After the slightly-longer-than-usual shower, Marco checked his phone and on the screen was a very recent text from his younger sister, Mariposa. She had asked him to pick Janna and Jackie and drive them to his family's house so they, Mari, and the new foreign exchange student could go shopping at the mall.
"Oh yeah, Mari did say something about a new exchange student staying over." Marco said as he got in the driver's seat.
"Oh yeah, you're talkin' bout Star." Janna got into the back seat with Jackie. "She's really cool."
"What's the deal with her?"
Jackie chimed in. "Get this. She can do, like, magic!"
"Magic?"
"Yeah, like some legit Harry Potter stuff. Maybe even better."
"She set the school on fire with a rainbow on her first day." Janna recalled with fondness. "That makes her cool in my book."
Marco tossed a puzzled look over his shoulder as he drove.
"With a… rainbow? How does that even work?"
Janna shrugged. "I dunno. But she got me outta gym class, that's all that matters to me."
"Aw geez, and she's living with my family. Thought I was done with these magic people…" Marco muttered that last part under his breath.
"What was that, Marco?" Jackie asked.
"Nothing."
In no time at all, the three had arrived at Marco's family's house. As soon as they all got out of his car, they froze momentarily at the sound of commotion coming from the backyard. Judging from the yelling and crashing, it sounded like some kind of fight was breaking out.
"The heck's going on back there?" Jackie asked
"Sounds like a party." Said Janna. "A crazy one, too."
Among all the shouting, Marco recognized one of the yells as his little sister's.
"Mari!"
He left Jackie and Janna in the dust when he bolted straight to the gate to his backyard. With panic and adrenaline running through his veins he vaulted over the fence and when he landed on his feet, he immediately got into a fighting stance.
Marco quickly sidestepped, narrowly dodging something huge that was launched towards him. It blasted through the wooden fence with a loud crash.
Marco looked back to see some giant lobster creature groaning in pain on the ground, countless splinters deeply embedded into its soft body.
"The Hell?" Marco muttered. Then he turned around to see the rest of the chaos unfold in a backyard that was once his.
Mariposa was spinning herself with her feet out on the neck of a hulking, bipedal giraffe, kicking away other nearby "monsters" before bringing herself upright at the base of her opponent's long neck and crushing it with both arms and legs. Its face turning blue, the giraffe creature toppled over like a cut tree and went limp. Marco was unsure whether or not it was still alive.
"Mariposa?"
"Marco?" Mari narrowly avoided a punch from one of the beasts she kicked earlier, taking one step back then throwing the attacker over her shoulder.
"Mari, who the Hell are these guys?" The man asked before he roundhouse kicked one of the intruders who ran roaring at him.
"Uhh, maybe you should ask Star."
"Star?"
As if on cue, there was a resounding hout of "Warnicorn Stampede" and in an instant, a massive herd of rough-looking unicorns came galloping out of a puff of smoke. Mariposa got out of their path, while the herd swept over the whole backyard, trampling every monster in the vicinity beneath their heavy hooves. The herd broke through the wooden fence to the neighbor's backyard and continued galloping till they faded into silence.
Once the dust settled, every monster nearby laid battered and bruised, groaning as they grasped whatever body part hurt the most.
"Oh my gosh, you idiots!" Shrieked a little kappa creature wearing what looked to be a reptile skull on his bulbous ball of a head.
"How can NONE of you handle a pair of little girls? What do I even pay you for?" His tiny beak flapped incessantly, drops of spit falling with every word.
"Y-you don't pay us at all…" One of the injured spoke up, weakly raising a bent finger and his head before both fell back down.
The tiny creature, presumably their leader, bit his lower beak. His small eyes turned big as plates and his whole body shook profusely as if he was about to blow up, literally and figuratively.
Then he composed himself after breathing in and out once. He dug into his pocket, pulling out a pair of scissors before cutting open a dark green portal in the air.
"Alright, in. In!" Said the kappa creature as he ushered all his henchmen into the portal, every single one limping, crawling, or dragging themselves into it. The kappa creature followed after the last of his minions left.
"I'll get you, Star Butterfly! The Royal Wand WILL be mine!" Said the kappa as he popped out of the portal, yelling and shaking his fist before sinking back in.
Marco just stood there, frozen and blinking, struggling to process what had just happened. So many questions swam in his mind. Who were those guys? What were those guys? Why were they in his family's backyard making a mess of it? Where did those Unicorns come from? Where did they go?
Marco was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud whoop followed by the familiar sound of a high five. He realized that Mari wasn't the only one fighting off all those monsters and that she definitely wasn't the one they were after.
Mariposa was standing next to another girl. She was of a similar height and, presumably, a similar age. Flowing blonde locks went all the way down to her knees. Her eyes were as blue as… wait a minute...
Unnaturally long blonde hair.
Sky blue eyes.
Marks on her cheeks that were hearts instead of clouds.
