"So they hated you, but they didn't want you to know about it?"
"Uh huh...that might explain why they were so eager to finally tell me."
"But Wendy, everyone's always so eager to tell me and other unpopular people we're awful! Why didn't they just tell you from the start?"
"Because they believed I would go ballistic and insane if anyone dared to question me."
"Because they were afraid you'd actually fight back?"
"I guess that's another way to say it, Butters."
"Geez, it's just like bullies to be afraid of that...it's their own fault if they made innocent people turn that bad, anyway."
"No, Butters...I've begun to consider the option they might be on to something."
"Wendy?"
"Come on, if everyone hated me, you must have heard some of their complaints. That I'm a rabble rousing whiner, that I demand everyone agree with me or they're bigots, that I think I'm so better than everyone else..."
"Well, you kinda are...though it's not hard to be better than some of those people."
"That's what I thought, only now they say I'm an asshole for it!"
"Well...Wendy, I know you're still a good person, and I know I'm still a good person. They just hate good people, I guess, so what do they know?"
"Butters...I have a photographic memory, I just don't choose to use it all the time. So when I went back and remembered all the times I got pissy like they said I did...you know how many times that actually happened?"
"Um...10?"
"You mean 10 times more than that, at least."
"I do? Hmm, didn't know that's what I was thinking."
"You're lucky you know what you're thinking...I don't know anything anymore. Maybe I never did..."
"Hold on...you're saying now you don't know who you are because they hate you? But Wendy, didn't you say I shouldn't let people hating me get in the way of doing stuff I like?"
"My beliefs are topsy turvey at the moment...whatever I say can't be taken seriously now...besides, you yourself said you knew I was using you to make a political point."
"And I said I wanna be used, it's better than nothing."
"Well, the article's off...no way I can do it now, after all this."
"Oh...so I guess you don't need me anymore, in that case...all right, at least you actually told me and didn't lie to me. More than I can say for the others."
"Wait, Butters...now that the truth is out, I don't think anyone's gonna talk to me for a while. You saw how no one came near me today."
"Yeah, I know the signs of being shunned, there were some pretty blatent ones today."
"I can't be alone right now, knowing all this...I gotta keep myself busy before this drowns me."
"So...you need me to do that for you now?"
"No, no, it's not like that! I...I hung out with you because I wanted to know why people hated you, if you were really that lame...and to see if I could get new material out of it. And maybe to prove myself to be better than people I said were uneducated, I don't know. All my alterior motives have been shot now. Now...I just need someone to help me and keep me company. Someone I can trust...someone who may be the only honest guy left that I know."
"Well...aren't there any honest girls left?"
"Butters, I strongly doubt it, if Red and Jordan were any indication."
"Wendy, I..."
"I'm not gonna demand that you let me spend more time with you...that sure won't help me at this point. But if you can let me back into your world...maybe we can help each other in ways that have nothing to do with speeches or talking points. I...I wanna know about you because you genunely facinate me."
"..."
"Butters?"
"How about I show you that stuff I learned in Hello Kitty first?"
"How often do you come down here, Butters?"
"I schedule about once a week, but I usually wind up coming here more than that."
"Because of the hard time at school and home?"
"Yeah...the quiet of a place nearby Stark's Pond is much better after getting yelled at. Lying in the snow and looking at the sky if it's real pretty...I guess thinking about how small I really am puts everything in perspective. I mean, I can't possibly be the most unlucky person in the whole world...in something that big, there's gotta be thousands, or millions of people worse, sadly..."
"Yeah...it's so big that even when you try to fix some problems, it's not enough...that I've learned the hard way over the years."
"And yet you still kept trying to change things. Heck, at least it'd be better to change at least one part of the world than none, right Wendy?"
"By those standards, yeah...but I've always been an overachiever. Maybe that's how this got started."
"Better than being an underacheiver like...oh right, you're trying not to trash people as much anymore. Well, since I'm someone who got real good at not trashing people before, I should be a better example."
