A/N: Hi! I love Star vs. The Forces of Evil. I fell in love with the characters after watching the show while I was babysitting my cousin. I found myself searching the internet for the rest of the episodes in the first season. THEN I BINGE-WATCHED THE SERIES LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW. Now I cannot wait for the next season!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the series, nor do I own the characters. I only own the plot. I hope you'll enjoy reading the first chapter just as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don't hesitate to leave comments. I'm also eager to read feedback and suggestions.
Love,
Terracea ❤️
"Star! Staaar!" Marco yelled as he ran into the room. "You'll never guess what's in my hand right now!"
Star poked her head out of the shower curtain. "Is it concert tickets? If it's The Vamps then yasss I'll go with you."
"Even better!" Marco said, flaunting the invitation in his hand. "We're going to Jackie Lynn Thomas' Seventeenth Birthday Party tonight!"
The smile on Star's face faded. "Oh." was all she could say. Then she immediately pulled the shower curtains shut.
Marco's face fell. "Something wrong?"
"Oh nonono- I was just... expecting something else," she explained. Then she turned the faucet off. As soon as the water stopped, she slipped a hand out of the curtains and pointed at the rack near Marco.
"Will you please pass my towel?" she asked.
"Sure thing," Marco said as he fished the towel off the rack. He looked away and covered his eyes with his free hand as he handed the towel to Star.
"Thank youuu!" Star sang.
"As I was saying, Jackie invited us." He repeated. "The theme is hipster fashion. I'm thinking of wearing a hoodie and skinny jeans-"
"Enh. If that is your definition of a hipster ensemble then you're pretty much hipster already," Star remarked as she stepped out of the shower. She had her damp hair pulled up and kept in place by a pink shower cap with gold star prints. When she noticed that he was still covering his face, she flicked her purple loofah at him. It made a thwip sound as it slapped his hand.
He shot her an annoyed look. Upon realizing that she only had a towel covering her body, he blushed and stammered something incoherent as he looked away.
"...please wear something." Marco whimpered.
She giggled mischievously. "Oh, stop pretending that you haven't seen a naked female body before."
His face fell. "How many times do I have to tell you that the porn mags you found under my bed were Ferguson's?" He insisted in an exasperated tone. She shushed him with a finger.
"Okay, chill. I hear ya," she said. Then she walked over to where she charged her wand. She flicked herself with it, and her towel changed into a purple bathrobe. "Tadaaaaa! Happy?"
Marco's eyes turned into small slits. "Uhh. Here's a suggestion... why don't you just turn your towel into a fluffy dress or something?"
"I still haven't decided what I wanted to wear today," Star said, putting her wand in front of her face. A huge blast of light hit her, and her hair had been magically transformed into something shampoo commercial-worthy.
"How about something... I don't know... hipster?" Marco suggested.
Star frowned as she played with the glossy blonde strands of her hair. "Hipster's not really my thing. I like rainbows and butterflies!"
"But hipster's the theme of Jackie's party!" Marco cried.
"I'll pass." she declined.
"H-huh? Really?" Marco exclaimed, scratching the back of his head. "You don't want to go? But I thought you liked parties!"
"Uh yeah, I really do. It's just that... Today's not the best time to party. I have tons of... homework to do."
Marco was incredulous. "You're saying no to Jackie's party because you have to do your homework?!" he exclaimed.
"Yep." Star said.
"You sure?" Marco clarified. "This may be the party of the century. I swear this is an opportunity you don't wanna pass up."
"It isn't the party of the century because I didn't organize it. Plus, I don't want to risk getting another F in Math." she reasoned.
"I'll help you study." Marco offered. "Then we'll go to the party. What do you say?"
"Yes on the help part, no on the going to the party part. If I want to wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow, then I gotta say no to all temptations." she decided. "So go without me, my dear friend. Go!" she said dramatically, raising a fist high up in the sky.
"Aight. If you don't wanna go, then I'm not gonna force you to." Marco said, sounding a little disappointed.
"I'm sorry Marco. I'll make it up to you somehow." Star reassured, putting her hand on his shoulder. "If I get an A in the next test, would you like to grab some ice cream?"
"Ice cream? Sure!"
