I'm really sorry for the unexpected absence I took, but this is where the story get interesting. You're all going to love the next chapter.

School was a drag. I mean, it always is, but today was just noticeably worse. Every time I saw Christophe he glared at me. I wasn't surprised or anything, but it still freaked me out. Also, my nightmare of Stan finding out about my love potion business was becoming a reality, especially since I found out from Pip that 'everyone knows', and Stan's coming over after school today to talk to me about what's going on. Every day this week someone's come over asking for a potion, what happens if I'm in the middle of convincing him nothings going on and someone shows up on my doorstep with a gun demanding a potion?

So, yeah, school was a drag.

I was currently walking home after Voodoo Class with Stan on my left; we haven't really spoken since this morning. I really wish he were on my right, because even though I couldn't see out of it, I knew he was staring at my black eye.

"So…" Stan eventually said, trying to start a conversation. "You still haven't gotten much sleep."

I didn't feel like talking, "I can't believe you can even tell underneath all this bruise." I said, gesturing to my eye.

He laughed, "You always know how to release tension." Stan stopped laughing to become serious. "But, dude, really, I mean, how have you been? Why haven't you been sleeping enough? And why the hell did Christophe punch you?" He sounded genuinely upset. "I feel like we haven't really talked in a long time."

I wanted to tell him so badly. I wanted to spill my guts of everything that had happened and that's still going on, I even wanted to tell him how I feel about him—just so I could say it and die happy—but I couldn't. He could never know about my love potion business, so I said this instead: "I can't tell you. You wouldn't understand."

He jumped in front of me on the sidewalk making me stop, "Wouldn't understand?" Stan asked. "Why wouldn't I understand? I'm your best friend; what ever it is, I'll understand! Why would you ever think otherwise?"

I thought I was going to cry again, and I'm pretty sure he saw this too, because a second later his expression changed from confusion to sympathy, and he moved from out of my way and we continued walking.

Do you ever get that feeling when you're talking to someone you care about or you're listening to a song on the radio you can really relate to and you just get that strange hallow feeling in your chest? That's the feeling of needing something—something important—but a lot of the time you don't actually know what it is you need, so the feeling just gets stronger. I kind of felt like that right now, except I knew what I wanted. I wanted an escape, I wanted to die, and in a way; I really wanted Stan to keep talking to me. Even if it was awkward small talk about how I can't take care of myself anymore, I just wanted to listen to him talk. More specifically to me if he could.

He didn't really say much after that, and I kind of knew why. Once we got to my house things seemed to go right back to normal though. We sat on my couch and watched TV, and I almost forgot about everything that's been happening; but I didn't. Why? Because every show on television has a Voodoo in it to create conflict in the story plot. More times than not it's because of a love potion. Love is kind of popular on TV you know.

The most annoying part actually is how all the Voodoo's are depicted on television. Most are either ugly hags or guys who still live in their mothers' basement. And they're usually the antagonist. Witches and humans are always the main characters with good looks and charm just because they're the majority so they attract a bigger audience. If I were a Witch I'd prefer watching some beautiful blond Witch beating the shit out of someone who is generally supposed to be more powerful and has higher status than yourself. Everyone likes the underdog. Especially when they're better to look at.

Speaking of which; I probably look like shit. When it went to the next commercial I got up to go to my bathroom. I locked the door behind me and sat on the lid of my toilet just to rest while my head stopped throbbing from looking at the TV screen for too long. No sleep plus black eye plus looking at a glowing screen is a bad combination.

I got up a second later and looked in the mirror; I did look like shit. I hadn't even noticed the black circles under my eyes until now. No wonder everyone was pointing them out for me. I'm probably going to have this black eye for a couple of weeks though, it did look pretty nasty. I felt kind of stupid as I touched it gently while still staring at it in the mirror; stupid because the potion didn't work so Christophe punched me. Why didn't it work?

"Kyle?" Stan called from my front room. "Dude, there's someone at your door."

I unlocked the bathroom and walked out; Stan was still sitting on the couch looking over at me. There was a dark figure behind the glass of my front door, then they rang the bell. Well, at least I know it isn't Christophe.

I went ahead and opened the door, "Red?" I asked, seeing it was her standing on my porch today.

"Hi, Kyle." She said. "Can I come in?"

