Chapter Thirty-Two - Collision.
Wendy cringed as she watched Stan get hoisted into the air and driven down into the grass for the third or fourth time that game. The ball fell from his fingertips and rolled along the ground as the team from Malibu huddled together once more, cheering in celebration. Right in the middle of the big, strong pack of young men was Griffin. He picked Connor up from on top of Stan, slapping his friend proudly on the back and laughing loud enough for Wendy to hear him all the way from the sideline.
The dark haired boy finally picked himself up off the ground and brushed his jersey off, shrugging away from the couple of comforting pats on the back offered from his teammates. As he did so, Wendy sensed a sick emotion of guilt bubble in her stomach. There was something seriously wrong with Stan – he wasn't playing even slightly like his regular self. South Park were already down by two touchdowns and it was almost half time, but the dark haired cheerleader could see all too clearly that it wasn't going to be easy for Stan to just snap himself out of this funk. It had been hard enough for Wendy when Griffin had simply walked past her and winked before kick-off – she couldn't imagine the kinds of emotional and physical difficulties Stan must have been facing to be out on the field opposite him.
All of a sudden, the half time whistle blew in the background, causing Wendy to jump in slight surprise. Within an instant, Stan had angrily dug his heels into the ground and spun around, bolting towards the side of the field and as far away from Griffin as possible. As the quarterback eventually approached South Park's bench, he braced himself for whatever Coach Hasler may have been about to scream at him. Stan knew he was making an absolute mockery of himself out there, but he wasn't prepared to stop. Not now, and not for anything. Because Stan was not going to let Griffin hurt Wendy again.
Nervously glancing up at his coach, Stan gulped. However, the second that his eyes landed on his quarterback, all Coach Hasler could do was sigh.
"You've got ten minutes," he spoke calmly, "Take a walk."
Stan frowned, stuttering over a reply, "Uh, wh-what?"
Looking down at the teenager with a very forced expression of comfort, Coach Hasler raised an arm and gestured back up the hill, "I'm not blind, Marsh. Whatever the hell is eating you up and distracting you so much, you've got this ten minute half time break to take a walk and figure out what it is and clear your damn head, alright?"
Taken aback for a brief second or two, Stan finally groaned in defeat, hanging his head as he turned around and reluctantly strolled away from the team huddle. As he kept his head down, he adjusted his helmet, not even realising that he was suddenly walking by the bench where his team's cheerleaders were sitting. Wendy's eyes were absolutely fastened to him. Up until that point, the teenage girl may have still been angry with her boyfriend, but it simply broke her heart to see Stan act so unlike his regular self. Especially while knowing that he was surely suffering enough without her still spitefully ignoring him, too.
Taking a deep breath, Wendy placed her pom poms down on the bench between her and Bebe. She stood up, nervously tightening her ponytail and crossing her arms over her chest as she took a first step towards Stan.
Wendy cleared her throat, "So... those are all the unbeatable plays you've been going over these last few weeks, hm?"
Stan's heart skipped a beat as the familiarly sweet tone echoed from behind him. He slowly spun around to find Wendy standing only a foot or two away from him, well out of ear shot of all the other players and cheerleaders and spectators by now.
Stan carefully licked his lips, pausing for a moment. Despite the harmless sarcasm he had detected in his girlfriend's voice, it still hadn't been the most desirable thing to hear after two days of complete silence.
"Is that supposed to be some kind of pep talk, or something?"
Wendy sighed, looking down at her feet. She didn't exactly know what else to say. Part of her was still too upset with Stan to muster any kind of apology or romance. But then, on the other hand, another part of her was on the verge of flat out desperate to get back to a good place with him.
"Look, it doesn't feel spectacular knowing it's partly my fault that you're out there not playing like yourself, okay?" she admitted, looking up at him through the mask of his helmet. Another stubborn sigh escaped her. Wendy couldn't believe that she had been the one to cave first, "Do you wanna' talk? Maybe tonight? We could go for a walk or something and just fix all of this?"
