Later that afternoon, Sharon's car left the Marsh Residence. Shelly was the one driving it, with Stan on the passenger's seat. They were heading to the North Park Funland, after Shelly received a phone call from her friends thirty minutes ago, arranging to meet up there.
"Don't forget. Mom told us to be back home before seven." Stan reminded her.
"Shut up! Don't nag me!"
Unfortunately, her eagerness of a good time with her friends had been soured by her brother's forced company.
"I can't believe she made me take you with me."
"It was her condition for you to borrow the car, remember?"
"Yeah, I know!"
Of course, Shelly could have taken a bus or a cab to her destination, but most of her friends already had their own cars to drive. And she didn't want to look so behind them in going up in life, so in her mind, Stan tagging along was a small price to pay.
"What did you wanna do in the park anyway?" Stan inquired.
"I'm meeting my boyfriend and some friends. This exam week was hell. We're gonna get some well-deserved time off."
He snorted. "Pfft. I pity you highschoolers."
"Yeah, keep laughing. This'll be you in two years, asshole."
"Whatever."
Stan didn't care about two years in the future. Now, in the present, he only cared about getting to the park. School could wait.
"Good thing the guys are going to the park too." He voiced. "I can meet them there."
"You turds do whatever you want. Just make sure you do it away from me."
Stan frowned. It was disappointing. Sometimes he thought that he and his sister were making progress, but there were moments that she appeared to regress to her 13-year-old self. Or maybe she was just in a bad mood for being forced to bringing Stan with her. He hoped that their time at the park would lift her spirits.
After arriving at the park, the siblings went their separate ways, each one to meet their respective friends. Stan wandered through the stores until he met one of his friends. The one sporting a green hat and an orange jacket. He had an ice cream in the hand.
"Hey, Kyle!" Stan made himself known to him.
"Oh. Hey, dude!" Kyle approached him. "Cool to see you!"
"How did you come here?"
"My parents brought me. They're with Ike somewhere at the games."
Then, another familiar figure emerged from the ice cream parlor, also holding an ice cream. This one was wearing an orange parka.
"Oh, and I invited Kenny too." Kyle explained.
"(Hey, Stan!)" Kenny greeted.
"Hi, Kenny!" And Stan replied.
"Jesus, couldn't they take any longer?"
That last sentence wasn't from either of them. Rather, it came from another boy coming from the parlor. He was fatter than the other three, and carried two ice creams. His complaint was about the time that was taken to prepare them.
"Well, of course I didn't invite fatass!" Kyle shimmered.
"Fuck you, Jew! I didn't even need you to bring me!" Cartman barked. "Mom brought me."
"What about you, Stan? Did you come with your mom too?"
"No, I came with Shelly. She went to meet her friends somewhere."
"Shelly?" Kyle then thought of something. "Wait, is her boyfriend here too?"
"Yeah, she said she would meet him here."
"Oh, boy."
Kyle looked worried, and that caught the others, especially Stan, by surprise.
"What's wrong?" Stan asked.
"I think I saw his brother here. Him and his friends."
Stan frowned, knowing that there was a chance of his fun being over earlier than he expected.
"Goddammit, those assholes are here? They must be bothering Shelly by now. Better go take a look."
He went towards Shelly's current location, with the others following him. They stopped by another store, keeping their distance, and spotted Shelly and her company gathered at a small restaurant. They were chatting.
And then they noticed the assholes, also known as the Eighth Graders. They consisted of the picture buyer, who was the younger brother of Shelly's boyfriend, and another two boys. They were spying on the highschoolers from behind a corner.
"Why don't those guys go peek on Cartman's mom?!" Stan grumbled. "She must be banging someone around here."
"Hey, fuck you, asshole!" Cartman yelled.
"Keep it quiet!' Kyle chided Cartman, then spoke to Stan. "I guess you should expect this. If her boyfriend is here, his brother will be here too."
"Yeah, I think so." Stan agreed.
"Come on. He won't do more than look. If he does, his brother will kick his ass."
"Let's go to the rollercoaster." Cartman voiced. "I hope the line isn't too long."
Kyle, Cartman and Kenny left. Stan looked a last time before leaving as well, trying to assure himself that Kyle was right. The Eighth Graders wouldn't dare to mess with the highschoolers. Now he wanted to put that aside and have fun, like he originally planned to do.