Time for chapter ten! Whoo! Angela has made her reappearance! How will the guys, especially Stan and Kyle, react to seeing her? Let's find out, shall we?
Chapter Ten – The One Where the Horrible Character Comes Back
"I push you back harder! Harder!"
"Angela?" Stan gasped when he saw his ex-girlfriend skipping towards them. "They let you out of the whacky shack?!" Angela stopped and closed her eyes for a moment.
"It was a mental rehabilitation clinic," she clarified with a frown. Then she smiled again. "But that doesn't matter now! What matters is that it's so good to see you all again!"
Kyle had immediately hidden behind Cartman with a hiss, and Stan had taken a step back in fear. Angela didn't seem to notice their distress though as she continued to smile at them.
Stan could still remember that faithful day back in the fourth grade when Angela had first come into their lives as the new girl. Stan had taken an immediate liking to her and asked her out since it was between the time he and Wendy were dating. Everything had been great until Angela decided to turn Stan against his own best friend. Because it turned out that Angela had a crush on Kyle, and when he spurned her advances, she lied to Stan and said that Kyle had kissed her, when it had actually been the other way around. Cartman and Kenny had sided with Kyle, leaving Stan alone with a manipulative witch. Stan couldn't remember exactly what made him realize that Angela was manipulating him, but she had not taken it well when he finally broke up with her. She had been suspended from school because of an incident she caused and they had never seen her again. The end.
Except "The End" was smiling sweetly at them like nothing was wrong.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Kenny growled, stepping in front of Stan.
"I'm on vacay with my parents!" Angela announced, not detecting the venom in his voice. "We're on a trip across America, checking out all of the sights! What are you all doing here?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but we're also on a trip," Wendy said with a sneer.
"Oh fun!" Angela said. "You're not following us, are you?" They all glared at her and her smile dropped. She let out a sad sigh. "Look, I know none of you like me, and I don't blame you. What I did was horrible and selfish. I've been doing a lot of thinking while I was in rehab. And a lot of growing. I was hoping to see you all again so I could properly apologize. I'm sorry for hurting all of you. And I know you'll never forgive me, and again, I deserve it. I just want to start over. That's why we're travelling. To start over."
Stan and Wendy exchanged surprised glances and Kenny looked a little uncertain. Cartman was completely expressionless and Kyle simply narrowed his eyes.
"Do you really expect us to believe that?" He snarled at her. Angela blinked in shock at him, putting a hand to her chest.
"Why Kyle! I don't expect you to believe anything," she replied. "I am simply telling you how I feel! I hope you can someday forgive me for everything that I did, but I totally understand if you never do. I know I hurt you and Stan the most."
Kyle didn't reply and simply folded his arms, clearly not convinced. Stan took the opportunity to look his ex over as Cartman pressed comfortingly against Kyle's side.
Angela had certainly gotten taller and curvier. Her red hair had gone from wavy to straight, and she was wearing a tank top and mini skirt that left nothing to the imagination. Her freckles stood out more on her pale skin and puberty had already made her breasts shapely. She didn't look crazy, at least.
"So… where are you headed next on your trip?" Angela asked awkwardly, running a hand through her hair.
"Um, Yosemite Park," Stan muttered. There was no reason not to tell her, and she really did sound sincere with her apology. He didn't think he could forgive her for what she did to him and his friends, but he could at least be friendly.
"Oh! That sounds like fun," Angela said, clapping her hands. "I've always wanted to see Old Faithful!" She glanced nervously at Kyle as she said this, but he continued to stare coldly back at her. She let out a sigh. "Well, ok then. I'm glad to have seen you all again. I've been wanting to get all of this off my chest for a while now. I just hope someday I'll be able to make up for all the horrible things I did to you."
Then she started to walk away dejectedly. The five of them stared after her for a long moment before one of them finally cracked. Surprisingly enough, it was Wendy.
"Angela, wait!" She said, stepping forward and putting a hand on her shoulder. "I certainly can't forgive or forget what you did… but… I've always believed in giving everyone a second chance. Hell, we've given Eric hundreds of chances and he eventually managed to turn himself around."
Cartman gave Wendy an annoyed look while muttering "What is that supposed to mean?" under his breath. Angela turned to give Wendy a hopeful look.
"What are you saying, Wendy?" She asked.
"I'm saying… I guess it wouldn't hurt if you wanted to hang out with us for the rest of the day," Wendy said reluctantly. An excited smile spread across Angela's features.
"R-Really?" She gasped. Stan gulped and stepped forward.
"Wendy's a good judge of character," he muttered. "So, if she says it's ok, then I say it's ok too. As long as you don't try anything, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give you a bit of a chance."
"Thank you, Stan," Angela replied, tears in her eyes. "You don't know how much this means to me. I promise you I'll do everything I can to make it up to you!"
"Well, if they're ok with it, I guess I am too," Kenny said with a sigh and shrug.
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Angela said, clapping excitedly. "You guys are really the best! You won't regret this! I promise!"