Stan's heart was racing in utter happiness. He longingly stared Wendy up and down. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her blue and white cheer uniform and navy ribbon that sat in the ponytail high on her head. The quarterback felt almost completely revitalised at the thought of just scooping her up in his arms right then and there. But regrettably, Stan soon shook his head.
The dark haired boy had told himself that he wouldn't let anything stop him from purposely throwing the game. And unfortunately, that included Wendy.
"There's nothing you can do to fix this, Wendy," he spoke emotionlessly, "Not right now."
The confusion and hurt registered on Wendy's face in an instant. She frowned at Stan, chuckling in cynical disbelief, "Are you serious? Stan, I'm trying to compromise here."
The blankness that remained on Stan's face made Wendy's heart sink a little. They had both done and said a million and one things wrong to one another, and Wendy knew that she was damn well owed an apology too, but seeing Stan so miserable was definitely making her want to extend the first olive branch. And a sweet and loving one, at that.
"Babe, I miss you," she murmured sadly, "I just want to work this out."
Stan shook his head again, clutching to the back of his navy blue helmet as he tried to stop her sweet tone resonating in his mind, "Wendy, you don't get it," he pleaded with her, "There is nothing that you can do. There's nothing that me or anyone else can do, okay? This is just the way that this game has to turn out, and that's that, alright?"
As the volume of his frantic ramblings crept up little by little with each word he spoke, Wendy's eyes grew wider and wider. His paranoid tone was a familiar one that she herself had used many, many times in the past. For a split second, the raven haired girl's vision nervously flicked across the field where the Malibu pack were huddled up around their captain and coach.
And then, as the penny finally dropped, Wendy felt a shiver race up her spine.
The teenage girl could barely bring any words to her tongue as she licked her lips, "What has he done?"
The exhausted heat coursing through Stan's body suddenly turned ice cold at Wendy's words, "Wendy – "
"What has he said, Stan?" Wendy forcefully cut in, "What did he say to you to throw you off your game so badly?"
Stan swallowed a lump of vomit that he could swear was beginning to build in his throat. He fell to a defiant silence. He wasn't about to just stand there and reveal Griffin's plan and let it ruin Wendy's life – no way, not again.
"Wendy, I don't want you worrying about – "
"I don't want you to protect me, Stan, I want you to tell me the truth!"
Stan's stern exterior instantly shattered at the demanding volume of Wendy's voice. But still, he remained hesitantly quiet. As he eyes fell away from hers and disappeared into his helmet, Wendy gritted her teeth together. The teenage girl wanted to know what the hell was going on, and she wanted to know now.
"Or shall I just go and ask him myself?" she challenged, fiercely turning around. She only managed half a step away from Stan, however, before she jumped at the sensation of his hand latching around her forearm.
"No," he fearfully yelped, tugging her back in towards him.
Trying to hold a firm expression, Wendy stared up at Stan. She could only imagine what kind of horrendous actions Griffin may or may not have committed, but the teenage girl was more than ready to hear whatever it was that her boyfriend was desperately trying to hide from her.
As she tried to wriggle out of his grip, Stan only held Wendy in place. He loosened his grasp slightly and instead began to stroke her soft skin with his thumb as he succumbed to a terrifyingly deep breath. He opened his mouth with every genuine intention to speak, but the words simply couldn't come to him.
Finally locking his eyes with hers, Stan shuddered.
"He told me to throw the game and lose on purpose, otherwise..."
The quarterback trailed off with a timid pause. No number of stupid arguments with Wendy or spiteful words shared with her could ever make Stan truly endure what he was about to tell her.
"... Or else... he's gonna' send your photo to every South Park kid here..."
Wendy's chest caved in as her heart dropped with an emotionless thud into the dark pit of her stomach.
She blinked, shaking her head.
"He's lying."
"He proved it."
Piercing his expression with her own, Wendy quickly and viciously ripped away from him. Stan glanced down at her in confusion, sensing goosebumps pop up over his skin at the sadness suddenly pooling in her eyes. The brown of her orbs turned to water colour as a few trivial tears formed and she swallowed back a sob.
"... You saw it?"
An immediate guilt completely consumed Stan's soul.
"Only for a second."
Every one of Wendy's muscles tremoured and ached as she felt her heart break, "I never wanted you to see it..."
