Author's Notes: I'm glad this story has SO many followers…a whole two of you, lol. Oh well, I like to write it, so lucky for you. This chapter is going to be set in mid-October 2006. Right around fall break for Seth. He's in town…again. Also, since Stan's birthday is October 18th, he will have a birthday party in this chapter. And then the South Park kids will have THEIR fall break the week after. Yay. This chapter also introduces John Vanson. Well, he has a small cameo, anyway. He doesn't belong to me…he belongs to JVM-SP150. Now…read, enjoy, and review!
--
Wendy had officially started her internship with Keep South Park Beautiful the Monday after Homecoming. Not that she wanted to start it that day…she had been hung-over for about three days after her binge drinking session at Token's party. She was surprised her mom hadn't caught on when she had chalked her headache and stomachache up to a touch of the flu. Of course, she had also insisted on going to school, even though she had really wanted to die. Her mom probably would have pushed it if she had asked to stay home. Wendy was shocked that she had made such a great first impression on her first day at the internship. All she had had to do was sort flower seeds into different boxes and man the phones, but Betsy had been very impressed by her apparent "organizational skills" and had told her that if she kept up the great work, she would be promoted. A week later, Betsy had given Wendy more responsibilities, which basically included calling the local parks and asking if they needed help with litter clean-up and dividing the different volunteers into teams to clean up each park. It wasn't a lot, per se, but it really did keep her busy. She loved it. As she parked her car and walked into the small office in downtown South Park, she noticed that Betsy was loading boxes into her car. Curious, she walked over to investigate.
"What are you doing?" she asked, taking a box and putting it in the back of Betsy's station wagon.
"We're going to start raking leaves really soon. These are information packets for people." Betsy replied.
"Ohh…" Wendy replied. She helped Betsy load the rest of the boxes into her car.
"Soon you'll be in charge of teams for raking too." Betsy said. Wendy frowned.
"I will?" she asked. Betsy nodded.
"Yeah, but it's not hard. Like the litter teams. Sort of." Betsy replied.
"Oh…" Wendy replied. Betsy smiled at her and patted her arm.
"Don't worry, honey. You're good at this." she replied. Wendy relaxed a little.
"I try. I just don't want to screw something up, you know?" she said. Betsy nodded.
"Well don't worry. I'm right here to help you." she said.
"Are we doing anything about the elections?" Wendy asked, referring to the upcoming gubernatorial elections in November. Betsy contemplated this.
"Like what?" she asked. Wendy smiled.
"Well, we could hand out fliers about the different candidates and their positions on environmental issues…" Wendy said. Betsy nodded.
"That's actually not a bad idea. I'm surprised no one else has thought of that yet." Betsy said, pulling out her cell phone and making a note of it.
"That's kind of surprising." Wendy said. She assumed that someone would have done something with public policy. Environmental issues were pretty big.
"Well, we had a public policy woman, but she went on maternity leave a week ago and she won't be back until January." Betsy said, shrugging.
"She didn't leave any plans for the elections?" Wendy asked, really shocked. Wasn't a public policy woman supposed to focus solely on policy for their particular area of interest?
"Nope, not really. How about I put you in charge of it?" Betsy asked, her eyes lighting up. Wendy's eyes widened.
"In charge of it? But…I don't know that much…" Wendy said. Betsy shrugged.
"What do you really have to know? Just do some research on the candidates and come up with some kind of handout." Betsy said. She programmed this into her cell phone as she talked.
"Okay. I guess I can do that." Wendy said. She hadn't meant to become a public policy intern, but she was grateful that Betsy trusted her enough to make her the head of something. Besides, it would be good practice for when she was an environmental lawyer.
--
"Shelley! Shelley, honey!" Sharon Marsh called, trying to get the attention of her oldest daughter. Shelley rolled her eyes as she walked downstairs. She was skipping her afternoon classes to drive back to South Park and talk to her parents about God knows what. She had assumed that maybe going upstairs would make them forget, but nope. Shelley rolled her eyes and walked into the living room. Her parents were sitting on the couch. Her father kept trying to turn the TV on and her mother kept smacking the remote out of his hand whenever he would try to touch it.
"Goddammit Sharon, I'm missing the game!" Randy said, exasperated. Sharon rolled her eyes.
"Randy, we need to talk to Shelley about her wedding. We hardly ever see her anymore. Be nice." Sharon replied. Randy sighed. Shelly took a seat in the chair next to the couch.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Shelley asked. Sharon smiled. Randy gave her a dirty look.
"You look fat. You better not be knocked up." Randy said. Sharon gasped.
"Randy, for the love of God!" she exclaimed. Shelley wasn't sure whether to laugh or be offended.
"Well look at her, Sharon! She's packing on the pounds!" Randy said. Sharon shook her head.
"You're not fat, Shelley." Sharon said. Shelley just laughed.
"The hell she's not! Goddammit Shelley, you better be planning to have an abortion. Or to get married before that kid pops out. I will not have any daughter of mine being an unwed mother!" Randy said. Shelley sighed.
"Dad, I'm not pregnant." she said.
"Well then…you better stop eating so much. Your dress isn't going to fit if you keep this up." Randy said. Sharon swatted him.
"Ignore him, sweetheart. We just wanted to see how your wedding planning was coming along." Sharon said, smiling. Shelley smelled the bullshit. That question could have been taken care of with a simple phone call. They didn't have to drag her down to South Park from Fort Collins to check on that.
"It's fine, I guess." she replied. If by "fine", she meant that she had tried on two dresses and browsed a couple of wedding planning websites.
"I hope you don't expect us to pay for this." Randy said. Sharon shot him a death glare.
"It's tradition that we pay for it, Randy." Sharon said. Randy rolled his eyes.
"Then what the hell are the McCormicks going to pay for, huh, Sharon?" Randy asked. Like they could afford anything.
"We were actually thinking of postponing the wedding." Shelley said. Sharon turned and gaped at her, shocked. Randy laughed.
"I knew she wouldn't go through with it! I told you, didn't I, Sharon?" Randy said, elbowing Sharon in the side. She ignored him.
"Shelley, sweetheart, are you sure?" she asked. The wedding was supposed to be in April.
"I don't think I can plan this whole thing in six months. Plus I'm going to be so busy with classes next semester…" Shelley said, shrugging. She and Kevin had already talked it over. He was fine with it.
"What if I plan it for you?" Sharon asked, smiling. Shelley's head filled with visions of lace, pink roses, and fluffy girly bullshit. She shook her head.
