South Down: Randy and Stan's relationship has a lot to do with Stan's plotline. Might just snap sooner than you think.

GBond007: I figured Heidi followed the pattern of re-returning to a toxic relationship she feels she's linked to even after Splatty Tomato. Especially when they become teenagers and she thinks Cartman may have changed in getting older.

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"Hi sweetie, come on in."

Craig let himself in through the door upon Helen Tweak calling from the kitchen. He shifted the single strap of his backpack up his shoulder, looking up the staircase where he knew Tweek was still taking his time very thoroughly. Craig couldn't help but huff. He agreed to an early morning ride to prep for the club meeting, yet Tweek was the one taking his sweet time.

Helen came in, wiping her hands free of kitchen soap on a dish rag. "You hungry?"

"I'm okay, thanks." Craig declined, always appreciating her generosity. "How're you?"

"Good, thanks hon. How's your mom?"

"Better." Craig said. His mother had been under a lot of stress with work at the bank getting tight. "They hired another teller, so, less pressure off of her."

"Oh, that's so good." Helen said with genuine relief. "Give her my best."

"Will do."

"Tweek?" Helen called up the staircase, taking one step up in impatience. "Tweek!"

"I know-I know!" He called back in panic. A moment later, he came hassling down the stairs as he tried to do up his shoe at the same time. Nearly tripping over one foot as he got to the end of the stairs and did up his laces. Quickly smiling at his boyfriend before his mom re-entered from the kitchen with a thermos of coffee.

"Don't stress," she said, giving him his morning cup. "You'll be fine."

"I keep telling him that." Craig said. "As is everyone."

Tweek took a sip of caffeine. "I-I don't think we'll be able to get enough recruits."

"I don't think it matters. We can run on the current group alone."

Tweek thought so, though he wanted to guarantee the Anime Club continued after the current graduates left. It had become a great escape for a lot of them at school, so to make sure that would continue felt like the least he could do for lower grades.

"Don't overthink it. Have a good day, guys." Helen assured.

"Bye, mom.." Tweek agreed, going out the open door Craig held for him as he also gave his goodbyes. The two boys walked to Craig's waiting car as Tweek continue to chug down his to-go cup.

"What if everyone loses interest?"

"Why is this the core of all your worries, lately?" Craig said, taking out his keys to unlock the car.

Tweek slipped into the passenger's seat, putting his coffee in the cupholder as he waited for Craig to open the door to the driver's. "I don't remember the last time I led something.."

Craig smiled to himself, turning on the ignition. "No one's gonna quit."

"How d-d'you know?"

"'Cuz they're anime geeks."

Craig turned over the shoulder of his seat, beginning to back out of the driveway as Tweek considered it. He lifted his coffee to his lips in a slight twitch of agreement. "Yeah, I guess so..."

Kyle kneeled on the gym floor to do up his loose lace, decked in his black and silver blue-accented gym uniform. The shirt's front was crested with the high school's team mascot, that being an angry bighorn sheep. An interesting choice made by the school. Typically a lot of kids didn't love having PE as a first-period class, but Kyle didn't mind. He liked building up the energy in the morning.

He rose to get a better sense of who was in his class with the students wearing the same uniform. There were some guys he'd seen in the locker room already. Tolkien, Jimmy, Craig, Tweek...and Cartman, whatever. As well as some juniors. The girls from his year included Lola, Annie, Nelly, Nichole, and Heidi as far as he could see.

The coach whistled, indicating prior that they were gonna do a two-minute lap around the gym's perimeter to get the blood flowing. Kyle proceeded to run solo, getting his adrenaline up slowly that early morning. He still had the attitude of not letting himself get so overworked or worried this year with everything. Kyle would rather take it one day at a time than be so overstressed over the future. Trust, he of all people would overthink everything. Maybe he had the chance to start the senior year on a new leaf.

"Why didn't you wanna come over yesterday?"

Kyle knew Heidi had been behind him, and ultimately, Cartman had caught up.

"I told you, I couldn't," Heidi explained to her boyfriend. "My mom needed help."

"She always needs help. I'm starting to think it's an attention whore thing."