"Wendy, I swear – "
"No, Stan, I didn't want you to ever have to see that part of my life..."
The misery and regret accompanying each word that Wendy spoke only made another part of Stan's spirit crumble away. He never would have guessed that something could be worse than the notion of Griffin sending her photo to more people. But the only thing that hurt Wendy more was knowing that Stan was now one of those who had been forced to lay eyes on it.
Blowing out an uneasy breath, the dark haired boy attempted to lead Wendy along with him back towards the two teams and all the spectators, "That's why I'm gonna' go back out there and make sure no-one ever has to lay their sleazy fuckin' eyes on it ever again."
Wiping her nose with one final sniffle, Wendy slowly shook her head as she murmured some quiet words, "You can't..."
Glancing back down at her feeling completely bewildered and slightly hurt, Stan frowned, "That's what I just said? I'm not gonna' let it happen, Wendy, you don't need to – "
"No!" she interjected one more time, coming to a sharp halt and pulling Stan back around to face her, "I mean you can't go out there and lose on purpose, you need to win!"
The revelation from his girlfriend made Stan's jaw fly straight down to the ground. He had never fallen into a sharper pit of confusion and dumbfounded amazement in his entire existence. Had he really heard Wendy say what the hell he thought she just said?
"Have you lost your mind?" he spat, throwing his arms out to the side, "Did you not hear what happens if he loses?"
"I don't care, Stan, it's about time he learnt that he can't cheat his way through life by manipulating whoever the hell he wants," Wendy argued, "He's walked all over me enough this last year, he's not going to get away with walking over you, too."
Stan could only stare down at Wendy as he shook his head with a commanding 'no'. He wasn't prepared to even humour the idea of having this absurd and completely meaningless discussion with her.
"Wendy, I'm not going to stand back and just let him try to ruin your life again. What the hell is everyone at school gonna' do and say if that photo gets out?"
"What the hell is everyone gonna' do and say to the both of us if they ever find out the reason South Park lost and got kicked out of this competition?" she countered, taking a step towards him, "Stan, I know this tournament means everything to you – "
"No, you mean everything to me!"
Both teenagers came skidding to a stop as these words left Stan.
Their eyes locked tightly together all over again as they dwelled in the sudden silence that they had created. Stan's chest was stinging with the anxious beating of his heart, each thump like the tremour of an earthquake against his rib cage. But Wendy, on the other hand, could only sense her own heart and soul actually begin to slowly piece back together for the first time that entire weekend.
She knew what Stan was thinking. He thought Wendy was absolutely crazy to even dare Griffin to fulfill what he had threatened. But in actuality, Wendy was thinking sanely for the first time in a very, very long time. She was sick of being Griffin's puppet – his timid little play thing that he was free to control whenever he so desired. And she certainly wasn't going to let him even think about trying the same tricks on Stan.
Not anymore. This was where Griffin's evil reign ended.
But Stan still wasn't convinced, "I'm not going to let the exact same thing happen to you all over again."
"But it won't be the same," Wendy immediately retorted with a soft tone. She sighed, at long last reaching out and grabbing Stan's hand with hers, "It can't be the same. I was all alone last time. I've got you back now."
The most exhilarating electricity was flowing from Stan's fingertips all the way up his arm as he continued to listen to Wendy's beautiful voice.
"I've got you to support me and protect me again," she spoke. She took her hand away from his and grabbed onto the mask on his helmet, playfully shaking his head back and forth, "Because even when we're angry and we're fighting and we hate each other's guts, I've still got you, right?"
Reaching up to take Wendy's hand away from his face, Stan gave it a gentle squeeze. His answer was immediate, "You know you do."
Wendy knotted her fingers with his just as tightly as she brought her voice to an adoring whisper, "Then I'll be okay."
Stan was all too lost in the gorgeous features of his girlfriend's face as he desperately tried to counter every word that she was speaking. But each time he tried to open his mouth to talk, Wendy's bizarre confidence only made him second guess himself.
