What I want
The wind blew gently through the cactus down below in the Diaz's backyard. Star smiled as she could almost hear the whistling sound created as the wind blew over the individual needs of the hardy desert plants.
The day had passed uneventfully as what Star had hoped would be another exciting afternoon full of adventure and action had turned into a rather relaxing early spring Saturday on Earth, her new favorite dimension. Star smiled gently to herself as she gazed out over the balcony into the soft and warm orange, yellow, pink, and, in spots, purple sky. Sunsets like this were amazingly beautiful to Star as she had become accustom to watching the light source of this dimension decorate the sky in glorious pastels before it bid this side of the planet, as Marco had explained to her numerous times, a brief fair well before allowing the moons light to grace the sky with its seemingly infinite accompaniment of shining lights known as, ironically enough, as stars.
Yet this relaxing and soothing evening treat was not Star's favorite aspect about this dimension. Star blushed lightly as she thought about her best friend, Marco Diaz, and his infamous trademark red hoody. Time seemed to pass all too quickly for Star as she was startled from her thoughts by an unexpectedly cold breeze.
"Whao! There did the warm go!" Star pouted to herself as she rubbed her hands repeatedly over her arms to try to generate the warmth she had seemingly lost. "Wait, where did the sun and the pretty colors go?" Star whined to herself.
"Star…do I need to explain the whole Earth revolving around the sun and the Earth spinning on its axis again?" Marco asked her with a cockeyed grin.
Star jumped ever so slightly at the sound of his voice, surprise evident on her features as she stared at Marco with momentary confusion. "No, I'm good Marco…I guess I just kinda zoned out there for a little bit. I didn't even notice the sun go down. When did you get here?" she asked as she eyed Marco suspiciously.
Marco ruefully put his hand behind his head and shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish grin on his face. "Well, to be honest, I was watching the sunset with you the whole time. I thought you knew I was here. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you Star." Star returned his smile briefly as another breeze caused her to shiver ever so slightly. She tried to hide her discomfort, but to no avail as Marco took note of her trembling. "Why did it get so chilly all of a sudden, I thought spring meant warmer weather on Earth!" Star complained as she again gently rubbed her arms with her hands. "Well Star, spring does mean warmer weather, but it is still going to get chilly at night here for a while until we get closer to summer. Then it will be warm day and night for sure." Macro explained as he began to pull off his signature red hoodie.
Star turned her head slightly to the side, unwittingly mimicking the mannerism of their ever so adorable laser puppies when they were confused by a command or situation. Marco, noticing the confusion written on Stars face, could not keep his cheeks from heating up because of Stars adorable habit. "Why are you looking at me like that Star?" Marco asked as he finished pulling off his hoodie and straightening his white undershirt which was pulled up a little bit to reveal a toned, but not excessively muscular, midsection. Marco's words broke Star out of her stupor as she blushed at having been "caught" staring at Marco a little too intensely. "Why did you take off your hoodie? You just said it yourself that it still gets chilly at night during the spring here." Star stammered as she noticed the way Marco was looking at her. "My best friend is cold. I will not allow that when it is within my power to make you comfortable and happy, so here take it."
Star stared at Marco's outstretched hand that held one of his many prized red hoodies. Star looked back up at Marco as if seeking additional affirmation that she could take the prized and warm clothing. Marco could, as had become a habit since the blood moon ball, tell he was blushing as started to feel even warmer than he had before he took off his hoodie despite the cool breeze that still gently brushed by the balcony and into the cactus below. "Go on Star, I don't want you to be cold". Marco said just loud enough for the both of them to hear. Star smiled and gingerly took the offered treasure into her hands and then gently put it to her face.
Star smiled a goofy smile as she could still feel Marco's warmth lingering on the hoodie. She hastily put it over her head and pulled the hoodie on and made an audible "boop" as her head popped through the top opening in the hoodie straight into the hood itself without even having to flip the hood on. "Wow, this is sooooo much better! No wonder you love these things Marco! This is so warm and a lot softer than I thought it would be!" Star excitedly giggled. That's when Star noticed something. There was a smell. Not a bad smell. This smell was familiar, calming, and quite inviting. However as soon as she opened her eyes, the smell disappeared.
"That's funny, where did it go?" Star asked to no one in particular as she again closed her eyes to try to regain the focus to again find that light, yet pleasing scent. Marco stared at Star with his own look of confusion now as he was thrown for a loop by Star's seemingly random statement. "Where did what go Star? Marco asked as his confusion mounted as he couldn't tell if anything had gone missing. Star smirked as she finally identified the smell. It was Marco. The hoodie actually smelled like Marco's cologne mixed with a scent that she could only describe as "Marco" in her mind. This was a surprising and welcome discovery.
"Oh, nothing Marco. Thank you for letting me wear your hoodie. I'm starting to feel a lot better now! Star said happily as she again closed her eyes and gently took in another sniff. Marco smiled ruefully as he again rubbed the back of his head with his free hand that was not stuffed into his jeans pocket. Marco had to admit, he absolutely loved the way Star looked in his hoodie. A blushed creeped its way across his face as he thought about how girls, at least some girls, walked the halls of Echo Creek wearing their boyfriends jackets almost as a symbol of the fact that they were together. Star noticed Marco's face growing a deeper shade of red and couldn't help but whisper "so cute" to herself.
