Hey guys, I am not rushing this story at all, but it IS close to concluding. That being said, I would like as much feed back as I can get, and any suggestions or ideas of what my next South Park fanfiction should be in the future. Thanks! PS-this is NOT the last chapter of Cheeks of Glitter, but we are getting there!

Cheeks of Glitter

Chapter Seventeen

Strumming, plucking, singing and writing; Stan continued it, minute by minute during morning recess the next day. "It snowed..she stood…Glistening eyes…snowflakes touch her skin…"

The boy could not stop thinking about her, and what he saw the morning before the first bell rang. I remembered seeing Heidi standing in front of the school entrance and gazing up into the sky, like she was deep in thought.

The girl seemed a bit sad, but at the same time, Stan could see hope and positivity in her eyes. I wondered what she was thinking; if she wanted to question him and why he didn't show up the evening before.

"Cheeks of glitter…". There had to be an explanation why Heidi didn't try to reach the boy, asking why he stood her up. The only thought that occurred to Stan, however, was that she most likely expected it.

Is it what she wanted? He thought. Was it her plan in hoping I wouldn't show up because deep down she didn't want to see me?

Stan felt somebody snatch the guitar out of his hands, and it only took him a few seconds to realize it was his best friend.

"You're overworking yourself," Kyle said, watching his friend closely. "Why didn't you tell me you were gonna hang out with her yesterday? I would have understood."

Stan only stared at the ground, thinking that the subject of Heidi somehow came up last night, and that's when he told Kyle about their plans. Kyle was too tired to react much at that time.

"Stan?" Kyle said, trying to get his friend's attention.

"Yeah, I know you would understand," Stan finally replied. "But I wouldn't. It's not worth it." There was nothing more to say for either of them.

The whole morning went on forever, and not once did Stan try to take a peek at Heidi. He was too afraid of how she would react. Even more, he was afraid of what he would have to say.

He didn't have a chance to even plan a conversation with her, and by the time lunch came, Heidi had caught Stan in the music room, where he would try to sneak more playing and writing.

"You found out it was me, didn't you?" she asked Stan, who was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

"Why?" Stan asked dully, with a bit of anger in his voice. He knew she was the one who had to be angry with him for standing her up, but he needed closure. There wasn't going to be a better time to talk about it, because the boy was sure that after this he wanted to forget everything.

"Yes, it's true that Butters wanted the help," she replied, "but after hearing his words, I suggested it to the principal. It was the only thing I could think of because he avoided my text messages."

Stan glanced over at her in confusion. "Butters?"

Heidi shook her head. "Eric. He's been suffering from our break up. Nobody else could see it, but I could. I wanted to help him. So, I thought that if he was forced to get help, he would get better."

"Why did you wanna help him so badly?" Stan asked, dying to know. HOwever, when he saw the obvious look on Heidi's face, he was scared to hear the answer.

Heidi stepped in front of him and peered over at the window where the sun shined through, making her light brown hair glow, just almost as bright as Wendy's. "I care about him, Stan, I always have."

Stan sighed quickly and attempted to step away from the wall. It was hurting him too much to hear everything.

"It doesn't mean I don't care about you either."

It wasn't good enough. The boy knew how hard it was to get over somebody he loved, and if Heidi was still hung up over Eric, he was sure he could never get her back completely.

"I'm not mad that you didn't show up last night," Heidi said as she faced Stan.

Stan glared. "Yeah, well, it's obvious why."

"Stan, I don't like it when kids suffer."

He ignored those words, and left without a goodbye. He didn't dare turn to see if she would beg him to come back, or if she was even crying. He didn't want to see that.

The rest of the day was almost like hell, because Stan only felt half there, at least until he got a knock on his front door sometime after dinner.

When he opened the door, Stan was shocked at what he saw. The familiar little dog stood before him with his tail wagging back and forth, and panting excitedly.

"Stitch and I decided to step by," a voice said as Wendy made her way over with a smile. "Hi, Stan."

Stan couldn't believe what he was looking at. "Wendy? Why are you here with Stitch?"

"'Cause I adopted him."

"It was you?"

"Yep, can we talk?"

For some reason Stan accepted her offer, and shut the door behind him as he stood on his porch next to Wendy, who was petting Stitch playfully. Stan could see how happy Stitch was, but he was stunned that Wendy had been the one to adopt him.

"I knew you could do it," the girl said with a smile as she watched Stan closely. "You found Stitch, and you didn't need to get any help from me."

"Well," Stan started, but couldn't think of a way to react. It almost felt as if Wendy knew from the very start that it would be a success. But had she planned to take Stitch as her own pet all along?

"I wish you could have been there," Wendy continued, "Heidi said that you would be eager to watch Stitch finally get adopted. I was disappointed that you weren't there. At first, I thought maybe you knew and you didn't wanna see me."

"Why wouldn't I wanna see you?" Stan asked curiously.

Wendy's smile dropped slowly as she stopped petting her new dog and stepped up to the boy. "'Cause of Butters. We are going to the dance together. He said you were okay with it but I know you, Stan."

Stan bit his lip awkwardly, taking in what Wendy said. He wasn't so sure what he felt at the moment, except that he didn't feel content.

"Butters is your friend, so you don't like it."

Stan scoffed. "No, that isn't it. I don't care who you date. I just don't want Butters to get hurt." His eyes widened when he realized what he just said,and he was in shock with himself.

He sort of wondered if he was jealous, but the more he started thinking about it, the more he realized that deep down he was trying to protect his friend, because Wendy had hurt him so much.

Butters is so fragile, he thought, If she hurt me, she's definitely gonna hurt him.

Wendy cocked her head to the side as she stared at him in confusion. "That's it? You think I'm gonna hurt him?"

"Yes," Stan replied without any hesitation. "I've seen what's happened to him after getting his heart broken. He wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Wendy says in disagreement. "So, this has nothing to do with your friend betraying you?"

Stan thought for a few seconds. The longer the conversation went on, the easier it was for him to realize his real feelings about it. "No, not that."

Wendy grinned at him again, as if she was relieved with what the boy just told her. "You know, Heidi and I used to hang out. She's changed a lot, but she's still a girl and girls vent to their girlfriends."

Stan blinked in confusion, trying to figure out exactly what Wendy was trying to tell her. He couldn't think of what to say, and didn't even have a chance, because Wendy suddenly wrapped her arms around him.

The feeling of warmth entered him, but there was no electricity like it used to be. He could only stand in silence as Wendy leaned into his ear and whispered, "So, don't feel bad about betraying Cartman either."