As torturous as it was for Stan to abide by each of Griffin's threats, the decision had at least been a simple one to make. It was Wendy's safety above all else – it always had been. And as certain as Wendy may have been about foiling Griffin's vile plans, Stan still wasn't sure if he could truly bring himself to do it.
"Hey, Stan!"
Suddenly snapping out of his all too consuming trance, Stan took his eyes away from Wendy's and turned around to find Shawn calling his name and beckoning him back over to re-join the rest of the team.
Stan gulped. He knew that the half time break must have been almost over by now, and he had probably about thirty to sixty seconds to decide what the hell he was going to do.
Glancing back down at the beautiful girl in front of him, Stan wavered for just one more moment. And then, as he somehow managed to mirror the devoted smile she was beaming up at him, Stan nodded his head at Wendy in confirmation.
He gave her hand one more loving squeeze before he turned around on the spot and began to march back over to Shawn and the rest of his team. Wendy watched him as he left. Her heart may not have been recovered from her harrowing ordeal that weekend, and it may not totally heal for a while to come yet, but Wendy was able to say that it had at least began to piece itself back together all because of the pure love between her and Stan.
"Stan!" she called to him, smirking sweetly as he looked over his shoulder at her, "Win."
As the single syllable pulsated through Stan's core, bringing him the absolute self-assurance that he had misplaced for so long now, it also finally made the teenage boy snap out of his stubborn standoff with his girlfriend.
Pulling his helmet off with one hand, Stan sprinted back over to Wendy, bringing himself as close to her as he could. Using his free hand to gently cup her jaw, he smiled down at her with all the love he could muster, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb before he finally brought his lips to hers. The quarterback wouldn't have been all that surprised if the dark haired beauty was perhaps still a little too irritated with him to properly kiss him back, but instead, Stan felt his chest race in utter joy as Wendy exchanged the gesture just as devotedly.
He shut his eyes tightly and felt his skin tingle as she hugged him around his waist, absolutely squeezing him, never wanting to let go. After two days of zero physical contact, Stan was struggling to resist the sweet taste of Wendy's lips and keep his emotions and temptations in check. But eventually, he somehow managed to peck at her just once more and slowly pull back.
As they stared into each other's souls, they both knew they didn't need to say anything more. All that mattered now was not the words that Stan spoke, but the actions he made back out on the field against Griffin.
Reluctantly turning away from her, Stan slipped his helmet back over his head and jogged over to Shawn. It almost felt like a new sense of life and purpose had been breathed into him as his captain looked at him with a concerned raise of his brow.
"All good now?" Shawn asked simply.
With a split second of hesitation, Stan nodded his head, "Yeah. Yeah, I think I've figured it all out."
A relieved expression flashed across Shawn's face, "Well, good," the captain answered him. They both took their positions as the whistle blew to re-start the game and Shawn yelled back to Stan, "Now just get me over that damn line, will ya'?"
The cheek and wit from the older boy brought Stan a sort of comforting delight, but still, there were no laughs echoing from his throat and no smile sitting on his face. There was no time for any of that. It was game time – for real this time. And as Stan narrowed his eyes down the field and spied Griffin standing amongst the opposition, the quarterback was ready for absolutely anything.
So much so that as soon as the opportunity presented itself, Stan did exactly what Shawn had asked of him.
The pig-skin had spiralled effortlessly from Stan's hand and through the air, landing perfectly in Shawn's grasp as he ran over the goal line. Wendy was the first girl to happily leap up from her seat before the rest of her squad joined her, jumping and screaming and chanting for their boys as loudly as they could.
Whipping his neck around to find Stan, Griffin gritted his teeth together and glared absolute daggers at the younger boy. As he spotted him staring him down, Stan was still for only a second before he sarcastically shrugged his shoulders.
"Game on, asswipe."
Completely thrown by Stan's sudden burst of confidence, Griffin narrowed his eyes at him, watching him turn around and run back down to South Park's end of the field. He couldn't be serious. Surely not. Could he? It was beyond obvious to Griffin that Wendy and Stan weren't exactly getting along all that well right now, but the blonde boy had been willing to bet anything that his younger adversary would easily concede to any threat he made involving the teenage girl.
