Honestly, a part of me is telling me this is the greatest idea ever, and another part is asking why on earth I am back on this website to begin with. I've been wanting to write a story about Stan being in a band for a long time now, but I never got the motivation to do it, or writing anything else for that matter. But I think that this is something that I genuinely want to finish and can't wait to get started on.
A lot of things is this story are based off of Phish, my favorite band, but I am going to try to make the actual music as unimportant as possible. I am kind of phrasing it weird but having knowledge on the music or having an opinion on the songs that I am describing will have no effect on the actual story. Of course you can go listen to the songs throughout the story if you feel like it, but it is by no means necessary, and the plot will be based off of the personalities of the characters to the best of my ability. What I am saying here is pretty much, Phish and the songs mentioned here will not be super important. Got it? Great now we can actually start
Also this story transitions between Stan's POV and 3rd person
Also every chapter is going to start off with one of my favorite quotes from a random one of their songs
You got your nice shades on, And the worst days are gone
So now the band plays on, You got one life, blaze on
I remember when I got depressed all the way back in fourth grade, and all I could think about was how much I hated how everything was changing. My parents divorcing, and all my friends slowly getting more sick of my pessimistic comments, I just could not grasp my head around it. Looking back on it, the most fitting word to describe my situation was a case of pussyism. All I could handle before I fell off the rails were my parents breaking up and me not liking the same music I once did?
But once I actually got through it, I promised myself to just embrace all the changes that were bound to happen, and look at everything, as Kyle would say, with a more "open mindset". I am proud to say that I have stuck with that promise 5 years later, but to say that things have just changed would be a massive understatement. I would never have considered myself the most social person, but sometimes I wonder if I am subconsciously avoiding all chances at a conversation starting. I used to know everyone from the inside out, and in a way I still do, it's just different now.
Kyle will always be the know it all, Kenny will always be the "poor" kid with a sense of seriously dirty humor, Cartman will always be the racist, fat, asshole, Clyde will always be the crybaby, I think you get the point. Except in another way it feels like everyone's evolved, and I am still contemplating if I should have just tried to stay who I was all the way back in 4th grade.
Now here I am, walking through the half melted snow of late April, on my way to South Park High School, getting ready to count down the hours till I can make the same exact trek back home. I can see all the other kids approaching the building, some kids that I have spent my entire life around, and some that I only knew existed just last year. It's been 7 months since the start of Sophomore year of high school, it makes me sick to even think about that.
Can't believe it's not far from over. It felt like just yesterday when I entered the school ground as a Freshman for the first time, and in some ways, it feels the exact same as it did those almost two years ago.
I groaned silently to myself as I entered the building, my eyes locked on the soles of the shoes of the person in front of me. My morning was always the same routine, but thankfully today is Friday. History is my first class, and to some kids that might seem like an utter disappointment, but almost everyone in that class I've known since forever, even if I barley talk to most of them anymore.
Too anyone else, the relationship between my friends and I would seem like a true heartbreak, and I could full heartedly agree.
Long gone are the days of waiting at the bus stop every morning to get picked up by Ms. Crabtree. Those pretty much fully stopped back in 6th grade after my parents bought a second house closer to town that was within walking distance of school for me. It's better than living on the farm, even though my dad is still adamant that I come back for at least the weekend. I still try to hang out with the my friends as much as I can, but it isn't easy when the teachers give us so much shit to do.
"Hey Stan." a voice says, breaking my train of thought. Looking up I see that it's Butter's staring back at me with his regular smile planted on his face like usual. In a way, I'm sort of looking up at him, being kind of short sucks ass.
I always knew that I would never be the tallest kid, but 5 9' left a lot to be desired. Compare to other kids like Kenny who was a tad over 6 foot, or Craig who was 6 3', I realized that my dating life probably had no chance left of ever succeeding, although I am positive that there are other things that are also stopping any of that as well.
"Hi Butters," I replied, in as nice of a tone as I could muster these days. Not being a cynical asshole was still one of the things that I was really working on.
"We have History first right? I Forgot my schedule," He explains, with the same naïve smile still on his face. I could tell instantly that he was lying, he already knew that we had History next, its been 8 months into the school year or some shit like that. Can't be asked to count. But it was probably just an excuse to walk with me to class anyway. Butter's was quite the sociable person, pretty much everyone like him, for one reason or another.
I nod, "I was just headed there," I said, accepting the invitation. I watched his smile somehow turn even brighter, and he trotted along with me up the stairs, and all the way to our history class.
"So what's going on with you?" He asked as we approached the stairs.
I shrug, "Nothing really if I am being honest, same old same old." He raises his eyebrow at me.
"I'm sure something at least somewhat remarkable has happened within the last week or so," He asks, somewhat concerned. I pause, not really sure how to answer that.
