4

And the years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home
(Bob Seger)

Kyle was right; Sharon actually asked Stan if he wanted dinner in the living room, and brought it in to him with only a quick question about his day. She seemed stressed, probably from spending a long afternoon with Shelly, and Stan knew reintegrating himself with both of them would take a few days. The thing he most dreaded was eventually having to deal with Randy when he came around for one of his Saturday visits.

When Stan was finished eating he carried his dishes into the kitchen and rinsed them in the sink before going over to give his mother a hug. She seemed pleasantly taken aback. "Why, thank you Stanley."

"Good night, ma. I think I'm going to bed."

"Good night dear. I love you."

"Love you too." He smiled and turned away, walking toward the stairs.

All his schoolbooks were piled up on his desk, and he spent a few minutes putting them into his dark blue backpack, taking a moment to look through his notebook and glance over what was obviously this past weekend's homework. He remembered that he and Kyle would have done it together Saturday afternoon, anticipating that evening's campout.

After stowing his homework into the backpack, he put on pajamas and climbed into his childhood bed. The fresh-smelling sheets and soft pillows quickly lulled him to sleep.

True to his word, Kyle was at his front door at 7:15 the next morning, and as they walked down the driveway, Kyle asked: "So…you think you're ready for this?"

"As ready as I'm going to be, I guess."

They approached the bus stop five minutes later, and at the sight of half a dozen other kids standing around waiting, Stan nervously dropped back behind Kyle. "Dude…come on" Kyle whispered.

Kenny and Cartman were arguing about something; Kenny barely looked up to give him a quick nod before turning back to Cartman, who didn't acknowledge his arrival at all. And why should they? They just saw me a couple days ago. The adult Cartman he had partied with two nights ago had been heavily-muscled; the twelve year old in front of him now was just plain fat.

Butters was standing a few steps away by himself, studying the ground. Craig and his group were twenty feet away, and Stan remembered that they would stay off by themselves until they saw the bus approaching.

Stan looked at Cartman and Kenny for another moment, and then looked over at Butters. He walked away from Kyle to go stand next to the blond boy, who flinched as if he was expecting to be hit. "Hey, Butters."

Stan realized he was really glad to see him right now. Butters looked up at him, an odd mixture of suspicion and friendliness on his face. He still had that odd haircut his father insisted on for him, with a platinum colored tuft on top and the sides and back buzzed short, almost military style. Stan remembered that he had been heartbroken when the Challenger had exploded, and in the weeks and months following the tragedy that struck Kyle's family two days later, Butters and Stan had become closer even as Kyle became more and more distant. His parents eagerly welcomed Stan into their home, and Stan had known even then that it was because they thought he was a better best friend for their son than Eric Cartman was.

Stan had had to fend off Butters' occasional advances over the next few years, explaining that he wasn't that way, and eventually they had settled into a comfortable best-friendship that had lasted all through high school. They'd lost touch with each other after graduation. Stan had learned five years later that Butters had died the weekend of his 22nd birthday, overdosing on a mixture of cocaine and heroin at a rave in Denver.

Something else I can prevent. I just need to make sure we stay friends after high school and keep him away from that life.

"Well, h-hey there, Stan!" He gave him a big smile when he saw that Stan was actually being friendly. Butters was still at the awkward stage where he didn't know how to respond to someone being nice to him; Stan hoped the awkwardness he felt talking to Butters would pass quickly, and resolved to himself that this was something else he could do. He would learn how to all over again in the coming days. "D'you think they're finally going to launch the shuttle today?"

Stan blinked, not sure how to reply since he already knew the answer was 'no'. "Yeah, I hope so."

Butters laughed. "They've sure tried enough times!"

"Yeah…I know." They fell into a comfortable silence and Butters looked bashfully at his feet; Stan was aware of Kyle watching them intently.

"What're you talking to him for?" Cartman asked, staring at Stan. Butters flinched at the question.

Stan glared back. "Why shouldn't I…Cartman?" The sarcasm in his voice was obvious. "He's my friend; of course I'm going to talk to him."

