Marco sighed as he fell back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling trying to remember what a Sunday afternoon was supposed to feel like. It had been over a week since his time in Hekapoo's dimension had come to an end, but he still felt as if he were living at a much faster pace than the world around him. Household chores, school, movies, video games, and even karate practice all felt so mundane, so menial in the face of riding across plains of fire and soaring over frigid mountain peaks on Nachos. A small smile crept up his face as he thought back to the time when he snuffed out one of Hekapoo's clones by dangling upside down from a chandelier -nearly pulling it from the ceiling in the process- and dropping a water balloon that soaked her from head to toe. He could still remember the look of surprise in her eyes followed by that impish grin as she looked up at him and vanished into a cloud of smoke.
"I can't believe that was almost five years-"
"Marco Diaz!" he heard and looked up to see Star poking her head through his bedroom door.
"Oh…hey, Star. What's up?"
Star pushed the door open and walked up to Marco's bed, leaning over to look him in the eyes "I called your name like five times, Marco. You were really out of it there. Are you okay?"
"What? Oh, sorry. I guess I was just so bored that my brain stopped working." Marco said, sitting up and stretching.
"Well," Star said in a singsong voice, flashing a big smile "Let's kick-start your brain with some sugarittos down at Britta's Tacos. I'm starving!"
Marco laughed. "I'll go with you, Star, but I won't desecrate my culture with that sacrilege."
Star and Marco casually strolled down the streets of Echo Creek while Star animatedly recalled the time that her uncle Grunt challenged her dad to a one legged race up flag mountain. Marco, however, had already slipped back into his memories. Though his gaze was fixed ahead, he was making this trip largely by muscle memory. Suddenly, Jackie rounded the corner ahead on her skateboard and, spotting the two, rolled to a stop and kicked her board up into her hand.
"Hey, Star! Hey, Marco!" she said, leaning in to give Marco a quick peck on the cheek, "what are you guys up to?"
"Jackie! Marco and I are gonna grab lunch at Britta's. You should join us!"
"Oh, yeah. That sounds sweet. I feel like it's been ages since the three of us hung out together and I could totally go for some nachos." Jackie moved to Marco's side and slipped her arm through his.
Marco jumped at this and turned to look at Jackie. "Jackie?! Hey, what's up? When did you…get here?"
Jackie frowned and shared a look with Star. "Uh…"
"Marco, we have got to get some food into you and get your brain working again."
The trio arrived at the restaurant and the two girls told Marco to save a table while they went up to order.
"Star, what's going on with Marco? He is obviously not okay."
"Yeah…he's been pretty out of it all week"
"Well, do you have any idea what might be bugging him? I mean, he and I haven't really talked much since the dance. I know some crazy stuff went down, but I guess I figured that everything sort of mellowed out since then."
Star had to fight to conceal a cringe at the mention of both the dance and losing Glossaryck. "I…uh…don't think that's what's been bothering him."
"So what do you think it is?"
Star had a pretty good idea of what was bothering him, but she also knew that she couldn't tell Jackie about all the time Marco spent in Hekapoo's dimension. It was difficult for even Star to wrap her head around and she was used to this kind of stuff. "You know how Marco gets sometimes. I bet it's just some little thing that he's freaking out about."
"You're probably right, Star. It might not be anything major, but I still want to know what it is so I can help get him back to normal. If he needs some space I'm fine with that too, but I can't just leave him like that" she said and gestured towards Marco who was staring intently at the empty sky.
Star and Jackie picked up the order and made their way back to the table, both sitting across from Marco. Star gave him a light kick under the table to rouse his attention and the three started eating. Though Marco tried to keep up with the conversation and wasn't obviously spacing out, Jackie and Star knew within a few minutes that the "Marco" conversation had to happen.
"Marco, dude, tell me what's going through your head right now." Jackie said, interrupting one of his glassy-eyed moments.
Marco blinked back to reality and then, seeing the look on Jackie's face, stared at his hands. "I'm sorry. I've been pretty spacey today, huh? I was just thinking about…whether or not I should go to school tomorrow."
"What? Marco, I don't think I've ever known you to miss school."
"Yeah, it's a tough track record to keep. I've been feeling kind of sick since last night, so I thought I might just stay home."
"Well, you don't look sick and you've wolfed down, like, four tacos…plus Star said that you've been quiet all week."
Marco glanced up at Star and she looked back at him with wide, nervous eyes. "Sorry, Marco. I've been worried about you too."
