This chapter took forever to write. I've been working on it every day, but I just couldn't make it pan out exactly how I wanted to. This was one of the scenes I planned out pretty early in advance, so it feels pretty good to have it written!
If I could, I would, but I don't know how
If I could, I would, and I'd take you now...
It wasn't until 3 hours later that Phish decided to stop playing. 3 hours without any breaks; Bebe would have been impressed if she hadn't been so intrigued. She couldn't tell if it was because it was a party, the drugs, or both; this was not even close to the same band that she had been managing for the last 6 months or so.
Bebe was conflicted. She knew bands changed and evolved all the time, but there was nothing wrong with what they were before. Would they continue in the way that they had tonight, or was this just a one-off event?
One thing she knew for certain was that she did not support how much weed her boyfriend seemed to be smoking.
As soon as the four boys had left the stage, they were instantly swamped into the crowd and seemingly disappeared. The blonde girl groaned as she forced her way through the crowd to try to reach them. She spotted Red and Milly relatively close to them in the corner of her eye, but Wendy was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she had already left or was in the bathroom or something.
"Kenny! Stan!" Bebe called as she grew closer, hoping they would hear her voice over the now blasting PA music.
Below her, her high heels clicked against the wet floor coated in a layer of glow sticks and other things that she didn't even want to know. Eventually, the fair girl entered the Kitchen as she approached to see Red and Milly already talking with them.
Kenny's head perked up as soon as he saw her: "Bebe!" he slurred as he forced her into her embrace, the smell of alcohol illuminating his breath. Bebe let out a small "eph!" as her boyfriend lifted her off the ground.
Butters gave a muffled laugh from behind.
Hey Bebe," Tolkien said as Kenny finally separated. "How long were you here for?"
"Us 3 and Wendy all came together," Bebe explained as she pointed at Red and Milly, both of whom were giggling uncontrollably.
"Yeah, where is Wendy?" Red asked.
Bebe gave her a look, "I thought she was with you guys?"
Milly shook her head. "She was, but she left about an hour or two in for some reason."
"We have to go find her soon," Bebe said, her head turning around and scouting the immediate premise.
"Yeah! Mission find Wendy!" Red garbled, attempting to jump in the air and almost losing her balance when she landed, all while practically laughing her head off.
"Damn," Stan commented.
Bebe gave her a look, "Don't tell me you're drunk right now."
"I had my first drink ever!" The redhead exclaimed. "I wish I had learned it felt so good earlier!"
"I swear to God she only had 2," Milly told the blonde as Bebe bit her lip.
"Stan, my Man! Tolkien, my stolkien! Butters my gutter! Kenny, my granny!" A voice called completely out of nowhere. Sure enough, Clyde appeared from thin air before daping them all up. "You guys were insane! For once, I think Tweak was tweaking because of something besides meth for once!"
Bebe's eyes went huge, but she didn't say anything.
"Really? 'Kenny, my granny?" Kenny questioned him.
"Broooooo, I'm like 10 Clyde Pinnacle Potions in right now. Give me a break."
They all laughed, probably more from the alcohol rather than anything actually being particularly funny.
"Sup ladies," Clyde went on, leaning against the kitchen table as he turned to Red, Milly, and Bebe. "Enjoying the party?"
"Yeah!" Red blut out. In any other situation, she would probably scoff at Clyde for trying to hit on her, but she clearly wasn't in her normal state of mind.
"Some of us 11th graders are going to the upstairs living room to get away from the randoms. Do you guys want to come?"
They all glanced at each other before simultaneously shrugging their shoulders. It wasn't like they had anything better to do.
"Sure, why not." Tolkien finally responded as Clyde's face lit up.
"Uh, why don't you guys go upstairs and hang out for a while? I'll find Wendy and join you guys later." Bebe suggested, fully realizing that she hadn't seen her best friend in at least 2 and a half hours.
"You sure you don't want us to help you find her?" Milly offered. Bebe shook her head.
"You need to keep an eye out for that one," she responded, pointing at a certain redhead. "Make sure she doesn't jump out a window or something."
With that, the light-skinned teenager slipped off, left wondering where the fuck Wendy could possibly be.