Marco finally snapped out of his day dreams of Star running around school in his hoodie as Star playfully waved her hand in front of his face. "Mewni to Marco, are you in there? Hello?" Star trilled in her infamously playful singsong voice. "What, what?" Marco said with a start as he made eye contact with Star. "You zoned out there for a minute Mr. Karate master." Star noted as she smiled up at Marco. Marco chuckled as he stepped back a little bit. "Sorry Star, I didn't mean to leave you there. When did you pick up on that expression?" Marco asked smiling at his best friend and, known only to him, crush. Star laughed, "Well, I guess you could say all those nacho movie nights have been paying off quite a bit. I am now a master of Mewni and Earth lingo, so watch out!" Marco laughed, probably harder than he should have, as Star was trying to strike a pose of some kind that, at least to her, would help to back up her claim of multi-dimensional language mastery.
"Star, I do not think you can claim to be a master of Earth lingo when you still don't understand how the toilet works and scare off the poor mail man." Marco chuckled. Star gave Marco a look of mock outrage, "Hey, I said I was a master of Earth lingo. I never claimed to fully understand Earth's greatest mysteries. Silly Marco." Marco could only continue to chuckle as he bowed with mock remorse, "Forgive me my dearest Princess Butterfly. I should never have questioned your awesomeness." Star smiled triumphantly as she gazed at Marco who was still bowing. "Yes, and as punishment for this grievous offense I shall be claiming this hoodie until further notice." Star said matter of factly. Marco looked up, shocked she wanted to keep it. "Wait, you want my hoodie?" Marco asked as if to clarify he had hear her correctly. "Yes. I shall be taking your hoodie as payment for your silliness Sir Marco." Star said with a wide grin. "Wait a minute", Marco interjected, "when will I get it back?" Star thought about this for a moment before giving Marco a devious smile as she saw an opening since he had not protested her claim to his hoodie.
"You shall get this hoodie back when I want a new one of your hoodies." Star declared confidently. Marco could not help but mimic Star's earlier mannerism as he slightly turned his head in confusion "why would you want to trade out hoodies? Wouldn't it be easier for you to just keep that one?" Star pretended to think about it for a moment, but then just shrugged her shoulders. "I just do, you silly, silly Marco. Don't question your Princess's motives." Star giggled only to start blushing profusely as she realized how she had worded her statement. This did not go lost on Marco who again bowed to both hide his reddened face and to continue the playful air. "Lo siento mi Estrella, I was foolish to question you." Marco said, almost wincing at the risk he was taking openly flirting with Star.
Star, having been living on Earth with the Diaz's for as long as she had, smiled as she picked up on the meaning of Marco's words. Star bit her lip and fanned her face in a crazed attempt not to squeak while Marco remained oblivious to Star's antics while bowed. Star calmed herself down and smile brightly at Marco, "Marco…you can only call me that on one condition". Marco looked up with a worried expression plastered to his face as he stood rigidly awaiting Star's condition to her little "nickname" Marco had just haphazardly given her without thinking through the possible consequences of first. Marco, for once in his life, wished he would have lived up to his nickname as "the safe kid" and had worded his playful banter differently. "On what condition would that be Star?" Marco asked nervously as he sheepishly played with a twig that had fallen onto the floor of the balcony of his house. "Well, I want you to, every day, give me your hoodie after school." Star said with a slight ping dusting her cheeks and nose.
Marco blinked. That was it? But the question of why still played around in his head. "Star, you already have my hoodies, but why do you want the one I wore to school? Wouldn't you rather have one from my closet every day?" Marco asked as he again mirrored a laser puppy trying to learn a new command. Star looked to the ground and whispered "I like the ones you were wearing better…they are warm and…" Star trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence. Marco gave Star a reassuring smile, "Come one Star, you can tell me anything. You know that right?" Marco asked as he placed his hand gently on Star's cheek. Star's hearts on her cheeks gave off the slightest pink glow as she looked Marco in the eye. "You smell…nice. I don't know how else to word it…they are warm and they smell like…you." Star said as she squeezed her eyes shut and continued to ramble "and I like that because it will be like you are always with me. The others hoodies are broken. They don't smell like you. I mean in good way. It's not like I want you smelly karate robe thingy." Star stammered.
Marco felt like his skin was on fire. Star, basically said, she liked him. Right? Isn't that what she was saying? "Ok, you can have my hoodie every day after school. And if it gets dirty or something I'll just put my cologne on a new one from the closet to give you…is that ok?" Marco asked shyly. Star looked and smiled gently, "Yes, I would like that". Marco chuckled lightly, "ok Star, I guess it's time for bed. I'll see you in the morning." Star watched as Marco walked, almost as if in a daze through her room and out the door. Then Marco popped his head back in "Good night and sweet dreams…Mi Estrella." Marco said tenderly, just loud enough for Star to hear before he closed her door for the night.
Star waltzed into the room with a large goofy smile on her face as she whispered "I can't believe that I did that, but now I guess I kinda get to snuggle Marco all night! Star giggled to herself as she turned off her light and settled into bed. Today had not gone as she had planned, but it had gone far better than she could have planned anyway. Star smiled as she started to drift off to sleep and sweet dreams of her and Marco becoming a couple filled her mind and lulled her to a peaceful and blissful sleep.
Marco sat against his door with a look of absolute bewilderment glued to his face as he replayed the night's events in his mind. He couldn't help but smile like a fool as he thought of Star, his best friend and secret crush, wearing his hoodie as if to say "hey, Marco and I are kinda a thing". Marco continued to smile as he was sure that sleep would not be coming his way tonight. Star was like a shot of adrenaline to his system. She was his addiction and he was currently walking on cloud nine with no prospects of coming down anytime soon.
The cool spring breeze continued to blow through the streets of Echo Creek as it caused the leaves on the trees to sing a soft song. The stars shone brightly, but not as brightly as a ruby colored moon that shone on the most magic house in all of Echo Creek and undoubtedly, Earth itself.
