Chapter 9
The next day at school, it was quite clear that Wendy had been up all night crying. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was a mess underneath Stan's hat. Stan's eyes lit up when he saw her. Their eyes met and Wendy jumped into his arms, crossing her legs behind his back
"What are we going to do Stan?" she choked
"I don't know," he replied sadly "but no matter what happens, Wendy I will always love you" he said, looking into her eyes. Wendy smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Stan put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. They continued to gaze into each others eyes as their moves closer, their lips met. Wendy started sobbing again; he gave her another kiss on the cheek. Stan pulled his arms away from her waist, but she held onto his neck. Wendy didn't want to leave the safety and comfort of his arms. Stan put one arm behind Wendy's knees and the other behind her back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. He carried her to homeroom like this.
"Omigod, Wendy!? Is she okay?" Bebe gasped
"I think so; she is just really tired and upset. She should be fine soon." Stan replied, hoping this was true. Stan sat down in the back of the class, Wendy still in his arms. She felt warm and safe cuddled up to her boyfriend. She breathed in deeply, his scent was indescribable and she found it very comforting. Her mind wandered and she slowly drifted off to sleep. Stan noticed that Wendy had fallen asleep and was glad she was resting. The teacher walked in the room and Stan caught her eye. She made her way over to the couple as the rest of the class trickled in.
"What happened?" she demanded
"Wendy is really tired, she was up all night crying" Stan explained
"What is she so upset about?" she asked, concerned, this was not like Wendy at all. Stan explained what had happened over the weekend. The teacher's eyes widened.
"Her parents don't think that you two are right for each other?" she asked in disbelief. Stan nodded, trying to swallow the lump forming in his throat.
As the teacher left, Stan struggled to keep his tears at bay. He rested his head on Wendy's and rocked her back and forth slowly. 'Don't her parents see what this is doing to her?' he thought.

Wendy was still fast asleep by the time the bell rang. Stan carried her to the nurse's office so she could lie down. He stayed with her, sitting on the bed beside her, listening to her breathing. Stan got up and sat on the chair beside the bed. His eyelids began to feel really heavy, he rested his head on the edge of the bed and fell asleep.