Wendy didn't know where she was.
Well, duh. She knew she was at Craig's party, but she felt extremely out of place. It seemed like every corner she turned, she would come face to face with yet another person who was passed out drunk and unable to move. She had left Red and Milly after trying to get a drink (just a soda, of course) but couldn't find them again for her life. She ended up finding Nicole and Esther, who were both watching the concert from afar and hung out with them. When the concert ended, and over 200 people poured out of the dance room, the raven girl found herself swept away in the crowd.
And that's why when she heard the sound of Bebe's voice calling her name as she wandered around the outskirts of the mansion, she felt a wave of relief wash over her.
"Over here!" She called till her blonde friend heard her voice.
"Girl, what happened to you!?" Wendy asked her as they came into speaking distance.
Bebe's hair was frazzled, and a visible stain appeared on the side of her dress. She huffed.
"Some asshat fucking spilled beer on me when I was looking for you. Where on earth were you?"
Wendy shrugged, "I couldn't find you guys, so I was mostly with Nicole, Esther, Lola, Jenny; those girls."
Bebe sighed, "Do you want to come upstairs with me? I don't think I can deal with any more drunk assholes tonight."
Wendy nodded in agreement as she soon followed her to the second floor.
"I think they said that everyone is in the upstairs living room," Bebe told Wendy as she listened for the sound of voices she might recognize.
The two girls rounded the corner and were about to open a mysterious door when the sound of moans and grunts suddenly became apparent.
"Clearly not in there," Wendy commented before they turned back and continued searching. Eventually, the sound of a familiar laugh caught their attention.
"Is that Craig!?" Bebe asked, turning her attention to the direction of the voice.
Wendy nodded, "I believe so; it's usually the laugh that he does after Clyde says or does something really stupid."
Bebe snickered, "Can't believe I didn't hear Craig laugh more often with all the dumb shit Clyde did while dating me."
Wendy rolled her eyes as they made their way and eventually entered what Craig had declared a "second living room." When they set foot in the room, nothing could have prepared Wendy for the sight that she would see.
Compared to the rest of the scene, it looked like they were having a tea party. Tweak sat on top of Craig's lap in the corner chair while Clyde sat in the other one, looking unimpressed, probably due to something that had caused Craig to laugh. Butters, Tolkien, Kenny, Jimmy, and Kevin sat on the ground with a deck of cards, facing across from Nicole, Lola, Heidi, Jessie, and Allie.
But she didn't care about any of that. All Wendy could focus on was Stan Marsh sitting on the couch, an acoustic guitar in his hands with Red McArhtur curled up right beside him.
"Damn, you guys have like your own mini party going on up here." I heard A voice behind me as I saw Wendy and Bebe approaching us.
"Hey Bebe, hey Wendy," I greeted as they chose to take a seat next to the card game taking place beside us.
"Hey, Stan," Bebe responded as she turned back to the group on the floor. "What's going on over here? Boys vs girls?"
"We're playing poker," Kenny told her, "I guess we just kind of ended up sitting like this."
I watched as Tolkien, who appeared to be the dealer, placed another card on the floor. Jessie huffed.
"Holy shit, my luck is horrible," She said as she chucked her cards into the middle of the circle, "that's the third hand in a row where that has happened."
"Clearly not as bad as Clyde's," Jimmy stated as Clyde crossed his arms in frustration.
"He wasn't unlucky," Craig snickered, "He just sucks at Poker."
"Hey! That's not true at all!" the brunette boy retaliated, "If you let me play again, I'll steal all of your money in a heartbeat!"
Craig cackled again.
"Why did they kick you out?" Wendy questioned.
"He went broke six times in 10 hands," Tolkien told her. "We told him that if he went broke one more time, we weren't giving him any more money, and he proceeded to go all in on a 2 and a 7."
An audible gasp of laughter was heard as Clyde's cheeks grew more and more red.
"I have the best poker face here! I just got unlucky!"
I grinned as they continued to make fun of Clyde's gambling skills as I strummed the random acoustic guitar I had found aimlessly.