I remember starting to notice the change in my actions around 8th grade or so. Talking to less and less people, spending more time at home, and shit like that. Turns out other people noticed as well, and started to try to get me to do more stuff with them. Well, it was mainly Kyle and Butters honestly, but a few times Clyde and even Craig asked me if I wanted to go and throw rocks at cars, almost like an old time tradition. I actually accepted their offer and it was surprisingly fun, but I found myself still longing to be back home, in my bed watching brainless YouTube or reading a book.
After a year or so, people moved on, but Butters has never really given up.
"The most notable thing to happen in my life was that my dad decided it was a good idea to sue the other weed companies around here for selling the same product as him," I said. It was true, once a retard, always a retard. Butter's nodded at me, before turning his head back in front of us.
"You doing anything tonight?" he asked again, neatly placing both of his hands inside his pockets. I shrugged again.
"Not really, but I have to start studying for that pre calculus test soon,"
Butters frowned slightly, "Dude isn't that in like two weeks or something?"
"12 days," I corrected. Internally I slapped myself, there goes not acting like a cynical asshole. Since I started keeping to myself more, I actually have been focusing most of my time on my school work, and managed to get myself into the high level classes for a change, much different than me back in 6th grade where I was almost failing every class. Instead of having classes with Clyde, Kenny, and to some extent, Craig, I found myself in the same classes as Wendy, Kyle, and the other smart assess at this school. Don't want to sound egotistical here, but I think I am just as smart as most of them, but I just act less smart then them.
The way it works here in South Park High is that there are three levels of classes. They have proper names but everyone knows that they are just code for the Below Average classes , Average classes, and Honors classes. Below average would honestly just consist of a few kids all in the same classes together. Off the top of my head I remember Clyde, Kenny, Lola, Tweek, Cartman, and a few of the girls being in Geometry, but a majority of the kids were in the average classes, including Butters. Nothing wrong with that, none of them are as self loathing and socially inactive as I am.
"Well my point is you need to get out some more, if the most impressive thing to happen to you was your dad acting like your dad," Butters continued as we approached the classroom. I shrugged again.
"We'll see," I simply said before making my way to my seat just minutes before the professor came in.
History was one of the few classes where it wasn't divided into different classes, everyone learned the same stuff. Obviously there was more than one different class, but we all learned the same shit. Sometimes it was a good ego boost, and other times it was watching Wendy tear her hair out trying to explain to Cartman why the Battle of Verdun was not set on top of a giant cardboard model of the city being held up by hundreds of Jews.
Yes, that actually happened, and I still remember the stern look Wendy glared at me as I had my hand over my mouth trying not to bust out laughing. If I wasn't so busy laughing at how stupid Cartman was, I would have probably would have spent the rest of the day my head lowered in shame.
Speaking of girls, dating is still the nightmare that it was all those years ago, but not because I can't keep a relationship, I can't even get to that stage. The last girlfriend that I had was all the way back in 7th and 8th grade. It was this girl named Katherine that I met at South Park Middle school, and we just grew apart from each other, and she went to a different school for high school anyway, so it would have ended there anyway. Kind of a shame, she was pretty and talented, could do much better than me, that's for sure.
I would never consider myself ugly, my self esteem is too high for that. Honestly, I would rank myself on the better side of the spectrum, it's just unless the stars align perfectly, I would never even suggest starting something with someone. And that's assuming I actually meet someone I'm interested in. I just don't get out enough. I suppose that I only have myself to blame, but I don't think anything's changing anytime soon.
"Is everyone here?" The professor asks, before he pulls up his slideshow on The Battle Of Leyte Gulf, and "How it was turning point in the US Naval History". I sighed softly to myself, I already knew everything about the War in the Pacific, which was the unit that our class was currently working on.
I remember Cartman was thrilled when he learned that we were working with information around World War 2, and he would not shut up about it for at least a week after it was announced about how epic it was going to be. Needless to say when he learned that Germany was barley even a part of the unit at all, he was quite mad and disappointed, going on a rant about how Kyle had rigged it or something. I would have just rolled my eyes and turned him out if it wasn't quite so entertaining.
"Stan are you paying attention?"
I almost jumped out of my seat to see the professor staring at me with a disappointed stare. "Yes sir," I replied.
"Alright then can you tell me the four different Japanese forces present at Leyte Gulf?" He challenged.
I bit my lip, "The Centerforce, two Southern forces, and a decoy northern force," I said bitterly. I already knew literally everything about this unit. I had studied World War 2 back in the summer of 9th grade because I literally had nothing better to do.
The professor looked back at me with wide eyes, like he had not been expecting an answer back, and swiftly turned back to the lesson. I could feel the eyes around me, but of course, the person that I had to lock eyes with, was Wendy Testaburger's.