If eyes could roll out of their head, Kyle's would've.

"Well, that's nice of you." Heidi snapped. "You know she's been under a lot of pressure with my dad."

"Your dad's being a little bitch, too."

"I know that!" Heidi couldn't help but growl. She cleared her throat. "And I'd think you would understand that."

"Look, if you care more about your parents arguing about whatever, maybe we should BREAK UP!"

"Right.." Heidi disbelieved. "As if you won't regret that next week."

"Oh, you're nice!" Cartman spat. "I hope your parents get divorced!"

"Well, so do I!" Heidi growled. She sped up her jog to pass both Cartman, then Kyle. Kyle kept his face forward though saw Heidi obviously wither in her body language after yet another pointless fight between her and her piece-of-shit boyfriend.

Stomps of Cartman soon came running up next to Kyle, and he dared looked in his ex-friend's direction.

"Eavesdrop much, butthole?"

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "The whole school can hear you, fatass. And Australia."

"Oh whatever, Kahl." Cartman spat. He looked forward. "Heidi, wait! I promise I'll listen to you bitch about your fucked family!"

Cartman ran ahead and Kyle tried not to let it even bother him. As many of his and Heidi's friends had reminded him, if Heidi still wanted to go through with all this, they couldn't make that decision for her.

Coach Reginald blew his whistle, calling in his students. "Alright ladies and ladies, line it up."

Nichole gave Tweek a disgusted look. "Still as charmingly sexist as usual.."

The students proceeded to line up, awaiting their instructions. Reginald looked over his students with slight disappointment in his step.

"Well, if I had it my way, we'd be doing drills by now," he said with some spat. "But, the board says I need to introduce the class with some basic-bitch-baby trust exercises and partner work."

The students exchanged some looks.

"So, I'll make your pairs.." he said, unwillingly looking at his clipboard. "Tucker and Cartman, Daniels and Valmer, Broflvoski and Turner.."

Kyle didn't bother to listen to the remaining names as he went to meet with Heidi. He found her in the middle and they went off to find their own space as coach instructed they start off with a basic round of mirror. Heidi began as the leader, doing motions that Kyle had to copy in the exercise.

"How was the end of your summer?" Heidi asked. The last they saw each other was at Stan's party at Tegridy two weeks prior.

"Pretty good," Kyle agreed as he mimicked Heidi's gestures. "Fast though. I feel like this year is gonna wizz by."

"Same."

"How was yours?" Kyle asked, acting his best to pretend like he didn't know Heidi was still carrying the weight of a horrible relationship with Cartman. She seemed to act like it wasn't her biggest concern, so Kyle tried to go along with it.

"Pretty chill," Heidi said, still moving in random motions that Kyle copied. "I'm not much of a 'do as much as I can' before summer ends, person."

"Me neither." Kyle agreed. "I wanna make the most of senior year. But, summers come and go."

"Switch leaders!" Coach called. Kyle took over doing motions Heidi now had to mirror.

"I'm kind of excited for the year to just pass," Heidi admitted with a chuckle.

"That's fair," Kyle shrugged, which Heidi copied. They both snickered in realizing. "I guess I'm pretty ready to leave, too. But, I dunno it's hard."

"Yeah, well, you'll do just fine," Heidi reminded. "Oh! I loved your closing speech at the Debate Club Finals last semester, by the way."

"Oh, thanks!"

"Maybe you'll get valedictorian."

Kyle snorted and shrugged, which Heidi again mimicked. "If Wendy doesn't beat me to it."

Study hall was enthralled with students observing the assorted tables of university and college offers. Deans of Student Affairs, alumni, and current uni students who've come to visit South Park High with impending offers of their schools. Amongst the narrow set up of gathering students, Kenny and Tolkien squeezed through the crowd of the usually quiet study hall. Having researched their options regarding schools in and out of state based on their program interests. With dozens of pamphlets in hand, they still had more to find.

"What're you looking for exactly?" Tolkien asked, scooting by a row of students in the middle of the path.

Kenny trekked ahead of him. "I don't know.."

He wasn't sure what he was looking for other than a physics degree that maybe...on some small basis...took him somewhere other than Colorado. As he came across tables further from the state, it wasn't long until he stumbled upon a few key names. MIT, Standford..