"It's fine...let's get back to talking about the world, not specific people."
"So why didn't you go back to Stan when Token left you?"
"We hadn't really talked for 3 years...you think after all that, he'd just take me back right on the spot?"
"He takes Cartman back as being his friend all the time, even after he tries to hurt Kyle. So why wouldn't he do the same for you?"
"It's complicated...he probably agreed with all their hidden hate of me anyway. He had as much reason as anyone."
"Well, it was lame and wussy for boys to like girls at our age, according to those people. Maybe Stan felt the pressure and didn't wanna look un manly, and that's why he stopped paying attention to you."
"And then he joined the Goths afterwards, like that's manly. I was thinking of apologizing for making him do that, then he called me a bitch and flipped Token off. I just forgot about it ever since and ignored him back."
"Hmm...maybe I did too good of a job when I said I loved life and he went back to normal cause of it."
"...that was you? I heard someone helped talk Stan outta being a Goth, I...didn't know it was you."
"Well, I never said he shouldn't be one, I just said I didn't wanna cause I liked life, even after I was dumped. Of course, I didn't know she just liked me cause I gave tips and stuff."
"...you fell for a Raisins girl, didn't you?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"The tip comment gave it away pretty clear."
"Wow, it did, didn't it? Oh man..."
"Heh...there's something we did have in common before now. We each had one hell of a chaotic time in that time period. You just learned a better lesson about life than me."
"Guess we're lucky I ran into Stan when I did, or he'd still be depressed and mopey."
"Yeah...I guess so..."
"No, he never actually hits me, he just yells and screams, that's all!"
"Well Butters, words can still hurt as much as fists, you know that."
"Yeah...but my dad and my mom mean well."
"If they meant well, they wouldn't keep belitting you."
"But it's because of them that I learned to behave myself and be good all the time!"
"And that's why people hate you, because you learned so well that they thought you were lame for it."
"I thought it was good that I was like that."
"It is, Butters, it is...but their standards are so strict that you get into trouble for anything in their eyes. That certainly doesn't help you, among everything else you go through."
"I know, I know...but I've made it this far. I've only got a year and a half to go before graduation, maybe it'll change then."
"Do you wanna go to an out of state school after high school?"
"I, well, um...probably not, I couldn't afford that fancy stuff. I'd have to find one close to home."
"Which means you'll probably have to stay with your parents. Which means they probably won't change."
"But Wendy, are you saying I gotta leave home for them to change?"
"No, no, not in that way...I'm saying that change has to come soon, while you can still break away from their influence. Your parents should take care of you and protect you from the crap you get...instead they say it's your fault and say you're stupid like everyone else. That's the worst part of it all...the two people that are supposed to protect and help you, and even they won't do it."
"Well...I..."
"Just think about it. You don't have to yell at them or hit them or make a scene or nothing...just don't let them get to you as much."
"Well...you could say you had mental problems back then. That might deflect some questions."
"Not for long, Butters. If I run in politics, the press will dig up everything about me, and sooner or later they'll find some connection between me and Miss Ellen. I don't know if it'll be enough to determine I had her killed...but they can be good at finding that stuff."
"Well, have it leak in the tabloid presses first! No one takes anything they say seriously at all! A few weeks of it being in there, and no one'll ever believe it's true, even if it makes national newspapers!"
"...that might just be crazy enough to work...how did you figure that out?"
"Back when the fellas used me as their replacement 'friend', I had to think of lots of ways things could go bad, and ways to get out of it. I wasn't good at doing that back then, but over time, I figured out ways I could have."
"I'll certainly remember that if I have to."
"Great! Maybe it's good that you found out people don't like you now! I mean, now that you know this, you can think of ways to deflect their criticism and defend yourself! Better to learn that now before you officially throw your hat in any rings, huh?"
"You know Butters, I think your bright side is showing..."
"Wha? Oh no, did I spill something on my clothes again?"