Holding his curious gaze on the quarterback while both teams re-set their lines, Griffin spied his ex-girlfriend still carrying on from the sideline and calling out to Stan. He wasn't sure how, but it definitely appeared that by some sort of a miracle, Stan and Wendy were abruptly back on the same page. But Griffin wasn't going to let that stop him from having the upper hand. If he simply had to step his game up a little more and thwart any of Stan's genuine attempts at winning, then that's exactly what he was going to do.
Almost instantly, the game began to bounce back and forth evenly between the two teams. Stan's head was exactly where it needed to be, even amongst the timid thoughts of Griffin that still nagged at the back of his brain. It was almost as if his second wind had lifted his entire team and given all of them a fresh sense of purpose in the match. The teenager's feet and hands were suddenly moving much more easily. He was spotting all the right holes just when he needed to and was allowing the ball to glide through the air over and over again with perfect pace.
Playing football and being a quarterback had always come as pure and simple second nature to Stan, but now he was definitely proving it. Especially as the third quarter flew by, and towards the end of the fourth, South Park and Malibu were all tied up.
Stan's breath was exhaustingly heavy in his lungs. There was probably only enough time for one or two more plays in the game, and each second that ticked by only made the quarterback's heart race faster and faster. But it wasn't only because Stan was anxious for his team to win the game. Much more than that, he was terrified about what might happen to him, and what might happen to Wendy, if they did.
South Park had stolen an interception from Malibu at a crucial moment, and in all honesty, Stan had been pretty damn relieved when they did. Because if Griffin or anyone else on his team had been graced with the opportunity to cross the line and seal the game, Stan wasn't sure if he would have been able to stop him. He knew how much it would mean to him and his team and his coach to win, and he knew it was what Wendy wanted, but inside of his soul, Stan's heart was still screaming at him to put his girlfriend's safety and protection first.
As Stan shouted some final instructions and his teammates set their offensive line, the teenage boy blew out a nervous sigh. Subtly glimpsing over his shoulder, he ran his eyes down the sideline. Out of all the cheerleaders for both teams, Wendy was the only one up on her feet.
Was everything going to be okay if his team won? Stan wasn't sure... scratch that, he was almost certain that things wouldn't be alright. Not even in the slightest. But both he and Wendy would still have Kyle, and they would still have Bebe, and most importantly, they would still have each other.
And maybe in the near future, things would turn out to be okay.
As the ball popped out and landed in Stan's hands, he snapped his head up, glancing around the field. He took his time. His teammates were doing an amazing job of blocking out any defenders from reaching him. And as he finally spied Shawn standing out wider and longer than he had probably even positioned himself, Stan held his breath.
The football fired out of his grip and spun faultlessly through the air. The entire ordeal seemed to stretch on for an eternity as Stan finally felt his brain and his heart tear into two conflicted pieces at the sight of Shawn easily catching the ball and crossing the line. And with that, South Park stole six more points and ripped the victory from Malibu's grasp.
The loud, boisterous cheering from the crowd and the sound of heavy footsteps rushing over towards him was completely inaudible to Stan. His team were happily jumping up and down all around him, patting him on the back before dashing over to Shawn to bestow him with much of the same treatment. But Stan hadn't really felt or appreciated any of it. His body felt sort of numb as he turned around and away from the crowd, scanning the many sets of eyes that stared back at him until he froze.
The beautiful, chocolate colour of Wendy's eyes pierced Stan's from where she stood a few feet away from him. While the teenage boy's expression was completely blank, he tried to mimic the soft smile that Wendy was somehow managing to resonate. But for whatever reason – whether Wendy was in denial or was simply just braver than her boyfriend – Stan couldn't bring himself to find the bright side to what he had just done.
"Hey!"
The furious grunt that boomed from behind Stan made him almost leap out of his skin in surprise as he twirled around and felt his chest shudder at the sinister look Griffin was blasting at him. Cocking an eyebrow of disbelief, the older boy shook his head and emitted a condescending scoff.
"Wrong choice, dude."
As the cold, harsh words from Griffin settled into the very depths of Stan's mind, so too did the sudden realisation of exactly what the hell he had just done.
