Marco threw his bag into the closet upon entering his bedroom, annoyed beyond belief with this girl's holier-than-thou attitude. He was certain this was going to be a total fluke - there's no way she was going to be able to stay here longer than the weekend. Already, he could hardly stand her.

Cracking his knuckles, Marco sat down at his desk and flipped open his PC, randomly opening the internet and browsing without really thinking. He quickly scrolled through anything of interest on Breaddit and BookFace, not really paying the task much mind. Marco's mind was racing with that girl's stupid actions - how could she think smoking a cigarette was a good idea so… so... naturally ? She was going to be royally screwed if things kept at this rate.

For some reason, a particular phrase lingered in his buzzing brain, catching like a bad lag in one of his video games.

I'm not stupid, and it sort of feels like you think I am!

You're a real asshole, Diaz. Way to go.

He really hadn't meant to make her feel stupid - it's not her fault that she was thrown into a new dimension, no friends, no guidance. Literally, a map and her purse, and that seemed to be it. She had already lost her map, and her purse seemed like an easy target for anyone with half a mind. If word got out she was a princess, she would have boys and thieves crawling all over her, trying to take advantage.

That made Marco bite his tongue in disgust, the thought of someone like Oskar slinking up beside her or some cheap thief at the mall snatching her purse. She wouldn't even know to look out for the type, but indeed, was Marco much better? He was just as bad as the rest of them, if not worse in some regards. If she had been anybody else, he probably would have done the same thing, but this girl was supposed to be his new houseguest.

Impressionable, that's what she was. She wasn't stupid. She was just innocent to a fault.

He could hear the front door opening from the ground level, which was predictable, as she must have seen him enter this house of all of the ones along the street. About ten minutes had passed since he snapped at her, and Marco released a groan. He let his face fall forward across the laptop.

I should probably apologize…

Getting up, Marco peaked in the mirror above his dresser, fixed his hair, and took a deep breath.

Get ahold of yourself. She's clueless and she's your problem now.

With the exhale, Marco shook his head and turned around, burying his hands in his pocket and opened the door.

"Marco?"

He froze, half foot into the upstairs hallway as his parents ascended the stairs.

"M-mom? What're you doing home so early?"

She looked at him with contempt and glanced at her husband.

"We could ask you the same thing, mijo . You said no more cutting class." His father crossed his arms at the landing and they both looked at him expectantly.

"I thought you… er, nevermind. I came home early with the new g - with Star . We were excused so I could help her settle in." Marco lied easily, closing his door behind him.

"Oh," his mother replied, face softening a few degrees. "When you didn't text back earlier, I got worried. So you met her? Did you show her to her room?"

They started to ascend the stairs together, holding hands and looking excitedly in the direction of the guest room. Marco's eyes went wide and he practically jumped across the hallway, standing in front of the door. He tried to look casual, but did not move from the frame.

"Y-yep. Yep! Just showed her. She wants a bit of time to settle in. I said I'd leave her alone - maybe we can give her some space? I didn't tell her to expect you guys for another few hours."

"Aw, Marco." His father pulled him into a hug, which Marco had to accept to get them to go away. "I'm proud of you mijo . Acting like a nice young man for the new exchange student. She must be cute!"

" Dad ." Marco groaned, pushing away from the embrace. His mom kissed his cheek and smiled fondly at him.

"Just let us know when she's ready to say hello. We're going to start dinner early, okay?"

"Sure, Mom." Marco took a tiny step away, back against the door so his face was free from his mom's grip. Lying directly to her wasn't easy, especially when she sounded so happy with his behavior.

False behavior , his consciousness corrected.

Fuck off, he told himself.

Once they went down the hall ("Maybe she'll be a good influence on him!" His mother chimed excitedly) and crossed the threshold into their own room, Marco carefully opened the creaky guest room door and deftly closed it behind him.

" Fuck ," Marco whispered to himself, breathing like he had just sprinted a mile. He needed to find Star.

Flipping through the contacts in her compact mirror, Star's finger hovered over a name in her phone.

Tom .

She really, really didn't want to talk to her crush right now, but she wasn't sure who else to call. The embarrassment of spilling all of this to him would make her seem a fool, and she had done that enough on her own today.

Her parents couldn't know how bad of a time she was having already or they would send her to the alternative - St. O's - and she knew Pony Head was no good. Her bestie's phone had just gotten confiscated for the umpteenth time, and she had received express permission not to call until Pony gave her the "all-clear." Otherwise, her parents would check their messages, and they didn't want that.

