Frigid wind nipped at Wendy's rosy cheeks, her thick scarf failing to fully block out the encroaching cold. She had returned to the Icy pond of her dreams, its clear surface illuminated by the full moon shining high above. She'd anticipated Stan's arrival, but he was mysteriously absent. Instead, her surroundings steadily grew dark as a long shadow loomed over her. The figure walking toward her was difficult to distinguish at first, but as he drew closer, she knew all too well who he was. While Stan had gingerly gripped her hand and cautiously led her onto the ice, the new figure was far more direct. He reached out and quickly scooped her up into his massive arms, confidently striding onto the frozen surface. The two proceeded to dance across the ice for what seemed like an hour, his warmth shielding her from the arctic air. After a low romantic dip, he pulled her close to his chest. Her heart pounding at incredible speeds, Wendy slowly closed her eyes, anticipating the incoming kiss.
Sadly, it never came, as Wendy awoke from her dream seconds later. She groggily rubbed her eyes, wondering if last night's events had been some kind of feverish delusion. She quickly realized this wasn't the case upon seeing the large snoring figure laying next to her. Wendy had told her parents she'd be spending the night with Bebe. Just what would they say if they saw her now? "Well, at least my clothes are still on," She thought to herself, "Probably means we didn't do anything weird. Well, aside from writing out over 100 different ways to kill Heidi, that is."
Wendy quietly shuffled her way out from under the covers, gently shaking Cartman's shoulder. When that failed to awaken him, she resorted to punching him in the shoulder instead.
"Chill out, bitch," He mumbled, still half asleep. Cartman gradually sat up, looking over at Wendy with a nefarious smirk. "Always knew I'd get you up here one day."
"Don't be stupid," Wendy replied, landing another light jab on Cartman's shoulder, "We need to get ready for school." After some more whining from Cartman, the two set about preparing for the day. On his insistence, Wendy pulled on some clothes from Cartman's mom's wardrobe, which fit her surprisingly well. When she finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, she discovered that Cartman had prepared breakfast. The aroma was delightful, the growl of her stomach causing Wendy to realize that she hadn't eaten since lunch the day before.
"I know you're some kinda vegan hippie," Cartman remarked, "But nobody can turn down my bacon and eggs."
"I haven't been vegan for years, fatass," Wendy objected, taking a seat at the kitchen table, "You literally sit with me at lunch."
"Sorry, I don't sit with bad influences that get thrown in detention," Cartman snarked, placing a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. Wendy was tempted to fire back, but found herself too distracted by how truly excellent Cartman's cooking was. The eggs were fried to perfection, and the bacon masterfully straddled the line between tender and crispy. She ended up quickly devouring her breakfast, noticing Cartman pulling a small bowl from the fridge.
"You aren't supposed to refrigerate whiskey, Cartman," Wendy mumbled between bites of egg, "Kills all the flavor."
"Not mine," Cartman snapped, "I don't touch that shit." Wendy felt a tinge of sadness upon hearing the anger in Cartman's voice. Wendy had some awareness of his mom Liane's "activities" but figured it was probably best to not broach the topic. "This is yours," Cartman stated simply, placing a bowl of chicken and rice down next to her, "Detention Hall has a microwave, figured you could eat it there."
"…Thanks Eric. That's very sweet." Wendy felt herself becoming more and more comfortable around Cartman, almost like he was some kind of long-lost friend. She noticed him blushing slightly upon being called by his first name.
"They're having 'vegetable lasagna' today," Cartman wretched slightly as the words left his mouth, "Trust me ho, you'll be glad you have the chicken."
After finishing breakfast, Wendy headed out to her car as Cartman made his way to the bus stop. Wendy had offered Cartman a ride, but the pair decided that Stan might find it a tad suspicious if they pulled up to school together. On her way to school, Wendy's mind was largely occupied with thoughts of the coming night, when she and Cartman would set their revenge plot into motion. Cartman had revealed to her an allegedly functional school I.D. card to aid in their break-in, something that might have surprised Wendy if it'd been anyone other than him.
As she pulled into the school parking lot, Wendy noticed Stan and Kyle chatting near the doorway. She felt a sense of trepidation walking towards them, her dream the night before casting her relationship with Stan in an awkward light.
"Hey Sweetie!" Stan greeted her with a quick kiss, "Are you okay? I texted you last night and you never answered." Wendy had really hoped Stan wouldn't ask that question. Despite the brutal cold, she swore that beads of sweat were forming on her brow.
"Guys, if we hurry we can get inside before the Fatass and the Pervert show up!" Kyle joked, attempting to twirl his faint moustache.