"No, Mom, really. I'll just postpone it until August or something." Shelley said. Sharon frowned.
"Honey, are you sure this is about timing and not about Kevin?" Sharon asked. Shelley shook her head. No, she hadn't been having fantasies of leaving Kevin at all. Nope, not one.
"It's about the timing, Mom. God." Shelley replied, rolling her eyes.
"Okay sweetie. I believe you." Sharon said, smiling.
"So what else did you want to talk to me about? You could have called me about the wedding stuff." Shelley said. Sharon smiled sheepishly.
"Well, as you know, your brother is going to be eighteen soon." Sharon said.
"Yeah, it's shocking that he made it to his eighteenth birthday, isn't it?" Randy interjected. Sharon silenced him with a death glare.
"I was wondering if you could help me plan a little party for him." Sharon said. Shelley sighed.
"Mom, I have a full class load and I can't afford to come back and forth from Fort Collins all the time." Shelley replied. Sharon sighed.
"Fine, then. I'm sorry that I thought you would be willing to help me out with this one little thing. I mean, it's not like I've ever helped you before…" Sharon replied, looking down at the ground. Shelley sighed again.
"Fine, Mom. But a lot of this is going to have to be done by phone, okay?" Shelley replied, rolling her eyes. Sharon grinned.
"Oh honey, this is going to mean so much to Stanley!" she exclaimed. Shelley really didn't care how much it would mean to that stupid turd, but she didn't say that.
"Yeah. I'm sure he'll be thrilled." Shelley replied. Sharon pulled a big binder out from under the couch. Apparently she had been doing some brainstorming on her own.
"Now, I know you kids have your own style now, but I was thinking that we could do something like this…" she said, turning to a page in the binder and showing it to Shelley. Shelley sighed. She was in for a long ass afternoon.
--
Like Wendy, Mandi had also settled into her internship. She absolutely loved everything about it, from the people to the work. Her responsibilities mostly included making fliers, making phone calls and running tables, but she had been filling in for the receptionist for a week since she was out with Super AIDS or something. Unlike Wendy, her internship had started literally the same day she had been hired because Unplanned Parenthood had so much to do. She had been doing a lot for the gubernatorial elections since the Democratic candidate promised to restore family planning funding. There were two other interns to help her, both from South Park Community College. They were both pretty stupid, though, which was why they got all the crap work and Mandi got to do the fun stuff, like being receptionist. Mandi smiled as the bells over the door jingled, signifying a new customer. Her smile faded quickly once she looked up and saw that she was face-to-face with Eric Cartman himself. She sighed and willed herself to be nice to him.
"Hello. Welcome to Unplanned Parenthood. How can I help you today?" she asked, smiling. Cartman rolled his eyes.
"I think your whore of a sister gave me something." Cartman said, scowling. Mandi rolled her eyes.
"I doubt you caught it from her, Cartman. Symptoms usually appear at least a week later." she replied. Cartman rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, skank. I need to be tested." he replied. Mandi handed him a clipboard.
"Fill out both sides and the medical history form. Bring it back when you're done and I'll see if the doctor can fit you in." she said. Cartman yanked it out of her hand and stomped over to the waiting area. He finished it within fifteen minutes and brought it back.
"There bitch. And you better hope the doctor can see me because this fucking itches!" Cartman said, glaring at her. Mandi bit her lip to refrain from laughing and walked back into the clinic area to find the doctor. She informed her that Cartman needed to be seen and walked back into the receptionist area. Cartman was glaring at her from the waiting room. She smiled at him pleasantly, thoroughly enjoying his misery.
"The doctor will be out as soon as she can. While you wait, may I offer you a few brochures?" she said. She held out a few about condoms, oral sex, and each different STD. Cartman glared at her even harder.
"Fuck you, bitch." he said. She just smiled.
"You know, it's important to always use a condom." she replied. Cartman rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I did, bitch." he replied. Mandi grinned. She was enjoying the entire situation far too much.
--
Cartman fidgeted nervously as he sat on the table in the exam room. The doctor had left about twenty minutes before to test the samples she took from him. He hoped he didn't have anything, but he wasn't taking any chances. He waited another five minutes until a nurse knocked on the door and poked her head in.
"Eric Cartman?" she asked. He nodded.
"Yeah?" he replied, standing up. She motioned for him to follow her. She led him into a nice office area. The doctor who had taken his samples was sitting at a desk, looking down at a paper. When Cartman entered the room, she smiled.
"Ah, Mr. Cartman. Please sit down." she said, pointing at the chair across from her. He sat down nervously.
"Well…do I have anything?" he asked. The doctor handed him a brochure entitled "Genital Herpes and You". He took it and nearly threw up when he read the title.
"Mr. Cartman, are you familiar with genital herpes?" the doctor asked. Cartman nodded.
"Uh…well…sort of." he replied. The doctor nodded.
"I ask because you had some red bumps in your genital area." she said. Cartman froze.
"So I have herpes?" he squeaked. The doctor shook her head.
"No, Mr. Cartman, what you have is razor burn. It's fairly common if you shave…er…down there." the doctor said, taking the brochure back from him. Cartman let her words sink in and then shot her a dirty look.
"AY!" he yelled. The doctor smiled pleasantly.
"Also, everything else came back negative. Perhaps you should use protection if you are going to continue to be sexually active." the doctor said. Cartman was ready to slam the bitch's head against the wall.
"You're telling me that I don't have anything?" Cartman demanded.
"Yes." the doctor replied.
"Fucking bitch! Why would you scare me like that? Huh? HUH? Do you think it's funny to make people think they have something wrong with them? You can't do that to people! Was this Mandi's idea? I bet it was, that fucking slut…" Cartman raved, getting up and leaving the office. He slammed the door behind him. The doctor just laughed.
"You stupid little slut!" Cartman yelled as soon as he walked into the waiting room. Mandi looked up at him, shocked.
"Bad news?" she asked, trying to conceal her grin. Fucking bitch.
"You told the doctor to pretend like I had something to scare me! You are a fucking bitch!" he yelled at her. Mandi laughed.
"Oh please. Now please leave before you cause an even bigger scene." Mandi replied. Cartman screamed in absolute rage and left in a huff. Mandi couldn't help but laugh to herself once he was gone. Some things never changed.
--
"Why are we doing this again?" Kenny said, turning to look at Kyle. They were setting up for Stan's eighteenth birthday party at the South Park Community Center. Not by choice, of course.