"Wuh-oh! Someone's got sand in their vagina this morning."

Stan turned his back on him dismissively and rolled his eyes; Butters smirked as if they had just shared an inside joke at Cartman's expense. Two blocks away, the school bus turned the corner and drove toward them. The kids at the bus stop began forming a line, and Kyle sidled up to Stan and said quietly, "You usually sit in an empty seat behind me."

Stan nodded. "Thanks." The bus groaned to a stop, the doors clapped open, and they filed up the three steps past Ms. Crabtree. There were more empty seats than students in the bus; Stan followed Kyle down the aisle and sat behind him, leaning over the back of the seat so they could talk. Stan carefully avoided making eye contact with any of the other kids on the bus.

The bus rumbled off, turning down an unpaved road that Stan knew would become the entrance of a large housing development in a few years. Right now it led into the poor part of town; Kenny normally would wait for the bus here, but he preferred walking the extra half mile to wait with his friends.

"Dude," Kyle said quietly. "You're being awful friendly with Butters."

"We became good friends later on," Stan explained. "He's really a pretty cool guy." He wondered how it would go with Butters this time around, without the upcoming tragedy that took the Kyle he knew away, to bring them closer together.

Kyle nodded, seeming to accept that answer. The bus came to a stop and the doors opened again to allow another, much larger, group of kids to board. Stan's eyes widened as he remembered something that was about to happen, and wondered why Kyle hadn't reminded him of it.

The last person to board the bus was Fosse, who belligerently pushed his way past several other people and took the seat across the aisle from Stan. A very early puberty had turned him into a hulking beast of a kid; Stan remembered that even though he obviously shaved every morning, he would still have a dense five o'clock shadow on his pimple-pocked face by lunchtime. Kyle had once called it 'Eternal Beard Syndrome' and they had all had a good laugh about it; Cartman had gone on to say it to his face once (and gotten a black eye as a result), but looking at him now as he glared back from the seat across the aisle, Stan actually felt pity for him, at the same time wondering why he had ever been afraid of him.

"You got our algebra homework, Marsh?" he asked, glaring expectantly.

Stan had completely forgotten about this daily ritual. He was expected to hand his algebra homework over for Fosse to copy.

"Yeah…about that. Give me your worksheet and I'll write the answers in on it for you."

"Fuck that!" Fosse snapped. "Just give me yours so I can copy it."

Stan stared at him impassively, not moving. "No." Kenny and Cartman had stopped arguing and turned around to watch. "If you want your homework done, you give me yours."

Fosse clenched his fists; Stan continued to watch him calmly. "What is your problem Marsh?"

"My problem is your habit of not giving me my homework back sometimes, or giving it back to me in pieces." Butters was watching them now too, licking his lips as if about to say something; and Craig's group had grown silent as well. Stan could see tiny beads of moisture popping out from the pores on Fosse's face at the sudden attention they were drawing.

"God damn it, Marsh…"

"Just give me your fucking worksheet," Stan said; Kenny and Butters were openly staring; Cartman had a feral look as if he were hoping to witness bloodshed. Kenny was watching with a slowly growing smile.

Fosse looked like he wanted to say something else.

"Just do it," Stan snapped, his patience running out. Fosse swore and finally reached into his grubby notebook and withdrew a sheet of paper, handing it across the aisle to Stan. Stan opened his notebook and flipped through the section labeled 'algebra' and removed his own completed paper. He set their two worksheets side by side on his lap and quickly filled in the missing answers on Fosse's sheet, copying his own work and doing a fair imitation of Fosse's handwriting. He handed the finished worksheet back a minute later. "This is the last time I'm ever going to do this. You can do your own homework from now on; I'm not doing it anymore."

Fosse gaped as if Stan was speaking a foreign language. "What do you mean…you're not doing my homework anymore?"

"You're not that stupid, figure it out." He glanced at Kenny and Cartman, who were still watching incredulously. "Or get someone to explain what 'I'm not doing your homework anymore' means." He closed his notebook with a loud slap. "Or find someone else to copy off of."

