Drifted - Stan and Kyle

[Chapter 8]

It had been weeks since Stan and I had voluntarily interacted, and the lack of communication was hurting my heart more than it should. 

As much as I resented the fact that he had changed, I couldn't help but feel a gaping hole in my heart. Was I truly the reason for his change? I thought back to what Craig had told me the day Stan and I had our talk. I was supposed to be Stan's friend- his super-best friend, but I can't be the sole person to blame for his issues. 

Our streak of silence was soon broken as I entered my Honors Physics class.

"Alright students, take your seats!" Dr. Oliver said, enthusiastically. I had grown to hate this class, even with my passion for science. "As the end of the first quarter is approaching, I have decided to craft a project for you all to ensure you understand the basics of physics." The class collectively groaned, "For your project, I'm putting you in pairs to study a famous physicist and explain their importance in the world of science!" Clyde and I rolled our eyes in sync. 

"Alright, your pairs are Tweek and Red, Clyde and Michael, Red and Henrietta, Stan and Kyle-"

Shit. My head snapped over to look at Stan, and he looked just as concerned as I felt. My stomach began to churn and my hands quickly became clammy. I felt nervous- and I couldn't quite place it. I was nervous about being around Stan again- only because it wouldn't be like it should be.

My thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Oliver telling us we need to sit with our partner. I slowly got up and sat next to Stan. He greeted me with a small smile. After about a minute of us sitting in silence, he finally spoke.

"So we got assigned Werner Heisenberg- How do you want to split up the work?" I was surprised at his level of focus. I was always the one to take charge in school assignments,

"I can research his work if you wanna do his background and why it's relevant," I suggested, pulling out my laptop. He nodded and we began working. We were soon working in perfect synchronization, the perfect productive pair. 

Just as quickly as the class began, it ended. I didn't realize this until Stan waved his hand in front of my face.

"Do you want to just finish the research portion in the library today after school?" He asked, nonchalantly. Does this mean we were hanging out again? Now I was the confused one. 

"Yeah-" I smiled softly and began packing up my stuff, getting ready to head to Pottery.

The rest of the day I was unnecessarily flighty- and by the time it was lunch I was eager for it to be the end of the school day.

I set my lunch tray down next to Kenny and Butters, who were engrossed in a conversation about the magic of vasectomies. Craig was seemingly studying for an upcoming test, Jimmy and Tweek were sharing their new comics so I opened my phone and began scrolling on Instagram when a notification popped up.

[marsh.stan19y has requested to follow you]

I felt a smile grow on my face. I let out a small chuckle and I couldn't contain my slight grin. I was hoping we could try and become close again and maybe this was the first step to that. I began looking through Stan's posts, and I had come to realize he had old pictures of us up on his page. There was one from the year that I left, captioned "I'm gonna miss my SBF- until next time dude!". I couldn't help myself from smiling at that. Scrolling up to more recently there were pictures and videos of him from his band gigs. I began watching a video he posted of a set he played. 

His hair was longer, and his eyes had dark eyeliner messily drawn on. As he sang, sweat glistened on his neck and forehead. He was slightly smirking as he sang and I felt an intense wave of pride wash over me. This video was about 9 months old, but he had looked so happy- so passionate and into his music. 

"What are you smiling about?" Craig asked, not looking up from his physics textbook. I jumped, I was so focused on the video of Stan I hadn't realized I was still at school. 

"Oh, nothing- I realized I need to go talk to... Mr. Garrison" I said, but even that sentence was laced with a spark I couldn't explain. I got up quickly, grabbing my bag and lunch tray. I threw the rest of my lunch in the trash and rushed off to my locker, even though my class didn't start for another 10 minutes. 

I slumped down next to my locker and sighed. I didn't understand why I was so smiley, it was just Stan. I began scrolling through my camera roll, finding old pictures of us from when we were kids. 

I sighed and leaned my head back against my locker.

I missed Stan. 

He was my super best friend, and knowing he's right here in my life but I can't be that way with him anymore is eating me up inside. 

I suffered through my last-period class, eagerly waiting for the bell to ring so I could finish my project with Stan. 

As soon as the final bell rang, I rushed to the library. As I entered, I felt my body tense up and my palms start to sweat. The smell of old, unused books wasn't helping either. Stan waved me over to a table he had claimed by the window. His headphones were on one ear, and the position they were in ruffled up his hair. 

"Hey, dude," I said, sitting across from him. He smiled softly and put the other ear of his headphone on. 

As we worked, we didn't say much, and quite frankly I didn't think either of us knew what to say. 

After about two hours of us doing our project in silence, Stan finally spoke.

"I'm done with my portion-" He took off his headphones and met my eyes. 

"I am too," I said, closing my laptop. As I began packing up my schoolwork, I noticed he was very fidgety. 

"What's up?" I asked, a little nervous for his reply,

"I need a ride home, my car broke down last week and my dad hasn't been letting me use his and normally I'd-" Stan began rambling, I could tell he was getting nervous. 

I smiled softly, "I'll take you home, Stan."