"How often do you play anyway?" Red asked, leaning her head against my shoulder as she sprawled out over the entire couch.
When the ruby-haired girl first curled up to me, I had been admittedly taken aback. The two of us had gotten decently close over the course of the last year, and although I had considered the possibility of her liking me, it wasn't until now that I realized that it was true. I have had a crush on Wendy for almost all my life, but I would be lying if I said Red hadn't been on my mind for at least a little bit.
She was one of the most gorgeous girls in our school, and here she was, right up next to me.
"Whenever I can, I guess," I responded, "Want me to play you something?"
I saw a twinkle go off in her eyes as I spoke. She eagerly nodded: "That would be nice."
I smiled, "Anything in particular?"
She shook her head, "I don't care. You choose anything you want."
"Alright, this one is called 'If I Could."
As I began to play through the opening few bars, I immediately saw Bebe perk up.
"Guys, listen!" She announced, "This is one of my favorites!"
The ability to grab everyone's attention was not one that I was used to; it felt almost too powerful. As I sang and played through the song, I could feel the presence of everyone's eyes on me, even the group on the floor and their poker game.
"If I could, I would, but I don't know how - If I could, I would, and I'd take you now..."
As the song's final notes faded, the scarlet beauty right next to me leaned in and planted a soft, lingering kiss on my cheek. I blushed, and when I turned, I saw her cheeks almost as red as her hair. I could feel the smile dance across my face as I quickly kissed her right back on her cheek, feeling the mellowness of her face radiate through my body.
"Awww," Tweak cooed from Craig's lap, "Craig, why don't you kiss me like that?"
"Maybe you should show me how it's done then."
Clyde groaned as Tweek gave probably the most motivated kiss I've ever seen.
"Since when did this turn into a making-out competition?"
"Don't you dare challenge me and Bebe!" Kenny remarked. "We will smoke any challenges here off their feet!"
Craig gave the brown-haired boy a snicker, "Clyde, you're just mad that you haven't felt the touch of a woman since middle school."
"PPPPHT" Butters spewed, sitting out his drink and falling to the floor.
"Not true!" Clyde claimed, "This one girl, Becky, brushed past my shoulder, walking past my desk in math class just the other day!"
Everyone hysterically hollered.
"I CAN'T BREATHE," Kenny laughed, falling back onto the deck of cards in front of Tolkien.
Bebe smiled and shook her head at the blonde boy, "Get yourself together, babe."
"Kenny!" Heidi said, "You destroyed the deck!"
Annie stood up, "Eh, it was getting a little boring anyway; want to do something else?"
"Yeah," Tolkien replied, "Maybe we should choose something that a five-year-old can play so Clyde can't lose in the first two minutes."
Cylde huffed but got up out of his chair and joined the group again.
"Hey, do you guys want to play Spin the Bottle?" Nicole suggested, "Truth-or-dare version!"
"Hell yeah!" Craig stated as he and Tweak got up for probably the first time in 2 hours.
"Do you want to play?" Red asked me. The initial embarrassment seemed to have faded after all the attention was turned to Clyde.
"Sure, why not," I shrugged, and I put the guitar down as the two of us made our way to the circle.
A few minutes later, Nichole came back with an empty bottle of some sort of alcohol as everyone aligned themselves into one massive circle. I sat between Red and Jimmy, the former a little closer, may I add, as the bottle was placed in the middle of the circle.
"So, who goes first fellas?" Jimmy asked. We all glanced around each other, not sure exactly what to do.
Craig groaned, "Ugh, you guys are so indecisive." Before, he picked up the bottle himself and spun it at 100 miles an hour.
Eventually, it slowed to a stop, pointing right at Heidi.
The girl stared at the bottle for a second before looking up directly at Craig.
"Uh, truth or dare?" Craig asked.
"Truth," Heidi responded.
Craig blanked for a second, scrambling through his mind to think of something. "Um, what is the worst relationship you have ever been in?"
Heidi gave him a deadpan stare.
"What?" Craig replied obliviously.
"Guess."
Craig threw his hands up in the air, "I don't know! Does it look like I keep track of what other people are doing 24/7!?"
Heidi shook her head, "Obviously, it's Cartman."