"No, I mean you were able to find ways to make the best of my problems. Sounds like the Butters of old isn't dead yet..."
"Oh...well, that makes it sound a lot better..."
"The world could always use people with that kind of outlook. A lack of them is probably why people like you are so easily discarded. Someday, there'll be a way to prove that without being shrill and whiny and hateful towards opponents...even if I'm not the right person to think of one."
"Maybe not yet, you mean..."
"I really am sorry I touched your fake boob when you got implants."
"It's all right, Butters, that wasn't one of my finest moments. I think...I think that was around when it got started. Right around then when I really started to turn people off. First that, and before that I kissed Cartman, and then the breakup with Stan...things were probably never the same after that."
"Things were already far gone for me well before that..."
"I should have known things were really bad for you when you got forced to dress as a girl to invade our party."
"But we all had fun before I had to get that 'future telling device'...wow, I can't believe we really thought a piece of paper was that powerful. I only realized it after my parents unchained me from the basement a week later..."
"And by then I'd forgotten all about you and forgot you ever existed...back to just worrying about me and my own problems that weren't even close to that bad...I'm sorry, Butters."
"Out of all the things people said to me...I never heard that before..."
"I know...I know..."
"Well, I doubt people have said they're sorry to you much either, so I'm real sorry for that. There, now we're even, heh heh..."
"Ha ha ha...I don't think I've known someone who could make me laugh while I'm upset that easily. My leftist friends certainly wouldn't have that sense of humor."
"Well, luckly they're not here, then."
"Yeah...luckly it's just you and me, Butters. I...I really am lucky for that."
"For the first time in a while, I guess I can say that and mean it too..."
And on and on talks of this nature went for a good week and a half. Whether at the lunch room, after school, at Stark's Pond, at Wendy's house or Butters's house, or during phone calls, there they were by themselves. It got to be that for several days, the only people in school they talked to was each other.
That didn't mean those other ignored students weren't paying attention.
Now feeling free to ignore her rants, they were fully prepared to do that, and to go back to Butters pranks when he was alone. But throughout that time period, the two were seen together, and they couldn't pull anything off. Not only that, Wendy wasn't even bothering to rant at them. Since this was what they wanted, this should have made them thrilled- instead, they became quite suspicious and paranoid.
To them, the facts were adding up. They stopped their lying to her because they thought she would use Butters to paint them all as tyrants and bullies. Thus far she hadn't said a word about that since their feelings came out- but that didn't mean she wouldn't. And the fact she was spending so much time with Butters may have very well meant she was going ahead with her plans anyway, only more under the radar. At any moment, she could come up with a new speech to ruin the reputations of all of them, thinking it would catch them off guard. Instead of getting painful physical revenge on them for how they turned their backs on her, this would be an even more insidious form of revenge.
And one that could not be allowed to take flight.
Bebe was feeling more and more guilty about their treatment of Wendy- she knew more than anyone about her negative qualities, but she knew they shouldn't be the cause for that much resentment. Still, she stayed quiet and figured Wendy needed to calm down more before she could go near her and explain herself. However, by the time she had taken enough time to do that, Wendy was with Butters and Bebe wasn't able to get to her. So, in between times where she failed to get her attention, she was hearing unsettling talk from Craig and his bunch.
They were continuing to suspect that Wendy would get her revenge by trashing them for hurting Butters anyway. They were soon convinced that nothing they had done had made a difference on her- she was still the same old scheming, prejudiced bitch, only more quiet now. Whispers were going around the woodwork of another plan to get her to stop- one that wouldn't use just words this time.
By the time it got to such a level that Bebe saw reason enough to warn Wendy, Craig was already following Butters to the school bathroom.
Butters headed into the stall to tinkle so he wouldn't have to go during class. He didn't feel the need to hum a little song as he did so, like when he was young- though a part of him was tempted to. This above all was a sign of how the last several days had changed his attitude. For a time, he could flashback to the days when he wasn't afraid of being himself and just did things that were "lame" without fear of consequences. Those days had lots of brutality, yes, but he could always find refuse in his own cheerful soul eventually, unlike the last few years. But now, things had finally started to flashback to better times.