"It's a love potion, isn't it." I said plainly. She looked a little shocked and embarrassed, so I sighed and stepped aside to let her in. "Well, come on then."

She walked inside cautiously, probably expecting to see pickled organs harvested on shelves and mutated creatures in cages—just like in the television shows—, and started acting normal again after seeing Stan sitting casually on my couch. "Oh, hi Stan." She said, and he waved at her carelessly. "Are you here for a love potion too?"

I slammed the front door apon hearing that and turned around; but Stan didn't look surprised. He just shook his head.

I pulled Red over and down into my basement to talk after give Stan the, 'I'll be back in a second' look. This shouldn't really take long. "Alright, Red, let's get this over with." I started out. "I am done with the potions thing." I said as clearly as I could; she looked excited before this, but not anymore. "It's not that I don't want to make you one," I was getting uncomfortable with her staring at me like I just reached in and tore a big chunk out of her heart and ate it. "I've been sleep deprived and threatened and now this" I said pointing to my eye. Now the situation is making me ramble. "And…" My hands are on my forehead. "And I can't do this anymore."

She put her hands on my shoulders; why is she putting her hands on my shoulders? "Kyle… I know you must feel bad about the guys. Cartman… Christophe… whoever else got one…"

"How do you know about that?" I asked looking up. "How do you know about them?"

She blinked, "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? I mean, I know Wendy; she'd never like Eric even if the world would end if she didn't. And you saw Christophe and Gregory's fight, now they don't even talk to each other. So, yeah, I know about them… and I'm pretty sure everyone else does too."

I pulled her arms off me and stepped back; this is perfect. "Well, that's just great!" I said, walking over to my beanbag. "Fan-fucking-tastic!" And I sat.

Red walked over to me awkwardly, "So, Kyle…" She started; I crossed my arms looking down at scattered pages of my notebook on the cement floor. "Can you…?"

I looked up at her; she looked desperate, then I looked back at the floor, "I already told you I'm not making any more." I sighed. "It's not… you…"

"Yeah, I get it." She said, and picked up her bag to go. "Sorry to bother you, Voodoo Kyle." She began walking up the stairs. "If you ever change your mind…" She said after stopping half way up, but didn't finish and turned away to keep climbing.

I groaned getting out of my seat and chased after her, "Red, wait." I said; god, I thought I was done with this. She turned around and looked at me hopefully. "I know you're not Cartman or Christophe, and I guess I can help you, but who is it for?" I asked.

She turned a little red in the face, "Oh, well… I was going to use it on Token." She said, then cringed.

I almost burst out laughing, "What's wrong with liking Token?" I asked. "Isn't he a really nice guy?"

She smiled a little looking down at her feet and nodded, "Yeah… but, are you sure it's alright?" She asked. "I don't want to have to force you to do something you don't want."

I scratched the back of my neck, "It's nothing, just promise me you won't tell anyone I'm still doing this, okay? If anyone else comes asking…" I cringed myself.

She smiled excitedly and suddenly grabbed my shoulders again then pulled me in to hug me. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said, squeezing me. "I promise no one else will know." She ran all the way up the stairs then and I followed slowly. She stopped before she ran out my door and turned back to me, "Thanks Kyle." Then she left.

"What did she want?" Stan said from the couch, making me jump in surprise.

I walked back over to him and sat back down on the sofa, "Nothing much really; just homework tips." I said, taking the remote and turning the TV back on.

He was quiet for a minute, and I could tell watching me out of the corner of my eye. In the meantime, I had gotten out my notebook from my bag and had written myself a note on a clean page to make Red a potion after Stan leaves. "Really?" He eventually asked as I put my notebook away. "I thought she was asking you for a love potion."

I was really hoping he wouldn't say that, "What? Why would you think that?" I said trying to keep myself from looking worried. "Just because I know how to make one doesn't mean I'm handing them out."

"I just kind of inferred that was the case, I mean she did say 'Are you here for a love potion too', so I just kind of figured you were." He said. "You are making them for people, aren't you?"

I tore my eyes from the TV screen and looked him dead in the face; he was very serious. "I'm not making love potions for people, dude." I lied to him. "I can't even make a successful potion yet. I can't believe you'd think I'd be selling potions for money."