The weight of the entire world abruptly crashed down onto his shoulders, making it almost possible for him to swivel back around and glance at Wendy again. The raven haired cheerleader instantly recognised the fear and regret sitting in her boyfriend's face. But ultimately, as she continued to stare at him with a similar twinge of pain, Wendy's shoulders merely heaved up and down in defeat.
And Stan's calm and collected exterior finally broke.
He didn't care about how brave Wendy was being or how much she wanted put an end to Griffin's manipulation of her. He didn't care about the positive number of people that would be there to support her this time once the photo was out. And he certainly didn't care about getting kicked out of the tournament and being sent home by his coach.
In a selfish sort of way, Wendy's photo getting out was still going to be personally devastating to Stan, as well. Wendy was his girlfriend. They had only shared the most intense intimacies with each other, and Stan prayed to God that they only ever would. Was he really going to let every single sleaze, jerk and asshole back in South Park lay their filthy eyes on a naked photo of her?
No chance in hell.
Wendy's entire body froze over, all except for her heart that went plummeting down into the very pit of her guts at the sight of Stan ripping off his helmet and spinning around on the spot, making an aggressive beeline straight for Griffin.
"Stan!" she screeched out to him. A flash of green flew past the corner of her eye as Kyle suddenly sprinted after his best friend.
The second that the Jewish boy was halfway across the field, Bebe's worried voice soon echoed from behind Wendy, too. Both girls tried to race after the boys as quickly as they could, but Stan's determined march had already lead him right into the middle of the Malibu pack.
"Hey, asshole."
Griffin was left with only about a second and a half to react as he turned around at the sound of Stan's voice.
The quarterback clenched his fists, "Here's your head's up this time."
Griffin's eyes widened and the entire crowd standing around he and Stan suddenly started yelling and screaming with intense encouragement as the younger boy threw the first punch. Despite how unexpected it was, though, the Malibu native was far too quick as he ducked out of the way. Twisting away from Stan, Griffin shoved him in the back, leading the dark haired boy to immediately return the favour. The group circling them was getting tighter and tighter, until Connor burst out from the crowd, running at Stan.
Both girls had made it there by now, and Wendy sensed an almighty panic cross her at the sight of the two Malibu boys closing in on her soulmate. But before even the slightest fearful noise could escape her, Kyle was there, jumping in and standing toe to toe with Connor. An identical anger was viciously coursing through both of their bodies, as at the exact same time, Kyle and Connor pulled back a fist and collided with each other's mouths.
Before either of them could even react to the sudden pain shooting up their jawlines, Malibu's coach swooped into the scuffle, pulling Connor back from Kyle. A couple more teachers quickly began to run in, but none of that mattered to the fired up red-head. As far as Kyle was concerned, the fact that Connor was now being held back by his coach only made him an easier target.
Shaking off the sharp ache around his mouth, Kyle went to dive at Connor all over again, until a desperately determined pair of hands latched around his waist and held him back.
"Stop it!" Bebe demanded, squeezing Kyle where he stood in his place, "Kyle, stop."
The worried tone that spewed from the back of Bebe's throat instantly brought Kyle's arms crashing back to his sides. He glanced down at her with an apologetic glisten in his eyes while she could only stare back at him and cringe. Gently bringing her hand up to the soft skin of his face, the beautiful blonde girl ran her thumb over his bottom lip which was already bloody and slightly swollen.
Bebe felt a sadness rumble in her chest as she brought her voice to a timid whisper, "Honey, are you okay?"
Within a single second, all the fury that had been consuming Kyle suddenly subsided. All it had taken was the sweet voice, and even sweeter endearment from his girlfriend. Smiling down at her affectionately, Kyle opened his mouth to answer but was rapidly cut off by the noise of the crowd growing louder and louder again.
Crap. Stan.
In between all the uneventful pushing and shoving, Griffin had easily managed to pull the shorter boy down into a tight headlock. He brought his arm swinging up, punching Stan once in the stomach and once more a little further up his rib cage, earning loud cries of 'ohh!' from the footballers that stood all around them. But Stan was so full of rage that he could barely distinguish any of it.