Maybe it was a sign of those good times, even at the worst possible moment, that Butters was able to flush the toilet just before Craig got him.
"Wendy! Wendy, you need to hear this!"
As Wendy turned to see Bebe, she grumbled that she had to be reminded of the bad old times now, when good memories were starting to come through again.
"Bebe, I've already come to terms that you pretended to be my best friend so I wouldn't go nuclear. I'm not gonna do that now, so you don't have to worry. Now you can go." But that wasn't in Bebe's plans.
"Wendy, you are my best friend! I never hated you as much as they did! Because I've known you for so long, that's how I know you aren't that bad!"
"Then why didn't you tell them that?"
"Because I thought you were capable of doing bad stuff if the truth got out, just like they said...I admit that. But now that I've been proven wrong, I can start apologizing and making up for it!"
"Bebe, how do you propose to do that, exactly?"
"Because I still care about you enough to warn you and Butters!" Bebe said quickly before she could interrupt and not listen. "They think you're still planning to bash them and make them look horrible to your liberal friends! They think you're out to get revenge on them, and that's why you're still hanging out with Butters!"
"They still think the only reason I could possibly be around Butters is that I'm using him?!"
Bebe backed up a bit, waiting for the worst in Wendy's anger and bitterness towards them. However, the backing up actually did more good for Wendy than Bebe, as this made her pause and remember where she was, and where this kind of public scene got her in the first place. Instead, she just took a breath and spoke calmly.
"I suppose it was too much to think that the extremist part of the school, just that one part, could think good thoughts about this."
"Um, well...wow...well, at the risk of ruining this happy moment...I figure that by now, you've ranted and complained about so many things for so long, no one's taking you seriously anymore. Even if you could talk them outta things in a more peaceful manner, you don't have any credibility left in their eyes to do it."
Bebe again cringed for the worst, already cursing herself for being that bold. But this time, Wendy didn't even wait for Bebe's reaction to start speaking rationally.
"I see what you mean...this'll be a lot harder than I thought then. I'll actually have to be creative in solving this."
Bebe's eyes were wide for some time, even when she started speaking again.
"Whoh...hanging out with Butters for a week and a half has done that to you."
"Actually...it has. I swore if I ever had a friend again, I would be sure to tell them exactly the kind of things no one bothers to know about him. The stuff that'd make them think twice about ruining his life."
"So...you are still studying him."
"No...this has nothing to do with politics or protests. Not anymore." Wendy paused for unknown reasons. "Hmm...he should be here by now...maybe when he does get here, you can stick around and actually hear what I mean."
"But we only have a few minutes before class starts anyway. Maybe at lunch?"
"Well...we'll see how it goes. You understand if it's a little harder for me to trust someone now."
"But you trust Butters?"
"Actually...I do...he's never thought any bad thoughts about me or anyone, so I trust him more than anyone. That's almost by default, but it's still true."
Before Wendy could go on, Bebe now looked around to see people entering their first class- but in the group with Clyde, Token, Cartman, and the other less than reputable people, one person was missing.
"Where's Craig? It's not unlike him to be late, but other times he's usually bragging and making jokes with the others by now."
"Wait...Craig's not there, right at the same time that Butters isn't here yet?!" Wendy ran before giving Bebe time to answer.
"You gonna stop this?!!" Craig yelled as Butters had his face put in the toilet water for the 5'th time.
"Stop what?" was the response Craig could barely make out.
"Stop being stupid enough to let Wendy talk to you!! She can't trash the shit out of us if she isn't talking to you and using your gullable ass! So you stop going near her, and she has no ammo against us!!"
"She isn't using me, I swear!"
"Which means she is, because you're too retarded to see the truth again! That damn ho isn't getting away with it this time, though! You stay away from her and stop helping her bash us!! We're not gonna be passive victims of her slander any longer!!"