"Shelley threatened to castrate us if we didn't." Kyle replied, blowing up a balloon with the helium tank Stan's mom had rented.
"Okay, I know why YOU'RE doing this. But why am I?" Kenny asked. Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Where the hell is Cartman? That fatass promised to help." he said, completely ignoring Kenny's comment.
"Who knows?" Kenny replied.
Kyle pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened up a new text. He typed "Where the hell are you?" and sent it to Cartman.
"I texted him. He probably forgot again." Kyle said, tying ribbons to the balloons that Kenny had just blown up.
"Doesn't he have hockey practice or something?" Kenny replied, moving away from the helium tank and to the food table. He began setting out plates and napkins.
"I doubt it." Kyle replied, rolling his eyes. Like Cartman actually went to hockey practice most of the time.
"The coach told him he has to start going to practice or he's going to get kicked off the team." Kenny said, as if reading Kyle's thoughts.
"Well whatever. It's Friday night…who the hell has practice on a Friday night?" Kyle replied. Kenny just shrugged. Kyle's phone beeped, signaling the arrival of a new text message. He opened it up.
"Calm down. I'm coming." it said. Kyle frowned.
"Hurry up, fatass." Kyle texted back.
"I'm not fat, you fucking Jew." Cartman texted.
"Don't mock my people, asshole!" Kyle texted back.
"Don't call me fat, butt licker!" Cartman texted.
"Just hurry your ass up. Jesus Christ." Kyle texted back.
"Relax, Jew. I'll be there in time to help with your little boyfriend's surprise party." Cartman texted back.
"FUCK YOU CARTMAN!" Kyle texted back. Kenny was watching this all, laughing to himself.
"Are you and Cartman text message fighting?" Kenny asked, amused.
"No." Kyle replied, dumping chips into a giant bowl.
"You sure?" Kenny asked, grinning.
"Stan's mom sure gave us a lot of food to put out." Kyle said, glancing at the bags full of chips, pretzels, and dip. Not to mention the pizzas that were being delivered later and the cake and ice cream.
"Good. Some of us aren't sure where our next meal is coming from." Kenny replied, grabbing a handful of chips and eating them. Kyle shook his head.
"Goddammit, Kenny." he said, grinning.
"Boys?" Sharon Marsh's voice called down the hall.
"We're here." Kyle called up. They heard her walking down the hall and then she entered the room.
"How's it going?" she asked, surveying the room. She smiled in approval.
"Half the people who were supposed to help haven't shown up yet, but I think we're good so far." Kyle said. Sharon nodded.
"Everything looks good. Now, you boys only have about an hour and a half left before people start arriving, so make sure you get all the big stuff done first. The pizzas are going to be delivered about half an hour into the party and Randy and I will bring Stanley right after you give me the okay that the pizza is here." Sharon said, smiling.
"I have your number programmed in, Mrs. Marsh." Kyle said, holding his cell phone up.
"How are you tricking Stan?" Kenny asked.
"We told him we're taking him to a fancy restaurant in Denver for his birthday dinner. Then I'm going to make some excuse about picking up a bowl for Kyle's mother and stopping off here. I'll make him come in with me and we'll go from there." she said.
"And you didn't tell Mr. Marsh, did you?" Kyle asked.
"God, no! I told him that Stanley's birthday party is tomorrow. If I told him about this, he would ruin it." she replied, grinning.
"Anybody here?" Cartman's voice echoed down the hall.
"It's about time!" Kyle yelled. Cartman walked in.
"Patience, Kyle. Patience. I had to arrange the DJ, remember." he replied.
"Did you get someone, Eric?" Mrs. Marsh asked.
"Yeah. For half the allotted amount, I might add. You can thank me later." he replied.
"Okay boys, it looks like you have everything covered. I need to get home before someone suspects something." she replied, leaving. As soon as she was out of earshot, Kyle turned and scowled at Cartman.
"What did you do to get a DJ so cheap, Cartman?" he asked.
"None of your concern, Jew. Let's just say I know how to negotiate." he replied, walking over to the streamers. Kenny walked over with him and they began hanging them.
"Hey, anyone here?" another voice called down the hall. It was a guy's voice, but Kyle knew it wasn't Stan's.
"Back here!" Kyle called. Seth Testaburger walked in, hand-in-hand with Mandi.
"Hey." she said, smiling. Kyle rolled his eyes.
"You were supposed to be here an hour ago." Kyle said.
"Sorry. Jesus." Mandi replied, shrugging.
"Is anyone else coming?" Kyle asked.
"Bebe texted me and said she was heading over. I think Wendy is with her." Mandi replied.
"That's it?" Kyle asked, incredulous.
"Kyle, it's Friday night. Most people don't want to spend their evening decorating for a party. They would rather actually come to the party." Mandi replied. Seth nodded.
"Yeah, I only came because she made me." Seth said, gesturing towards Mandi.
"And because Bebe is bringing Scott Tenorman." Mandi replied, rolling her eyes.
"Anyway, what are we doing?" Seth asked, looking around. Kyle sighed and assigned them both a task.
--
"Wendy, what the hell do you mean you feel sick?" Bebe asked, glancing nervously at the newly vacuumed floors of her car.
"I mean I feel like I'm going to puke, Bebe." Wendy snapped.
"Should I…pull over?" Bebe asked, already pulling over into the parking lot of La Taco.
"La Taco? Really?" Wendy asked.
"It wouldn't be the first time someone puked in their parking lot." Bebe replied.
Wendy opened up the car door and got out. She sat down on the curb, willing her stomach to stop churning. She tried to think back to everything she had eaten that day, but she couldn't come up with anything that could have made her sick. How often did someone undercook tomato soup and oyster crackers? The thought of the soup was enough to send the food that was spinning in her stomach right up and she coughed and gagged every bit of it into the La Taco parking lot. Her stomach immediately calmed down after she emptied its contents onto the asphalt.
"Wendy?" Bebe asked. She walked towards her slowly.
"Bebe, it's fine. You can come over here." she said.
"I don't want to catch it." Bebe replied. She walked over to Wendy anyway and handed her a bottle of water. Wendy took it. She opened the bottle, took a small sip, swished the water around in her mouth, and spit it back out.
"I don't think I have anything. I think there was something wrong with the tomato soup I had at lunch." she replied, shrugging.
"Do you want me to take you home?" Bebe asked, frowning.