He couldn't feel each of the heavy blows from Griffin, he couldn't hear Wendy's terrified screams as she screeched for her boyfriend's safety from the outskirts of the fight, and he couldn't even see when Coach Hasler and a couple of other older men finally burst onto the scene and dragged the two boys a part.
As Griffin felt Stan get torn out of his grip, he took one final vicious swipe at him, landing his closed fist under the quarterback's left ear. But as Stan's senses continued to spiral completely out of control, he ignored the knock to the side of his head and ignored his coach's arm around his chest as he fired back at Griffin – just as quickly, but with a hell of a lot more precision.
Griffin's neck snapped back with a sudden jerk and his eyes widened in jolting surprise as Stan's punch collided right across his upper lip and his nose. The smell of blood was immediate as the older boy brought his hand to his nose and stared down at the red liquid in horrified shock. The very second that Stan caught a glimpse of the damage he had caused and the blood he had produced from his rival, his adrenalin absolutely skyrocketed throughout his entire body.
"Don't say I didn't warn you, motherfucker!" he shouted, pointing a threatening finger at him around Coach Hasler. The older man had finally had enough as he took Stan by the shoulders and forced him well out of Griffin's reach and sight.
"Hey!" he spat with furious eyes glaring straight at Stan, "What did I tell you, Marsh? What the hell has gotten into you?"
The intense throbbing in the side of Stan's head where Griffin had punched him matched the vigorous pumping of his blood throughout his whole body. It was suddenly giving him a thunderous headache – one that squeezed at his skull and cut off the filter between his brain and his mouth. Without stopping to consider the dozens of pairs of ears all around him, Stan stared straight back at his coach and licked his lips to speak.
"He's got a photo on his phone!" he yelled, "He's got a naked picture of one of the girls!"
Biting down hard on his tongue, Stan stopped, wide-eyed. A curious hush and instantly swept over the gathering crowd at the words he had spoken. Thank God, he thought to himself, that he at least had the sense to not mention Wendy's name, but as Stan locked eyes with his coach again, it seemed that enough damage had already been done.
Coach Hasler's expression was softer as he spoke calmly to Stan, "One of our girls?"
Before Stan could say anything more, Griffin suddenly stuttered over a sentence while he was trying to stop his nose from bleeding, "That's a pretty slanderous thing to say without one of the girls actually accusing me!"
The blonde boy glanced up at his own coach who was stood beside him as the man from Malibu nodded his head in agreement, "Griffin's got a point."
Sighing deeply to himself, Coach Hasler scratched the back of his neck and turned to Stan. As crazy as all of Stan's sudden allegations sounded, his coach had no need for any hesitation. He believed him. Coach Hasler knew his quarterback, and if something like this had been dwelling on his mind, then it only explained exactly why Stan had been playing so poorly.
But sadly, no matter how much Coach Hasler did believe him, it didn't necessarily matter. They needed proof.
"Which girl is in the picture, Marsh?"
Stan was deathly quiet. His eyes fell to his feet as he swallowed a harsh lump of regret. Why hadn't he been able to keep his emotions in line? Surely admitting in front of every single student from South Park that Wendy was the girl in the photo would be almost as embarrassing as it actually being leaked.
Flicking his vision back up in sour defeat, Stan felt his stomach churn at the sinister grin of success lying across Griffin's lips. But even that couldn't will the teenage boy to confess his girlfriend's secret. Stan kept his mouth tightly shut. All until he heard a timidly high-pitched voice echo from behind him.
"It's me."
Stan's heart ceased thudding in his chest as he spun around and he and all the other sets of eyes around him focused in on Wendy.
"The picture's of me," she repeated.
The quarterback instantly went to race to his girlfriend's side, but instead, he was quickly beaten by Bebe. The blonde girl took her best friend's hand and willed her to keep going as Wendy blew out a heavy breath.
"He was using it to blackmail Stan," she went on, "He said that he was going to send the photo to everyone from South Park if he didn't throw the game and lose on purpose."
Stan couldn't take his eyes off Wendy. He felt an overwhelming mixture of devastation and amazement at every word that bravely fell from her lips. It was all the proof that anyone needed to take the accusation seriously as Griffin's coach finally gestured his hand towards him.