Craig went silent. "Oh yeah," he mumbled as Heidi moved in and picked up the bottle.
This time, it landed on Bebe.
"Okay, truth or dare?" Heidi asked.
"Truth."
"Okay! Who is the last person that you searched on Instagram?"
Bebe giggled but did not hesitate to take out her phone.
"Wait!" Heidi told her, "Give me your phone. I need to make sure you don't cheat."
Bebe tossed her phone over to Heidi, who spent a few seconds tapping through the screen till she started giggling.
"It's Tegridy Weed," She said, turning the phone so everyone could see.
I looked at Bebe in shock. "Don't tell me you're following him."
Bebe shook her head, "I swear I just wanted to see what it looked like."
"Trust me, it's nothing special. Just a dumb idiot and his wild dream that somewhat kind of worked."
"Anyways!" Bebe stated before turning the bottle once again, this time landing on Clyde. "Truth or dare?"
Clyde ruffled through his hair before he spoke. "Dare."
Bebe giggled, her mind clearly racing to try to find the best way to humiliate him as the overconfident brunette watched.
"Wait!" I said, turning to Bebe before I whispered in her ear.
The blonde burst out laughing as everyone stared at us, confused about what I had just said.
"Okay, Clyde," Bebe declared, wiping away a tear of laughter. "I dare you to take this bottle and shove your dick in it."
Clyde's eyes went as big as the moon, and the snorts of laughter could be heard in the background. "WHAT!?"
"You heard me," Bebe egged him on, "A dare is a dare!"
"What if it's too big for the bottle?"
"I don't think that's going to be a problem, lil bro," Craig countered.
Clyde groaned, but he was left without a choice. He at least had the brains to turn around when he did it so no one could see, but another problem soon presented itself.
"Uhhhhhhh," Clyde stuttered, "I think it's stuck."
"PPAPAPA!" Kenny fell back till his wheezes turned silent,
"Nah, wait, are you lying?" Tolkien asked as we all saw Clyde try to rip off the bottle in one move. He winced back in pain and fell flat on his back, giving all of us a clear view of his predicament.
The sight was probably one of the last things I ever would want to see in my life.
"Clyde! Holy Shit!" I yelled, "Why the fuck did you put it in so far!?"
Clyde growled, "How about you teach me the correct way to put your penis inside a glass bottle then?"
"Clyde, calm down," Wendy instructed, taking Bebe's phone right out of her friend's hand. "I'm sure you're not the first person to do something this stupid."
"This isn't even my fault!" Clyde wined.
"Shouldn't have picked dare," Craig advised, probably the one taking the most amusement from Clyde's embarrassment.
"Wendy, are you using my phone to google how to get a penis out of a vodka glass!?" Bebe looked over Wendy's shoulder at what she was googling. "Please tell me you at least used incognito mode."
"No time for that." Wendy continued to look through articles as Bebe watched, unimpressed.
Wendy gave instructions, and Craig and Tolkien were reluctantly chosen to pull the bottle off. Eventually, the glass bottle slid off Clyde's wiener, and four fell to the floor.
"Holy shit," Tolkien muttered, as all of us watching were too quiet to want to say anything.
After a minute of silence, Red spoke up. "Well, do you think we should continue now or what?"
Clyde groaned but didn't say anything.
"How about no dares to do with private parts from now on?" Nicole suggested.
We all nodded.
"Well, here is the bottle if y'all want to continue using it," Craig muttered, dropping the bottle to the ground. "I'm going to go wash my hands. I'll return after I get the image of Clyde's dick out of my head."
As he left, with Tolkien on his heels, all of us stared at the bottle lying on the ground.
"I don't know if I want to use that exact bottle anymore," I commented.
Clyde scowled at me, "You were the one that told Bebe to ask me that!"
"It was funny, though," Kenny replied.
"Worth." Red echoed.
It didn't take long for us to find another bottle and continue playing, although perhaps dialing down the dares and truths. It landed on Butters, Jessie, Kenny, Bebe (again), and Annie before the bottle stopped in front of me. I watched Jessie whisper something into her ear and giggle.
"Stan, truth or dare?"