From a nearby tree, a laugh and the cutting sound of a portal went by unbeknownst to her, menacing and mysterious in its form.

" No. " Star snapped her mirror closed and shoved it back into her purse, instead taking out her wand and looking at the golden crystal embedded within. Though disjointed by the star shape, Star could see her reflection in the magical gem's surface, and her face looked particularly severe.

"You're a Butterfly , for corn's sake. You can handle a dimension like Earth. They don't even have dragons here - how bad can it be?"

Grip tightening, Star closed her purse and walked through the streets with the wand close to her side. She didn't expect danger, but she preferred to be precautious. In her other hand, she gripped the crumpled carton of cigarettes Marco had left her with.

Help yourfuckingself.

Fine, her mind answered. I don't need his help anyways. I'll find that Janna girl or someone else.

Her face felt warm at the memory, the way his voice lashed her, hardly provoked. She wasn't stupid - she was the Princess of Mewni, and she could take care of herself.

After another ten minutes of mindless walking, Star heard a voice call to her. "Heads up - on your left!"

It was a female voice, but Star couldn't tell where it came from.

She yelled back, rooted in place on the sidewalk. " What's on my left ?" Star turned automatically, and to her left was nothing but an empty carriage path, void of any carriages.

"No-no, I, LOOK OUT I'M BEHIND YOU!"

Flinching at the sudden volume, Star didn't have time to react to the horrible sounding woosh that came a moment later. A girl flew past her and rolled into the dirt, knees scraping along the ground as a small green rectangle flew down the sidewalk away from them.

"Oh, oh my, oh no, are you alright?" Star ran into the dirt and stopped beside the girl as she hissed, grabbing her knees painfully.

"Aaaahhhhhh, shhh…. Aaahh, I'm good, phew … I'm… good." The girl was blonde and had a green streak through her bouncing waves, cropped short to frame her face. Star tried to reach for her but flinched back repeatedly, wanting to help but unsure if she would hurt her.

"I am so, so so sorry ." Star said after another few moments of the girl brushing the dust off her long socks and slightly dirtied shirt.

"No, it was my fault. Skateboarding on the sidewalk is actually illegal…" the girl laughed, but coughed a bit painfully. Star bit her lip and held a hand to her cheekmarks, unsure what to do.

"Can I help? Are you hurt?"

The girl laughed a little louder this time and stood up, bracing against Star's extended arm. The princess was taken by surprise at the contact, but she had offered to help after all. "Thanks. I'm good, though. That's why we wear helmets."

She stood properly on her own and knocked her head, causing a hollow thump thump to sound from her odd purple hat.

Repeating the motion against her own head, Star looked more than a little confused. "Helmets…?"

"Oh," the girl paused for a second, letting her attention catch up to her. "Wait a minute. You're the new girl at school, aren't you? From Ms. Skullnick's class?"

Star's eyes went wide in surprise and nodded.

"That makes so much more sense now. Hah! Let's start over. I'm Jackie. Jackie Lynn Thomas."

The girl extended a hand to Star, at which she smiled and accepted. At least this person seemed to understand the greeting, unlike Marco who had totally blown her off earlier.

"I'm Star Butterfly, and yes, I'm new. I guess I'm supposed to be staying with Marco Diaz."

Jackie withdrew her hand and Star could have sworn she saw a flicker of something across the girl's face, but she didn't know what to make of it. A moment later, the blonde girl snorted and began to laugh in a flattering way that made her freckles seem to dance.

"I guess that explains a lot - he ditched you, I'm guessing? No wonder you're walking out here alone."

Star forced a small smile and gripped her arm with one hand, no longer happy to meet the new acquaintance's eyes. "N-no, actually. I suppose you could say I 'ditched' him. I wanted to explore town on my own. We parted ways outside of his house."

"Huh," the girl replied, a bemused arch raising one of her brows.

Jackie looked herself over to check for scratches and blood, and once she determined there was no such damage, she gave Star a friendly wave and began to go after her forgotten skateboard.

"Well anyways, I gotta get going. I'm heading to the doctor's and I'm running a little late. It was nice meeting you, see ya, Star Butterfly!"

Excitedly, Star waved back with unlady-like enthusiasm. It felt like she really made a friend. Surely, her mother would feel her unbecoming elation was justified.

"Bye, Jackie!"

With a firm smile set across her face, Star started off down the road in the same direction as her new friend, curious to continue her independent journey.