Trial And Error

By AllzStar

Author's Note: I had the idea, and I had to act on it immediately.

Prologue

The smell of sizzling vegetables and ground beef wafts from the kitchen into the den, where I am lounging on the couch with an xbox controller in my hand, trying to beat all the villains in the game I'm playing. I breathe in the scent of dinner; my stomach rumbles. Constant hunger comes with being a sixteen-year-old boy. Although I most likely have stopped growing, my appetite has not let off since my last growth-spurt. And you'd think at six foot two I'd finally stop eating my mother out of house and home.

I pause the game and get up off my ass to stretch my arms above my head, yawning in the process. Then I sluggishly make my way into the kitchen, where Mom is setting the table for dinner.

"Back from the dead, Stanley?" Mom asks sarcastically as I take my seat at the dinner table and start picking at my food. I make a grunting noise in response. "Well, you're not just going to be sitting in front of the television all March Break, Stan. Call your friends after dinner and arrange a play date or something."

Ugh. My mom so doesn't realize that my friends and I are way too old to have "play dates".

My big sister Shelley (big is literal in this case) comes barging into the kitchen, pulling her wispy brown hair into a ponytail at the back of her head. "Mom," she whines as she takes a seat opposite me, "can I go to the mall tomorrow with Danny?"

"Shelley, you know that I'm working tomorrow," Mom says tiredly, dishing up her own plate and joining us at the table.

"But Mom," Shelley moans, "I already said I'd meet him!"

"Well, you should have asked me first, dear."

"I can't just bail out on him now!"

"I'm sure he won't mind," I mutter sarcastically.

Shelley kicks me in the shin. "Shut up, turd!"

"OW! Mom! She kicked me!"

"Kids, stop it," Mom breathes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Please."

We settle down and pick at our meals. I can't help but glance at the empty chair across from Mom, the one that Dad had always occupied up and till a month ago, when he'd moved out for good. The divorce hadn't been all that surprising to Shelley and me; we've seen it coming for years. But it's been weird not having Dad around all the time. Last I heard from him, he was looking for a condo in Denver, which is a good three hours away. Needless to say, we won't be seeing him much.

Halfway through our meal the kitchen phone rings. Shelley jumps up to get it, but Mom beats her to it, yelling that it's probably a call from work. She picks up and says, "Hello?" in the same tired voice she's been using since the divorce. "Well, it's the Harrison residence now. My husband moved out. Yes, Stanley's here." I look up at the sound of my name. There's a long silence in which the person on the other end of the line speaks. "Oh..." Mom looks at me, then back at the wall where the phone hangs. "He's right here." She passes me the phone.

My stomach churns suddenly, and I have a bad feeling that I'm not going to like whatever this person has to say to me. "Hello?"

"Hi, Stanley Marsh?"

"Yeah."

"I'm calling from Hell's Pass Hospital about your friend Kyle. I think you should come down to see him. There's been an accident."