Chapter 20: Going Study
"Wendy, I don't understand this question. What exactly is Mr. Phelps asking us to do here?"
"He just wants you to evaluate the limit of this difference quotient. Basically, just look to see where the 'h' terms will cancel when h approaches zero."
Stan looked back at his worksheet again, thinking it over. "Why is this relevant though? What sort of uses does the difference quotient have?"
"Well," said Wendy, "you can basically use it to find the slope of the graph at any point. It becomes the starting point for understanding differentiation. Eventually, we won't need this notation and we can evaluate it directly, but it helps show the intuition."
Stan, though still confused, started to understand. "I guess that makes sense. Jeez, you are so smart; how do you know all of this?"
"Well, I've worked ahead already. I want to make sure that I can comfortably get a 5 on the AP exam."
"Damn, Wendy. I wish I had that kind of work ethic."
"Trust me, Stan, you do. You just use it for things you're passionate about. I may be able to excel in math, but I could never play football like you do."
Stan smiled. "Thanks, Wendy."
Wendy smiled back. "You're welcome. It's nice doing homework with you."
"You too."
The two of them returned to their studies for some time. Wendy was in the middle of solving a physics problem when she got a text message on her phone. She paused to look at it, with a concerned look on her face. She turned to her boyfriend.
"Stan, I feel like we should talk about what happened in English today."
Stan looked up from his math problem. "What about it?"
"Something is changing right before our eyes."
"Well, what is it?"
"I just got this message from Heidi about Bebe. After reading it, I'm really worried about Clyde."
"Oh, shit. What is it?"
"She said that she noticed that there was some chemistry between Kyle and Bebe today. She's really concerned that Bebe is moving on too fast."
"Why would she care about that?"
"I don't know," responded Wendy. "But, I can't imagine the crap that happened in class today would be too good for Clyde. To top it off, if he noticed the same stuff that Heidi did, I would not want to be him right now."
Stan threw up his arms in frustration. "We tried everything we could to stop Cartman. We did everything! Can't he just not make those jokes? I know I enabled it before, but he just keeps making it worse! Fuck!"
Wendy patted Stan on the back in reassurance. "Don't blame yourself, Stan. We tried all we could today. You can't reason with people like Cartman."
Stan sighed. "It's not just Cartman though. Sure, he's the worst of it, but he's just echoing the sentiment of most of the guys in the group."
"Really?" asked Wendy. "But, what about Craig and Token and those guys? They're best friends with Clyde."
"They were. That is, until he spent all of his time with Bebe. Most of them won't say it publicly but they are pretty sore about that. That's why they never called out Cartman for his jokes and, sometimes, made a few of their own."
"I know he always spent a lot of time with Bebe, but that much? He cut his friends off completely?"
"Basically. I'm not sure if he really knew what he was doing. I mean, he didn't cut them off on purpose. He just started spending time with Bebe and eventually, they'd hang out together all the time."
Wendy was shocked. "Holy shit. That's intense stuff."
"Yeah, hopefully it will work its way down soon as the guys warm back up to him. But until then, he's got to deal with crap from Cartman, and, by extension, his other friends."
"That sucks so much for him. I thought it was bad before, but he's got so much on his plate."
Stan solemnly nodded. "I feel so bad about it. Do you think I should contact him right now?"
Wendy hesitated. "That's up to you."
"I'll shoot him a text."
He took out his phone and quickly tapped out a message to Clyde.
Hey, dude. Sorry about Cartman today. Are you doing okay?
In seconds, it was sent and Stan just sat, his hands folded on his lap, staring ahead, deep in thought.
Wendy saw the somber face of Stan and felt bad. "Stan, I didn't mean to kill the mood. Don't worry too much about it. There's only so much we can do and, at the end of the day, Clyde's got to fight this on his own. It doesn't do any good for either you nor him for you to be miserable."
Stan sighed softly, then smiled. "You're right, Wendy. Right now, I should just focus on the fact that I'm here with one of my favorite people."
"Aw, thanks, Stan." Wendy gave him a hug. "You're so sweet sometimes."