Stan made a weird face; "I didn't say anything about selling them." I glanced away from him after hearing that; god I'm so stupid! Eventually he turned back to face the TV. "Well, I guess if you say you're not, then you're not. I just wanted to know. There was this rumor going around that you were."

I mentally sighed to myself, "Yeah, I might have heard about it. Can we not talk about it anymore?"

"Sure, if it's a sensitive topic."

I tensed up a little, "Well, no, I'd… just rather sit here and watch TV with you."

"With me?" He asked suddenly making me jump realizing what I had meant when I said it, then turned away from him a little as my stomach turned uneasily. Shit…

I fought down the 'uh…' I was desperately trying leak out and scratched the back of my neck obviously enough, "Well, yeah, with you… I like… hanging out with you. Isn't it fine to want to hang out with your—best friend?" I asked choking on the last two words.

He started laughing, "Dude, you really need to lighten up. Are you sure you're feeling okay? Are you still worked up about the love potion accusation?"

At least the subject changed. "I told you; I'm not making love potions for people, and I don't want to talk about it."

Suddenly, the home phone started ringing. It could either be my parents or Ike, and I really didn't feel like talking to either of them, so I let it ring and tried to ignore it as I turned my attention back to my screen.

"…Dude, your phone is ringing." Stan eventually said.

I was getting a little annoyed myself, "They can leave a message."

Eventually the ringing stopped and my mom's recorded message played, "Hello, shalom, you've reached the Broflovski's. We aren't there to pick up our phone right now, so please leave us a message, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can."

"Hi Kyle—" It wasn't my parents or Ike. "—it's Clyde from English. Hey, I was just wondering if you could make me a love potion? I heard from a couple of different people you made some for Cartman and Christophe and those guys and I was wondering if I could get one too. I have a hundred bucks, so if you could make it tonight and just give it to me before lunch tomorrow that'd be great. So… uh, if you get this message, just do that for me. K, thanks, you're awesome, bye." Then he hung up.

Thanks a lot, Clyde. I immediately jumped up from my seat to erase the message so my parent's wouldn't find out about my 'business'. All I wanted was Stan to not know about the love potions. That's all I wanted. I felt so stupid trying to hold myself together while pressing the delete button; Stan knows about the love potions, and my life is hell.

"Kyle?" Stan called after having followed me into the kitchen. "Dude, it's okay… I've known for a while."

I turned around and tried to look at him for as long as I could, but in the end I broke down crying after five seconds. I don't know why I cried, but seeing him look at me like he was hurt, or… wanted to know… or he needed something was too much. I pushed past him and walked out into the front room; grabbing my notebook and then heading for my basement.

"No, Stan! It's not okay! You weren't supposed to know!" I yelled, slamming the basement door behind me and deadlocking it.

I had my forehead and hands leaning against the door trying to pretend everything would go away, but in a second he was banging on the door from the other side and yelling. "Kyle! Come on open the door. I want to talk to you. We need to talk."

"Go away." I whispered into the wood.

"Kyle, just open the door. I'm not angry or anything, I just need to know you're fine. This thing… it's gotten out of control!"

"You think I don't know that!" I screamed. "You think I don't realize what's going on! You think… that it's…" I couldn't say the rest.

He didn't say anything for a long while. "Kyle, open the door." I undid the deadlock slowly and the door creaked open toward me. Stan stepped inside, but I didn't look up at him. Eventually he grabbed my face with his hands and forced me to look up at him. I thought he was maybe going to… but instead he turned my head from side to side examining me. "Why do you do this to yourself?" He asked.

I tore myself away from him and went down the rest of the stairs to the floor, "You should go!" I said. "I have too much work to do. I'll never finish by tomorrow… Clyde will be angry with me…"

I was pushing away glass jars and beakers on my table trying to make some room to work, and accidentally dropping on the floor causing them to brake, including my bottle of vanilla. Stan came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder trying to get me to turn around, but I shook him off, "Kyle, I know about the love potion! I know why Christophe punched you, I know about everything! I want you to stop! That's why I worry about you! You don't sleep, you don't do your homework, you hardly eat at lunch, you're a ghost of your formal self!"

"…That's what I'd expect from perfect Stanley…" I whispered out loud.

