"And in other news it appears as though local law enforcer Officer Barbrady has once again failed his literacy exam. When asked about the incompetence of her police force, the mayor simply replied 'Well what would you expect from a little redneck town like this?' We'll have more on that story coming up next."

Stan was sitting in his living room, watching the news. Well…watching may be an exaggeration. The news was the last channel he flipped to before his mind started wandering off. He still couldn't believe how weird his day had been. His best friend was sneaking around with his ex-girlfriend, and he wouldn't even tell him why.

Stan was still waiting on that call from Kyle. He figured that Kyle would wait a while before making the call. Kyle was a smart kid, and he knew when to give Stan his space.

Why the hell would Garrison assign such a dumb project anyway…Stan thought. It's not like we're going to be married and dealing with budgets any time soon.

It was getting close to eight o'clock. Maybe he won't even call tonight…

As if on cue, the phone in the kitchen rang. He heard his mom pick it up.

"Hello?...oh yes he's right here. One second please." Sharon covered the receiver. "Stanley it's for you!"

"Coming" Stan walked into the kitchen and took the phone from his mom. "Hello?"

"Hi Stan"

Stan froze immediately. He was expecting a phone call from Kyle, and he was in no way prepared for this.

"Uh…hey Wendy" Stan replied weakly. "What's up?"

"Not much. I was just calling to talk about the project"

"Oh yeah. Right. We should like…figure out what we're gonna do"

"This has to be Garrison's dumbest project yet." Wendy said as she let out a small chuckle.

"Heh. Yeah definitely" Stan laughed before he was even aware of it. Why is it that every time she talks to me I get weak…god damn it.

"So…" Wendy paused. The awkwardness of the conversation was skyrocketing. "What do you think we should do?"

This is way too similar to asking her to go on a date with me. She sounds so…collected. Stan was surprised…and disappointed. If she was even close to missing Stan, he figured she might show it at all by talking to him. Wendy was always an eloquent speaker, so he wasn't expecting anything major. All he got out of her was a pause, and here he was stuttering like Jimmy Valmer.

"I was thinking we could go get dinner at Willy's."

"Sounds like a good idea, Stan." His heart skipped a beat. She actually sounds cool with it…like she wants to go. Maybe Bebe was right after all. It was amazing how his mood swung from depression to slightly hopeful. "It will be easier and quicker than watching a movie." Wendy continued.

"Yeah…totally." And yet again his heart sunk. If she wants it to be over quickly, I'm pretty sure that means that she doesn't want to spend time with me.

"Okay Stan. Tomorrow night works for me and Bebe. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah it should be alright for me and Kyle. I'll call him to make sure."

"Sounds great Stan. See you in class tomorrow"

"Yeah…bye Wendy"

"Bye Stan" The line went dead. I couldn't have possibly made that any more awkward. Stan hung the phone up. He started to walk up to his room.

"Stanley can I talk to you for a minute?" Sharon called to him from the kitchen.

"Yeah mom be right there" Stan did a slow turn around. He didn't exactly want relationship advice from his mom, which he knew was exactly what was coming. He walked into the kitchen where his mom was sitting down at the table.

"Sit down Stanley."

"What is it mom? I have to call Kyle."

"It'll only take a second Stanley. Was that Wendy Testaburger who just called you?"

"Yeah"

"What did she want to talk about?"

"We have this stupid project for school we have to work on."

"What's this project about?"

"We have to show that we're responsible with money and that we can balance a budget. Mr. Garrison is having us go out to either the movies or to dinner. It's like the entertainment part of it, or something."

"And you partnered up with Wendy?"

"No Mr. Garrison picked partners for us."

"Oh…I see. So how are you handling it?"

"Fine I guess."

"Stanley I know it can't be easy for you. I was your age once, and I remember what young love was like. I also remember what you were like when Wendy broke up with you."

"How did you know that we broke up? I never even told you."

"Stanley you spent a week in your room in the dark. You've never done that before. That and I ran into Mrs. Testaburger at the grocery store that weekend. She told me that Wendy told her all about it. I guess she was pretty shook up about it."

"Mom I seriously doubt that. She started dating Token right after we broke up."