At that moment, Fosse represented all the assholes Stan had ever encountered later on in life who wanted to keep him back, or reap the benefits of his hard work. And, despite having been terrorized by him the first time around, Stan knew Fosse would be simple to deal with this time.

Fosse was staring as if Stan were some new and interesting form of insect. "You are so dead later, Marsh."

"No, I'm not," Stan replied simply. Fosse reached across the aisle to grab Stan's collar, but Stan was quicker, grabbing his wrist and shoving it away hard, striking Fosse in the chest with his own hand. Fosse's eyes widened in alarm. More people were turning around to watch; Cartman was starting to laugh uproariously.

Stan let go of Fosse's wrist. "Go sit somewhere else. You've got your homework, I'm not doing it for you anymore, so find someone else to bully into doing it. Or hey, here's an idea: Do your own fucking homework. Gee, what a concept!"

Fosse's stared angrily, but there was also uncertainty in his beady eyes. The entire bus had grown quiet; even Cartman had stopped laughing and was staring at them silently.

"Marsh, I swear to god…" whatever he was about to say was interrupted by the bus abruptly slowing down and making a sudden turn onto the street that ran by the school, bouncing and jostling the students as it came to a stop in front of the commons area. Mrs. Crabtree reached over and shoved the door handle away from her and the door trundled open.

Students began standing up and heading toward the exit. Many of them were still watching the drama play out between Stan and Fosse, whose eyes were locked together as each waited for the other to get up first. Fosse finally huffed angrily and charged toward the front of the bus, pushing his way past Kyle and Kenny.

"What the hell, Stan?" Kenny asked grinning as Stan caught up to them and they walked toward the front of the bus. "You got a sudden death wish?"

Kyle was smiling too, but his voice was serious as he said quietly, "Yeah dude. That was a bit out of character for you. You better watch it, or people might get suspicious. What if he wants to kick your ass later?"

Stan shrugged. "He won't be able to." He knew Kyle had a point though, and resolved to be more careful.

They exited the bus; a large crowd of students were filing into the cafeteria, where Stan knew there was a TV set up to watch the shuttle launch. He brushed Kyle's arm with his fingers and stopped. "Don't even bother going into the crowd," Stan said quietly. "Mr. Mackey will be out any second now to tell us it's been cancelled."

As if on cue, Mr. Mackey emerged from the doorway holding up his arms and called loudly: "Attention, students! The shuttle launch has been cancelled again, mmkay? Everyone please report to your homerooms." There was a collective groan from the students and many of them began milling about aimlessly after the announcement.

"Oh wow," Kyle said. "You were right!"

"They have no idea what to do with us now," Stan replied, laughing. "They'd planned the whole day around us being mesmerized by the teacher in space going up today." Stan grabbed Kyle's arm and turned toward the hallway that he now remembered led to Mr. Garrison's classroom, which had been their homeroom. "Let's get roll call over with; they're going to give us an independent study day; we can go to the library afterwards."

Homeroom was the expected chaos, and after Mr. Garrison had conducted a very hurried roll call, the students were dismissed to work on individual projects for the rest of the day. Stan and Kyle went to the library; there were fewer than a dozen other students there, everyone else having opted to go outside.

"So, dude," Kyle whispered from behind a book, one eye on the librarian behind her desk in the corner. "You've been back less than a day and you're already picking a fight with the school bully."

"I know," Stan replied unhappily. "I think my best bet is to just stay away from everyone for a while."

They spent the entire morning talking quietly in the library, had lunch, and the rest of the day alternating between the library and the playground. Kyle finally convinced Stan to join him in a two-on-two game of basketball against Cartman and Kenny. Just after Kyle stole the ball from Cartman and performed a successful layup, Kenny asked the question Stan knew they were all wondering about.

"What are you going to do about Fosse, Stan? You know he wants to kick your ass after school."