Some things just never change do they? I broke eye contact almost instantly and went back to half listening to the lesson, and diving back into my thoughts. She was always my type, it's never changed. I don't know if crush is the right word to use, but I have always liked long, straight, black hair and light skin. But thinking back to it, the last time I remember ever having a conversation with Wendy was back in 8th grade, and it was only when we had to do a four person project together with Cartman and Clyde. Needless to say, Cartman and Clyde did jack shit, and the two of us did all the work together, and somehow managed to get an A+, something that Cartman immediately boasted in front of everyone else's face, especially Kyle, who scored a few points below us.
A part of me wants to hope that she thinks just a little bit better of me after that whole incident, but deep down I don't think it changed anything at all.
My thoughts kept me occupied throughout all of first period, and after receiving the three page worksheet that we had to do, it was off to my next class. Science was next, another class that wasn't broken up at all. Unlike History though, the grades were the things that really displayed who was smart and who were the slackers. I would not be surprised if Cartman flunked it last year.
I made my way through the science door and to my regular seat, just waiting for the class to start. God, I was such a "good" kid now. I was once again half lost in my thoughts when I heard the chair next to me move. Kyle.
He sat next to me, like we always did in Science Class, one of the few times I even talked to him now. We were never as close now as we once were those 6 years ago now. The four of us ended up kind of breaking up into different groups. Kenny and I and Kyle and Cartman. Can't say that I am really surprised really, they have such a love hate relationship. The both of them insist that they would wish the other one would disappear, but everyone knows that they need each other to survive. To get the anger and hate out. It makes more sense when you actually are around them.
"Hey dude," Kyle said, sitting down right next to me. Just because were not quite so close anymore doesn't mean that I don't consider him to be my friend.
"What's up?" I replied, turning to watch him with my head resting on my hand on the table.
"Besides Kenny starting to hang out with Tolkien and Butters more, not much at all." He said, biting his lip. I sighed, typical Kyle.
"You aren't jealous of them are you?" I ask smugly, earning a shocked look in return.
"Wha-? No! Of course not!" He sputters. I smirked, I knew Kyle too well.
"Hey I'm not blaming you or anything, just let him hang out with whoever he wants to."
Kyle hung his head slightly lower, "I just don't want to be left alone hanging out with fatass," he grumbled.
"I hang out sometimes, or at least I try to." I responded. That was true, whenever I did actually go anywhere it was to hang out with them, but those days were getting fewer and more in-between. Even I knew.
Kyle crossed his arms, "You are there like maybe half of the time," he pouted. I rolled my eyes.
"I try to be there as much as I can, but not everyone can have good grades by doing their homework in 30 minutes, Kyle." I playfully argued.
I saw his expression change to a slight smirk, something that he tried to hide, not very well mind you. "You are being generous," he said.
I softly elbowed him, but before I had a chance to respond, the science teacher burst through the door, sputtering something about how sorry she was that she was late. I didn't really care, but Kyle now had all eyes and ears and gave her his full attention. He was born smart, with the will to do well in school. For me it takes a damn ton of effort to even study for an hour on a test or raise my hands a few times during class.
Out of all of us, Kyle is the most concerned about us staying friends. He has a dream idea that we all are going to be best friends even into adult hood and all the way through our entire lives. I hate to break it to him, but the chances that something like that are quite slim. I'm sure we will make it through High School, but anything past that is a shot in the bucket. He's just a bit too damn sensitive about these things, almost like he doesn't know that there are other people out there.
Kyle and I sat next to each other through Science, and as the period ended, we made our swift goodbyes and started to walk to our third period classes. Art class. One of the few classes that I had with Kenny, and I only had it 2 times a week. One of the main things that I looked forward to every Tuesday or Friday.
Kenny and I are close, like Kyle and I close back in fourth grade, and I don't really have a great reason why, it just sort of happened. Kenny is in most of the lower classes in our school, so I only really get to see him a few times a day, and his and my friendship is probably the only thing keeping that keeps me remotely in the loop. Kenny and I came together over one real thing, music.
Not too many people in our school know, but I have been playing guitar for nearly 10 years, and Kenny has been playing Keyboard for nearly 8. During the Summer the two of us would meet at one of our houses and just compose music. In fact, I think the two of us combined have written over 50 or so songs, some of them just being few chord little ditties, to shit you would find in an orchestra. The funny part, is that we would always give our compositions fucking stupid names. I still laugh and think of those days. I still write, just not as much as I once did.
"Hey dude," I said, walking into the classroom to see that Kenny was already there, working on some sort of drawing. Art was an elective class, and we didn't really get a grade for it. Kind of shame as for Kenny, it would be the easiest A of his life.
"If it isn't the Marsh himself," Kenny smirked, looking up to see me approaching him. "How was trying to close down all those weed farms?"
I groaned, "Thank god he's stupid, because none of his master plans actually end up working anyway. But then again if he was smart we would never have been in these situations to begin with."
