AN: Chapter 8... I didn't think I would get this far...

You guys are AWESOME! So you forced me to post 4.5 days earlier than I should have. That's insane. So here's your chapter. Not as much Stan-Kyle stuff, but that's what next chapter is for.

In this chapter, we see Cartman advocating anti-homosexuality, and Stan siding with acceptance of it and such. Perfect stuff for Cartman, of course...

In advance, I have no idea what case to put up for the con side. But, as you will read later, I do need HELP on getting some CON arguments. Review and tell me why homosexuality would be a bad thing... yeah, hard to write about, I know

And French letters to ensue. Because I don't care how close to Mexico Colorado is, I'm making them take up French in high school :)

Next update is going to be... Monday the 25th. Again, every two reviews bumps it up a day.

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Stan chose to not dress out in PE that morning. It wasn't that he had forgotten his uniform. Not dressing out in PE gave you a 0 in class participation for that day. It wasn't a friendly option to take, since getting a B in a personal fitness class was perhaps the biggest laugh ever. Yet, Stan chose to no dress out. He was too occupied with other matters to care about basketball or dodgeball. He just wanted to think about how Kyle had been the one to put them back on speaking terms. Not Stan, who was taking forever in just going up to him. It had been Kyle, the boy Stan thought would be the most affected by the topic. Goes to show how much nerve Stan had.

But it still felt weird. Kyle's miniature speech had gotten Stan consumed with thought for the rest of the previous English period. He barely registered that his new detention date would be set for that afternoon. He barely registered Cartman's insults about the supposed makeout session he and Kyle had in the restrooms. He barely registered that their project was to be on Edgar Allen Poe. He didn't even remember ever going out of the class, or walking towards the gymnasium, or even telling his coach that he wouldn't participate that day. He was just too consumed with thought.

I see you as the only person I could ever care for... somehow that touched Stan more than he would've liked to. Of course, any compliment would make any person's day lighten up. But Stan felt as though this was a different matter. Yet why, he wasn't sure. Why would it matter to Stan that he was the only person Kyle could ever care for? Was it the guilt? Was it the pain that Stan was causing Kyle for not liking him back, as well as ruining Kyle's only chance of love in the boy's eyes? Was it because Stan felt that he wasn't caring for Kyle as much as he should've been?

...perhaps the only person who would truly see me for who I am... Stan was sure that he wouldn't be the only one... right? He was sure that Kenny was supporting him, though not entirely sure up to what extent. He knew, of course, that Cartman was clearly not supporting him with his whole ordeal. But what about his family...? Surely they would still accept their son if they knew.

...wouldn't they?

...I'm also okay with you being my best friend, someone I can still trust, and someone I can rely on when I need someone the most... Kyle was unintentionally sending Stan on a guilt trip. It's not that Stan wanted to feel bad, but... was he not entitled to his own feelings, too? But then he supposed that's why Kyle presented him the best friends option.

"Now I just have to keep it that way," said Stan as he watched a girl dribble the ball down the court. He just hoped that Kyle - they - could act as if nothing had happened again.

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"Think of any controversial topic you can think of," said Ms. Kitorese, Stan's American Government teacher. Stan sat at the front of his class due to assigned seating, which took away any possibility of him sleeping through the class (there were three rows, five seats across, to accomodate fifteen students). "After we've accumulated a list we'll pick a topic to argue about. We're going to do a debate, and though it won't be the same format professionals use, it's still a workable format. We're going to have two debates; the first one today, without any background research. Then, over the weekend, you will study the issue, and on Monday we will have a full-fledged argument with references and reliable information.

"Now first we'll need a few topics. Last period's class came up with abortion, stem cell research, and capital punishment. They chose capital punishment, so this class can't use that topic. Does anyone else have any suggestions, though?" She then stopped talking to let the class catch up to her speed. Ms. Kitorese had a huge reputation for speaking insanely fast, and this had been one of the frequent occasions where she had lost her students. However, within a five second period hands were beginning to be raised into the air.