Wendy began to stir, Stan jerked awake.
"Stan?" she asked
"I'm right here," Stan replied smoothing her hair. Wendy opened her eyes and smiled. Stan brushed her hair away from her face, his hand brushed against her forehead; he was surprised by how warm it was. He put his whole hand on her forehead only to find that she was burning up. He looked at her, worried.
"What's the matter?" she asked drowsily
"Wendy, do you feel alright?" he asked
"Yeah, I feel really warm," she replied with a goofy smile. Stan was really concerned, she did not look well.
"Wendy, take off my hat and jacket," he suggested
"But I do not want to," she replied, she was so out of it
"Here I'll help," he said beginning by taking his hat off her head.
"Okay," she replied, "do what ever you want." she said suggestively. Stan became really worried now; this was not like her at all. He removed his jacket from her body. She was wearing the same shirt she had worn the day before, something was definitely wrong.
"What do you think you're doing?" the nurse demanded as she opened the door.
"She is really warm," Stan said, and then he thought about the situation, "It's not what you think!" He added quickly, jumping away from Wendy.
The nurse made a quiet 'tsk' noise as she go the thermometer out of the cabinet. She confirmed that Wendy was quite warm, but she did not have a fever. Wendy sat up, she had cooled down a little bit and was feeling better. The nurse told them to go back to class. Stan still had a feeling that she was not quite 100% better.
"What class do we have now?" she asked
"It's about 2:30, we should be getting to math now." Stan replied. They walked to their lockers to get their books.
"Stan." Wendy said as she opened her locker.
"Yeah," he answered looking up.
"I'm sorry," she said, looking at the ground.
"For what? You don't have anything to be sorry for" he assured her, looking into her eyes. She turned away, Stan grabbed her hand.
"I should have just gone home last Saturday night. I never should have stayed over at your house." She explained
"It's not your fault, it was just bad timing." He deflected "If anything, I should not have walked you to your door when you were supposed to be a Bebe's" Stan said calmly as he closed his locker. Wendy closed her locker and bent down to pick up her books, but Stan was faster. He picked them up before she could grab them.
"How about we blame the whole thing on my mom? She shouldn't have opened the door while you were still there." Wendy suggested giggling. She linked her arm into Stan's and they walked to their class. They took their usual seat in the back of the room. Everybody around them was whispering and looking in their direction. They just looked each other in the eye and started laughing.
"What could they be thinking we were doing?" Wendy whispered
"Who knows," Stan replied, then he gave her a little kiss on the neck. She giggled and gave him a playful punch.
"Stan, they are watching us," she whispered, talking about their classmates
"What do we have to hide?" Stan asked leaning in to Wendy and giving her a small kiss.
Neither Stan, nor Wendy even knew what was going on in math class; there were more important thing to do, according to them. The teacher eventually made them sit in separate desks, which they shoved together. They doodled together with their textbooks open; at least they made an effort to look like they were working.
After class Heidi ran up to them in the hallway,
"Where have you been?" She asked smiling. She had seen them come out of the nurse's office together, Wendy had not been wearing Stan's coat and her shirt was all wrinkled.
"I was sleeping in the nurse's office," Wendy replied
"I was with her, I fell asleep in there too," Stan added
"Oh really…." Heidi said slowly
"Heidi, it's not what you think." Wendy said, rolling her eyes. Then she looked at Stan's confused expression and couldn't help but burst into laughter. This made the situation even more suspicious
"Interesting" Heidi remarked with a giggle
"Now look what you made her think, Stan!" Wendy said
"What did I do?" Stan asked, genuinely confused
"Let me put it this way, what Heidi understood from that conversation was that we slept together, which we did, we fell asleep in the same room." Wendy explained
"Oh, oops." Stan replied sheepishly
"Don't worry she was just joking," she assured him, "but you should be more careful with your words" Wendy continued in a mock serious tone
"Come-on I'll walk you home." Stan said, changing the subject
"Yeah, my parents will be thrilled to see you," she replied sarcastically

"Wendy!" a voice from behind them called; they turned their head to see who it was. "Wendy," Bebe repeated catching her breath "since you weren't in english class today, I told the teacher that I would be your partner. You should come to my house after school and get caught up"
"Okay" Wendy replied
"I'll walk you there," Stan said
"Of course," Wendy replied. They followed Bebe to Kyle's locker.
"Hey guys," Kyle said, giving Bebe a kiss on the cheek.
"Ready?" Stan asked.
"Let's get out of here!" Kyle replied

Both couples made their way to Bebe's house. The boys kissed their girlfriends good-bye and started home.

"Hey Stan?" Kyle asked
"Yeah" Stan replied
"Bebe and I were talking at lunch, and we figured something out." Kyle paused, looking over at Stan "We figured out that you seem to know Wendy better than her own parents do."
"Yeah, I know" Stan replied "It's a pretty sad fact; they just don't understand the connection that Wendy and I share. I would never do anything to hurt her."
"All you can do is hope they figure that out." Kyle replied
"I guess you're right," Stan agreed, as they arrived at his house.

Stan walked in the front door and slammed it shut behind him. "SHIT!" He yelled "This is bullshit!" He said more quietly. "This whole thing is a fucking pile of shit." He whispered, voice breaking.
"Stanley," his mother said sternly from the kitchen, "Watch your language!" she scolded. "Oh Stanley, what's happened?" she cried as she walked into the living room to see her son, curled up on the couch, silent tears running down his face.
"It's nothing you can help me with mom, just leave me alone!" he snapped
"Hon, I know you are going through a tough time right now, but it will help to tell somebody" his mother assured him. He told her the whole story.
She was wrong, replaying the events in his head just made him feel worse. He ran up the stairs to his room, he didn't want his mother to see him cry again.