After 6 more seconds of putting Butters's face right in the water, he grabbed him by the hair to let him breathe for a bit. "So, do we have a deal? Are you gonna save the school's reputation and stop her from giving us a bad name? Are you ever gonna talk to her again?!"
"But...but I like talking to her..."
"Dammit, you moron, this isn't about you! First, you don't deserve anyone to talk to, much less that bitch! Second, stop thinking of yourself for one minute and think about how she's gonna make this place look evil and backwards!! She's gonna ruin everyone's reputation for nothing but sick revenge! All because we told the truth about her for once!! You think we deserve to get our good names wrecked just for telling the truth about what an annoying shit she is?! Do ya?!!"
To ensure he wouldn't give the wrong answer, he put Butters face in the water for a good 10 seconds this time.
"Agh!! Oh jeez, it's in my nose now!"
"You can clear it out after you promise to never see her again, okay? Just say those words, and I'll go away."
Craig looked at Butters's completly wet head, waiting for the words he knew was coming...or did he?
"I...I can't...I don't wanna lose the only person I've had fun with for years..."
"Still being selfish and stupid then, huh? Maybe I didn't make myself all that clear."
With that, Craig put Butters flat on his stomach and made sure he didn't get upor look upas he started to pee in the toilet. Once he had shaken every drop and zipped himself up, instead of flushing, he took Butters head back up again.
"You're gonna have an early lunch even worse than those school lunches if you don't say the right thing."
"Oh God, Craig!! You, you can't make me get into that!"
"You don't tell me what I can and can't do, fag! Now I tell you, stay away from her or it's bath time! Say you'll do it!"
"But...but..."
"Fine, maybe a little bath is needed to clear your retard head!!"
"CRAIG!!"
But that plea just before Craig was to put Butters head in the pee didn't come from Butters. It came from the object of their entire conversation.
"Wendy? You're, you're not supposed to be in the boy's bathroom! You're invading my privacy, that's really un liberal of you!"
"Let him go and I'll respect it again."
"Fine, I'll revise my demands. He goes after you promise not to trash our reputation through him."
Wendy sighed. "Craig, I'm not gonna write any articles or trash you. I've given that up, so none of this is neccesary."
"Good, then you can prove it by not talking to this guy anymore. You wanna prove you're not using him, then go back to ignoring him and not getting his hopes up."
"Oh come on! You'll let him go if I say I won't talk to him anymore! You think the only possible way I would be talking to him is if I was still using him?"
"Of course, otherwise you wouldn't be risking his wuss germs. I know you far lefties are committed, but you don't gotta be committed that much, damn! Just get away from him, for your own good. Then we'll know you're not plotting against us and everything can go back to normal."
"So Craig, I assume that means you can use him for whatever you want, and I can't, even though I'm not."
"Don't you use that sarcasm on me, bitch!"
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted the would be screaming match- not from someone coming in, but from someone getting up. Getting up and exiting a bathroom stall, no less.
"Craig...don't call her names like that."
"Oh, what's it to you, Butters?! You're defending a-"
"I know what she is. That's why you can't insult her...not in front of me."
Craig paused, then laughed heartily- not the effect anyone else wanted to see.
"So this is the part where you grow balls and stand up for the enemy, eh?! Fine, fine...guess I'll speed along my response, then." He turned to Wendy after that, though. "But first..."
He grabbed Wendy's wrist and prepared to get her out of the room. Craig was too ready to put Butters in a coma to remember this is how the entire mess started, with his advances towards Wendy. As such, he hardly remembered how that turned out for him.
Which is why it was more of a surprise than it should have been when Butters kicked his crotch for the first time in a few weeks.
"I won't...let you hurt someone I care about..."
"Don't worry...I won't hurt...her..."
At the exact same moment Wendy was pushed out of the bathroom, the principal was unlucky enough to come back and lucky enough to narrow avoid her crashing into him.
