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Chapter 6

Wendy's POV

"You're really pretty, smart, and nice. You could have any guy in the world that you wanted. Any guy would be lucky to have you." Those words kept ringing in my head.

I decided to stop by Nicole's house to get some friendly advice. This is something I can't talk to Bebe about so I'm leaving her out of this conversation.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Nicole asks as we make our way to her room.

"I think Cartman likes me..." I tell her as we sit down on her bed.

"You mean as a friend?"

"No, like really likes me."

"Why do you think that?"

"He told me he thinks I'm really pretty, smart, and nice and how any guy would be lucky to have me."

"That doesn't mean he likes you. Maybe he was just trying to be nice..."

"He started blushing after he said that."

"Oh...maybe he is developing feelings. So what are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to do anything."

"Do you have feelings for him as well?"

I glare at her. "Really Nick? You know this is just a bet!" I can't believe she would ask me such a ridiculous question.

She sighs. "I know in the beginning I laughed and encouraged you to do this with Bebe, but I'm having a change of heart."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's time to put an end to the bet."

"What, why?"

"If Cartman is starting to like you, it would be cruel to keep going with this. Someone could get hurt."

"I've already gotten hurt so no one is going to hurt me again!"

"I know Stan hurt you, but is it fair to hurt Cartman in return? He didn't do anything to you."

"I'm not trying to hurt him, I want to hurt Stan and win this bet against Bebe!"

"But he's starting to like you. So he wins prom king, then what?"

I shrug. "Graduation is the week after that. I doubt I'll talk to or see him again after that."

"Do you hear yourself? Put yourself in his shoes! How would you feel if someone treated you like this? Don't you dare try to say that Stan did, because even he wasn't this cruel!"

"It's just a bet Nicole. What's the big deal?"

"Hurting another person for your own personal gain is a big deal."

"You're my friend, why aren't you on my side?"

"I'm being a friend by telling you what you're doing is not only wrong, but it's mean and nasty! You've never been this mean before!"

I stand up. "I better go."

"Now you're mad?"

I shake my head. "No, I have to get ready for Token's party. By get ready, I mean I need to make sure Cartman is ready."

"You're going to bring him?"

"Yes."

"I don't think that's a good idea. You know Stan will be there."

"So what? I'm not worried about Stan. See you later." With that, I leave. The nerve of Nicole! She was right there cheering Bebe on in the beginning, now suddenly she thinks it's wrong? It's not wrong at all. If Cartman gets hurt, it's his own damn fault! No one told him to get caught up. All he's doing is complicating things.

Cartman's POV

I'm at home watching TV and eating a salad, when there's a knock on my door. I'm not expecting anyone so it's either someone for my mom or the mailman is delivering a package. I open the door and to my surprise it's Wendy.

"Hi Wendy!" My eyes light up. God she always looks so beautiful! I probably look and sound like an idiot around her.

"Come on let's go."

I raise my eyebrow. "Go where?"

"We're going shopping."

"Shopping? Why?"

She smiles. "I don't want to be rude Eric, but your wardrobe sucks. I'm going to help you pick out an outfit for Token's party."

I shake my head. "I told you I can't go. I have to work tonight."

"I called your boss. He told me you're off tonight."

Damnit, busted. I sigh. "I really don't want to go…"

"Come on, it will be fun. It's the last party Token is throwing before we graduate. This is your last chance to experience this."

She does have a point, but I'm still a little apprehensive about it. "Fine, let me get my jacket."

The first place we stop when we get to the mall is America's Best. Wendy said my frames were old and outdated so she bought me a new pair of glasses and pair of contacts. She forced me to put them on and told me I looked better with them in. Since I never get compliments from girls, I figured I better take her advice and wear them.

Our next stop was Macy's. I never been in this store before, it's really nice, but really expensive. "Wendy, I can't afford anything in here…" I whisper to her.

"I got it." She smiles. She leads me to the men's department. I pick out a couple of things and she turns down every last one of them. "This is perfect!" She squeals after about 45 minutes.