"No. I think I'll be okay." Wendy replied.
"Just…don't puke in my car, okay?" Bebe said. Wendy rolled her eyes.
"I won't. I'll puke in my lap first, okay?" she replied.
--
Two hours later, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, Seth, Mandi, Wendy, and Bebe had somehow decorated every inch of the rented room.
"Now what?" Kenny asked, sitting down on the floor.
"Now I need to change out of my Unplanned Parenthood uniform and into something else." Mandi said, gesturing towards her hot pink scrubs and standing up. Seth joined her.
"And I should go help her. You know, just in case she puts the dress on wrong or something." he replied.
"You guys are sick." Wendy replied, shaking her head.
"Yo, pizza!" a voice called from the hall. Mandi checked her watch.
"Better early than never?" she asked. Wendy groaned.
"Dudes, I have like eighty pizzas here!" the pizza guy called. Kenny, Kyle, Mandi, Seth, and Cartman all went into the hall to meet the pizza guy, who happened to be Skyler.
"I'll be damned." Cartman said, recognizing him immediately.
"Hey, what's up?" Skyler asked, apparently also recognizing Cartman.
"So you're…delivering pizza now." Cartman said.
"Hey, you used to be fat, didn't you?" Skyler asked. Cartman scowled. Mandi laughed and grabbed a few pizzas off of the floor where Skyler had stacked them. He was right--there WERE a lot. At least thirty of them.
"There's a whole table in here where we are putting the pizzas if you want to follow me." Mandi said, glancing at Skyler. He grinned.
"Why yes. Yes I would." he replied, watching her ass as she walked away. Kenny and Kyle exchanged glances.
"Why is it that she always has older guys wanting to bone her?" Kyle asked. Kenny shrugged.
"She does have a nice ass…" Kenny said. Seth cleared his throat.
"I'm standing right here." he said. Kenny shrugged.
"Sorry man, but you know it's true." he said, picking up a few pizzas and following Mandi to the table.
"So, you wanna get a pizza with me sometime? I can get you a large sausage for free." Skyler said, walking up to Mandi. Mandi turned bright red.
"Um…actually…" she said, not sure what to say. Luckily, Seth walked up and put his arm around her.
"She would rather eat my pepperoni." he said. This made Mandi blush even more. Skyler looked from Mandi to Seth and rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, babe." Skyler replied, shrugging. He brought the rest of the pizzas in and then walked over to Kyle to get his payment.
"Why is it that older guys always hit on you?" Seth asked. Mandi shrugged.
"Can we not talk about this?" she replied. Seth grinned.
"But it's so funny." he said. She shook her head.
"That's not funny. That's…sick." she said.
"Hey, I'm going to go ahead and call Stan's mom and let her know that the pizza is here, okay?" Kyle said.
"No one is here, though!" Wendy said, looking around the empty room in a panic.
As soon as Wendy said that, people started arriving. Seth had gotten the idea to put a sign directing them to the room near the entrance so that no one else had to yell when they came in. Stan's Uncle Jimbo and Ned were among the first guests to arrive. They placed a package that looked suspiciously like a shot gun on the present table and immediately cracked open the beers they had brought themselves. Rebecca showed up with Janae and Derrick since Butters was out of town with his parents. Katie McCormick showed up with Jessica Testaburger. They both shot Kenny dirty looks when they walked in. Craig showed up with Lexus and Mercedes. Everyone else from their grade eventually trickled in and Mandi and Seth came back after being gone for thirty minutes with Mandi wearing a black and red flowered party dress and Seth looking sort of tired.
--
"Stanley! Randy! Come on, our reservation is in thirty minutes!" Sharon called, glancing at the clock. Kyle had sent her the all ready text message ten minutes before and she did not want Stan to be late for his own party. Randy came down the stairs wearing an old blue suit.
"Sharon, keep your pants on." he said, rolling his eyes. "Well, for now, anyway." he said after a second, winking at her. She rolled her eyes.
"Okay, Mom, Jesus." Stan said, descending the stairs. He was wearing a red shirt with a black tie and black dress pants. Sharon immediately teared up.
"Oh, my baby is growing up so fast!" she said, rushing over to hug him. Stan rolled his eyes. He had been dealing with Sharon's hysterics since his actual birthday two days before.
"Aw Mom, jeez…" he said, hugging her back.
"Sharon, chill out. Soon he'll be out of the house and we'll hardly ever have to see him!" Randy said, grinning. This only made Sharon cry more.
"Um…reservations? We're going to be late, remember?" Stan said, shooting his dad a dirty look.
--
"Okay guys, I just got a text from Stan's mom. They just pulled into the parking lot. Now, let's all hide. Mandi, do you still have the lights?" Kyle called across the crowded room.
"Yup!" Mandi called.
"Felipe, do you have all of your equipment set up?" Kyle called to the DJ. Felipe shot him a thumbs up.
"Okay, everyone take your places then." Kyle commanded. Everyone crouched down and Mandi hit the lights. The entire room went black and they listened for footsteps coming down the hall.
--
"I can't believe you forgot to make the reservations, Sharon." Randy said, rolling his eyes at his wife. Sharon smiled.
"Honestly, it must have slipped my mind." she replied.
"It's okay, Mom." Stan said from his position in the backseat.
"Actually, Randy, we need to stop by the community center." Sharon said, pointing to the building coming up on her right. Randy rolled his eyes.
"Goddammit, Sharon, it's too late for yoga." Randy said, pulling into the parking lot anyway.
"Sheila told me that she left a bowl here and she wanted me to grab it for her since she won't have any time to grab it herself." Sharon said. Randy pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine.
"Hurry the hell up." he said. Sharon shook her head.
"Nope, you're both coming in with me." she said. Randy shook his head.
"No. I'm fine right here." he said, already thinking about the six pack he had waiting at home.
"I'll come in with you." Stan volunteered. Sharon smiled at him and then frowned at Randy.
"You'll both come in with me." she said. Randy started to protest, but she held up her hand to silence him. "This is not up for discussion." she said. Randy sighed loudly and unbuckled his seatbelt. Sharon and Stan unbuckled theirs as well and the two men followed Sharon into the community center. Randy complained the entire way, something about Sharon having his balls in a blender and dammit Stan, hold onto your manhood as long as you can, don't let some woman claw into you, etc etc etc. Stan chuckled quietly to himself as his father babbled on.