"Ms Testaburger? What were you doing in there?" After seeing him, Wendy hoped she would be the lucky one now.
"Sir, you have to get in there now!" Without even waiting for his answer, she led him inside.
Craig had already gotten two shots to the head in, and had just begun his long awaited tactic to shove Butters head in pee. At that moment, he heard the door open and had no time to get away before the principal could take the sight in.
"Craig?! What the hell is going on that would make her drag me in here?!"
The very second Butters came into view after getting his head out of the john, Craig had his excuse all set.
"She's planning to trash us! She's using Butters to make it like we're all bad guys for ignoring him! She's gonna make the whole school look like jerks and bigots! I was trying to get them to stop, and they just wouldn't listen! He even kicked my balls again, I had to defend our reputation!"
Wendy also acted fast to try and balance out his damaging accusation. "Principal, he started it by giving Butters a swirlie and demanding he never see me again! Then Craig grabbed me and Butters kicked him to defend me and save me! But look, Craig punched him and make him drink pee! That's far worse!"
"Only after you started it by slandering us with this freak!"
Wendy took a few breaths, knowing this might result in the kind of shrill complaianing everyone hated about her. Whether this was a deliberate trick by Craig to make her do that, she didn't know and didn't wanna know. But the principal was there now, and she didn't think she needed to do much to convict Craig anyway.
"Craig...you say you did this because she wants to ruin our reputation?"
"Yes sir, the whole school knows she was gonna write an article a few weeks ago. One that made us look like bad guys just for ignoring and making fun of this Melvin!"
The principal took a few looks at the three participants of this brawl before making a decision.
"Very well. Craig, you're off with a warning. But next time tell me these things before getting violent. Now go away before I change my mind."
Wendy's memory to stay calm and not shrill ran through her mind again, but this time they were harder to remember as she took in what the principal was saying.
"He beat up and drenched Butters, and he only gets a warning?"
"Swirlie's aren't violent, they're part of the school culture. Besides, it was Butters who made the first blow by kicking his balls again. That makes him responsible for all that happened afterwards. I'll call his parents and tell them to pick him up...again."
"Mr Principal...Craig started it and I get in trouble because I kicked first? He was gonna hurt Wendy!" Butters pleaded.
"We'll never know now, will we? Besides, he thought he had a good reason."
Wendy blocked the door before the principal could think of taking his leave.
"It was a good reason...because he thought I was gonna say it's a bad thing he hurts Butters?"
"Let's not start this again, Ms Testaburger, it's all being taken care of."
"Craig gets off with a warning because he only hurt Butters, and Butters gets the riot act because of who he is?"
"Ms Testaburger, I don't need to hear this now, I have a lot to do..."
"I wanna know why you'd rather punish Butters than Craig first, sir!"
The principal sighed a pretty long sigh as a response.
"This is why...it's so hard to defend people like you. Always so shrill and lost in your own little fantasy world...no wonder they thought you'd ruin the school's reputation over him. You fail to realize that no matter how much you whine about the poor non whites, the poor poor, the poor Democrats, the poor terrorists, the poor everyone who isn't white and gay and American, it doesn't change anything. The unfair stuff is how the world works, and the clique system is the same way!"
"Ms Testaburger, have you ever considered it's his own fault for not being normal? If he's gone this long being picked on, and hasn't bothered to fight back and be a real person for this long, then he never will be! And we don't have to coddle people like that! They will always be with us and are a blight on people that are truly cool and have what it takes to represent our school with pride! Millions of people like him are picked on all the time, it's how it works, it's how it's always worked! Because that's how being cool goes!"
"And I for one, will not have my school painted as knuckle draggers because we do not cow tow to the whining and pissing of sissy, unmanly, girlie, too neat, uncool, stuttering nerds! That's p.c bullshit! We do that, and that makes us just as much of a lame, shrill, poofy little FAGGOT as he is!!!"
"Don't you call my friend any of those names..."
That was all Wendy could think to say right after she dropped the principal to the ground with one punch.