I didn't want to end up like Clyde, but they had come up with some pretty embarrassing questions for truth. "Dare."
The two girls giggled again. Fuck. I clearly made the wrong choice.
"Okay," Annie said, a grin plastered across her face. "I dare you... to make out with Red for a minute straight."
I looked at the blonde for a second before my gaze turned to the girl right beside me. Her cheeks glowed in the dim light as her eyes searched mine as if she was hoping for an answer.
I grinned more than I probably ever have in my life. "A dares a dare!"
"I've got to go now," Wendy suddenly blurted to Bebe before she raced out of the room faster than she thought she could.
The dark-haired girl could feel the tears burning in the back of her eyes. When she had given, saw Red next to Stan, a part of her heart sank. When the two of them kissed each other, she had to fight the urge to rip the two of them away from each other. But a make-out session? That was too much for her. She couldn't handle it.
Wendy ran down the hall and rushed down the stairs to the main part of the party. It was well past 1 am at this point, but the party was still going strong as guests danced to the music, drank alcohol and smoked weed, or simply made themselves comfortable and talked with their friends. Wendy wasn't paying attention to all of that. She just wanted to be by herself, away from Stan, away from Red.
The raven head pushed herself through the crowded rooms till she eventually came to the door to the outside patio. Without hesitation, she opened the door and ran outside, not even caring about the chilly weather and the thick layer of snow that surrounded her. It wasn't until she reached the edge of the patio, where she was sure she was out of sight, that she finally stopped.
Wendy sat down in the cold, wet snow. She could tell her hair was frazzled, and her mascara was starting to run, but she didn't care about any of that.
Stan and Red.
The tears that had threatened to pour out of her eyes began to well up again. Wendy buried her head into her knees as she cried. She couldn't hide it anymore; she missed him.
"Uh, I'll be back," Bebe told everyone the second that she saw her best friend race out of the room.
Without a second to spare, she followed in Wendy's footsteps as the girl ran away. A feeling of worry and fear washed over her as she caught sight of the dark-haired girl sprinting off into the party's fray. Bebe bolted after her, pushing through the crowd and desperately calling the raven's name.
"Wendy! Wait!" She cried as she saw her friend disappear into another room.
The blonde didn't even care about anyone else at this point. She forced her way through a group of chatting girls and a horde of football kids as she chased after Wendy, earning angry glares and comments. She charged her way through to the edge of the mansion, where she saw the open door to the patio. The snow was cold on her high heels, and the howling of the wind raised goosebumps across her skin, but she continued on till she spotted Wendy at the end of the patio. Her heart dropped as she saw Wendy's signature ebony hair tucked into her knees.
"Wendy!" Bebe called, racing over to her side. The girl looked up, a ring of red around her eyes as her makeup ran down her face.
Bebe didn't say anything more; she took a seat beside Wendy, wrapping Wendy in a tight hug.
Two of them sat there like that for a minute, the howl of the wind growing silent until the sound of Wend'ys breathing was the only thing to be heard. It didn't matter what was bothering her; Bebe had already made up her mind that it would take the power of a seven-nation army to drag her away from Wendy.
"I don't know what came over me," Wendy sniffed, her voice frail and quiet. "It just happened."
Bebe pulled Wendy in closer, "As long as you're okay. That's all that matters."
"I knew that it was going to happen." Wendy continued. "I've noticed how those two have gotten closer and closer and how much Red has been talking about him. Every single English class, they managed to have at least one conversation. But I didn't do anything."
Bebe continued to stay quiet.
"Every once in a while, I still think back to those days in 4th grade when Stan and I were together," Wendy whispered. "He used to be everything to me.
Then I left him.
I don't even remember why; maybe it was that stupid gender war. Ever since then, whenever I looked at him, I would have to force myself to look away to avoid getting caught staring. I told myself it was for the best and that we would find someone else who brought those feelings back."
Bebe watched another teardrop pour down her cheek.
"But now he's found someone, and I'm crying outside in the wind and snow."
Wendy buried her head in her knees again as she began sobbing.
Together, the two of them sat in silence for another minute, ignoring Wendy's cries, until Bebe eventually spoke.