Kenny approached the CalTech table, feeling like a fish out of water as he came upon two smiling women.

"I dunno, Kenny-" Tolkien tried.

"Hi! You guys interested in the California Insitute of Technology?" A pale, peach-cheeked woman in a green blazer with blonde hair asked the teen boys. She offered an intro pamphlet to Kenny. "We have the world's most competitive acceptance rate, but don't let that scare you. We have a 97% satisfaction rate from graduating students."

"..cool." Kenny flipped their pamphlet as Tolkien stalled behind. "What's your physics program like?"

"From what I know," The student next to the Dean in a grey, orange-accented Caltech hoodie took out a program pamphlet. "You get to work in both theoretical and applied physics. Interactions between academics and research are encouraged. They offer for both undergraduate and graduate."

Kenny opened a page, finding a random photo. "Is that a frozen pumpkin..?"

"Halloween tradition," the student explained. "Every Halloween at midnight we drop pumpkins dipped in frozen liquid nitrogen from the top of the Caltech Hall to see if they'll glow when they shatter."

The dean nodded. "Caltech Hall Library is nine stories tall. Designed proportionally to take up less green space."

Kenny would admit he was more than intrigued. It didn't make up for everything though. "What are your scholarships like..?"

"Exactly why our acceptance rate shouldn't scare you," the dean encouraged, giving a final paper on acceptance requirements and funding with a toothy grin. "You should have a 1570 SAT score and ideally a 4.19 GPA. If your GPA is lower, you can compensate by getting a higher SAT score."

As if Kenny wasn't shitting himself already.

"You are completely eligible to apply for a scholarship at the same time. Our financial aid is needs-based that you can apply for while your score is submitted and you'll be given a grant."

Kenny held the tempting programs in his hands. It was more than tempting. But, even with his high grade point average, he turned to Tolkien with a lingering loss of hope in his eyes.

"Maybe you're right.."

Tolkien reconsidered. "Listen, the grants aren't the thing you need to worry about. You're really smart, Kenny."

Kenny looked at his mess of pamphlets.

"You crush the GPA alone."

Hope was rekindled, but it was gonna take a fire lit under Kenny's butt. He shoved his remaining pamphlets into Tolkien's hands as he moved on to the MIT table.

"Gwendolyn, I made boccocini salad. It's in the fridge."

Wendy paused on the bread plate, going to the fridge as her mother finished up the tortilla soup for dinner. Her daughter kneeled to pull out the yellow bowl covered in plastic wrap from the fridge as she grabbed wooden salad spoons and brought them to the central dining table. As her father finished taking the compost out, he returned through the backdoor as Wendy got back to the bread plate.

"Wendy, have they given you prep packs for SATs, yet?" Her father Henry asked, grabbing the red wine from the counter he'd been waiting on all day.

"Uh, no," Wendy made herself a bowl of soup and her mother. "They talked to us on how it's gonna be approached."

"Maria," Henry quickly jumped subject to his wife as he too took a soup bowl. The family of three made their way to the dinner table as he continued. "There's a farmer's market running till' late tomorrow evening."

"Town council meeting is extended," Maria replied as they took their seats, she shifted forward and began occupying her plate with salad, before passing it to her daughter. "I'm sorry, gang. Council and work have been keeping me out late lately, huh?"

"It's okay, mom." Wendy passed the salad to her father.

"Oh, Wendy," Her mother remembered. There were always a billion things on the Testaburgers' minds. "Did you think about inviting Stan for dinner at one point? I know you're both busy."

"I'll text him," she responded through a mouth full of bread.

"I was thinking we should have the Marsh's over another time, too. Maybe when his sister is back for the winter break."

"Haven't seen much of Randy or Sharon in a minute," Henry said, taking a sip of red wine. "Everyone's breaking in the school year with a lot."

"Mr. Marsh has a lot of sales nowadays," Wendy said. "It's been keeping Stan busy, too."

Henry hummed in confusion, stirring his soup. "Last I knew he wasn't involved in the Tegridy business."