"What?" She holds up a blue buttoned down silk shirt and a pair of khakis. "Um…that's not really my style."

"I know that's why you should try it on." She leads me to the fitting room.

I go in the fitting room and I look at the clothes and notice they're about two sizes too small. I go ahead and try them on anyway. Surprisingly they fit! Could I be losing weight?

"I want to see how they look when you're done!" I hear Wendy yell out.

"Ok…" I hesitate walking out of the dressing room. This is a little embarrassing having a girl pick out my clothes for me.

"That's it! You're so getting this and wearing this tonight!"

"I don't feel right in this…"

"You'll be fine." She stares me up and down and smiles. "Hey, you've lost a little weight. See, diet and exercise does work!"

"I still have a long way to go…"

"Baby steps. Now go change so I can pay for this and we can get out of here." I nod and go back in the dressing room.

Wendy's POV

Cartman and I are on the way to the party. I have to admit, he looks really nice. Of course that is thanks in large part to me. He has on normal clothes, he ditched those Mr. Magoo glasses, and you can see that he's lost some weight. I even gelled back his hair to give him a little something extra.

Once we arrive at Token's, I get out the car and close the door when I notice that Cartman is still sitting in the car. "What are you doing?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "I can't do this. I don't want to go to the party anymore."

"We're already here. Come on!"

"I'll wait in the car, you have fun."

I open the door. "Either get out or I'm dragging you out. Don't you want to show off your new look?"

"No…"

"Too bad!" I grab his arm and I struggle to drag him out of the car.

"Ok, ok. I'll go! God, you don't give up do you?"

I shake my head. "Nope, I always get what I want! Now let's go."

Once we're inside Token's house, I notice the stares and whispers. I ignore it because I'm looking at the bigger picture, but poor Cartman looks really nervous and uncomfortable. He even takes my hand and squeezes it. Man, this just got weird…

I look at him and he looks at me. He looks down at his hand and quickly pulls his hand away and starts blushing. "Sorry…"

"Wendy, you made it!" Bebe and Nicole make their way over to me. Bebe hugs me, while Nicole gives me a look of disgust. Bebe looks at Cartman. "Kenny's been waiting for you, he's over there." She points in Kenny's direction. "Why don't you go catch up with him while I chat with Wendy?"

"Umm…" He looks at me.

"Go on Eric, it's all right." I encourage him. He slowly walks off.

Bebe rolls her eyes. "That kid is so pathetic."

"It's his first party, go easy on him." I tell her.

"Well at least his clothes look clean for once…"

"He bought a new outfit for the party."

"So it's only a matter of time before it has stains on it…" She laughs.

"Don't laugh, it's not funny."

"I don't see why you care!" Nicole steps in. "You're just using him anyway!"

Oh god, not this again. "Shh! What if he hears you?"

"Good, he deserves to know the truth!"

"Since when are you Team Cartman?" Bebe asks her.

"I'm not, I just don't like what you guys are doing."

"Get over it! It will all be over with once prom is over."

She rolls her eyes. "Whatever."

"Hi Wendy." I turn around and see Stan. I notice he's wearing something similar to Cartman. The only difference is his shirt is tighter so he can show off his muscles. God, he looks so good.

"Hi Stan. Where's your little girlfriend?"

"She went to get us a couple of beers. It's nice to have a girlfriend that's old enough to drink." I roll my eyes. Just then Heather puts her arms around Stan with a beer in each hand.

"Here you go honey!" She hands him a beer and kisses him. She looks at me. "Oh hi Wendy!"

"Humph…" BITCH!

"You ladies enjoy the party!" Stan tells us as him and Heather walk off.

I shake my head as I watch them walk off. I look at Bebe and Nicole. "Now do you see why I'm going through with this bet?" I ask Nicole.

She shakes her head. "No I don't."

"He's so fucking cocky and arrogant! He keeps rubbing his stupid relationship in my face! I want to see him knocked down a peg or two! He's going to feel like a complete joke losing to someone like Cartman!"