--
Everyone heard Stan approaching. Well, actually, they heard Randy Marsh complaining. Finally, Kyle heard Sharon yell something about not being able to find the room, which was her code to let Kyle know that they were about to enter the room. Kyle sent the "LIGHTS" text message to Mandi, and she flipped them on right as the Marshes walked into the room.
"SURPRISE!" everyone yelled in unison. Everyone immediately surrounded Stan. Randy jumped backwards in surprise and then grinned.
"Hey, a surprise party for me. What's the occasion?" he asked Sharon. She rolled her eyes.
"It's Stanley's eighteenth birthday." she replied, looking at him as if he were mentally handicapped.
"So you threw me a party?" Randy asked, confused. Stan sensed that his mother was going to say something very colorful, so he stepped in.
"Actually, I think it's my party…" he said. Randy rolled his eyes.
"Teenagers, always assuming everything is about them…" he muttered, shaking his head. As he did that, he caught sight of what Jimbo and Ned were drinking and rushed off to join their private party. Sharon smiled at Stan and motioned towards the pizza and he nodded.
"You guys really shouldn't have done this." Stan said, grinning at Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny. Kyle shrugged.
"It was your mom's idea, dude. We just helped." Kenny said.
"Well…thanks." Stan said. The three of them nodded.
"Hey Stan." Mandi said, walking up to the group. Seth trailed behind her and nodded once at Stan.
"Hey." he said, smiling at her.
"So Seth, Wendy, Bebe, Janae, and I went in together and got you something." she said, handing him a brightly wrapped package. He grinned.
"Wow, thanks. Uh…your whole group of friends, huh?" he replied. Mandi shrugged.
"Well all of us except for…" she trailed off, thinking Rebecca but not saying her name. Why ruin the party? Her indecision was interrupted by Rebecca actually coming over to Stan, grinning and holding a package of her own.
"I thought I would get you something a little less…fancy." she said, handing him the package. Stan was too busy staring at her to actually comprehend what she said, but he nodded anyway.
"Thank you. You look great." he said, smiling. She did, too. Her dress was the same one she had been wearing at Token's back to school party, but it fit her well.
"Oh…thanks." she said, blushing a little.
"Where's Butters?" Stan asked.
"Out of town with his parents." she replied. Stan nodded.
"That's too bad. You want to get something to drink?" he asked, not sounding at all sorry about Butters not being there. Rebecca nodded and the two walked off to the refreshments table.
"Not this again." Kyle said, watching them walk off together. Mandi shrugged.
"I had a feeling that that would happen…" she said.
"Well, he broke up with Red, so I guess he's free to get back together with her if he wants…" Kenny said, shrugging.
Across the room, Wendy was sitting in a chair, sipping a cup of warm 8 Down. Bebe was sitting next to her, looking worried.
"Maybe you should see a doctor or something…" Bebe suggested. Wendy shook her head.
"It's probably just stress or something." she replied.
"Are you on your period? Sometimes I puke when I'm on mine…" Bebe said. Wendy frowned.
"No…no period this…right now." she replied, suddenly very interested in her drink. If Bebe noticed, she didn't say anything. The DJ suddenly began blasting some salsa song and Cartman ran across the room yelling at him to play real music, goddammit. The salsa was quickly replaced with Justin Timberlake.
"I'm glad you came." Stan said as he handed Rebecca her drink. She smiled.
"I was a little unsure at first, but I'm glad I came too." she replied, taking a sip of the pop Stan handed her.
"Why were you unsure?" he asked. He didn't really look hurt. Just curious.
"Well, Butters…and…" she said, shrugging. He nodded as if he understood even though she knew what she said made no goddamn sense at all.
"He's not here tonight, though." Stan said, taking her drink and setting it on the table. He took her hand and pulled her out to the middle of the floor where everyone else had started dancing.
"You know I can't dance." she shouted over the music. Stan pretended like he couldn't hear her and she rolled her eyes.
"Come on, just have fun!" Stan said. She began mimicking his moves.
Mandi stood about fifteen feet away, watching the entire thing. Janae came up next to her and shook her head.
"That girl is begging to get hurt again." Janae said. Mandi shrugged.
"Maybe it will be different this time. He seems like he cares…" Mandi said. Janae rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, he acts like that now. Remember how miserable she was, though?" Janae asked. Mandi frowned and tried to remember a time when Rebecca had seemed unhappy, but she couldn't recall any point before her break-up with Stan.
"She wasn't miserable. They were pretty happy…" Mandi replied.
"She was miserable and she didn't know it." Janae said. Mandi raised her eyebrows.
"I don't think so. They dated for like two years and some odd months. I think she would have dumped him before then if she had been miserable." Mandi said.
"You were miserable with Kyren and you guys stuck together for almost five years." Janae said.
"That was different…" Mandi replied. And it was. Stan and Rebecca had been a happy couple the entire time they had dated. Mandi and Kyren had gone in and out of happiness throughout their entire relationship.
"Hey." John Vanson said, walking up to Mandi and Janae. Janae merely nodded a greeting at him before taking off after Derrick. Mandi smiled at him.
"Hey John." she said.
"Where's Seth?" he asked, looking around. Mandi gestured towards the other side of the room where Seth was engaged in what looked like a heated debate with Cartman. John nodded.
"I should have guessed." he replied. Mandi shrugged.
"Cartman made him mad." she replied.
"I can see that. So…uh…is Desirae here?" John asked. Mandi smiled. Apparently John and Desirae had been "talking". John was about twenty steps up from the normal sleaze balls Desirae normally went for.
"She might be around here somewhere…" Mandi replied.
She was, in fact. She was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, watching everyone around her dance. She didn't see Jessica approaching her until it was too late to make a run for it.
"Um…hi." Jessica said, smiling at her uncertainly. Desirae scowled.
"What?" she asked.
"Can we talk?" Jessica asked.
"I think we're already talking." Desirae replied, shrugging.
"Look…I'm sorry about the whole Kenny thing. I feel like I was a total bitch to you and that wasn't right. I don't think what happened was your fault." Jessica said, smiling warmly. Desirae rolled her eyes.
"I know it wasn't my fault. Kenny is a horny bastard, you were stupid enough to fall for his bullshit. I don't factor in there at all." Desirae replied. Jessica frowned.
"I'm trying to be your friend here…" Jessica said.
"I already told you that I don't want to be friends." Desirae replied.
"Let's be honest here, Desirae. You NEED friends." Jessica said, putting her hands on her hips.