"Stanley…there's a lot of things you're going to learn in life. One of them is that women are extremely emotional. We tend to make a lot of irrational decisions simply with our emotions."

"I thought she cared about me…"

"I think she did Stanley. You threw up on that girl on more than one occasion. For her to stick around, she must have really liked you. Maybe she just got confused. Did you pay attention to her?"

"Well we didn't talk for like two weeks before we broke up."

"There's your problem Stanley. Girls love attention. Wendy's an only child, so she's probably used to getting a lot of it. When you didn't pay her any, she probably thought that you stopped caring."

"But dad said that to be cool you're supposed to act like you don't care."

"Stanley don't listen to your father when it comes to advice on girls. He was never a ladies' man by any stretch. He just got lucky because I happen to like goof balls." Sharon smiled.

"Look mom none of it matters anyway. We've been broken up for a while now."

"Stan I heard some of your conversation. I can tell just by the way you were talking that you still have some feelings for her."

Stan's face was overcome with worry. If my mom could hear it in my voice, maybe Wendy could…

"Don't worry Stanley I don't think she thought anything like that. I know you better than anyone, and I know how you sound when you get nervous."

"Mom she sounded so…normal…like she didn't care either way."

"Well from what I remember about little Wendy, she was always very well spoken. So even if she was nervous, she probably wouldn't show it."

Stan still looked a bit depressed. He was slouching over in his chair. Sharon got that 'aww my poor baby' look on her face, and walked over to him.

"Stanley I know it seems hard, but you've got to try again. I know you really like her, and I think she might still like you. But the only way you're going to know for sure is if you go after her. You're a good little boy Stan, and a handsome young man. Just remember what I told you, and you'll do great." Sharon smiled widely and hugged her son from behind. A small smile crept onto Stan's face.

"Thanks mom. But seriously I need to call Kyle now."

"Oh right. Go ahead. And remember Stan, I'm always in your corner if you ever want to talk." Sharon continued to smile at Stan.

"Yeah I know. Thanks mom." Stan smiled back. He knew that she had to say things like that because she was his mom, but he still appreciated it. Maybe she's right. Maybe Wendy does still like me… Talking to his mom brought his mood up drastically. He walked over to the phone and dialed Kyle's number.

"Hello?" Stan recognized Mrs. Broflovski's voice.

"Hi Mrs. Broflovski, it's Stan. Is Kyle there?"

"Oh hello Stanley. Yes he's right here. Just one moment"

"Hello?" Kyle picked up the phone.

"Hey dude" Stan said.

"Oh hey man…I was gonna call you but I figured you might still be pissed at me. Look I just want you to know that I don't like Wendy. Besides I would never date my best friend's ex-girlfriend. You know that, right?"

"Yeah dude it's fine. I was just in a crappy mood is all. I actually just got off the phone with Wendy a little while ago."

Kyle was surprised at his sudden change in mood. Hearing that Stan had talked with Wendy made him feel a lot better about his secret plan.

"You did?"

"Yeah dude she called to figure out what to do for the project."

Maybe these two have a shot after all…Kyle smiled to himself.

"What did you guys decide on?" Kyle asked.

"She said that we should go to dinner at Willy's."

"Oh that would be cool. I just hope that old bastard doesn't make us whistle for our food."

"Haha. Yeah that dude sucks ass."

"Yeah dude. So tomorrow night then?"

"Yeah if that works for you."

"Yeah man, it does. It should be…fun." Kyle smiled to himself again.

"Really? I thought you didn't want anything to do with girls."

"I…uh…I don't"

"Dude you've been acting weird lately. What's up?"

"Nothing dude, I'm totally fine."

"Alright dude whatever you say. So did you talk to Bebe about the project?"

"Yeah she called me about it. It's all set dude."

"Cool dude. Alright I'm gonna go to bed. See you tomorrow."

"Night dude." Kyle hung up the phone. Maybe there really is a shot left for them…man I can't wait for tomorrow night. I gotta figure out what to wear…and what to do…and what to say. Wait why does it matter…you're just hanging out with some stupid girls, remember? Bebe's smiling face swept across his mind briefly. Dude…maybe Stan was right. Maybe something is wrong with me…