"I know something that might help," she whispered to her, taking out her phone and opening Spotify. "Do you remember when Heidi was getting over her relationship with Cartman for the finale time, and the two of us sat with her all night?"
Wendy lifted her head before giving a quick nod.
"I remember we made a playlist to listen to." Bebe said, "She later said that it made her feel understood, and it helped drive away the feeling of loneliness."
Bebe clicked on the playlist and pressed play.
Vienna by Billy Joel.
For the first time since they sat down, Wendy looked at Bebe, her eyes puffy and her face coated in tears. "Thanks, Bebe," she whispered to her before pulling her into the strongest hug the blonde had ever felt in her entire life. As the two of them sat, a light snow began to flurry down from the sky as the voice of Billy Joel continued playing.
"But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?"
Kyle had to get out of the house. It didn't matter that it was late at night; if he stayed home for a minute longer, he felt he would implode.
Quietly and quickly, the ginger boy grabbed his hat and coat before slipping out into the dark of the night. He was tempted to get into his car and drive, but he figured that it was probably not the smartest idea in his current state. Besides, there was nowhere his car could take him that he wanted to go, and his feet couldn't do the same.
With that, Kyle began walking. He wasn't going anywhere in particular, but maybe the cold air and dark sky would help him feel better.
It seemed as if everything had gone to shit ever for Kyle. He knew a party was going on; Craig had come up to him and invited him, but he was definitely not in the mood for partying. Maybe he would have gone if his friends had told him to take a minute away from working on their band and instead devoted one day to hanging out as friends.
Kyle sighed as he rounded the corner and found himself walking down the street where South Park Elementary was. He only glanced up for a second; it was still the exact same thing as it was 10 years ago, before walking right past it. It wasn't long till he came to the end of the street, but he knew where he was going now,
Starks Pond.
It was one of the most cherished places in South Park, and everyone who lived in their town had at least a couple of fond memories of it. He remembered when they would Ice skate on it as kids, go fishing, or swim on a hot summer day. Heck, it was literally the location of their 8th-grade graduation party.
Kyle was caught off guard as he walked to the lakeside when he saw a faint shadow in the immediate darkness. As he approached, it was clear it was a person; who would be awake and about at this time? But as he drew nearer, it was someone he would never have expected.
"Cartman!?"
The fatter male practically jumped out of his skin before he turned around and glared at the ginger. "Kyle! What the fuck are you doing out here?!"
Kyle gave him a look, "I could say the exact same thing to you!"
"Don't scare me like that; I was having a nice soulful walk till you came and ruined it."
Kyle didn't respond immediately, so he sat next to Cartman on the bench.
"So, why aren't you at the party?" Kyle asked, breaking the silence. Cartman huffed.
"Those dickheads didn't even invite me. Why aren't you there? Surely, they invited you."
Kyle shrugged, "They did, but I didn't feel like going."
'Well, you're kind of stupid."
Another wave of awkward silence took over.
"Why didn't you go?" Cartman eventually asked him, speaking more softly than before.
Kyle sighed. It was just the two of them; no reason that he couldn't say why.
"I just don't feel motivated to do anything anymore. Even in school, everything just seems like a waste of time now, and no matter how hard I try, I can't focus on anything. I don't know what's going on with me."
For the first time in forever, Cartman listened and nodded his head rather than saying something stupid. "I wish Stan and Kenny would actually want to hang out with us." He continued. "It used to be you and Stan and Kenny and I, and now everything has completely shifted."
Kyle gave him a look of understanding.
Cartman huffed again before taking something out of his pocket. "Want a cigarette?"
The ginger boy gave him a look, "I didn't know you smoked."
"I don't even know how to light them." Cartman admitted, "I just bought them because I thought they would help fit the mood."
Kyle pondered for a second. "What if we just light them and hold them in our hands like we're depressed 45-year-old men in an action movie?"
Cartman shrugged. They then sat in silence, cigarettes in hand, watching the slow waves of Stark's pond ripple against the shore.
Been a while since we checked up on Kyle and Cartman right? Don't worry, were going hear a lot more from them next chapter!