"Phone, Griffin," he commanded.
The eighteen year old boy was as white as a sheet as the demoralising sense of defeat suddenly dawned on him, "Oh, come on…" he droned in reluctance. He shot his head over towards Wendy, "Are you really going to let a bunch of creepy, middle-aged high school teachers look through my phone and find anything that there may or may not be to find?"
Wendy's expression was stern as she folded her arms over her chest, "Well, South Park brought a female nurse along with them on this tournament, so actually, yes. Yes I am."
Griffin's face fell even further as Coach Hasler and a couple of other teachers finally began to force the crowd to disperse. As one by one all the people around them continued to peel away, Stan was eventually left standing opposite Griffin all over again.
The dark haired teenager smirked at the older boy sarcastically. As if beating him in the football game and busting open his nose hadn't been sweet enough, both Stan and Wendy had finally been able to put a stop to Griffin's evil tirade, as well. And this time, it was going to be for good.
"Game over, asshole."
Stan's victorious words stung in Griffin's mind, causing way more pain than the cut he could feel still oozing blood from his nose and mouth. But his torture was still far from over as Wendy let go of Bebe's hand and took an unexpected step forward.
"You know, you were right about one thing, though, Griffin."
The concern Stan felt in his guts from seeing his beautiful girlfriend stand so close to the bullying thug impulsively made him want to leap over to her side. But, instead, he forced himself to stay in place, listening to her as she spoke.
"Even when we were caught up in our little fantasy land and I was blinded by your façade," Wendy paused for a second. In the next moment, she sniffled and choked on a sob as she threw her arm back and pointed at Stan, "Every moment I was with you, even in the happy ones, all I could ever think about was him."
The final word that stumbled off the end of Wendy's tongue shot out of her like a beacon and absolutely lip up Stan's whole world. His heart was racing with desperation to reach out and pull her in towards him, never to let go again. But his chest was also immeasurably heavy with the uncomfortable weight of the fact that the both of them were still yet to apologise to each other for their stupidly huge fight.
Stan's soul felt crushed by guilt as he opened his mouth and held in his own sob, "Wendy – "
"Alright, Marsh, you're with me," Coach Hasler suddenly snapped back in, beckoning his quarterback to follow him.
By this point, Malibu's coach had leapt back onto Griffin and Connor, too, and it was time for both schools involved to round up all contributors to the fight back to the administration cabin.
"You, too, Broflovski," he spoke to Kyle before gently turning to Wendy, "Wendy, we're going to take you up to meet with our nurse, and then if you want her to, she's going to search through the cell phone, okay?"
Wendy's body and spirit felt emotionally drained as she attempted a response until Bebe suddenly re-joined her. The blonde cheerleader wrapped her arms around her best friend, giving her a quick hug before she began to lead Wendy back up the hill with one hand still around her waist.
"C'mon, Wendy, I'll come with you."
Finally finding the strength to take a step forward, Wendy wriggled closer into Bebe's comforting embrace as the two girls made their way along the grassy hill.
Wendy's mind and being had never felt more confused and conflicted in her entire life.
It felt incredible to know that Griffin was finally going to pay for what he had done to her all those months ago and all the torture he had put her through since then. Even the slimmest thought of her life reverting back to just a shadow of what it was before she met Griffin created the most unbelievable feeling of blissful ecstasy within her.
But there was still one other thing that mattered to her way more than any of that.
And as Wendy glanced over her shoulder, staring back down the hill and locking her vision with Stan, she felt her body shiver. Everything in the teenage girl's life still wasn't quite back to normal. Not yet.
Weeeooooowwww, longest chapter ever! I tried really hard to edit this thing over and over again, but in the end, there just wasn't anything else that I had the heart to cut out!
But anyways, guys, isn't revenge just the sweetest! ;)
Please feel free to leave me a review and let me know what you thought here. I will be back as soon as I can with a new chapter so we can all find out together whether Stan and Wendy are going to be able to truly mend their relationship easily or not...
REVIEW. I truly appreciate it :)
Till next time guys,
Reneyyyyyyyyy x