what

Star Butterfly got romance. She understood it quite well, heck, she's been head-over-heels over a few guys loads of time. Admittedly, none of them ever ended well or even for a decent length of time, but it wasn't the length that matter but the quality. She's read hundreds of romance books (or rather, Mrs. Diaz read them to her) and has been regaled with countless escapades by Flying Princess Pony Head of her romantic shenanigans.

So, why was this confusing for her?

Star sipped on her orange juice as she watched Marco fawn over Jackie Lynn-Thomas who was sitting on the other side of the cafeteria. She could practically see the hearts dancing in his eyes as he drooled over his meatloaf surprise (the surprise is that there isn't any meat!).

"Why don't you just go, you know, talk to her?" Star offered, watching as Marco's expression morphed from love-struck to absolute horror as if she had blown up his hair again (she didn't).

"Are you crazy, Star?!" Marco practically yelled, earning a few stray looks from the other students, but Star just tilted her head in confusion.

"Well, my mom thinks so, but that's really up in the air—"

"I can't just go up and talk to her!" he continued, waving his milk carton around, splashing an unfortunate student behind him.

Star finished her orange juice and promptly opened another. Marco flailed his arms about, animatedly explaining the hundred and two reasons why he couldn't just talk to Jackie Lynn-Thomas (Star always found it weird he referred to her by her full name, why didn't he do that for her?)

"I don't know how things work on Mewni—"

"I've taken you there before!"

"But here, on Earth, it would be absolutely mortifying to just talk to Jackie Lynn-Thomas," Marco concluded, folding his arms sullenly still staring at the aforementioned girl.

"Well, why not?" Star asked, brandishing her wand and zapping her lunch tray, materializing a triple-layered, chocolate cake. "I mean, you guys are in the same classes, you're a human, she's a human. Just talk to her."

"And say what?"

"Hm." Star tapped her wand against her cheek, accidentally discharging a magical blast, zapping another student's lunch into a demon claw that tried to snap up his face. "I think 'Hi' would be a good start."

Marco laughed stiffly, muttering a few words in Spanish. "Then what, Star? First, it's 'Hi' then what? What comes after that? And after that?! WHAT STAR, WHAT?!"

"Boys are weird," Star muttered, rolling her eyes. "Where I'm from, if you like someone, you just up and tell them! And that's what you need to do, Marco! Ooh, orrrr…."

Star stood up, grabbing her wand and eagerly staring at the students around her, trying to remember the Demon-Creation Spell. "You could always fight a monster in her honor, that'll totally impress her."

"Star, you're not turning anyone into a monster… not after last time."

"Aw, but I brought a leash and everything…"

"How long were you planning on using that spell—"

"Just watch, Marco Diaz, I'm gonna show you that it's totally easy to walk up to random people, break their personal space and talk to them!"

Star headed off towards Jackie Lynn-Thomas's table, despite Marco's protests.

Jackie Lynn-Thomas was surrounded by a slew of similarly dressed boys and girls. They were scruffy, wore ironic t-shirts and had several, if not all, parts of their hair dyed an extravagant color. They hadn't noticed Star yet, but she plastered on a huge grin and waved at them with her wand.

"Jackie!" Star said with a cheerful giggle.

Jackie focused on Star and smiled, good start so far. "Oh, hey, Star, what's up?"

"Whoa, I like your headband!" remarked another girl, Stacie something.

"Thanks, nabbed it off a zombie," Star said, still grinning. "Anywaaays, just coming by to say hi!"

Star looked over her shoulder, discretely winking at Marco and smiling smugly, but he still maintained his horrified expression. "What a coincidence actually," Jackie said, prompting Star to face her again. "I was just about to walk over and say hi to you."

"I knew it wasn't weird to say hi to people!" Star slammed her wand against the table in triumph. "Marco's always saying I'm so weird, he's the weird one… combing his hair forty-two times in the morning, pfft."

"Really?" Jackie raised an eyebrow. "That's… interesting."

"Not as interesting as his obsession with his label-maker. He tried to label my wand, as if I'd forget what it is!"

"Label-maker?"

"Oh, yeah. Apparently, he asked for one when he was 10. When I was ten, I got a flaming sword! Then I broke it and set my room on fire…"

Jackie Lynn-Thomas, and her friends, exchanged perplexed expressions, concerning Star. Marco always did warn her that some of the stuff she said was strange and could be "grounds for a psychological evaluation". Waving her hands suddenly, Star tried for a laugh but it came out nervously.

"So, you were gonna say hi to me? That's nice!"

"Yeah…" Jackie looked over Star's shoulder at Marco who was slamming his head on his table. Making a worried expression, Jackie looked at Star again. "I was gonna come by and ask you guys if you wanted to go to this concert. James and Skull"—She gestured to a lankly, black-haired boy and a big dude with a spikey Mohawk—"Can't go, they have a knitting convention to get to, so I have two extra tickets and was wondering if you wanted to go… but I don't think Marco would be into it."

Jackie Lynn-Thomas handed Star the ticket which featured the band Exploding Hamster Wheels, complete with an illustration of a flaming hamster jumping through an explosion. "So, would you want to go with me?"

"Sounds great!" Star said, clutching her ticket and wand in one hand and pumping out the other for a handshake.

Wait.

Star looked over at Marco who was looking at her with a nervous expression then back at Jackie Lynn-Thomas. If he can't go with her… how could he talk to her like Star wanted? And wait, Star would be… alone, with Jackie?

"Awesome," Jackie said, shaking Star's hand and putting on her helmet as she stood. "Well, I'll text you the deets. It'll be fun, Star Butterfly."

Dropping her skateboard, Jackie Lynn-Thomas skated out of the cafeteria with her friends in tow… leaving Star completely baffled as to what happened.

Star Butterfly got romance… but she didn't get this.