Marco's Choice
Chapter Four: Green Isn't Your Color
Nearly a week after Star's meltdown and reconcilliation with Marco, the young princess (wearing her sea green dress) was walking down the halls of Echo Creek Academy, feeling quite content. Marco had been true to his word, making sure to allocate some time for his best friend every day. Star's dimensional scissors were finally seeing some action again, taking them to all sorts of fun dimensions. It felt like old times: just Star and Marco, besties, hanging out and having fun.
Now that she was happy again, Star was confused at how she could have reacted to Marco spending so much time with Jackie in such a way.
'What was up with that?' She wondered, not for the first time, as she walked through the halls of the school. 'Why'd I get so angry about Marco spending more time with Jackie than with me? I almost made Pony Head's possessiveness look normal. That's not who I am. I don't mind friends spending time with other friends. Poor Marco. I must have sounded like a total raging jerkface...'
She was especially regretful of her bitterness toward Jackie, who had never been anything but nice to her.
'I don't even why I said all those nasty things about her.' She shook her head. 'Jackie's cool. She's fun. She's great. She-'
As Star rounded a corner, she was greeted with the sight of Marco and Jackie leaning against Jackie's locker, kissing each other deeply.
Star froze in place. Though she had never seen the two of them kissing like that before, she had assumed doing so would have given her a warm, fuzzy feeling. But what she was feeling at the moment was more like a blazing inferno in her stomach. Star grit her teeth, as a great fury suddenly welled up within her, focused entirely on Jackie.
'She's a no-good hussy!' She snarled inwardly.
As Marco and Jackie parted, Star moved around the corridor at top speed. She then peeked over the side, noting that they were still a little too close for her liking.
"So... does this mean you like my present?" Marco grinned.
"I love it." Jackie held up her hand, allowing Star to see a seashell-shaped charm on a bracelet hanging around her wrist, no doubt the present Marco had gotten her. "Hope it didn't set you back too much."
"Hey, only the best for my girlfriend." Marco grinned.
"You're so sweet." Jackie kissed him on the cheek.
'Blech...' Star cringed.
"See you at the smoothie shop after school?" Marco asked.
"Wouldn't miss it." Jackie beamed.
As Jackie walked away, she rounded the corridor. Star quickly attempted to look nonchant, whistling a jaunty tune while leaning against the wall.
"Hey, Star." Jackie smiled. "Good to see ya."
"You too, Jackie." Star smiled back fakely. "Not..." She added under her breath.
"Later." Jackie waved as she continued walking.
Star glared at Jackie's back, overcome with anger. Once Jackie was out of sight, the anger faded, and Star was struck by guilt once more.
'What was that?' She asked herself. 'What's going on in your head, Butterfly?'
For the rest of the day, Star flip-flopped between anger and confusion.
'What is happening to me?' She fretted as she headed home from school. 'Why am I still so angry at Jackie?'
Suddenly, the image of Jackie and Marco kissing popped up in her head, with the anger returning instantly. Star gritted her teeth in a scowl. But then, the image in her head changed; Instead of Jackie kissing Marco, it was Star herself.
'Wait, what?' Star stopped in her tracks. 'Did I just think that? No, it can't be...'
Star tried to shake off the strange image, but she couldn't stop herself from continuing to focus on it. She even found herself thinking about what it would be like to press her lips against Marco's...
'Stop that!' She bopped herself on the head with her wand. 'Marco's my best friend. I don't feel that way about him... do I?'
As much as she tried to stop it, Star's mind put her on a very unsettling train of thought. She and Marco had been through a lot together, and she felt closer to him than she had to any other person in her life.
'But that doesn't mean I love him.' Star scoffed at her own thoughts.
As if in response, Star's mind brought her back to the night of the Blood Moon Ball, when a disguised Marco pulled her into a dance. She remembered feeling so enamoured with her mysterious dance partner, until Marco revealed himself.