"I don't really need anything, actually." Desirae replied, biting her tongue to keep from laughing.
"Yes you do. You eat lunch alone. You're sitting off by yourself at a party." Jessica pointed out.
"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I like it that way?" Desirae asked. Jessica paused. It actually hadn't.
"No one likes being alone. Do you know what people say about you? What kind of reputation you have?" Jessica asked, trying to scare Desirae.
"No one says anything about me and I don't have a reputation because I fly under the radar." Desirae replied, rolling her eyes. This was starting to get on her nerves.
"Okay, fine then. Maybe I just want to be your friend." Jessica said, smiling. On anyone else, it probably would have worked. Jessica was one of the most popular girls in her grade and people lined up to spend time with her and be called her friend. Unfortunately for her, Desirae was not one of those people. So when she got up and walked away, it shocked Jessica. Someone not wanting to speak to her was an entirely foreign concept in her world.
"What are you doing, dude?" Kenny asked, walking up to Kyle. Kyle nearly dropped his cup.
"Jesus Christ, Kenny. Don't sneak up on people like that!" he said. Kenny just laughed.
"Why do you look like you're doing something you shouldn't be?" Kenny asked, smirking. Kyle's face turned bright red.
"I don't know what you're talking about." he replied.
"Uh huh. You look like I looked when my dad caught me with his Playboys for the first time." Kenny replied, grinning. Kyle rolled his eyes.
"How old were you, three?" Kyle asked, only half-serious.
"Two, actually. Not the point, though." Kenny replied.
"Two? Jesus Christ, Kenny." Kyle replied.
"So who are you checking out?" Kenny asked, ignoring Kyle's comment. Kyle froze.
"I'm not checking anyone out." Kyle said. Kenny shot him a "yeah, right" look and looked across the room where Kyle had been staring when he approached him. Clyde was dancing with some junior girl, Cartman and Seth Testaburger were in some heated argument, Bebe and Scott Tenorman were dancing, Kenny's own little sister was talking to some girl he didn't recognize, and Stan and Rebecca were dancing. Kenny frowned. Bebe would be the obvious choice, but he hadn't really seen Kyle speak to her since their junior year. Rebecca was out because Kenny knew that Kyle would never even consider doing that to Stan.
"You better not be checking my sister out." Kenny said, grinning good-naturedly. Kyle turned beet red.
"Dude, why would I check your sister out? Sick!" Kyle replied. Kenny shrugged and walked away, not noticing that Kyle's eyes went right back to Katie once he knew he wasn't being watched.
"Where's your date?" Kyren asked, walking up to Mandi.
"Arguing with Cartman." she replied, laughing a little. Kyren chuckled.
"Why am I not surprised?" he asked. Mandi shrugged.
"No one is surprised." she replied.
"So what are they arguing over?" Kyren asked.
"Hockey, I think. It probably grew from there." she said.
"So…having fun?" Kyren asked, suddenly feeling very awkward. Mandi nodded.
"Yeah…it's a great party." she replied, taking a sip of the punch she had concocted. The punch consisted of strawberry ice cream and lemon-lime pop and she was quite proud of it.
"You want to dance?" he asked. Mandi sighed. She had a feeling that that would eventually come up.
"I have a date." she replied, hoping to let him down gently.
"Your date is busy." Kyren replied, smiling.
"I'm a terrible dancer." she said, regretting those words the instant they came out of her mouth. Kyren would just suggest dancing to a slow song.
"So we can slow dance." Kyren replied. Yup.
"Kyren, that's a really bad idea and you know it." she replied, sighing. Kyren frowned.
"Mandi, I'm not still out to get you back. As much as it pains me, I do respect your relationship with Seth. I don't want to cause trouble." he replied. Quite sincerely, in fact. Mandi sighed. Kyren was generally not one to lie, but she was reluctant to trust him after he had basically confessed his undying love for her a few weeks before.
"It's going to piss Seth off and you know it." she replied. Kyren shook his head and pointed somewhere across the room. Mandi looked to where he was pointing and saw Scott Tenorman talking to Bebe.
"I think that will piss Seth off more than you dancing with me." Kyren replied, smiling. Mandi sighed.
"One dance, Kyren. That's it." she said, walking out to the makeshift dance floor with him. He put his arms around her and she shifted uncomfortably.
"Don't you miss this at all?" Kyren asked her. She sighed and tried to picture a time when she and Kyren had been very happy and very inseperable. Unfortunately for her, all she could think of was the image of Grace and Kyren blowing their straw papers at each other the year before.
"Why are you here dancing with me?" she asked. Kyren gave her a strange look.
"Because I love you." he replied. She shook her head.
"No. You obviously have feelings for that Grace girl." Mandi replied.
"What?" Kyren asked, clearly confused. Mandi rolled her eyes and stepped away from him.
"Go find her and ask her to dance. You'll be a lot happier if you do." she replied, walking away from him. Kyren felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach, but he let her go.
Rebecca somehow found herself having a conversation with Stan's mom. This was awkward for her because she had been sure that Mrs. Marsh hated her after their break-up. However, she was discovering that just the opposite was true.
"I was so mad at Stanley when he told me that the two of you were finished." Sharon said, shaking her head. Rebecca frowned.
"I always thought that you hated me after that…" Rebecca replied.
"Oh God no, dear! I never liked that new girl that he dated, though." Sharon said, smiling. Rebecca laughed.
"Neither did I." she said.
"So Stanley tells me that you have a new boyfriend." Sharon said. Rebecca shrugged.
"Yeah, Butters and I have been dating for a little while, I guess. He's nice enough." she said.
"But there's no spark." Sharon said, finishing her thought for her. Rebecca blushed.
"That's a terrible thing to say or think, but it's the truth…" she said. Sharon nodded.
"Well, maybe you and Stan can get back together." Sharon said. Rebecca immediately turned bright red.
"Oh, Mrs. Marsh, I don't know about that…" she said, her voice shaky. Sharon smiled.
"You should come by for dinner sometime." Sharon said.
"That would be great." Rebecca replied, remembering all of the meals she had eaten with the Marsh family before.
"You still love chicken and noodles, right?" Sharon said.
"With mashed potatoes." Rebecca said, grinning.
"Why is your mom talking to Rebecca?" Kenny asked, walking up to Stan.
"What?" Stan asked, scanning the room and spotting Rebecca and his mom deep in conversation.
