It was a fairly quiet Sunday evening.
The eighteen year old (but very soon to be a nineteen year old) Wendy Testaburger was currently sitting in her dorm room in Carman Hall, which was fairly close to her college of Columbia University.
Perched on the edge of her bed, the ravenette had been engrossed in studying for a better part of the day, being surrounded by piles of notes and a bunch of open textbooks stacked on top of each other. She had been studying really hard for her final exams that were just around the corner, with determination evident in the furrowed lines on her forehead and the intense focus she had been keeping on the text in front of her.
While it had been several months since she had left her hometown of South Park to pursue her dreams of studying at one of the most prestigious universities in the world and had so far enjoyed all the opportunities that came with it, Wendy still sometimes felt incredibly homesick and missed all her favorite people back in the small podunk mountain town she had gotten to call home for a better part of her life.
She let out a sigh as she finally decided to take a little, but well-deserved break from all the studying she had been doing. She gazed out of the window at the bustling streets of the Big Apple, which were certainly a stark contrast to the usual quietude she had grown up with back in Colorado, managing to hit her with that good old sense of nostalgia.
And as if someone was sensing her loneliness and the onset of longing for South Park, Wendy's phone suddenly began to ring and make noise on her desk, causing her to glance over at it and to start wondering who could possibly be calling her at this hour?
With her interest suddenly piqued, she then got up from her bed and walked over to the desk in order to pick up her phone and to see who was calling, but not before she almost started jumping right there on the spot and had an excited grin etched onto her face.
''Stan? What is this about?'', she questioned, sounding both excited and a little bit confused at the same time.
Her boyfriend of nearly eleven years and the love of her life ever since she was eight years old, Stan Marsh, was studying all the way across the country at University of Southern California on a football scholarship. While he himself had more often than not been very busy with his own school work and football games he played as a member of USC Trojans, he always made sure to find enough time to call his girlfriend to check in and to tell her how he had been doing.
Stan and Wendy often made plans to talk on the phone and video chat during the evening, since they were both in different time zones and it was sometimes challenging to find a suitable time to chat, so they arranged to have a little facetime date tonight – which was something Wendy must've probably completely forgotten about, since she had been so busy with studying for her finals and hadn't had the time to focus on anything else other than that.
''Hey babe.'', Stan greeted cheerfully as his face popped up on Wendy's phone screen, causing her to giggle quietly to herself and give him a small, loving smile as she waved back at him. ''How are things? Still studying hard for the finals, aren't you?''
''Yeah, I've been doing okay with it.'', Wendy replied as she walked back towards her bed and plopped herself onto it, releasing a contented sigh and getting into a more comfortable position. ''Studying, sleeping, eating. Rinse and repeat, I guess.''
Stan let out a tiny chuckle at the sound of Wendy's noticeably sleepy voice, knowing just how much she had been studying over the past few weeks and how much effort she had been putting into her studies, which definitely warranted taking a little break – and if anyone deserved a little bit of relaxation right now, it was her for sure.
''That sounds pretty rough.'', the quarterback responded while looking at Wendy through the screen, clearly concerned about the state of her well-being, but also knowing at the same time that she would nail those final exams – she was one hell of a smart cookie afterall.
''Yeah, yeah, you don't have to remind me about it every two minutes or so.'', Wendy rolled her eyes teasingly. ''But yeah, I promise I'll nail those final exams and get the grades I need.''
Stan laughed at the sight of his girlfriend, smiling as she yawned and stretched herself out slightly. ''So, how's Columbia been treating you so far?'', he asked curiously while leaning forward a little bit, resting his elbows onto his thighs as he watched Wendy through the camera.
''It's incredible Stan, honestly.'', the noirette replied, letting out a sigh. ''The campus itself is ginormous and it's actually not that far away from some of New York's most famous spots. The classes are challenging, the professors are amazing, but…'', she hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. ''But I've been feeling kinda' homesick lately and missing a lot of people back home: my parents, you, Bebe, Tweek, the rest of the girls…''
''Oh babe, I totally get you. It's been tough for me at certain times as well, you know?'', Stan admitted sympathetically, running a hand through his hair and giving Wendy a sweet smile. ''And I miss you too, obviously. It's just not the same without you here by my side.''
Wendy giggled to herself at her boyfriend's last statement, because what he said was absolutely true – their relationship had only managed to get even stronger over the years, as the years went by, and despite her not wanting to admit it, she did feel really lonely when she wasn't able to see Stan everyday (with that only ringing even more true now that they were thousands of miles away from each other and living on the opposite ends of the country).
''I mean, at least we get to talk over FaceTime like this and catch up.'', she responded with a shrug. ''I know it will never compare to being around each other all the time and seeing each other in flesh, but I guess we'll just have to make the most out of this whole situation, won't we?''
''That's true.'', Stan replied. ''So, you're gonna' stay up all night again?''
''Well, I'm not sure about it. I mean, I can always study some more tomorrow morning, but for tonight…'', Wendy trailed off with a sigh, staring blankly at the notebook and textbooks scattered all over her bed. ''I think I'll make an exception for tonight and stick with our date night plans instead, because I just wanna' spend as much time with you as possible.''
''Sounds good to me then.'', the dark haired young man agreed happily and gave Wendy his signature bright smile.
Despite being in different cities and 2445 miles that separated them, Stan and Wendy both knew that their relationship would survive any difficulties or hardships that may come their way in the future – because they were really determined to not let anything or anyone ever come in between them and change how much they loved each other, with desire to be closer to each other and spend every single second together being their mutual driving force.