I felt him sigh from behind me; "I just need to be sure you're safe. I want to know you're okay." He said, and I felt the unsettling pain in my stomach shift uneasily into my throat.

I turned around slowly and looked him in the eye and lied to him.

"I'm okay."

"Kyle." He said so seriously I backed into my table knocking more things onto the floor. "Are you okay?" He asked again.

The pain was back in my stomach, "No, Stan, I'm not okay." I said forcefully to him. "I'm not okay! I'm not o-FUCKING-kay!" I turned back to my table to continue to push things out of the way.

I picked up my knife, looked at it, then put it back down out of the way. "What was that?" Stan asked. "What was that knife for? Kyle."

I fought the urge to rub my wrist through my sock-gloves. "It's for cutting up ingredients!" I lashed out. "Just go home Stan, just go."

Glancing back at him over my left shoulder he almost reached out for me again, then retracted and turned away. He walked all the way up the stairs to the door before turning back around, "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Ky." Then he left, and I was alone.

I know I say this a lot, but I really did want him to stay. You might not believe it, but I say quite a bunch of stuff that I don't really mean. But, Stan was gone now, and there was no chance I could gather up enough courage to call him and beg him to come back over, so I stood at my table and carved lines into it with my knife until I actually began focusing on making a love potion.

I had to run to the store to get more vanilla, and I was low on chili powder anyway. I ran back home in the freezing cold—because it is winter after all—and put on my facemask as I went back down into my basement to make the potions. It took less time making two at once than one and then another the next day, but I had to cut twice to get the blood. Once they were both finally done I put them in my backpack in the usual spot and checked the clock on the wall; 11:47. Shit.

I ran up to my room to my bed for some much needed rest, but even as tired as I was—and god was I tired—I still laid awake in my sheets for hours repeating in my head what I'd done to Stan and me, and us as friends. I tossed and turned so much I was surprised I didn't wear through the fabric. I'd sleep for half an hour then wake up, and fall asleep again—and it went on like this until when I got up at seven. At least it was Friday.

I was still putting on my jacket when I was running out the door, and hadn't eaten anything; I just wanted to go to school and get shit over with. I was so glad when I didn't automatically see Stan waiting for me by my locker, he was probably off doing something better than waiting for me. I opened my locker to get my books—and the money Red promised me—and a little envelope fell out onto the floor. I picked it up and opened it, but there wasn't money inside, it was a note.

"We heard about the business, we want love potions too. Come by A168 and F22 by Monday and we'll have money. ~ Shane and Tristan"

I didn't even know anyone named Shane or Tristan. Was my '"business" really that popular? I put the note in my pocket and took out my notebook to write their names and their locker numbers to the list.

The second unusual thing I found in my locker was a note from Red with five twenty-dollar bills taped to it; it also said to meet her by the vending machine by the principal's office. I kind of found it funny that she wanted to exchange deadly potions in front of our principal who had enough authority to put us both in prison. Oh well.

I put my French book into my locker and slammed the door, then picked up my backpack and headed off to the principal's office. I was walking along, and still glad I hadn't run into Stan yet, when I ran into someone else. I saw Pip over by his locker as I was crossing the hall, and he noticed me and ran over to talk.

"Hey, Pip." I said, because class wouldn't start in a while and I had time. "How'd the potion go?"

He had looked happy enough to see me before, but now he looked less than. "Not so well." He said. "I mean, he drank it—more or less—but it didn't seem to… well, to be honest, I don't think it did anything."
"You mean it didn't work?" I asked. "Is Damien okay?" I said before I could catch myself. The last time I let that slip out it resulted in a black eye.

Pip didn't look too surprised that I asked that, "He's fine, I mean, I knew about the 'death label' on Voodoo potions already. I just kind of figured that, since he's the son of the devil, it wouldn't really matter."

I sighed, "That's a relief. The last time one of my love potions didn't work I got this." I said pointing to the black eye. "But you already know about Christophe and the whole love potion with Gregory and all that."

"Gregory?" Pip asked. "He used the love potion on Gregory Vandergraff?"

"So that's what his last name is." I said to myself. "Yeah, who else? I mean, you saw the fight they had in the playground after that whole thing dished out."

He looked like he was thinking hard about the situation, "So that's why they were fighting! Kyle, they're not even friends anymore!"