"How fun was it talking him out of it?" Kenny asked again, going back to the drawing that he was working on. I rolled my eyes,
"If it happened, then clearly it did not go over well did it?"
"Yeah you're dad was all over the news again last night," He replied. I groaned. My dad was annoying, but it happened so often that I just accepted it anyway. It's not like I really cared too much about what other people thought of me anyway.
Kenny was never the type of person to do super well in school. He was pretty much only in the lower classes besides a few exceptions, and he never really exceeded in those classes either. He did better than Cartman, but I don't think that is much of an achievement. Everyone knew that Kenny was going to go to an Arts School for college, it was just a matter of if he could get the money together or not. He was for sure trying, but 60,000 dollars of college tuitions isn't cheap for anyone.
"So are you doing anything after school or this weekend?" Kenny asked, still mainly paying attention to his drawing.
"You already know the answer dude," I said rolling my eyes, "and why have like 3 people asked me that today?"
Kenny grinned, "Girls want to get a piece of you don't they?" I elbowed him,
"You know that would never happen, but it was mainly Butters and somewhat Kyle," I responded, trying to avoid the smug look on his face. The parka was long gone, but sometimes it was a little strange looking directly at him, mainly because of how god damn tall he was.
"Oh," he said, nodding, "Well, you'll see after school." Before returning back to his drawing, clearly not budging on a further explanation.
Art class came and went, as it usually did, and after third period was Lunch, the one real time that I ever talked to or hung around the kids that I've known my whole life. The Lunch table was also where I found out all the new drama and gossip that was circulating around, although most of it was about as interesting as Mr. Garrisons condom collection. Today the current topic was started by Clyde, and per usual for him, was about Bebe and relationship shit that I didn't really pay much attention to at all.
"Can you believe she can just move on like that!" Clyde practically yelled, "It's like every other day is another dick to suck or something!"
Craig groaned, "Clyde its been 3 months, get yourself together," he said, suturing around his food with his fork. Clyde turned and began to shake Craig back and forth, much to the displeasure of the dark haired boy.
"IT'S HISTROY CRAIG!" He yelled, "HOW CAN SHE FORGET HISTORY LIKE THAT!"
I facepalmed, I didn't know much about other peoples relationships, but I did currently know that Bebe was single, mainly because Kenny kept talking about it, hinting that I of all people should go for it.
"Clyde, she's not been dating anyone for at least a month now, you are a day late and a dollar short." I said nonchalantly, as Clyde turned to stare at me with big eyes.
"Wait? Really?" He said. Craig groaned again.
"Day late? More like 3 months and $500 in shoes," he said, his head resting on his hand, still poking at his food.
"Shut up Craig! I've got places to be!" Clyde retorted, before getting up and leaving, probably to find Bebe.
"Doesn't he know that she will probably never take him back?" Tolkien asked, watching the whole conversation from the end of the table.
Craig sighed, "He will never give up on that girl, don't understand why he goes out of his way so much to try to impress her when she has shown that she has no interest at all."
"Well there goes our Lunch entertainment for today," Kenny said, before turning to me. "Hey Stan, want to go and watch Clyde's embarrassment unfold?"
I shrugged, "I've seen him embarrass himself so many times in front of girls, I don't really care at this point."
Kenny looked at me for a second, before nodding his head, and left as well, probably to take a watch for himself.
Lunch came and went, and so did my next few periods as well. Pre calculus was one of the few classes where I actually had to pay attention, or else there was a strong chance that I would just have no fucking clue on what to do. Next came Spanish, another class that I hated, and then an hour long study hall, and I was done. Another day gone and went. Even to me, someone who tried to stay out of everyone's way as much as possible, wondered if it was possible for my life to get any more boring.
The loud school bell rung, shaking me out of my thoughts. I had managed to already get all of my homework done, some what of a rarity for me, and was full on ready to go home and play video games the rest of the day. I made my way through the hallways to the front of the school, and started on my path back home. I was about a quarter block away from the school, when I heard the sound of a yell from behind me.
"Stan!"
I turned around to see Kenny running towards me, with Butters and Tolkien behind him for some reason. I raised an eyebrow and waited for them to catch up to me.
"Stan you asshole," Kenny said, sounding like he had just ran a marathon. "I told you to wait for us after school."
"Since when?" I asked, confused.
"Well, uh we have something to ask you," Butters said, not quite as confident as he had been that morning. I tilted my head slightly, and stared at the three of them, just waiting for one of them to tell me what was going on
"Well uh," Tolkien started, before turning to Kenny, "You should tell him." I heard him say.
Kenny nodded, and turned to face me. "Stan, we have a proposition to make." he said.
I stared at them, more confused than I was before. "And that is?" I asked.
Kenny took a breath.
"We want to start a band."