"Cool! There're tons of citizens made out of ice cream in the land of Ooo." Star excitedly said as she clapped her hands together. "Imagine hearing their screams of pain and agony while their bodies melt in your mouth."
Marco looked mortified at Star's remark. Then he shook his head. "Nah, I prefer getting a normal tub from the Stop & Slurp."
"That's... That's actually a better idea." Star said, nodding eagerly. "Speaking of ice cream..." She flicked her wand and twirled slowly. He watched in awe as sparkles formed like little flames burning the purple robe away.
The magic dust left her clothes and he saw her in a sleeveless dress with a light yellow cone pattern on top. She matched her outfit with a light pastel pink skirt.
"Yay or nay?" she asked as she faced him.
He gave her a thumbs up. "Yay," he said. Star looked unconvinced and redirected her attention over to the mirror.
"Hmm. Still doesn't feel right. Maybe I should wear stockings." she muttered. Then she flicked her wand over her legs and white lace formed like vines that worked its way up to her thighs. When it finished, her stockings revealed pastel pink pinstripes over white. She slipped her feet into her white buckle shoes.
"Tadaaaaa!" she sang, spreading her arms wide.
Marco took a step back to admire her look. "Star? You never fail to amaze me," he said.
She did a quick-yet-graceful bow. "Why thank you, Marco!" she said, grinning widely before striking a cute pose. "Soooo? What do you think?" she asked, playfully batting her eyelashes at him.
She smiled in a way that made Marco's heart skip a tiny beat. So he pinched her cheek. "You look pretty, as always."
She bashfully giggled. "Gee, thanks!" she said, circling her arms around his waist. Then she pulled him into a hug. "Huuugs!" she exclaimed.
"Hugs!" he repeated, returning her hug with a tighter bear hug of his own. She rested her head against his chest and hummed happily in his arms as he stroked her hair gently. It was one of his unconscious habits that she truly enjoyed and she relished in the moment while it lasted.
He gazed at her. They used to share the same height. Over the past year, he grew a few inches taller than Star. He often reminded her of it by rubbing his chin on top of her head whenever they shared a hug.
She used to be so pissed at him for teasing her like that but grew used to it after a while. (Though she still resented him a bit for being a bit of a bully when it comes to height-related topics.)
Speaking of growth, as the hug grew tighter, his breath caught in his throat as he felt her chest against his. It was undeniable that Star was physically blessed. Her blessings were sometimes the reason why Ferguson and Alfonso (along with 20+ random acquaintances from school) resented him for living with the 'living doll of Echo Creek'. (Those were their words, not Marco's.)
When Star arched her body up a bit, he pulled away from the hug and cleared his throat before facing her again. "So-ahem! Um, where do you wanna study?" he stiffly asked.
"The kitchen. It's near the fridge. Studying makes me hungry..." she suggested.
"G-good idea!" he agreed, nodding his head a bit enthusiastically. That's when Star noticed that his face was awfully red and looked as if he wanted to puke any minute.
She eyed him cautiously. "Uh, you okay?" she asked.
"I-I'm fine! Know what? I'll just g-go retrieve my book. S-see you." Marco stammered, still red-faced. He didn't wait for her to respond and just rushed out of the room. Then he slammed the door shut.
Thud!
She tilted her head in confusion. "Okaaaaay that was weird. Did I do something wrong?" she muttered to herself. Then she took one last glance in the mirror, flipped her hair, and then sauntered out of the room.
Star's face was all scrunched up as she concentrated on working on an equation. She didn't seem eager to learn about the subject at first. But Marco wanted her to pass so that they'll advance together. Plus, he thought that he could save her from the humiliation of repeating the subject.
Whatever, she'll just thank him later.
"This is stupid." She complained, throwing the pen on top of her notebook. His eyes followed the direction of the pen as it hit the open page with a loud thwack.
"You can't just give up, Star. I know that you can do it." he urged, picking up the pen and giving it back to her. "To find x, you gotta-"
"Do we really use this in real life?" She yelled angrily, flicking his hand away. His hand lets go of the pen and he watched it fall to the blanket covering her legs.
"Not really," he muttered, picking up the pen again and giving it back to her. She reluctantly accepted it. (Probably because she knows how tenacious he can get when it comes to things he thinks is good for herself.)