"What?" I yelled apon hearing that. "I mean, I know they argue—a lot—but they're best friends! They're like Stan and me!" I said, then remembered how I yelled at Stan yesterday.

"You didn't notice? Didn't you see Christophe walking alone all day yesterday? He was visibly upset, and Gregory didn't even go to school. They haven't really talked to each other since the fight." Instead of helping Christophe and Gregory get together, I ruined their friendship.

I just stood there stunned not believing what I was hearing until the ten minute bell rang and Pip said goodbye as he walked off. I no longer really feared Christophe, or to a lesser extent; hated him, I kind of understood him now. I kind of know what it's like to mess everything up and have nothing to blame but yourself—and in his case; me. Eventually I kept walking until I saw Red. She took the potion and walked off and I just stood leaning against the wall next to the principles office because I didn't care if I was five minutes late or fifteen; I didn't want to go to history and have to sit next to Stan.

Eventually I had to because it's the law, and the first thing I saw when I came into the room was Red and Token sitting on top of their desks before class officially started with their fingers intertwined. The second thing I saw was Stan looking bleakly down at his desk as he scribbled something into his notes. He didn't acknowledge me when I sat down, but I kind of hoped for that, so the period went by without a word spoken between us.

After history I ran off to math, then English where I found Clyde waiting outside the door for me. He gave me the hundred bucks, and I gave him the potion, and without a word we went inside and went our separate ways. I did notice throughout class though he did keep a constant eye on Red who sat in the front of the class as she doodled the words "Red Black" on her fingers. Was she really that serious about liking Token?

After English was lunch, but I didn't bother eating most of mine; instead I went out to the playground to see if I could figure out what Pip meant when he said, 'Christophe was visibly upset'. There he was; sitting in his daily spot on the marry-go-round smoking like usual and… alone. It was actually kind of creepy how noticeably quieter the playground was when he and Gregory weren't screaming at each other.

I glanced around the playground again to see if I could find Gregory, and I eventually spotted him sitting under a tree on the other side of the playground also by himself, and I kind of felt like it was my duty—since I started this—that I should at least talk to him, so I walked over.

"Gregory?" I called when I was at the tree.

He immediately perked up when he heard my voice and turned around smiling; "Tophe, I completely forgive you—" He began to say, but stopped when he saw it was me. "Oh." He sounded disappointed and his smile had disappeared. "It's just Voodoo Kyle."

I took a seat next to him, "Voodoo Kyle?" I asked. "Is that what people call me?" I thought I remembered Red calling me that earlier.

"Yeah," He said colorlessly, "you are the famous Voodoo Witch Doctor Kyle."

I was wondering how to start the conversation about Christophe, and eventually said; "I know about what happened between you and Christophe."

He scoffed, "Everyone knows."

"Well… why aren't you friends anymore?" I asked.

He looked at me like I was stupid, "Kyle, he tried to use one of your love potions on me! I don't know why it didn't work, but it didn't, but it doesn't matter, because he still tried to!" Christophe wasn't the only one who was visibly upset. "I mean, why did he have to put it in my thermos?" He looked really confused and uncomfortable. "He could have just asked me out." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I would have said yes."

I got the idea Gregory wasn't really angry with him, and that pretty much… he missed him. "You see how miserable Christophe feels right now, don't you?" I said, he looked up at me with cautioned interest. "Why don't you go talk to him?"

"Why doesn't he come over here and talk to me." He said without blinking, making me flinch a little. "You don't get it, Kyle, you don't know him like I do. Talking to him is pointless." He sighed, and looked away from me and into the distance. "He's stubborn, and careless, and I HATE THAT I LIKE HIM!" He exclaimed.

I was a little more than surprised, "Well, if you really feel like that, then maybe it's best if you guys aren't friends anymore." I said, and he just closed his eyes and nodded. "Besides, who'd want to have to kiss a guy that smokes, right?" I asked while standing to leave.

"Actually, I smoke too." He said, pulling out a pack from his backpack and took out one right then.

"Seriously?" I asked. "I've never seen you smoke, I thought you were too 4.0 grade point average for that."

He shrugged as he put the rest of them back in his backpack, "You pick up a lot of stuff from being friends with Christophe." He said, and I caught him slightly smiling at the name.

