Chapter 3: Scared

When Marco woke up the next morning, he saw Star sitting up on the mattress, wide awake, and staring out the window. He couldn't see her expression, but it was clear she was deep in thought. Marco peeked over her shoulder, and saw her tear stained cheeks. She wasn't crying at the moment, but she clearly had not too long ago.

"Are you okay?" Marco asked gently. Star jumped up a few inches like she was startled, then turned around to face Marco. Her eyes were bloodshot, like she had barely gotten any sleep at all the entire night.

"I…" Star paused, remembering their conversation the night before, and their unspoken promise to be open and honest with each other. "I'm… not sure. I don't want to go to school. At all. Especially if it's anything like my last school." Star admitted.

"Well, I don't know what your last school was like, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I don't think it's anything like it." Marco said. "But… I understand that you don't want to go. Neither do I. But we don't really have a choice."

Star sighed. "Well, I guess we should go, then." She said. Wordlessly, the two began to get ready for the day to come. Star and Marco were quite hesitant due to the incident from the previous day, and that was when they had only been there for fifteen minutes. Now, they had nearly eight hours in total, including their time on the bus.

They just hoped they could be there for each other throughout the day, helping each other through whatever would come at them.

After a small breakfast of a single granola bar, the two stood outside, waiting for the bus to arrive. Star stood in a simple dark blue dress with a scorpion on the dress just under the collar, along with some black boots and a blue headband, and Marco was in his simple t-shirt and jeans as usual. He wished his aunt and uncle had given him some clothes with a little variety to them… and hadn't made him pay full price for said clothes. He didn't even get to pick them out.

Once the bus arrived, Star and Marco boarded the bus and began making their way to the back seat. On their way however, someone stuck out their leg, causing Star to trip over it and fall down face first as everyone except for Star and Marco laughed. Star got up with a hand holding her nose and tears in her eyes and rushed to the back seat as Marco followed.

"Star, are you okay?" Marco asked. Star looked at him.

"Do you have any tissues?" Star asked him. At first, Marco thought she was asking for one for her teary eyes, until he noticed a bit of red under Star's fingers that were holding her nose closed. Marco's fears were confirmed when a small drop of blood slipped out of her nose and rolled down her finger.

"Here. That nose doesn't look too good." Marco said, handing her a tissue. Star sighed, taking the tissue from Marco, removing her hand from her bloody nose and holding the tissue to her nose, and began quietly crying.

Marco put his arm comfortingly around Star's shoulder as she sobbed, the tears running down her face for seemingly the tenth time in just 24 hours. The blood gradually soaked into the tissue, and Marco handed her another one for when the blood had completely soaked the tissue. Star accepted it gratefully, and looked at him.

"Thank you, Marco." Star said, leaning into his shoulder. Marco began to feel something as she did this. He didn't know what it was, and he had never felt it before. His cheeks were warm and he began to feel happier than he had felt in a long, long time.

As the bus stopped and they got up from their seats, the feeling left just as quickly as it came, leaving an empty feeling inside. Star seemed to notice this, looking at him in slight concern.

"Hey, are you okay?" Star asked.

"I… I felt something weird just now… I don't really know how to describe it." Marco said. "It happened when you leaned into my shoulder, and left when you stopped. I know it sounds weird, but…"

"I… think I know what you mean." Star said. "I felt something weird too."

"Maybe we could ask someone about it." Marco said. "But… I don't really know anyone that I trust other than you."

"I don't either."

"I guess we're on our own, then. Not that that's anything new." Marco said.

They walked into the school and to the front desk and got Star's schedule. Marco noticed that she had all of the same classes that he did.

"Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, perfect timing. I'd like to talk to you for a bit." Skeeves said, poking his head around the corner. Curiously, they followed him into his office. "Do you two remember yesterday when you gave me those papers?"

"Yeah. Why?" Marco said.

"Well, I looked at them, and… I saw some very disturbing things written on them." He continued. "But, before I continue, I need to ask. Star, are you okay if I share this information with Marco?"

Star nodded. "Yeah. I trust him." She said.

"Do you know what's written on these papers?"

"Yes. I trust Marco." Star said. "Please continue."

"Okay. Marco… Star's last school… did not treat her well." Skeeves began gently. "According to the reports… she was disciplined in some rather disturbing ways."

"She was abused." Marco breathed.

"I put you two in the same classes so you could help her."

"I do very badly in everything." Star added. "I failed almost everything, and whenever I would mess up, they… they…" Star didn't finish, instead she embraced Marco tightly and began crying into his shirt. Marco rubbed his hand on her back in an attempt to comfort her.

"This is why I put you two in the same classes." Skeeves continued. "She needs someone to help her. And you need someone to help you. I figured you two would be able to help each other out."

"Okay… thanks." Marco said.

As Star and Marco began heading to their class, various students were opening and closing their lockers, gathering their stuff for each class. Marco noticed that Star would flinch every time a locker slammed shut with a loud metallic clang.

"Is the noise bothering you?" Marco asked.

"That noise… that metallic banging noise… it sounds almost exactly like the footsteps of the guards at my last school." Star said, shivering.

"Oh… sorry for asking." Marco sighed. The teens arrived at their first class of the day and sat down in desks next to each other.

"It's okay, Marco." Star replied. "So, um… what's the school like here?"

"Well, there aren't any guards, just teachers. And there are a few classes we have to go to every day." Marco began. "We have to do assignments the teachers hand out, and we're graded based on how well we do. The best grade you can get is an A, and the worst one is an F."

"What happens if you get an F?" Star asked. "Do the teachers hit you?"

Marco tensed slightly, though it wasn't noticeable. "No, they—"

"Do they put you in solitary confinement with nothing but water for 72 hours?" Marco visibly tensed up. "Do they chain you up, lock you in a dungeon, and rape you for hours on end until you bleed?"