A headband.
A Wand that looked like a toy that Marco once thought was a joke. The fact that the smaller monster was raving about said Wand and was accompanied by a number of goons.
Marco prayed continuously that this girl had an older sister. Yet at the same time, he thought about what happened with Janna and Jackie, and a good part of him highly doubted it.
"Star, that was awesome!" Said Mariposa with a beaming smile.
"I know, right?" Star replied, reciprocating Mari's mirth. "You were all like, 'bam!' Pow!'" Star punched and kicked the air, mimicking what she probably saw Mariposa do. "And I was all like, 'boom!' 'Pshewww!'"
"One of these days, ya gotta teach me some of that magic stuff, Star."
"And one of these days, ya gotta teach me those sick moves. Whaddya call it again? Carrot-y or something?"
"Uh." Mariposa bashfully rubbed the back of her head. "I dunno if I'm the right person for that. Everything I know, I learned from my brother."
"Speaking of which."
Marco chimed in as he walked right up to the two girls. hand reached out to each of them. The hand heading towards Star hesitated for a moment before resting on her shoulder.
"You girls alright?"
"Yeah, we're good." Mari answered with a smile.
"Nothin' we can't handle." Added Star.
Marco looked over every inch of each girl, searching for some sign of injury. His older brother instinct took hold when he held Mari by the cheeks to check for even the tiniest scratch on her face or head. Not wanting to be neglectful, he did the same with Star, whose cheeks reddened and blue eyes shimmered.
"Hey now, you checkin' me out there, Tiger? Hope ya like what ya see. I know I do. Rawrrr." Star remarked flirtatiously, making Marco flustered.
Marco, red in the face, quickly pulled away. "Wh-what?"
"Star, stoooop!" Mari whined, lightly shoving Star in the shoulder.
"Whaaat?" Star raised both hands defensively. "I'm just saying. If you wanna look a little deeper, your hands are free to go as they please, big guy."
"Oh my gosh, another Janna. Just what we need." Marco groaned as he took a step back, only to accidentally bump into the Devil he spoke of.
"Watch it, big boy." Janna said as she took one step back.
"Hey Star. Mari." Jackie greeted coolly. "Heard there was a party back here."
"Nah, it was just Ludo and his lackeys like usual." Star spoke like they were mere minor inconveniences.
"Like usual?" Marco said, raising an eyebrow. His expression became more stern. "And how long has this been going on?"
"Since Star moved in with us." Mari answered. "Relax, we can handle it. You saw how I fought those guys."
Marco sighed. "Mari, I know you can handle it. Hell, I'd be a waste of a teacher if you couldn't."
Then he turned to Star.
"I'm more worried about the fact that having her here puts you and Mom and Dad in danger if her Wand is what they want."
Mari looked suspiciously at Marco.
"How do you know it's her Wand they're after?"
"Uhh…" Marco felt his nerves being tested when suddenly all eyes were on him. Mariposa's glare felt more like needles digging into his psyche compared to everyone else's.
"I mean…" Marco cleared his throat. "Didn't that little guy say that Wand would be his? I assume that's the reason he's here."
"Hmm. Yeah, you're right." Mari relaxed, seemingly pleased by Marco's answer.
"Anyways, my point still stands." Marco crossed his arms, standing by his words. "As much as I believe that you two are capable of defending yourselves, I don't like the idea of my family being collateral damage when creatures from who knows where regularly attack you. Who knows if one of these days, you have someone or something pop up that nothing I've taught you could help?"
"That's why we have this, duh." Star said, waving her baby rattle looking magic Wand.
"So you can summon a stampede of unicorns to trample your enemy. Pretty sure that strategy can't save you all the time."
"It can do more than that. This spell can do stuff like launch Narwhals, shoot lasers and even blow up planets!"
"And make rainbows that set schools on fire." Janna added.
"Yup!" Star raised her want to the sky. "This Wand can do all that and more! I pretty much got the power of gods all wrapped in this cute, caramel-flavored package."
"Marco, we'll be fine." Mariposa assured, holding and rubbing the top of Marco's hand. "Star came to Earth to train her magic, so maybe she'll learn spells that could better protect me, Mom and Dad. And we won't hafta worry about any interdimensional threats as long as she has the Wand. Right, Star?"
"Yeesssir! I won't let anything lay a finger, claw, or tentacle on anyone in your family. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Marco narrowed his eyes at the girls, unsure of what to make of their pleas. He's watched enough fantasy shows to know that the Wand falling into the wrong hands would be the worst case scenario. That Ludo guy from earlier seemed hellbent on getting it and Marco knew not what his goals were or what he'd do with that kind of power should he get his tiny mitts on it.
At the same time, Marco had to admit that Mari and Star made a pretty decent team fighting those monsters off. If this has been happening for a while already, and Mari and Star had managed to be successful each time, then perhaps there wasn't much to worry about.
