Cartman ran out of the classroom and sprinted down the hallway until he caught up to the rest of the class.
From the back of the line he watched the other kids walking ahead of him. The girls walked first, Lola and Heidi with Jenny a half step behind. Red came next, followed by Annie, Bebe and Wendy. Stan walked behind Wendy.
"Here" Cartman said to Kenny. He handed him a slip of lined paper. "Can you give this to Mr. Garrison on Monday?" he asked.
"Piece of cake" Kenny smirked, nodding.
"I mean it!" Cartman shouted, he looked around him and then lowered his voice "It's important, don't forget" Cartman pointed at his hand.
"Hey, don't worry" Kenny whispered "I won't forget" he winked.
Last day of school. And there was one last thing Cartman had to do before the day was over.
"Wait here" he told Kenny. Cartman picked up his pace until he was walking besides Stan Marsh.
"Hi" Cartman greeted sorrowfully.
Stan looked over, surprised. They hardly ever spoke to each other after elementary school.
"I need someone to take care of my cat" Cartman gulped, feeling tears "I'm not bringing him to Hawaii"
"Why not?" Stan asked shocked.
"It's a long story. Anyways, do you want him?" They were out. They words that had been building up and building up inside his vocal chords finally were loose.
"What?" Stan wasn't sure he had heard right.
"I asked you if you want my dog" he repeated, a little irritated.
"You're giving me your cat?"
"Yeah" Cartman sighed "You said you've been wanting to get a cat, right? Since Sparky died. Well, you want him or not?"
"Well, hell yeah" Stan replied. He still couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Okay, he's yours" Cartman nodded grimly "But if I ever hear you're not taking care of Mr. Kitty, I'll fly from Hawaii and rip all of your limbs off. Okay?"
Stan nodded seriously. Wide eyes. Wild.
"I mean that" Cartman said. His eyes had teared up again, and his voice broke with every word.
"You don't have to worry" Stan reassured him.
"You need to come over to my house after school"
Wendy walked down a hallway that was long as an airport run way. She thought of Amelia Earhart, tired and hungry, near the end of her first solo trip across the Atlantic, trying to find a place to land her plane.
It's not about breaking any record, Wendy thought, it's about finding a place to land, a way to land, so nobody gets hurt.
Mr. Garrison's class was jumpy with adrenaline. It made them walk faster than usual, so fast that when they got to the auditorium they almost ran smack into the back of one of the sixth grade classes.
Wendy walked into the auditorium. The enormous room teemed with talking kids. She experienced the sound as an ocean, rolling, shifting, sighing.
As Mr. Garrison's class took their seats, a little ripple of excitement flickered through one side of the auditorium. Other eight graders from different classes looked over, winking and giving them thumbs up signs, and clapping softly.
"We're famous!" Red whispered as she took her seat next to Wendy.
"Act normal!" Kyle reminded everyone.
Down by the stage Principal Victoria was talking to a tall, strange man. Wendy guessed that was the mysterious creepy reader they had been hearing about. Next to him there was a woman with a fancy camera around her neck.
"She must be from the newspaper" Bebe whispered to Wendy excited.
"Everyone please take your seats!" Principal Victoria shouted into the microphone. She waited until the talking had stopped before continuing.
"This is a very special day" Principal Victoria beamed at the large crowd. "We are all in for a real treat this afternoon. We have a wonderful storyteller with us, a man who comes all the way from Hungary, in Eastern Europe. I know you will give our guest your complete attention. It is my pleasure to introduce Klof Selat!"
Loud applause came from all directions. Wendy studied the man as he moved to the microphone. He had a beard and a long ponytail. More than anything, he reminded her of Paul Bunyan.
"I've got a story to tell you" he began in a voice to amazingly low it was practically gravel. He paused and looked around fiercely, as if daring anyone to disagree. "But I'm going to need some help for this one. I'll need four teachers"
At this Principal Victoria sprang up to the microphone from the side lines.
"Why don't we have the eighth grade teachers come up here" he suggested. There was some applause as Mrs. Reilly, Mrs. Friedman, and Mrs. Kiefer made their way to the front of the auditorium. They stood smiling nervously in front of the storyteller.
"Oh no!" Bebe whispered, loud enough for the entire class to hear. She was not alone in her fear.
Wendy squeezed her armrest, hard.
"Mr. Garrison isn't here" Principal Victoria said, searching the crowd. His eyes fixed on Kyle Broflovski. "Kyle who is your sub?"
Kyle stood up. Six hundred eyes feasted upon her. Feeding on her confidence. Wendy could see that Kyle's hands were shaking. If anybody can handle this it's Kyle Broflovski, she thought.
Kyle hesitated, biting his lip.
"Who is your substitute?" Principal Victoria asked again.
Kyle hesitated for a second, then threw up her arms. It was the only time Wend had seen Kyle make such a gesture, and it was so helpless, so completely out of character, that Wendy almost burst out laughing.
"Well?" Principal Victoria demanded. She leaned forward to listen and so did the entire auditorium.
"Well, um, you see..." Kyle stammered. "See, we didn't have a sub today. We didn't have anybody"
At that moment, the photographer swiveled around, her flash went off and all hell broke loose.
YOU ARE READING
Flying Solo {Completed}
FanfikceButters Stotch was in love with Wendy Testaburger, obsessed. One night Butters died and when Wendy learns, she stops talking. Six months later Mr. Garrison is sick and nobody shows up to teach them. What happened when Mr. Garrison's eighth grade cla...
