Tweek's suicide attempt dominated all gossip the next day, even though no one knew for sure whether the news was true or not. The girls were no less curious about it.

Bebe trailed along while Wendy, Heidi, and the other girls discussed the best methods of investigating the veracity of this rumor. Of course, for Wendy, everything was an investigation, when all she really meant to do was resolve her own need to know everything.

At least Bebe knew Wendy did not seek this news out of malice. In fact, nearly everyone at school was sympathetic to Tweek's situation. Wendy just had to know because knowing made her feel more in control of her social role. She put an insane amount of effort into finding out everything she could about everyone else. Besides, if it were true, Wendy wanted to send Tweek a gift to let him know that everyone at school still cared about him.

A well meaning bulldozer was still a bulldozer, though, and Wendy's tactics were not nearly as friendly as her intentions.

Maybe Bebe would feel different if her own life didn't seem like it was falling to shit, but she was more inclined to do nothing, particularly if they don't even know if Tweek did try to kill himself. She seemed to be the only one who thought this way. The other girls all wanted to know, either to show their support for Tweek or because they simply wanted to know.

She jolted up in surprise when Lola mentioned, "Hey, Bebe, Clyde still likes you, right?"

"I don't know." Bebe's break-up with Clyde had been as tumultuous as when they got together. Bebe should have seen that coming, as Clyde was very driven by emotions. Eventually the emotions became too much for Bebe: she felt like she had to take care of him all the time and she was always failing at getting him to feel better about himself. She rigged The List to get Clyde at the top, and it did work for a while until it crashed because stupid Kyle Broflovski couldn't handle losing just one insignificant thing in his high-achieving life. Why were boys so stupid and fragile?

"Yeah, he does," Annie said reassuringly. "Most guys love Bebe."

"Right, and you're still sort of friendly," Lola pointed out. "Maybe you could, you know, feel him out."

Bebe's mouth dropped. "What are you saying?"

"You know. Just work your Bebe magic," Lola said.

"No!" Bebe shouted. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"There's nothing wrong with-" Lola said. Lola firmly believed it, too. She worked at Raisins and had a superhuman confidence in her body.

"Or you could just ask him," Nichole butted in, but that was a dumb idea too.

"I said no!" Bebe's aversion stuck with her, that at least some of the girls expected her to act as some kind of seductress to get the truth of some rumor she didn't even care about.

"Bebe," Wendy laid her hand comfortingly on Bebe's shoulder, but Bebe recoiled. "Don't touch me!" She edged away from her friends, while growing increasingly aware of the attention she had garnered. To her embarrassment, she burst into tears. She covered her face and fled to the bathroom.

She sniffled as she searched through her things. She must have dropped her make-up bag when she ran off crying. Great, now her face was going to be all red and blotchy, unless . . . she remembered that she had stashed some make up in her art cubby. She would have to wait until the halls cleared, though. She could easily dodge the hall monitors, and the art room was always unlocked even when it wasn't in use.

Once the bell rang and everything grew quiet, Bebe peeked out of the bathroom and into the empty hallways. The sight of the empty space that had been crammed with students before had sunk into Bebe, reminding her how alone she was. But Andre was not here. He had no reason to come treading through these hallways. Bebe didn't have to be afraid, and she would make it to the art room unnoticed.

The plan fell through when she reached the far end of the school, where she saw Craig beating the shit out of Kyle.

The whole Broflovski household ran late that morning. Kyle's father had gotten home at one in the morning, and he and Sheila proceeded to have a relatively quiet argument for the next couple of hours. Kyle had not been able to sleep after that.

Tweek's suicide attempt wasn't just a rumor. Luckily, Kyle had not had to see it for himself. Wherever Tweek was staying in Denver was too far away for those visions to reach him. Kyle only found out the instant his dad came home, worrying about how this was going to affect his case.

When his father had an important case like this, he often turned into an asshole. Kyle was used to that. Although, like his father, Kyle desperately wanted Mr. Tweak to pay for everything he had done. And once Kyle had started thinking about how much he wanted Mr. Tweak to pay, he condemned himself to a sleepless night.

His mom drove him to school because he missed the bus. After she asked for the millionth time if he was sure he wouldn't rather stay home today, he got out of the car, and waved as his mother drove away.

He had almost reached the side entrance when -

"You fucking piece of shit!"

He had not seen it coming at all. He was too tired and it didn't seem like Craig planned to ambush him. The opportunity presented itself, though, and Craig was angry at everyone who had wronged Tweek lately, and Kyle's father was on his list.

Craig crashed into him and landed several punches on him before Kyle could get his bearings — it took longer because Craig was flinging his abusive thoughts at Kyle just as furiously. Kyle tried to curl in to protect his face, but Craig wouldn't let him: he yanked Kyle's head back and dragged him down the concrete walk and farther out of sight from any passing cars.

"You should have kept your fucking mouth shut!" Craig punched Kyle in the ribs, as it was just now occurring to him that hits on the face would show too easily and that it would end the fight much sooner than Craig wanted. Craig wanted Kyle to feel pain, as much pain as Tweek must have felt when the hospital pumped his stomach. And now the whole school knew about it. Craig guessed the most likely person who would have shared the news: the one whose dad was acting as Tweek's lawyer.

Then Craig flew off of Kyle. He quickly sprang back up, studying Kyle with suspicion. Kyle should have used this opportunity to escape, but he was too tired and merely breathing hurt too much. Finally, Craig walked over to him and kicked Kyle in the hip one more time.

After Craig and his chaotic rage fled, things quieted and Kyle could feel Bebe's presence — her heat signature — nearby. He thought about calling her out, but luckily his sluggish brain discarded that idea. Just because she happened to witness the fight, it didn't make it her mess.