Everything is going to be alright...