Chapter Text
It starts when Sharon sits him down one afternoon, regret in her voice, and tells him that Randy apparently had spent all of the college money that they’ve been saving up for him on fucking alcohol.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie.” his mother says softly, eyes looking down as she fidgets with her hands, a common habit she does when she feels particularly nervous.
He has a look of disbelief on his face. “You couldn’t stop him?”
She shakes her head. “By the time I found out, he’d already used it all up.”
Stan grits his teeth but days nothing. What can he say? He knows it's not his mother’s fault and that if she had known Randy would do this, she’d put her foot down.
Still Randy had never done this to Shelly. In fact, the moment his older sister turned 18, she immediately left for college, wanting to run away from the hell place that was Tegridy farm and away from the shit storm that was their father. Stan remembers feeling bitter about being left behind but ultimately he understood, he would’ve done the same if he was in her shoes.
That was the plan. Until now at least.
He feels his mother pull him into a tight hug.
“We’re going to get through this, Stanley. You’ll be able to go college, I promise.” Sharon says fiercely, against his head.
Stan grips her back tightly.
He can only hope she’s right.
***
He sits at his computer and starts mindlessly searching through the limited number of job posts. South Park was a small town after all, so the number of people looking for employees was limited. Given that his father had went and fucked with what was supposed his college fund, Stan had decided that night with his mother that he would find a job and save up money for college himself behind his dad’s back. But after scrolling for an hour, Stan had found no one willing to hire a teenager. Most employers were looking for someone experienced and Stan was a young 14 year old boy with little to no job experience.
He closes his laptop with a sigh as he leans back into his chair and stares up at the ceiling.
He’ll walk around tomorrow and hand in his resume (that his mother, bless her heart, had helped him craft) to some shops.
Stan groans as he feels his phone vibrate and leans over across his desk to pick it up. Upon further inspection, he notices that it’s his super best friend calling him. He contemplates picking up the phone before ultimately deciding not to. As much as he wanted to cry and vent out his frustration to Kyle, he couldn't.
Kyle Broflovski and Stan Marsh have been best friends for ten years. They were an inseparable duo who would never leave each other’s side. Two peas in a pod, yin and yang. Yet for all their closeness, they were the complete opposite of each other. Kyle was a smart cookie who came from a loving and was prone to having anger issues whereas Stan was the calmer one of the two and wore his heart on his sleeve and had a somewhat chaotic upbringing. That didn’t matter though, Kyle had stuck by him the most more than anyone ever did in his life and Stan was forever grateful to the red head.
Still even with all this, Stan felt uncomfortable about the subject with his father, so he had never talked about his issues at home to Kyle. In fact, Stan felt uncomfortable in general when it came to talking about things to Kyle. They were still best friends but something shifted ever since his tenth birthday. It became uncomfortable to be anything but positive around Kyle. He knows it was no one’s fault for the things that transpired but Stan had become too paranoid of Kyle leaving him if he showed his true self.
Their friendship had never been the same after that. But that was Stan’s burden to share, Kyle would never have to know.
Only really Kenny (and to an extension Tolkien, since they were neighbours) knew about his home issues. Kenny was the only one who would truly understand his situation anyway so Stan was content to talk to him.
He waits patiently for the phone to finish ringing. If he disconnects, he knows Kyle will confront him tomorrow about it.
Once the phone finishes ringing, he quickly dials in Kenny’s number. Kenny had been working ever since he was 13 to support him and his siblings, so Stan figured the blond could provide some guidance on any potential jobs in the area.
After a few rings, a muffled voice calls out to him. “‘Sup Stanley.”
Stan hums, perching his feet up on the desk as he leans back in his chair. “Hey Ken, how's it going? Is this a bad time?”
He can hear shuffling in the background as he hears Kenny sigh. “You’re fine, dude. Just getting ready to go home. Night shift ended a bit later than usual. What’s up with you?”
While doing school, Kenny had managed to get a job at Tweak's coffee. Though it was a family business, Richard Tweak had offered Kenny a job on the insistence of his son, Tweek Tweak. Kenny was dedicated to working as much as he could and would often pull night shifts whenever he had the opportunity. Stan had to admire the boy’s hardworking nature.
Stan clears his throat, tapping his free fingers on the desk. “Guess what my fucking dad did.”
Kenny only chuckles but Stan can hear the emptiness in it. “Can't be any worse than what my dad did.”
“Probably. But this time my dad royally fucked up, dude.”
“Oh shit. What happened?”
“He fucking blew my entire college fund. On alcohol and shit. Can you believe that?”
“What the fuck.”
“Right?”
Kenny sputters in disbelief. “Shit man that fucking sucks, what are you gonna do?”
“Well that's why I called. Mom and I talked about it and I figured I would get a job or some shit. I mean she offered to get a job to save up for me herself, but I said no. Cause I dont wanna put that on her, you know? It's not her fault my dad is a moron. She’s not a fan of me working cause I’m gonna be an hour away from the house but as long as I promise to keep my location on she’s fine with it. I’ve searched the internet for hours but no one’s really hiring, so like I wanted to ask, do you know any nearby openings?”
“Hell yeah, another fellow part time worker,” Kenny laughs, “actually I think I saw the pet shop across the street post a help wanted sign, wanna go check it out tomorrow? I think it’s owned by this old couple so that’s why you didn’t see anything about it online.”
Stan heaved a sigh of relief. “Yeah that sounds great, thanks.”
“No problem man. I gotta go catch the bus, I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yup! See you later, Ken.”
Stan sighs as he hangs up the phone and walks over to his bed before collapsing against the sheets. He ignores the numerous texts from Kyle asking him if he’s okay. He’s not sure how he'll explain to his best friend that he’s getting a job because his dad is a shit stain of a parent. Oh well, he’ll just say he needs the extra money for something trivial.
He sets his phone on the desk as he shuts his eyes, letting sleep overtake him.