"Thanks Wendy. I don't deserve to have someone as great as you in my life."
"Don't say that! You absolutely do!" She looked at him and smirked. "If you don't keep your confidence up, then you won't be able to lead the team tomorrow and you know I wouldn't want that."
Stan laughed. "Oh, I promise that I'll lead them and I'll promise you one more thing. I'll win that game, just for you."
Wendy smiled. "Go, do it."
Stan nodded and smiled back. "Consider it done."
The two of them resumed their studies for a while. Stan had nearly finished his work when he realized that he had used up the last piece of scrap paper in his binder.
"Crap. Wendy, do you have a piece of notebook paper?"
"Stan, Stan, you've got to be prepared," she chastised, only half-serious. She opened her folder and handed him a piece.
"Thanks, babe."
"No problem."
Stan scribbled the last of his answers down onto the page and closed his textbook with an audible thud.
"Done! No more calculus homework for me!"
Wendy giggled. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah…"
"Did you forget about the worksheet?"
Stan's smile melted into a frown. "There's a worksheet? I don't remember him mentioning that in class today! Shit!"
Wendy tried her best to stifle her laughter. "Yeah, I guess you shouldn't have been planning the party in class again!"
Stan looked at her for a second, slowly deciphering her expression. "Very funny Wendy. Nice joke."
Wendy burst into laughter. "I can't believe you fell for it!"
"Yeah, yeah, have your fun…" said Stan, shaking his head, working hard to cover up the traces of a smile beginning to form. "You know I'm going to prank you back…"
"I'd like to see you try…" she replied, smiling.
"I guess you should wait and see then…"
"Maybe I will…"
"Yeah dude, you will…"
Wendy laughed again. "Seriously though, how is the planning coming along?"
"It's going alright," answered Stan, now moving onto his history homework. "Kyle and I messaged Butters earlier tonight to remind him to get ready. Right now, this is shaping up to be the greatest party of all time."
"Really?" Wendy asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, for real this time," Stan replied. "No hyperbole, no strings attached, no bullshit."
"Okay, so tell me this grand plan of yours," Wendy requested facetiously.
Stan smirked. "Nope."
"Oh," said Wendy, "and why might that be?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
"Alright, fair enough. Are there any current drawbacks to the party as of yet?"
"Actually, yeah."
"Oh! Please tell me more."
"I accidentally let it slip to my parents that the party is happening. They called all the other parents and there's going to be a large group trying to hunt us down."
"That's a big don't right there."
"But!" interjected Stan. "They do not know the time nor date of the party, so everything will be safe."
"What if our parents find out more information? Surely, this whole ordeal can't be a complete secret forever…"
"Easy, we already have a preventative measure put in place. Everything will be just fine. Just make sure you don't slip any information and that no one else does either and we won't get found out."
"I wasn't planning on it," laughed Wendy. "But I'll tell the rest of the girls to keep it hushed as well."
"Excellent!"
Once more, they returned to their homework for a little while. Stan was the one who broke the silence this time.
"Hey, Wendy?"
"Yeah, Stan?"
"I don't say this enough, but with everything that's happened up to and throughout high school, I'm really glad that you were there right beside me every step of the way. It means more to me than you'll ever know."
Wendy blushed. "Stan, that might be the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me. I'm so glad to have shared that experience with you. You have supported me in tough times just as much as I have supported you and I'm really happy that you too have been beside me through my triumphs and struggles."
Stan smiled. "It feels so good to have moved past all that drama from the earlier times, the silly and petty breakups, the jealousy, and so forth."
Wendy nodded in agreement. "All that garbage such as the mass breakup, the start-up company nonsense, and the substitute teacher feel like a lifetime ago. The only thing that matters is that it all worked out in the end."
"I love you…"
"I love you too…"
The two were about to embrace when Stan's phone buzzed.
"What was that?"
Stan groaned. "Butters is trying to call me."
"Do you want to answer it?"
Stan tossed his phone several feet away. "Hell no, not right now."
Wendy smiled and the two wrapped their arms around each other, refusing to let go.