"Where is Cartman?" Bebe asks.

I look around and I see him wandering around. For a moment, I sigh of relief knowing his fine, but then I look and I notice Stan approaching him. I try to rush over to Cartman to keep him out of harm's way, but unfortunately Stan gets to him first.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Stan asks him.

"I-I was invited…" Cartman tells him nervously.

"Really?" He smiles and looks down at Cartman. "Isn't your mom my cleaning lady?"

Cartman shrugs. "I don't know maybe…"

"I think she's the cleaning lady for a majority of the people in this room."

"You might be right…" Cartman looks away from him.

"Your mom finally gets a real job, and look at how she's struggling. She should've stuck with being a whore! At least she had more money and you didn't look like shit!"

"Dude, don't talk about my mom like that!" Cartman snaps. Suddenly everyone in the room gets quiet and is focusing on them.

"What are you going to do about it?" I can see the anger in Stan's eyes and the fear in Cartman's.

"Nothing. Just please don't talk about my mom. Say whatever you want about me, just leave my mom out it…"

"That's cute, now you're trying to give me orders. I don't take orders from the help's bastard son!" With that, Stan takes his beer and dumps it over Cartman's head. Gasps are heard throughout the party. "Oops!" Stan smirks as he watches the beer drip down Cartman head to his shirt. "You should be a little more careful with silk." Cartman tries to walk off, but Stan grabs his arm. "Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you!"

"W-what else do you want with me?"

"You know you may have taking off your glasses, got a new outfit, and maybe have lost a pound or two, but you'll never be anything more than a dorky little loser!" He starts laughing. "Is that even a new outfit or is it someone's hand me downs?" He looks at Stan. "That's right, your mom gets hand me downs from pretty much every dude in here's parents! Then again, you're probably too fat to fit our old shit, you short, fat fuck!"

"Stan, that's enough!" I step in. He's going too far now.

"No, let Cartman speak for himself!" He focuses back on Cartman. "You really are pathetic. I will never understand why Wendy decided to hang out with you. Look at everyone in this room, you don't fit in with any of us. Why don't you just leave? Don't ever show your face at one of our parties again, do you understand me?"

He nods. "Yes…" He starts to leave.

"One more thing Cartman." He looks at him. "You stay the hell away from Wendy too!" With that Cartman runs out.

I shove Stan. "That was really fucked up!"

He shrugs. "You had no business bringing him here."

"What you just did was really disgusting! I'll never look at you the same again!" I turn to leave.

"Don't bother chasing after that loser! I told you he's beneath you!" I ignore him and leave to find Cartman. I find him sitting on the curb by my car. I sit down beside him. He's looking down playing with a stick and doesn't bother making eye contact with me.

"I'm really sorry about that."

"Don't be, he's right. I shouldn't have been there. I had a bad feeling about this party from the beginning and I should've went with my instinct." I notice he wipes his eyes, but I pretend not to notice. I'm sure he's already embarrassed enough.

"But you had fun before that happened, right?"

"Yeah, I was."

"That's a plus."

He looks at me. "Wendy, do you not realize that Stan just made a fool out of me in front of the entire senior class?" I don't say anything, I just let him vent. "I know I'm poor and struggling, but Stan didn't have to put me and my mom on blast like that. I've never been so humiliated in my life."

I really feel guilty that I put him in this situation. "I'm so sorry. Stan's a jerk and you didn't deserve that at all."

He stands up and puts his hands in his pockets. "I'm going to head home…"

"Do you want a ride?"

He shakes his head. "No, I need to walk and clear my head. You go back and enjoy the party with your friends. I don't want to spoil your night anymore than I already have." He smiles weakly. "Good night Wendy."

"Good night Eric." I watch him walk off. I'm starting to think maybe Nicole is right about this bet being a bad idea. Cartman may end up getting hurt, not emotionally by me, physically by Stan…

Preview:

Cartman learns he's been nominated for prom king.

Stan doesn't take the news well.

Cartman works up the nerve to ask Wendy to the prom.