Here's the introduction to a story I've been working on. I don't know yet how long it's going to be, but the chapters are going to be much longer than this prologue. I hope you enjoy! Read and review.

I don't own South Park.

Beside Me in the Morning

Prologue

Wendy was eight years old when she got her first taste of romance, and it was everything a third grade romance was supposed to be. Stan Marsh was so sickeningly sweet that even the way he vomited from nervousness at her presence was cute. But eventually the novelty wore off and Wendy got tired of Stan. She broke up with him for Token in fourth grade, eager for something new and fresh, but it didn't take being apart from Stan long before she decided he was definitely the one for her. She was back with Stan in no time, but it was never quite the same after that. He stopped getting nervous around her and she stopped caring, and by the summer following fourth grade they ended their relationship by mutual agreement. And just like that, her first romance ended, making way for many more to come.

In fifth grade, Wendy discovered that Clyde Donovan had a crush on her. She decided to make him her boyfriend, not because she liked him, but because no one else was showing any interest in her. Why would they, when she was best friends with Bebe Stevens, who had blossomed at an early age and just couldn't seem to stop getting prettier every day? Why Clyde liked Wendy was beyond her, and why she would rather be with a guy she didn't like than be single was an even bigger mystery. Wendy learned a couple of valuable lessons that year. First of all, she learned that convenience was not the most important factor in choosing a boyfriend. And secondly, she learned that Clyde Donovan had about as much personality as a dry sandwich.

In sixth grade, Wendy fell for Brad Dixon. Two weeks later, Brad started dating Bebe. At twelve years old, Wendy experienced what she thought was her first heartbreak.

During the summer after sixth grade, Kenny McCormick hit a growth spurt, and when he showed up at school on the first day of seventh grade without the familiar orange parka he'd finally outgrown, girls started to discover that he was good-looking, Wendy included. She was still flat as a board, but for some reason, Kenny seemed to like her back. After two months of dating, she decided that Kenny was The One. And she told him so. When Kenny asked her whether that meant she'd start putting out for him, she dumped him. Kenny quickly got over it.

In eighth grade, Wendy dated Craig Tucker. It was around this time that Eric Cartman started harassing her more and more. Bebe blamed this on Craig's utter apathy towards Wendy and life in general. Bebe wasn't a feminist like Wendy, and firmly believed that a boyfriend should defend his girlfriend against assholes like Cartman. Craig argued that Cartman was a dick to everyone, so Wendy shouldn't expect special treatment. She spent the entire year being harassed by Cartman and listening to her best friend and her boyfriend argue. Somehow, she wasn't surprised or angry when Craig dumped her for Bebe.

In the middle of ninth grade, Wendy suddenly and unexpectedly found that she'd caught the eye of Kyle Broflovski. When he asked her out, she accepted, wondering why she'd never pictured the two of them together before. Kyle was smart and easy to talk to. She would sit with Kyle's friends at lunch, and the two of them dominated the conversations, much to Cartman's dismay, never running out of subject matter. They just made sense as a couple. They got along and had loads in common. Maybe too much in common. During the four months that they dated, they kissed a total of three times, each kiss more awkward than the last. When she asked him if he was gay, she found that she'd come to the right conclusion. When they broke up, they just told everyone that they were better as friends.

She continued hanging out with Kyle's friends after that, finding she got along with them better than she ever did with Bebe and her other friends. Kyle said it was because she was too smart for them; Bebe didn't surround herself with the most remarkable people. Cartman said it was because of Bebe's bad habit of stealing her boyfriends. Although Wendy could hardly blame Bebe for being so fucking pretty while she herself was—as Kenny so graciously put it—butch. He blamed this on the fact that she never did get boobs. It was true. Wendy was fifteen and still flat as ever.

So there she was, one of the guys, spending lunch hour with a firmly closeted Kyle, legendary sex-god Kenny, bigoted and fat as ever Cartman, and…Stan. Her very first boyfriend. To whom the years had been so…so good. And she found herself spending more and more time thinking about him.

Cartman told her one day that even though she'd gone through the rest of his friends, he refused to be her next romantic "victim". She told him that could only ever happen in his dreams, and that she was back on Stan anyways. Not that Stan seemed to notice. Could she blame him? He'd had his own share of girlfriends, and he hadn't liked Wendy in that way since they were kids.

For whatever reason, Cartman promised not to tell Stan what he knew. However, that didn't stop him from teasing her incessantly whenever the object of her affection wasn't present. Wendy learned to ignore the fatass's comments, but Kyle would flush with anger and jump to the girl's defense, and Kenny would roll his eyes and smile as if he knew something the rest of them didn't.

When Stan started dating Bebe, Cartman was the one to break it to Wendy, and he didn't do it delicately. She didn't know what she wanted to do more; take out that bitch Bebe or wipe that stupid smirk off of Cartman's face. But it didn't matter. Neither would make Stan hers again.

By the time she was sixteen, Wendy was sure of two things. The first was that she was head-over-heels for Stan Marsh. The second was that she hated Eric Cartman with every fiber of her being.

Cartman, on the other hand, was sure of only one thing. That he was in love with Wendy Testaburger.

School starts for me in just over a week, so updates may not be very frequent. But the first official chapter should be up soon.

Oh, and I have to thank Bialy for getting me into the Candy pairing and for getting me completely pumped to write this story. Hope it lives up to every expectation.