Stan unsuccessfully blocked Cartman from making a shot. "He's not going to, though."

"Yeah, right!" Cartman scoffed. "He's going to end you after school today."

"Shut up, Cartman!" Kyle said angrily. "He is not."

Kyle passed the ball to Stan, who fired it toward the basket and missed, bouncing it off the rim. "I'll try to keep his friends from jumping into it," Kenny offered as he went for the rebound.

"Thanks Ken." Stan wasn't even too worried about that possibility, and in fact hoped that Fosse would back down, but when the day finally ended and they were riding the bus home, Stan knew he wasn't going to. Fosse remained on the bus after it left his stop, and stood up at the next one to disembark with Stan and his friends. He and Stan faced off on the sidewalk as the bus drove away.

"Okay, Marsh." Stan slowly slid his backpack down his arm, holding it at his side. Kenny, Kyle, Butters, and Cartman along with half a dozen other kids formed a half-circle around them. Fosse took a threatening step forward. "You're doing my homework like always, or I'm kicking your ass, right now."

"Stan…" Kenny whispered. Stan shook his head.

"That's not happening," Stan said, still holding his backpack by one strap and staring Fosse straight in the eyes, giving up hope that Fosse was going to back down.

"All right, Marsh." Fosse held his arms up and balled his hands into fists. "You asked for this, you fucking faggot."

He charged Stan, and as Fosse swung his fist, Stan hurled his backpack at Fosse's knees and advanced ruthlessly, easily dodging the larger boy's fist. As he'd hoped, Fosse stumbled over the backpack and went down. Stan was on him a moment later, easily pushing him face down and grabbing one of his arms behind his back, bending it painfully toward his shoulders. Fosse cried out in pain and tried to fight back, but Stan bore down, driving him to the ground and twisting Fosse's arm toward his neck mercilessly.

Cartman was laughing hysterically, and the other kids were starting to chant "fight…fight…fight..."

Fosse screamed in frustration and tried to stand up, and Stan slammed his body into him, driving a knee into his side.

"I'll break your arm, asshole." Stan emphasized this with another wrench of Fosse's wrist, and Fosse yelled in agony while Stan relished the moment.

"Come on you guys!" Fosse yelled at his two friends, who had instinctively moved back a step when they saw their ringleader losing the fight. Neither of them made a move to help.

"Yeah," Kenny said, laughing and walking over to stand above Stan. "Come on you guys!"

Stan was gratified by the sight of Cartman stepping forward next to Kenny, followed a moment later by Kyle; even Butters appeared ready to step into the fray.

"You're outnumbered, dumbasses," Stan said ominously, eyes darting from Fosse to his two friends who were still hanging back. He looked down again. "Now…if I let you up, are you going to behave yourself?"

"No!"

"What?" Stan wrenched Fosse's arm toward his neck again and Fosse screamed.

"Okay! Okay! Yes…get off me!"

Stan gave his arm one more push for good measure then jumped up and backed away warily. All the fight seemed to have left Fosse, who rolled over on his back, breathing hard and fighting tears.

"Are we clear on the homework thing now?" Stan asked, and Cartman laughed. Stan edged closer to his friends. Fosse nodded, and Stan said, "good!" and turned away, moving to join his friends. Stan glanced back as they walked away; Fosse was climbing to his feet, looking humiliated.

"Holy fuck Stan, what the hell was that?" Cartman asked, laughing wildly as they walked up the street.

"Yeah, what got into you dude?" Kenny asked.

"I just got tired of his shit, that's all." Stan was walking with his eyes on his feet, hoping he wouldn't have to keep talking about this. They seemed to get the hint and the rest of the walk to their respective homes was mostly silent. Kenny departed first down the dirt road leading to the railroad tracks and his house, Cartman a few minutes later as they reached his house.

"You usually come over until it's time for dinner and we supposedly do our homework together," Kyle told him. "Wanna do that?"

Stan nodded. "Yeah dude, sounds good." And tomorrow morning, we need to talk about something real important…about your mom and Ike.