Then she looked past them and her face fell when she saw Kyle. The others turned to look at him and were surprised to see that he was practically on fire with uncontained rage. Only he and Cartman had not spoken, and even though Cartman also looked annoyed and angry, he didn't look anywhere as furious as Kyle. Angela took an uncertain step forward.
"Kyle…?" She started. He bared his teeth at her.
"Don't. Come. Near. Me," he snarled. Then he turned on his heel and marched away, leaving them all to stare after him in astonishment. Cartman glanced uncertainly between the group and Kyle before quickly turning away.
"I'm gonna go make sure he's ok," he muttered before hurrying after him.
Angela looked down, dejected.
"I'm not surprised that he doesn't trust me," she said with a sigh, rubbing her arm. "What I did was selfish and cruel. I nearly ruined his life. I just wish I could go back in time, you know? And undo everything I did." There were tears in her eyes as she spoke. The sad kind of tears this time.
Wendy, Stan and Kenny exchanged concerned glances before Stan took a step towards her.
"Well, Kyle always has had a problem with holding grudges," he told her. "You wouldn't believe the stuff he wouldn't let go when we were younger. I'm sure if you're really sincere about changing, he'll come around eventually."
"You really think so?" Angela asked with a note of hope in her voice.
"Sure," Kenny replied with a shrug. "He's still friends with Cartman and he used to antagonize him all the time for really no reason."
"And if he can forgive him, I'm sure he could someday forgive you," Wendy said encouragingly. "As long as you really have changed, that is."
"Yes! I'll do it!" Angela said excitedly, pumping her fist into the air. "I'll show him that I really have changed! And maybe he won't forgive me, but maybe I can at least make him not hate me! I'll prove it!"
"How are you going to do that?" Stan asked. There was a pause.
"I do not know!" Angela declared.
Before any of them could speak again, Butters suddenly came running up to them.
"Stan! I have to warn you that your psychotic ex-girlfriend is here!" He said, standing next to Angela. Stan glared at him.
"Thanks, Butters," he growled. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her."
Cartman, meanwhile, did not have that hard of a time following after Kyle, despite the crowd. The anger radiating off of his friend was practically setting the grass on fire with every step he took. He was glad that he had been working out all of these years, because Kyle was storming through the crowd of people, not slowing in the slightest.
"Kyle, wait up," he called when he was sure he could hear him. Kyle glanced over his shoulder and sighed, not slowing down, but not speeding up either. When they finally pushed through the crowd of people and found a quiet spot away from the noise, only then did Kyle stop and wait for Cartman to catch up.
"What?" Kyle asked when Cartman was finally standing next to him. "What do you want?"
"I'm just checking on you," Cartman said, blinking in surprise. "I know seeing Angela again isn't easy for you."
"She nearly ruined my life," Kyle growled. "She played around with Stan's heart and turned him against us. She used us both for her own selfish agenda and for some reason Stan and Wendy want to forgive her?"
"They're not forgiving her, per say," Cartman replied. "Just giving her a second chance." Kyle huffed and angrily folded his arms, turning away. Cartman hesitated a moment before putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's Stan and Wendy's choice if they want to do that. She did hurt them as well."
Kyle let out a defeated sighed and turned back towards him, the anger draining from him.
"Do you think she deserves a second chance?" He asked him eventually.
"Oh hell no," Cartman replied with a scoff. "She's a total bitch through and through. She claims to have changed her ways, but I don't buy it. People hardly ever change."
Kyle gave him a long and thoughtful look before saying in a quiet voice, "You've changed, though…"
Cartman felt his heart stop for a moment at his comment. He tried not to let any emotion show on his face, but God knows if he succeeded.
"I don't… know what you mean," he muttered, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks.
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Come on, dude," he said. "You know you've been a lot more mellow and nice in the past few years. You're not the same angry, bigoted, fat, loud, selfish asshole you were in the fourth grade." Cartman turned his head so that he couldn't see his expression, choosing to stare at the very interesting sky.
"Doesn't change the fact that Angela's still a conniving bitch," he said eventually. He looked back over at Kyle. "Look, we'll be leaving in a few hours and then we never have to see her again. We can easily avoid her until then. Just try not to judge the others too harshly for their own decisions." Kyle sighed and gave him a weak smile.
"When did you become the smartest one here?" He asked. Cartman grinned back at him.
"I like to think I was always the smartest one here," he joked. "But I think it was around the same time the voice got deeper." Kyle tried to roll his eyes, but he couldn't help but smile. "Come on, let's get something to eat," Cartman said. "I'm buying."
"Ok, seriously," Kyle replied. "Who are you and what have you done with Eric Cartman?"
I'm going to end this chapter right here because I've been keeping you guys ins suspense long enough. Also, I ran out of ideas for this chapter. Thankfully, my sister was playing a bunch of random South Park clips, so it got me on a kick for this.
I'll be moving soon, so I don't know when the next chapter will come out. Hopefully less than a year. Sometimes I just gotta force myself to write, ya know?
Also, I have a twitter page if you want to check that out. I'm carlyg_carly. Look for the Pikachu with the lollipop in its mouth. And I have a wordpress website as well, if you want to see some of my art. It's .com! See you there!