"When did you start?" I asked.

"Just now." Gregory said, then snapped his fingers making a little flame ignite on the tip of his finger and used it to light the cigarette then took in a lung-full and blew it back out slowly. Combustion magic.

With that, our conversation was over, and I walked back to the rest of the playground. I guess it was all true after all. They really aren't friends anymore.

I was just going to walk around or sit by myself, but some yelling over by the benches caught my attention and I went to investigate instead. I found it was Token who was making all the noise, and he was yelling his ass off at Clyde, who had an arm slung over a very content Red.

His screams went a little something like this; "Clyde you douche bag! You can't just waltz in and steal my girlfriend you asshole!"

And Clyde was yelling something similar to; "Can it, Token, she wants to be with me! Go find some black girl to bitch to!"

And after that they were in each other's faces trying to kill each other and screaming more obscurities. I ran between them and after taking a couple of accidental blows to myself, they eventually stopped so I wouldn't get hurt mindlessly.

"What the hell, Kyle, stay out of this!" Clyde said after I had stopped them from trying to kill each other.

"Shut it, Clyde!" I yelled. "I haven't been in a very good mood lately with all the love potion shit, and now you and Token start a fight? Do you want me regret helping you? Because I can kill you, you know." I bluffed the entire thing; there is no way I'd ever try to actually kill someone, but at least it got them to shut up. I couldn't even believe I was brave enough to go in and try to stop them. "Now why the hell did you guys decide to fight?"

Token just blurted out his answer, "He stole my girlfriend!"

"You have a girlfriend?" I asked. "Since when?"

"Not anymore." Clyde interjected, pulling Red over to him. "Red's with me now."

I face-palmed, "Okay, now I see what's going on." I turned to Clyde. "You really fucked up now, Clyde. Red asked me for a love potion which she used on Token because she likes him. A lot." He didn't look too interested. "Then they got together and everything was peaches and ice cream. Then you come in and use a love potion on Red, so she leaves Token, who's madly in love with her, and starts going out with you. It's your fault."

"That's not true!" Came Token's voice from behind me, and both Clyde and myself turned to look at him in confusion. "I never drank a love potion, my love for Red is real! I always loved her, and I always will!" He exclaimed.

I didn't blink. "God those things are strong." I said.

"Well what are you going to do about it now?" Clyde asked, making me turn back to him ready to break his legs. "Red likes me and there's nothing Toke-y can do about it, and there isn't exactly a way to cancel the love potion." I suddenly froze in realization; there's no way to cancel the love potion. No way in the world. Wendy, Tweek, Token, and Red are going to be stuck like this forever. FOREVER.

Red and Token are Clyde's problems now, I just ran. I ran back into the lunchroom, passed the marry-go-round where Christophe followed me with his eyes but didn't even have enough self-confidence left to glare, and just tried to go somewhere I could sit in a corner and disappear. As I raced through the lunch room, people noticing me called out "Voodoo Kyle!" and "Hey, can I have a potion?". Countless people. I didn't even pretend to ignore them; I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran out into the hall as I left the lunchroom that was now silent. Eventually I found a janitor's closet that was unlocked and not occupied by Cartman and Wendy, so I locked the door behind me and sat whimpering in the dark.

No one had found me by the end of the day, and I'm not even sure if anyone was even looking for me. Eventually I emerged from my hiding spot; it was 6:15 and getting dark outside. I walked down the empty hallway listening to my footsteps echo off the walls. I was going home; thank god it was the weekend.

I turned down the next hallway, then ran back around the corner when I saw someone standing there waiting for something.

"Kyle?" They called out, and I heard their footsteps running toward me. "Dude, I've been looking for you since lunch." Stan said once he had stopped in front of me.

I was a little surprised, "Well, here I am." I said lamely.

He laughed anyway, "Hey, we can walk to your house together." I cringed at the sound of my house; he noticed. "What's the matter? You don't want me to come over today?"

I looked down at my feet, "We can hang out over the weekend, dude, just not today."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "Well, then I guess I'll just ask you here then."

I looked up; "Ask me what?"

He looked almost sick; he made a face like he was going to throw up or something. "I-I…" He fought down self-disgust. "I need you to make me a love potion."