"If death won't stop him, doors sure as hell won't either," Stan replied, "Face it dude, we're getting a porno mag shoved in our faces whether we want it or not." Kyle and Stan had returned to lively conversation, leaving Stan's awkward inquiry hanging in the air. Soon after, Kenny and Cartman hopped off the bus and burst their way into the chatter. Kenny was armed with another page-turner of a false book cover, "How to Clean and Maintain your Garbage Cans". Wendy giggled, but her joy was short-lived as Stan soon turned his attention back to her. "Hey babe, how does Friday night sound for our movie date? I heard 'Love Under the Snow' got 4 roses out of 5 by 'Girl Talk Magazine'!"
Cartman shot a grin in Wendy's direction. "Hey Stan, why don't you take Wendy to something a little less…faggoty?" He challenged.
"This is why you can't get a date dude, you don't know the first thing about women!" Stan declared confidently.
"You're also a loud-mouthed prick." Kyle chimed in.
"Very funny Kyle, don't stand in front of any open lockers today." Cartman responded, lowering his voice to comedically deep levels. All the while, Kenny was silently tracing his fingers around the outline of an unknown image inside his book.
After a brief time, the bell rang and the group headed off to their first class. Wendy felt a weird sense of comfort listening to Cartman's snide comments behind her back. She even began to question if she'd made the wrong choice in going out with Stan. "Hell, we'd probably both be in a better mental state right now," She pondered, recalling the many instances of Heidi verbally pummeling Cartman in front of the whole school. "At least we'll get our chance for payback tonight."
When first period dismissed, Wendy strode into the hallway, fully expecting a thunderous ambush hug her from best friend. However, her journey to second period was surprisingly hug free. Wendy paused for a moment, then decided to shoot a quick text to Bebe and see if she was okay.
"You sick today?" She messaged. Bebe was quick to respond.
"I think so, I been camping on the crapper since last nightt. LOVE YOU BABY!"
Out of all the strange characters that Wendy had encountered in South Park, Bebe may have been the strangest of them all. She silently tucked her phone back into her pocket and shoved off to second period. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Heidi, sitting quietly in the corner of the room. Something looked… off about her today. Far away from her typical fake smile or mischievous grin, she seemed withdrawn and sullen. Wendy also noticed her periodically massaging her leg, as though she'd recently injured it. Her silence was even more unusual, as Heidi typically loved nothing more than harassing Wendy at every opportunity.
Against her better judgement, she decided to check on Heidi during group study time. Wendy tenuously walked over to Heidi's desk, trying her best to force some manner of smile onto her face. "Heidi? Are you okay?" She asked, her false grin causing the sides of her mouth to ache slightly. Heidi turned her head toward Wendy with a furious expression on her face.
"Fuck off, Testaburger!" Heidi spat, "And go give some poor bastard the Clap while you're at it!" Wendy's faced turned blood red.
"Guess what, cunt? I didn't care anyway!" Wendy shouted, storming back to her desk.
"You two need to visit the principal again?" Mr. Garrison inquired, both girls silently shaking their heads in response. "This kind of crap makes me miss teaching 4th grade. I don't want to hear another word out of either of you for the rest of the period."
The rest of the day was considerably less eventful. Heidi didn't speak another word to Wendy, though she noticed Heidi shooting evil looks in her direction from time to time. Detention had actually proven to be quite pleasant, as Mrs. Balzac allowed Wendy to heat her chicken and rice dish in the microwave. Kenny and Craig looked on in jealousy as they each attempted to choke down the rancid vegetable lasagna on their trays. Wendy also chuckled upon noticing Kenny's multiple false book covers piled neatly on the teacher's desk. "At this point he'd probably have better luck bringing the magazines in with no cover at all," She thought to herself.
When the last bell finally rang, Wendy strolled into the parking lot, her mind occupied with thoughts of the upcoming plan. She had agreed to pick Cartman up from Kenny's house at midnight, as he'd reassured her that Kenny would be passed out drunk by that time. She had also decided to pay a quick visit to Bebe on the way home to see how she was doing, hoping any conversation about Bebe's toilet troubles would be kept to a minimum. Before Wendy could leave, Stan rushed over to kiss her goodbye.
"Can't wait for our date," Stan said tenderly. He then pulled her close to his chest. "And maybe afterwards, we could… have a little fun." Stan made his mightiest effort to sound sexy as he placed a gentle kiss on Wendy's lips.
Wendy was less than thrilled by the proposal, mainly due to the consequences of the last time they'd had "fun". Nevertheless, she smiled sweetly at him and returned his kiss. As they necked, much to her dismay, a part of her had begun to fantasize about kissing someone else. Someone taller, stronger, and much more passionate. Someone she had come ever so close to kissing last night, on that moonlit frozen pond deep within her dreams.