"Freedom of speech!"

"Freedom of religion!"

"Affirmative action!"

"Censorship!" The class began listing a myriad of ideas, some even surprising the teacher. Apparently her last class had only thought of three ideas. Her handwriting capability was speedy enough to catch everything down on the board, and when she had caught every person's idea she placed her marker down to address the class.

"Well... this seems to be a lot of ideas. More than my last class at least..." And then she took a poll from the class. After a few minutes, she came to a conclusion. "It would appear then that homosexuality would be our debate topic today. Now I don't want anything to go off hand. We're here to address the issue, not the followers or believers. We need a few people to do today's debate, and another few on Monday. First we'll need todays debaters. We need a presenter from both sides, as well as a cross-examiner and someone to make a rebuttal for the pro side."

"I want to be the presenter for con!" said Craig, an athletic boy who was one of the clearest examples of a jock in existence. He wasn't afraid to use the f word, or even flick someone off. In truth he didn't care what anyone said, even his own teachers. "Gays are gay, and-"

"Wait a few more seconds on me, Craig," said Ms. Kitorese. "I have five more empty positions."

"I'll take cross-examiner for con, ma'am!" said Cartman enthusiastically. Ms. Kitorese acknowledged this remark, and then started talking about needing people on the other team. Stan pondered if he should take part in the event.

"Let me remind you that merely sticking up for the homosexual position does not in any way influence the class's view on your orientation. In addition, anyone not taking part in the debates will have to write the key points of the debaters on each side." With this she got an immediate surplus in volunteering, though still not enough to fill every position. "Hmm, Stan how about you fill in as presenter for the pro side?"

Shit.

"Uh, me?" asked Stan, hearing Cartman's snickering. He would be examined by Cartman... how exciting.

"Perfect. Please arrange yourselves with your groups as I go over some basic procedures. There is a time restraint in your presentations, so I don't want any filibusterings or such. As I said before, you're discussing the issue and not those who support it. Play fairly, respect each other's opinions, and... other than, I think that's it? Let's start." Stan looked awkwardly at his team, Butters and Pip. Just... perfect. "We'll start with the pro side. Stan, can you please step up?" Stan felt himself shaking as he walked up to the podium. Thank god Kyle wasn't in the classroom. He saw Kenny's face, who seemed to support him; he drowned out Cartman's laughter.

"Students and teacher," began Stan, "I would first like to introduce you to what exactly is homosexuality. A denotative definition of the word may go along the lines of 'sexual desire or behavior directed toward a person or persons of one's own sex', but I do believe that it is more than that. I think that the issue is also a diverse culture, a religion, and a dogma. It is more than a person's feelings or emotions. It's their characteristic.

"It is my job today to not convert or force you into believing or following homosexuality, but to explain why the topic is considered an okay thing to be a part of, if you happen to be so. Homosexuality is a characteristic of a person. It is just as much of a characteristic that defines a person as heterosexuality would define most other persons. It makes up a person, and it's uncommoness can make a individual unique. I do not believe, then, that any of you would make fun of someone for having yellow hair, for having freckles, or for being hyper. Why should these characteristics differ from this one?

"Homosexuality also ties in with the issue of faith and religion. I am sure that many here are religious in many ways, whether Catholic, protestant denominations, Jewish, or Muslim... and anything else. I am also sure that sometime in your religious lifetime you have been told that liking someone of the same gender is wrong, or something along those lines. I am not sure about all your beliefs, but my own belief states that God loves us unconditionally. Homosexuality is not to be an exception.

"Perhaps another thought that I would like to pass on to you is the discrimination that Adolf Hitler committed. He hated both the Jews and the homosexuals-" He stopped to hear Cartman snickering; Cartman tended to look up to Hitler. "-in the Holocaust. Still, we were able to get over the persecution of Jews. Why not the homosexuals?" As Stan finished his improv speech - a very good improvised speech at that - half of the class burst into applause. Unsure why he got this, Stan made his way back to his seat.