"No, they don't do anything!" Marco said, rather freaked out at this point. The nearby teacher had overheard their conversation and had a look of shocked horror on their face. "No; if you get an F, nothing happens. If you get multiple F's, they'll try to help you as long as they know you're trying. As long as you try, you'll be just fine. Even if you don't try at all, nothing like that will ever happen, no matter what. And if anyone does try to do that to you… they'll have to get through me, first." Star was taken aback slightly by the sudden protectiveness in the boy's voice. "I can't lose another person. I've lost too many people already…"

Star could sense the agony in his voice and could even feel his tears before they came out, rolling down his cheeks like raindrops on a window. She put her arm comfortingly on his back. But instead of his mood improving, it actually gradually began to get worse as his breathing quickened. It didn't take long for Star to realize he was having another anxiety attack.

'You couldn't save them.' 'You really are pathetic, aren't you?' 'You couldn't have saved them. Not even if you had the chance.' 'You're a selfish person for letting your anxiety show through. You just want the attention.' 'You couldn't save them. You couldn't save them.'

'You couldn't even save her when she needed you most.'

Star embraced Marco from behind him, resting her head on his shoulder while he continued shaking.

"It's okay, Marco. I'm here." Star said softly. Marco was still crying, however. His mind briefly recalled hearing screaming and seeing blood on the ground, and he let out a soft gasp.

It took a little while longer, but eventually, Marco's breathing evened out and his shaking subsided. His vision returned to normal, and he looked back at Star, still embracing him and looking at him sympathetically.

Once his breathing evened out, Marco noticed that the warm and fuzzy feeling from earlier was back as Star continued to embrace him. He wasn't really sure what it was, but he liked it.

When Star released the embrace, however, the fuzzy feeling left with it.

As the bell rang for class, the other students began filing into the classroom and sitting at their seats.

"Okay, class, today we have a new student joining us today." The teacher began. "Care to introduce yourself, miss?" He said, as all eyes in the room looked directly at Star, making her feel uneasy.

"Um… I…"

"She's shy." Marco said.

"Oh. I see." The teacher replied. A short beat of silence occurred before the teacher cleared his throat. "Anyway, with that out of the way, let's begin. Please take out your textbooks and open them to chapter four."

Most of the classes passed by in a similar manner. Nothing unusual happened, aside from Marco having another minor anxiety attack seemingly out of nowhere.

As the school day ended and the teens began heading back home, however, they ended up running into Brittney, the head cheerleader and the biggest jerk at school.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Brittney mocked. "The scaredy freak made a new friend. And a really ugly one, too."

Marco noticed Star tearing up beside him. "Hey, she's not ugly." He said. "She's very pretty."

"Aww, are you in love with her? How cute." Brittney flicked him on the nose. "You two are the perfect match, after all, since you won't ever get any other friends." Star stuck her tongue out at the rude cheerleader. Brittney saw this, and she quickly swung her fist up and hit Star on the jaw in a way so that she was forced to bite down on her tongue. Star let out a small yelp of pain and put her hand up to her mouth as Brittney grabbed her by the collar.

"Listen up and listen good, bitch." She snarled. "I rule the school. That punk Lars? He's nothing compared to me. I've got all the cheerleaders as my lackeys. I have the entire football team wrapped around my finger. You? You're nothing." She punched Star in the nose.

"H-hey. L-leave her alone." Marco said. Brittney threw Star down on the ground, and Marco stood protectively in front of her, despite being noticeably scared of what could happen to him as a result. Brittney laughed.

"Ha! You think you're some kind of hero? Protecting your little girlfriend when you know what could happen to you?" She mocked. "You're nothing. She's nothing." Brittney shoved him so that he hit his head on the wall. "If you dare get in my way again, I can pay the football team to put you both in full body casts." Brittney picked up Marco by the collar and hit the back of his head against the lockers very hard, then kicked Star in the stomach and walked off.

Marco slid down the locker and to the floor in pain, holding a hand to the back of his head. He felt something on the back of his head and removed his hand to see a little bit of blood on his fingers. "Not again." He sighed.

"Thanks for standing up for me, Marco." Star said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, this happens fairly often. I think I probably have a concussion again." He replied. "Those concussions would explain why I'm so pathetic. Only one friend out of my entire life… all these anxiety attacks… my depression… there's just so much wrong with me."

"Marco, you're not pathetic. Nobody else has ever stood up for me. I never stood up for you when you were getting bullied. I can't even stand up for myself. If there's anyone who's pathetic here, it's me."

Marco sighed as they got up and continued heading home. "I feel like I'm nothing but a burden in everyone's lives. I only make everyone miserable. The world would probably be better off without me." He said. "Everyone just keeps telling me that I'm no good and I'm a waste of space. And they're probably right." Tears began streaming down Marco's face. "And if I died, nobody would come to my funeral. I probably wouldn't even have a funeral. I'm just a completely worthless piece of garbage."

The teens were passing over a bridge at this point, and Marco stopped walking and went towards the edge, looking down into the river below, looking like he was considering jumping.

"Marco… don't do this, please. You're not worthless." Star told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what I'd do without you. You're the only reason I'm sane right now. You're not a waste of space. Not to me." Star looked him directly in the eye, her pale blue eyes showing so much emotion. "So, please. Don't jump. If you die… then I'll have no choice but to go with you. You're all I have, Marco."

Marco just opened his arms and the two embraced each other, pouring out their emotions and tears.

"I'm sorry, Star. I'm such a selfish person that I didn't even think about how it might affect you. I'm so sorry." Marco said.

"It's fine, Marco." Star said. "I really like you."

"I really like you, too." Marco said.