"Heh," Wendy laughed to herself. She could name a million reasons why Stan would burn Tegridy to the ground if he could. "He tries not to be."

She ate her soup and salad, famished from a day of college fairs and researching undergraduate options. Not to mention some summer jobs her parents suggested she get started on researching early and apply for in January. Though maybe an internship would look better on a college application? Whatever she decided, it had to be on the best foot going forward. Wendy lifted her face, double-taking as her mother eagerly stared at her with round, vibrant eyes.

"Wha..?" Wendy asked, still chewing.

"Guess what little birdie found out some great news the college fair wouldn't tell you."

"Actually, that went really well," Wendy mentioned. "I found some great biology programs in and out of state. University of Montana has a great Health Science interdisciplinary. University of Chicago is way up there, too."

Henry pondered. "Doesn't sound very Ivy League."

"No, but-"

"Well," Maria continued, "Harvard is offering a summer college session for interested high school students. Doing the program in June means you're allowed late admission, and you get a great recommendation based on your score in the program for actual applications! Wouldn't it be great to try and get in?"

"Oh." Wendy tried to enthuse. "Isn't that putting a lot of eggs in one basket..?"

"Of course, baby. You'll still make your applications to Yale and Princeton." Maria happily reached forward, taking her daughter's hand across the table. "Oh, mi pequena. I'm so excited for you."

Great. Pulling out the Spanish card. It wasn't like Harvard wasn't Wendy's biggest dream. Not to mention everything her mother had strived for her daughter to have since the day she started working. Maria was born in Columbia originally. She came all the way to Colorado for school where she met Henry. Maria hadn't stopped working from penny to penny and neither did Wendy's father to guarantee their daughter's smarts would be put towards the best. They were comfortable now, the life Wendy had provided for her was more than to be thankful for.

Wendy dove head first into everything she'd ever done. Because she was always sure she was ready. This strange doubt about Harvard right away that she felt in her core for months was telling her something she didn't understand.

"Mom.." Wendy tried. "I'm..I'm not sure."

Her mother's smile faded. "Wendy, Harvard has been your dream since you won class president in the third grade."

"I know," Wendy gently pulled her hand from her mother's. "I want to go to Harvard more than anything. But, the counselor said sometimes non-Ivy Leagues are a great starter's point as an undergrad."

She felt her father stare at her. "We didn't raise you to avoid things, Gwendolyn."

What did that mean?

"The bad thing to do is wait this off. If Harvard finds out in a few years that you avoided applying while you had a high GPA and applied in...Montana? They're gonna think you don't want it and hardly give you the time of day."

"Henry," Maria warned, giving a glare to her husband. She reached out to tuck Wendy's hair over her shoulder. "Pequena, you've been waiting your whole life."

"I know," Wendy looked at her dad with a hint of annoyance. "And you went to a state college. Why is Montana so bad?"

"It's not..terrible," her father scoffed. "But we've worked hard to give you a chance at a great Ivy League! And now you're gonna throw it away? With what you have?"

"Geez, I'm not-!" Wendy sucked in air to keep from exploding. "I didn't say I'm not going...it's just hypothetical..."

"Gwendolyn," her father started. Wendy stuck her head in her palms. "When your mother and I set out to help you with something you've been dreaming of, you don't back out. We've put this roof over your head."

"So.."

"Wendy," Maria sternly reminded. "My mother paid for my high school by cleaning the school hallways."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"I'm not gonna let you avoid an opportunity we helped you with. It's embarrassing after everything we've done!"

Oh, she got it. She was the poster child for all the great things that came from the Testaburgers. A reason for Maria to say 'Hey, I left home and made a star academic daughter.' Wendy's phone buzzed beside her dinner plate and she quickly picked it up for a distraction.

"Wendy, would you stop bringing your phone to the table?" Henry argued.

"It's fine!" Wendy had already rushed off, turning up the stairs as she held the answered call to her ear. "Hi, baby."

"If I bitch about my dad, is it gonna stress you out?" Stan said, sounding like he was landing on his bed in a huff.

Wendy got to her bedroom, closing her door behind her as she leaned her back to it. "Not if I get my two cents in on my parents.."

To be continued...