"You have to stay there for the cross-examination, Stan," said Ms. Kitorese. "Eric, please proceed."

"Most certainly," said Cartman stepping up. "Now I recall that you mentioned something about characteristic, yes?"

"Yeah..."

"But say we really were to hate other characteristics, such as ginger kids or jewish people, Then are we to still respect this one? Do you base this upon the idea that we treat characteristics based how we treat others, like in your case, or to respect this particular characteristic only."

"Respect all characteristics," said Stan. "Not necessarily to follow your other beliefs, but to respect each individual one."

"Did God not condemn the men who committed homosexual acts?" asked Cartman, "as stated somewhere in Romans?" Stan wondered how Cartman knew that; then again he did found ANTIGSA."

"But he also said that love is unconditional," replied Stan. "He loves his daughters and sons very much, in that regard."

"Now about Hitler. Why should we get over his persecutions? Who says that what he believes in must change? Getting over the Jews doesn't mean that we have to get over the gays."

"True. But it is still a reasonable argument, going back to the idea of characteristic equality."

"Speaking of overlapping ideas," said Cartman, and it seemed as if almost immediately Stan knew where he was getting at, "what would you say to a person that was hated for being Jewish and a homosexual, equally hated, both hated by Hitler, and both condemned by God?"

"Well-" As Stan was ready to answer, Ms. Kitorese chose to intervene.

"Well that's enough for that, or else we'll run out of time. Craig, may you please proceed?"

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Stan was actually quite thankful that their teacher had cut off the debate. He knew that it would have gotten ugly if Cartman had heard Stan's reply. Of course Cartman was talking about Kyle, and Stan wasn't about to let him run all over his best friend.

Stan was now sitting in his french class, bored out of his mind. His teacher was very fluent in the language, which was always a good thing. However, she almost never spoke English, and for French I students that was pretty much a problem. Stan had chosen French over Spanish because it seemed a lot more interesting to learn, and because Cartman had taken Spanish.

He glanced over at Kyle, who was reading a french textbook across the room. The small amount of French students meant that it would only be offered in one class period, and just like in almost everything else Kyle wasn't at the same grade level as Stan was. While Stan was stuck trying to learn French I Kyle was already teaching himself French III material. Kyle was a genius...

Kyle was embracing himself in his orange jacket as he read his book. Kyle had worn the jacket since he was twelve. Stan clearly remembered in his mind how Kyle had lost his old jacket, which was also orange, and how he refused to accept another jacket. Stan had gone out to buy a very similar jacket, only different sized, and gave it to Kyle's parents to give to Kyle. Oddly enough, Kyle hadn't noticed the difference.

"Alors, aujourd'hui nous allons apprendre l'imparfait..." Stan definitely didn't understand what his teacher had said, and hoped that Kyle would be able to help him during lunch or something. Bonus points for being friends with smart people.

An idea suddenly popped into mind, though Stan was sure that it was pretty random. He pulled out his french textbook and his french dictionary, as well as a sheet of paper. Stan lifted his pencil and wrote on his paper, "Cher Kyle."

Yes, he was going to write a letter to Kyle. Why? He wasn't sure. But he just felt like writing in french. The letter to Kyle was just perhaps a motivation. He then continued to write, and though he had to look up almost every other word up, as well as having to look up verb conjugations constantly, he managed to get somewhere.

As the class period grew closer to an end, Stan had finished. He looked over his fairly short letter and felt proud of himself.

J'écris en français! Je veux te parler plus tard. Mais maintenant je souhaite que l'école finirait. Au revoir!

It was rather pathetic, yes. But Stan was still proud of his accomplishment. And as class ended he passed the five-sentence (including the greeting) note to Kyle and walked happily into the lunch room, leaving Kyle confused and holding a very small note in his hands.

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I think I'm done with chapter 8. Please review and stuff.

For some info on chapter nine, visit my profile. REVIEW!