"They've been talking for like fifteen minutes now." Kenny said, taking a sip of the punch that Mandi had made.
"What the hell do they have to talk about?" Stan asked. Kenny saw him starting to sweat and laughed.
"Hell if I know. Are you guys going to get back together?" Kenny asked. Stan turned as red as the poofball on the hat he used to wear.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" he asked. Kenny grinned.
"Probably because your break-up with Red was louder and more interesting than the music at Homecoming. Everyone heard her yelling at you about staring at Rebecca." Kenny replied. Stan turned even redder, if that was even possible.
"Did Rebecca hear?" he asked.
"Probably." Kenny replied.
"…Fuck." Stan said, pinching his nose.
"You are not allowed to leave me again. Do you understand me?" Mandi said, grabbing Seth's arm. He grinned and put his cup on the table next to him. Cartman had long since tired of their argument and had found someone else to bother.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Kyren. Kyren is on the prowl." she said, sighing. Seth laughed.
"Aww, and you don't want to dance with him? Or talk to him? Or be forced onto a plane to Vegas for a quickie wedding with him?" he asked. His tone was teasing, but Mandi still groaned.
"Don't even joke like that. That's probably exactly what he's thinking." she said, wrapping her arms around Seth's waist. He smiled.
"Want me to go talk to him?" Seth asked. Mandi shook her head.
"No. But we could always get out of here." Mandi replied, smiling.
"Your mom is gone tonight, right?" Seth asked.
"Yeah. Josh has another Cub Scout thing and they went camping in Conifer." Mandi said. Seth grinned.
"Then why are we wasting our time at this party when we could be at your place?" he asked.
"Gross." Janae said, walking up to the two of them. They both turned to look at her and Mandi grinned.
"It's not gross." she said. Janae shook her head.
"Oh believe me, it's goddamn disgusting." Janae said.
"Whatever. What's up?" Mandi asked. Janae gestured towards Stan's mom. She was putting candles on a large cake.
"We're about to sing and cut the cake. Then Stan is opening presents. I suggest you lovebirds stay for that." Janae said. Seth nodded.
"We would never miss cake." Seth said, grinning. Janae rolled her eyes at him and walked off, presumably to tell everyone else.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Stan, happy birthday to you!" everyone sang as Stan stood in front of his cake. His mom had hit the lights and passed out birthday hats for everyone to wear. Stan took a big breath as the song ended and blew out all eighteen of his birthday candles. Everyone clapped.
"What did you wish for, Stan?" someone called out. Stan just grinned.
"Okay, Stan gets the first piece!" Stan's mom called, pulling out her cake knife and dividing the cake into pieces.
"Happy Birthday, Stan." Rebecca said, coming up next to him. He smiled and put his arm around her waist. She started to move away, but decided against it.
"What about Butters?" she whispered. Stan just shrugged.
"Break up with him already." Stan muttered. Rebecca frowned.
"It's not as easy as you seem to think it is." she replied.
"Here's your cake, sweetheart." Sharon said, turning around and handing Stan his plate. He took it and smiled at her. She looked from Stan to Rebecca in confusion, but then smiled and went back to handing out cake.
"Happy Birthday, dude." Kyle said, walking up to Stan.
"Thanks, Kyle." Stan said, grinning. He had since removed his arm from Rebecca's waist, but she was still standing very close to him. Kyle looked at her in confusion.
"Oh, hey." he said. She smiled.
"Hi Kyle." she said.
"Stan, can I talk to you?" Kyle asked.
"I'll just go grab some cake." Rebecca said, walking away. Stan looked at Kyle expectantly.
"What's up?" he asked. Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Rebecca. She has a boyfriend." Kyle said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Stan simply shrugged.
"We're getting back together." he said. Kyle's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"Since when?" Kyle asked.
"Since tonight. She's going to dump Butters when he comes back and then we can be together once and for all." Stan said.
"This cake is really good." Rebecca said, walking back up to Stan and Kyle. Stan grinned.
"Chocolate with the good icing. It's your favorite. I remember." Stan said. Rebecca blushed.
"It's your favorite too, Stan." she said, elbowing him playfully. Kyle resisted the urge to gag.
"Well…have fun, dude. I'm going to go find Kenny." Kyle said. It didn't take long to find him. He just followed the trail of giggling girls and pushed his way through. Kenny grinned at him when he saw him coming.
"Kyle! What's up?" he asked. Kyle simply pointed in Rebecca and Stan's general direction. Kenny raised his eyebrows.
"They got back together?" he asked. Kyle shook his head.
"No, but Stan said they will as soon as she dumps Butters." Kyle said.
"Dude. Not cool." Kenny said, shaking his head.
"Okay Stanley, time to open your presents!" Sharon called. Stan smiled at Rebecca and walked up to the table where his gifts were piled.
"Here sweetie, open this one first." Sharon said, handing Stan a small bag. He opened it and pulled out a pair of headphones.
"Oh…wow. Thanks." he said, smiling. Sharon simply grinned and handed him another package. This pattern continued on for about half an hour. By the time Sharon handed him the last package, a bag identical to the first one she had handed him, he had already accumulated five new sweaters, twenty different gift cards, six new DVDs, a fish tank, three new t-shirts, and a plethora of other random gifts. He took the last bag from his mother and opened it. Instead of pulling out headphones like he had earlier, he pulled out a black 80GB iPod.
"Holy shit! They literally just released this a month ago!" Stan said. Sharon smiled.
"I thought you would like it, honey. The one you have now is pretty old." she said.
"Thanks, Mom!" Stan said, hugging her. He hugged his father as well.
"Okay, that's it for the presents. There's plenty of leftover pizza and cake if anyone wants it." Sharon said. The crowd that had gathered dispersed themselves.
"Pretty fancy." Rebecca said, walking up next to Stan. She took the iPod out of his hands and examined it.
"Yeah, it's pretty sweet." he said, smiling.
Wendy wasn't sure what death felt like, but she was pretty sure that she was close to it. Her head was pounding and her stomach was churning. She had found a vacant corner after Stan had opened his presents in an effort to calm her stomach down. This was how Bebe found her ten minutes later.
"Wendy?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.
"I'm fine." Wendy said. She then moaned as another wave of nausea washed over her.
"What the hell is her problem?" Cartman asked, walking over to the two girls. Wendy moaned again, but Bebe wasn't sure if it was from whatever was bothering her or Cartman's presence.
"She has some kind of stomach virus." Bebe replied.