"Well, neither of you need to worry about me. Give me a couple days to get over this cold or whatever it is and I'll be back to normal. In fact, Jackie, once I'm feeling better you and I should go on a date."
Jackie blinked then frowned before sighing and giving Marco a small smile. "Alright, Marco. You owe me a date in a couple of days. Anyway, it was fun hanging out. You should get home and get some rest so you don't have to miss school tomorrow." Jackie got up from the table, gave Marco a quick hug, and said "Star, make sure Marco gets home safe."
Marco rolled over in bed to look at the clock. It glowered back at him with glowing red eyes. 2:15 am. He had been tossing and turning for hours now and he was beginning to feel suffocated in the soft sheets. Jackie and Star's comments were eating at him. They were right, after all; He hadn't been himself lately. He couldn't be himself when he felt like he was living the life of a stranger here on earth. This realization finally dawned on him and he knew that there was only one answer. He threw off the blankets and hurriedly dressed, packing only a few essentials. His scissors were hidden in his dresser drawer, untouched since he and Star came back to earth. He puts them in his pocket and walks out of his room.
"...ar, Star!" The whispered words came through Star's haze of sleep.
"wha…" Star blearily opened her eyes and, seeing a strange figure standing beside her bed, snatched her wand from under her pillow and readied a spell, "Pile Driver Panda Ex-"
"Star, wait! It's me, Marco." He whispered, quickly pulling his hood back.
The spell faded and Star sighed, falling back into her pillows, "Uhg, Marco! What are you doing? What time is…" she trailed off, already drifting back to sleep.
"Star, Come on, this is important." Marco whispered gently shaking her back awake.
"Alright, alright." Star sighed setting back up in bed, "What is it that can't wait for the sun to come up?"
Marco sat down on Star's bed and looked out through the balcony. "I've been thinking about what happened earlier today and you're right, I haven't been myself."
"Well, yeah. That's, like, crazy obvious, Marco. You've been like a zombie these last few days. In fact, I've noticed that you've been off ever since we came back from Hekapoo's dimension."
"Yeah, that's about right. I've been feeling like I'm not entirely here; like I'm just going through the motions here on earth while my mind is off adventuring."
"I mean, you did spend a lot of time in Hekapoo's realm. I'm sure that it's going to take a while for you to re-adjust to your normal ole Earth life."
"That's just it, Star. I don't want to re-adjust. I don't want to stop adventuring and go back to being boring Marco Diaz."
"Oh! Well, you don't have to worry about that, Marco." Star said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You and I are still going to go on all sorts of adventures! We can fight monsters, party at the bounce lounge, and explore all sorts of awesome dimensions together. Besides, you're, like, one of the least boring people I know!"
Marco let out a deep sigh and turned to face Star. "You know, before you came into my life, every day was the same. I was the "Safe Kid" who never stood out or did anything. Heck, I spent years just nodding at Jackie every day, but after you showed up I got to live the kind of adventurous life I'd always wanted…or at least, it was the life that I thought I wanted."
Star frowned, her hand dropping away from him. "What do you mean? Do you…not want to go on adventures with me?"
"What? No, that's not it at all! It's the complete opposite, actually. Star, I want to be able to go on adventures every single day and I can't think of anyone better to go with than you. I want to show you all of the amazing places I traveled through while I was chasing Hekapoo and I want to us to find even more amazing places together."
Star's eyes shone in the moonlight. "Oh, Marco, that's probably the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me." She pulled him into a quick hug, but when she pulled away she couldn't quite look him in the eyes. Her words came out in a tumble."But we can't just leave. I'm supposed to be here, on earth, to train and learn to be a better princess. I can't just abandon by responsibilities and we both have school -as much as I wouldn't mind missing that. Besides, what about our friends and families? What about…you and Jackie? You finally managed to get together with her and you both seem happy together...right?"
"Star, do you remember when you froze time? It was the most fun that you and I have ever had together. It was one of the best times of my life and it was just us running around doing goofy stuff here on earth."
Star smiled. "That was really fun. I thought my face would get stuck I was laughing so much, but we can't go messing around with time again. You heard what Father Time said. What if we broke time?"
"We don't have to freeze time though. One minute on Earth is two years in Hekapoo's dimension! We could leave here and be back before you've even missed any sleep and we could have the adventure of a lifetime. So…what do you say?"
Star hesitated biting her lower lip, her blankets balled in her fists. "I say…I say that you're my best friend and if going back to Hekapoo's dimension will make you feel better then there's no way that I can make you stay here…and there's no way that I can let you go by yourself."