"If we don't really use it then what's the point in learning it?" she questioned, her fist clenched around the pen. It looked like she wanted to break the writing tool in half, but she didn't - which was a good thing. It was Marco's favorite pen after all.
He took a deep breath before responding to her. "It helps you focus."
She whipped her head to look at him. "What?"
"Math helps you focus. It also teaches you to be careful with the signs. One small mistake can drastically change the outcome." he simply explained, holding an index finger up - like he was giving a lecture.
She nodded as if she understood. Now Marco didn't particularly love the subject, but he admired the philosophy of it. Maybe that's why I'm good with numbers. he thought.
"It also teaches you to be careful before you make a decision. That's why you have to check if the value of your x is correct. You incorporate your x it into the equation after you identified its value," he continued, taking the pen from her hand.
She moved closer to watch him solve the problem.
"If your x is wrong, then you can look back on your equation and see what you did wrong." he told her, looking at the equation she was working on.
3x - 2 = 10
Pretty basic, Star. X should equal 4. he thought.
"So what is x?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "I don't know. 4, I guess."
He smirked. "Lucky guess." he praised. She smiled triumphantly in return.
"Don't get cocky," he warned. "Math is not all about guessing. There's only one answer."
He substituted x with 4. "Three multiplied by four - the calculated value of your x - is twelve." he explained as he wrote. "Twelve minus two equals ten."
She watched intently as he scribbled, nodding. Good. She's listening.
"... and that's how you check your answer. So how do you get the value of x?"
She shrugged.
"It's pretty easy, actually. Just do this..." he said, scribbling the solution with the pen. "You need to find x, so add two in both sides to cancel the negative two."
She looked confused but didn't know how to phrase her question. So she remained silent. Marco knew her well enough to notice what's been bothering her.
"You add because it's the opposite of subtraction. You see, in the equation, we subtracted two from 3x. The minus sign is also interpreted as a negative sign and to get rid of that, you need to add the opposite value to both sides. Let me show you..."
3x - 2 (+2) = 10 (+2)
"Now that we canceled two. Then 3x equals twelve. So you get rid of the three attached to the x by dividing three into both sides because we used-"
"Multiplication." She finished.
"Good!" he grinned, feeling a bit proud of himself. She seemed to feel the same way towards herself, too. Seriously, Star can really do the math if she tried.
3x/3 = 12/3
"So that leaves x is equal to 12 divided by three. So twelve divided by three is?"
"Four," she answered with finality. He saw eagerness written all over her face. She seemed interested now. Marco hoped that she keeps that positive attitude up. The best way to praise the person is to reward him or her with something good. (And in Psychology it's called positive reinforcement.)
"Good. You deserve a Scooby snack," he said, reaching for the bag of snacks on her side of the table. His hand reached into the bag and pulled out a KitKat.
"Not a Scooby snack but it'll do," she said as she took it. She unwrapped the wrapper and broke the chocolate in half. She handed him the other half. As soon as he noticed that she didn't break it along the separator, his inner OCD just went haywire.
"Star, what the hell?!" he yelled, holding his half up.
"That's the only way I get to have a larger chunk." She explained, holding her half up to compare the sizes of the Kitkat he was holding. Marco frowned at his half and realized that it's actually a quarter, and then scowled at her.
She giggled. "Sorry. I'm hungry."
He sighed. Then he ate his chunk whole. She ate her chunk in a similar fashion.
Marco checked the time on his wristwatch. Good gracious, I need to get ready. he thought.
He turned to her. "So now that you grasped the concept, is it okay if I leave you alone for a while? I gotta go prepare for Jackie's party."
She frowned for a second before covering her mouth with her hands. Then, as she removed them, she had already changed her expression into a forced smile. "Sure, go ahead," she said, a little too cheerfully.
"So what are you planning to do?" he asked her.
"I don't know. Maybe watch a little television or something."
Marco smiled mischievously and wrote three equations in her notebook.
Her face fell. "W-what's this?"
"Do it unsupervised." He instructed as he handed the notebook back to her. "If you manage to answer it without my help then you can watch TV."
She muttered something under her breath as she picked up the pen to answer the equations.
Marco watched her for a bit and wondered what has been bothering Star so much. Normally, she would flaunt over Jackie and get excited over small little things she hears about her. Now, she avoids all things related to Jackie. Heck, she even chose to study over partying. That's not the Star he knows.