"She looks like shit." Cartman said, staring at her.
"Fuck you." Wendy muttered weakly.
"Should we call her mom or something?" Bebe asked. She didn't add that she was afraid that she might catch what Wendy had if she put her back in her car.
"I'll take her home." Cartman said. Wendy shook her head and immediately regretted the motion.
"No. Get Seth." Wendy said. Bebe turned to look for Seth and saw that he and Mandi were engaged in a serious session of tonsil hockey. Seth would probably be leaving soon, but she doubted he would be heading home that night.
"He's…busy." Bebe said. This caused Wendy to choke back a gag.
"Goddammit, Bebe. Don't tell me what my brother and Mandi are doing!" she moaned.
"I'll take her home. I almost never get sick." Cartman said. Wendy sighed, too nauseous to fight.
"You'll take her home, right? You won't dump her in Starks Pond or anything?" Bebe asked nervously. Cartman rolled his eyes.
"Bitch, I'm a nice guy." he replied.
"Wendy, you have your phone in case he tries to kill you, right?" Bebe asked. Wendy nodded weakly.
"Hey, you rode with Janae, right?" Stan asked Rebecca.
"Yeah." she said, nodding.
"How about I give you a ride home?" Stan asked.
"I don't know…" Rebecca said, biting her lower lip. A sure sign that she was nervous and unsure.
"Come on. It will be like old times." Stan said, smiling.
"I hope some things have changed. Like your driving skills." Rebecca replied, grinning.
--
Cartman wasn't going to put Wendy in his car when she posed a puking hazard. First, he made her drink a cup of ginger ale to calm her stomach down a little. Then he fed her a few over the counter anti-nausea pills, just to make sure. Thirty minutes later, Cartman was pulling out of the community center parking lot, heading towards Wendy's house. He had helped her into his passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt for her. Wendy was going in and out of sleep.
"You still alive over there?" he asked, making a left turn out of the parking lot. Wendy moaned something and Cartman took that as a sign of life.
"You know, you're actually pretty bearable when you aren't talking. I like you better when you're sick." he said, grinning. This time, her reply was more like a grumble.
"So what the hell is wrong with you, anyway?" he asked, stopping at a red light.
"I guess I have a stomach virus." she replied.
"Ah, you can talk." he replied. She rolled her eyes.
"Sorry to disappoint." she replied.
"I guess all that taking care of you I did helped you." he said.
"I think it was the anti-nausea medicine that did it." she replied.
"Who gave you the anti-nausea medicine?" he asked. The light turned green and the car started moving again.
"Actually, I think Scott Tenorman had them in his car. You took them from him, remember?" Wendy replied.
"Shit, that probably wasn't anti-nausea medicine." Cartman joked. He signaled and turned right.
"He is a predator." Wendy replied.
"He was the oldest guy at that party besides Stan's family." Cartman replied.
"Bebe made him come." Wendy said.
"I'm sure she did." Cartman said, grinning.
"Goddammit, Cartman. That's not what I meant." Wendy replied.
"Calm down, hoe. It was a joke." Cartman said. He turned down Wendy's street and pulled into her driveway.
"Thanks for the ride." Wendy said, unbuckling her seatbelt.
"Here, let me walk you to your door." Cartman said. He got out of the car and went around to her side before she could even protest.
"I can walk by myself, Cartman." she replied, rolling her eyes.
"Bitch, I'm trying to be fucking nice to you. Get off of your feminist high horse and fucking let me help you." Cartman replied. Wendy shook her head, but didn't protest as he led her to her front door.
"Thanks." she said, pulling her key out and unlocking the door.
"Don't mention it." he said.
She turned to tell him goodnight, but somehow found herself staring into his eyes instead. They maintained that awkward eye contact for about twenty seconds before Cartman cleared his throat and looked away.
"Well…better go. I hope you feel better soon, Wendy." he said. He was off of her porch, in his car, and out of her driveway before she could say anything else. It was only as she pulled the covers over her head later that night that she realized he had called her Wendy.
--
Stan had started to take Rebecca home, but had changed his mind halfway there and pulled into the little parking lot area next to Starks Pond. Rebecca hadn't said a word about it until he had actually pulled into the parking lot, turned the ignition off, taken off his seatbelt, and turned to look at her.
"Stan…" she said.
"I wanted some privacy." he said. She nodded. She wanted it too.
"What about Butters?" she asked.
"What about him?" Stan replied. He reached over and took her hand.
"It's not right. He's still my boyfriend." she said.
"So call him right now and dump him." Stan said. Rebecca jerked her hand out of his and he immediately regretted saying that.
"It's not that easy, Stan. I mean, sure, I don't love him, but do you really think I'm going to leave him and then run back to you?" she asked. Stan felt as though she had slapped him.
"You still love me, though." he said.
"You broke up with me for another girl! I mean, my God, Stan. We dated for like two and a half years and suddenly you were breaking up with me over the phone!" she said. She could feel the tears building up behind her eyes, but she didn't care.
"I was stupid. I wasn't thinking." Stan replied, his voice quiet.
"And then you actually brought her to the place I work every single night. Like you wanted to throw your new relationship in my face!" she said. She felt one of the tears escape, but she ignored it.
"I'm stupid. I'm sorry. I love you." he said. He tried to take her hand again, but she moved it.
"If you really love me, you will give me some space. I need to sort out my feelings." she said. He sighed.
"How much space do you need? Can we still talk?" he asked.
"I don't know, Stan. Just give me this weekend to myself. We'll talk about it later." she said. He didn't like it, but he wasn't going to argue. He sighed and put the car back into drive. The entire ride to her house was silent in the most awkward way possible. She finally spoke again when he pulled into her driveway.
"Thank you for the ride. I'll see you at school on Monday." she said. She started to get out of the car, but turned around to face Stan again. To his complete and utter shock, she kissed him lightly on the lips. After she was finished, she smiled at him and walked up to her door. He was in such a daze that he didn't even remember driving home, though he found himself in his driveway ten minutes later. He shook his head as he went inside, wondering if the kiss meant that things were going to be alright.
--
Author's Notes: Sorry it was so lame! For those of you who care, I'm heading back to school on Saturday…yay eight hour drives. Not. Anyway, I'll probably be too busy to update for a little while, but I'll eventually get back on track. I'm taking eighteen hours this semester, but two of those classes are online and I won't have any classes on Tuesday or Thursday. It will all work out. Now go review, dammit.