While Star was reeling from that revelation, Tom had attempted to incinerate Marco. Star put aside her shock to deal with Tom. After that, the shock was replaced by annoyance that Marco had seen fit to follow her, and not let her handle things herself. And when they reconciled, there was the odd moment where they spoke in unison. After that unsettling display, they decided to turn in soon after, any thoughts about their dance driven from Star's mind by exhaustion.
'Boy that was a crazy night.' Star thought. 'So much happened in so little time...'
Some time after that, Marco had been kidnapped and held for ransom by Toffee. Star had been determined to rescue him, which at the time she felt had been spurred on by guilt over a quarrel they'd had earlier. Star had seldom treated a fight with monsters so seriously, but was willing to go all out to save her friend, even to the point of sacrificing her wand.
'I was ready to give up my wand to save him.' She thought. 'That's what friends do, right?'
But a part of Star was starting to think simple friendship had been the true motivator of her actions. Perhaps subconsciously, she had already started to develop feelings for him, feelings that had laid under the surface for all this time.
'No, that's crazy.' She shook her head. 'Even if I did have those feelings, I couldn't hide them from myself all this time..'
With a jolt, Star considered the possibility that all her anger towards Marco spending so much time with Jackie wasn't because she missed her best friend, but because she was jealous of Jackie for having Marco's affections.
'Maybe I really do like Marco... that way.' Star frowned. 'But even if I did, he doesn't return those feelings. And anyway, he's with Jackie. Cool, awesome, perfect Jackie...'
Star scowled once again.
'So just forget.' She told herself. 'You and Marco are friends, Star. That's all you're ever gonna be. Better to accept it, and move on...'
Of course, such an idea was easier to think than to implement. Seeing Marco with Jackie every day was harder to stomach then Star thought. And even when they weren't together, Marco, though still keeping his promise to hang out with Star every day, would inevitably zip off for his dates with Jackie. Not even their other-dimensional adventures together could soothe Star's woes. If anything, spending time with Marco, just the two of them, made it even harder for Star to keep her feelings bottled up. She would try to distance herself from Marco, avoiding any physical contact.
One afternoon, the two returned from a trip to a dimension with giant, flying chinchillas, which the natives raced. Star and Marco ended up taking part in one such race, riding a particularly speedy fellow named "Streak". They had ultimately won, and earned a pyramid shaped trophy for their troubles.
"Oh-hoh, that was amazing!" Marco chuckled, still a little diorientated from the ride, the trophy in his arms. "I nearly puked back there!"
"Yeah, and we won, too!" Star smiled. "We showed those other riders who's boss!"
In her joy, she made to hug Marco, but caught herself just before she made contact. She stepped back instead, lowering her arms awkwardly.
"Star, are you feeling okay?" Marco asked. "It's just... this is usually the part where you say 'hugs' and squeeze me like a stuffed animal."
"Yeah, I'm... I'm not really feeling it today." Star muttered.
"Is there something wrong?" Marco frowned, putting down the trophy. "You've been kinda... off lately. Is there some kind of problem you've got going on?"
"It's nothing, really." Star shook her head.
"Come on, Star." Marco placed his hand on Star's shoulder, sending a tingle through her body. "You know you can tell me anything."
"Thanks, Marco." Star smiled. "You're always such a good friend to me. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Hey, what are besties for?" Marco grinned.
"Yeah, besties." Star's face fell. "That's us. Always have been, always will be..."
"And that's good, right?" Marco smiled.
"Well..." Star bit her lip.
"Well, what?" Marco frowned.
Star looked directly into Marco's brown eyes. Holding her feelings in was torture, but she couldn't admit them to him. She couldn't... could she?
"Star?" Marco asked, unnerved by her silent gaze. "Come on, tell me what's up."
"I... well..." Star gulped, unsure of what to do. "You see..."
"That's it." Marco urged. "Just get it all out into the open. You'll feel better, I promise."
Star, unable to contain herself any longer, acted on impulse. She placed her hands on Marco's cheeks, and pulled him forward, pressing her lips against his.
'Careful what you wish for, Diaz.' She thought. 'You wanted it all out in the open, you got it...'
To Be Continued...
(Star vs. the Forces of Evil and all associated characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney.)