But he's not going to question her about it. Maybe she's just having an off day.
Star knocked on his door before entering.
He was still in the middle of fixing his hair, and Star just slipped her fingers in his scalp to mess up the strands he just combed. "Who's the good dog? You are! You are!" she teased.
"H-hey!" he protested, swatting her hand away with the comb he was holding. "You just ruined my hair!"
She stuck out her tongue as she surveyed his look. Then she rose a brow after she recognized the look he was sporting. "Dr. Marco Ph.D. much?" she remarked.
He shrugged. "Well, it's sort of what some hipsters wear," he answered. "That is, according to Google."
She handed her notebook over to him. "Hold this," she said, chuckling a little bit. "Now you look like some sort of a nerd."
"Ha ha. Very funny." he sarcastically said. Then he cracked the notebook open and flipped through the pages. "Were you able to do all three?" he asked.
Star's smile widened into a goofy grin. "No, I turned it into a fun coloring book for adults! That's like, what's in with the popular crowd right now."
Marco gasped as he thumbed through the pages filled with illustrations of ponies and unicorns. Star laughed lightheartedly and playfully slapped his back. "Nawwww I'm just kidding. You know that."
Marco facepalmed himself as he found the page with his handwriting. (It was the only page that had no disorganized scribbles.)
Then he immediately read her solutions. He was, in fact, impressed that she managed to solve two out of three correctly. "Good job!" he praised. Star was about to leap for joy when Marco pointed at the second equation. "Solve this again," he said. "What did I tell you about PEMDAS?"
Star clicked her tongue as she threw the notebook on top of Marco's bed. Then she fell on top of it, with her face down. "Ugh," she grunted.
Marco returned back to fixing the hair that Star just ruined. After one final stroke of the comb, he checked all angles of his face in front of the mirror and just nodded at his reflection. "Perfect." he declared.
Star rolled over to the other side of the bed and faced Marco's direction. "Hmm. Not bad," she remarked, nodding at his outfit. "Have fun tonight, okay?"
Marco walked over to her and sat at the foot of the bed. Then he gently played with the strands of Star's blonde hair. "Star, you sure you don't wanna go?" he asked.
Star just buried her head deep into Marco's pillows. "No, you go." she said.
"But I kind of feel guilty leaving you all alone." he said, sounding a bit worried.
She slowly raised her head to make eye contact with him. "I've got a better suggestion: don't gooo." she whispered.
"I'm goiiing." Marco whispered back.
She sat up crossed-legged. "Okay, fine. Here's the thing, Marco. What if you saw Jackie doing it with someone else?"
He scrunched his face, still trying to decipher what Star just said. "What do you mean, doing it with someone else?"
"You know, make out and then-" then she gave him a knowing look.
Marco instantly felt his face flush with embarrassment. "I-I don't think that's gonna happen tonight." he stammered. Star frowned.
"I'm just saying what if you see her do something you dislike." she emphasized. "After all, it'll be such a rambunctious party. People are gonna show up with drugs and booze with the intent to get laid."
He chewed on his lip. "Rambunctious is such an overstatement. Jackie's party is just a small get-together. Maybe we'll play cards or something." he defended.
"Marco," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "let me remind you of what happened in Mean Girls."
He rolled his eyes. "Again with that movie-"
"She's the host, yet she said it was a small get-together. As long as people hear the word party, they will show up uninvited. Most especially if the host is someone as cool as Jackie Lynn Thomas."
"All eyes will be on the birthday girl. If another lucky guy gets his hands on Jackie tonight before you ever could then..."
He cupped her cheek. "You know what, say what you want to say. I'm still going." Marco said, sighing at her as he tenderly kissed her forehead. She said nothing. He sighed again.
"What's really bothering you, Star?" he asked.
Star sighed. "I'm really not in the mood to talk to you now."
"Fine, if you don't wanna talk, then I'll go now." he told her. Star felt a little bounce as he removed his weight away from the bed.
END OF CHAPTER ONE
Something fishy is going on with Star! I wonder what it is. Does it really have something to do with Jackie? Will put the second chapter up sometime soon so stay tuned! Comment, review, follow, or fav. ;p
Love,
Terracea ❤