He could always give Mariposa that in case of an emergency.
"Alright, fine." Marco sighed in defeat. "But if there's anything you guys can't handle, call me right away. Okay?"
"We will. Promise." Mari affirmed with a nod."
"Y'know what? I just realized we haven't even introduced ourselves yet." Star took a long step right up to Marco, breaking his train of thought by ending up so close that her forehead was just a push away from his chin. She fluttered her eyelashes suggestively at him.
"I'm Star Butterfly. Princess of Mewni. You must be Marco. My roomie's Buff and Tough Big Bro. She's told me all about you."
Marco looked at Mariposa briefly. "Really?"
Star nodded. "Mmhmm! And y'know what, I'm not the least bit surprised that you blew past all my expectations."
"Not sure I follow."
Star stepped forward. "Welll, Mari told me all about how you're so big, strong, smart, sweet..."
Star stood on her tiptoes, nearly making her and Marco's noses touch. Marco squirmed uncomfortably at the intimately close contact with the young girl, yet something in her bright blue eyes kept him rooted to his spot.
"... and hot."
"I-I-I never said that!" Mari stuttered nervously, as her normally tan colored cheeks burned a bright, hot pink.
"But you told me about how he used to mow the backyard without a sh-mmff!"
Mariposa laughed nervously while she slapped her hand over Star's big mouth.
"Star, ya big goof! Always sayin' the weirdest stuff. I think she's not all there if ya know what I mean."
"Uh-huh." Marco eyed the two girls suspiciously.
"Hey girls, did y'all forget?" Janna chimed in, tapping her wrist like there was a watch. "Mall time?"
"Oh yeah!" Mari exclaimed. "We should probably get going."
Marco pulled out his car keys. "Here, I'll start the car again."
Mari raised a deterring hand. "No need for that, Marco."
"Why's that?"
Mari didn't answer. Instead she looked to Star with a knowing smile as if there was a secret she knew about.
"Star?" Mari called out.
"With pleasure." Star dug into her small purse and pulled out a familiar object that almost made Marco jump out of his skin.
Star slashed the air upwards with her Dimensional Scissors, snipping open a familiar looking light blue vortex in the fabric of space.
"Ta-da!"
"Cooool." Jackie remarked.
"Always wanted to try one-a these." Janna said.
"Huh." Marco dryly said, ignoring the deafening internal screaming from within the depths of his soul as those were the exact same dimensional scissors used a few nights ago.
"I guess you girls don't need me after all. Have fun at the mall, I guess."
He turned to walk back to his car before he was quickly halted when his arm yanked back. He turned to see that the one holding him was none other than Star.
"You're not busy are ya?"
"Uh, not really." Marco answered.
"You're off work right?" Mariposa asked.
"Yeah?"
"Got anything planned for later?" Janna added.
"Nothing so far."
"So you're totally free today." Jackie concluded with a smile.
"I suppose."
All the girls looked at each other, grins creasing their faces like they had vile plans for the man in front of them.
"Why don'tcha hang with us, Marco?" Star suggested.
"It's been so long since I hung out with my big brother." Mari said, giving Marco pouty lips and big puppy eyes.
"Wouldn't you rather spend your Saturday with a group of attractive young females?" Janna said, fluttering her eyelashes just like Star did earlier. Marco and Mariposa sneered in disgust.
"Way to make it weird, Jan." Jackie said, playfully punching her arm.
"Aww, I think she's got the right idea." Star sided with Janna. "After all, it's the only way to get a man to do what you want."
"Man, there really are two of them now…" Mariposa rolled her eyes.
"So, whaddya say Marco?" Jackie asked. "Care to accompany your lil sis and her friends to the mall? Beats being alone for a whole day, doesn't it?"
As much as he hated to admit it, the girls had him trapped. Though, this wouldn't even be the first time Mariposa and her friends trapped Marco into doing something he couldn't talk his way out of. Many tea parties and dress-ups were proof of that. But now there was the fact that Marco was sleeping with two of those girls and possibly had a one night stand with a third.
The expectant looks they were all giving him, especially those that looked too cute to resist were getting to him. As always, Marco was forced to answer the way he always did when he was backed into a corner.
"Okay, fine." He sighed in defeat.
The girls rejoiced and before the man knew it he was pulled by the arms towards a portal that took him from his former backyard to Echo Creek's shopping mall in the blink of an eye. Marco almost felt whiplash with how quick the transition from one place to another was.
"Man, I can never get used to that." Marco muttered.
As usual, the massive building was filled to the brim with patrons scurrying about to find the next store to purchase things out of necessity or impulse. All the girls spoke in loud, excited tones about all the places they could go to. Mariposa was especially excited to show Star all that Earth had to offer.
The first stop was the food court. Star and Mari felt like they should get a bite to eat after using up a lot of energy fending off Ludo and his goons. The two ended up going to a Britta's Tacos outlet, while Marco, Janna and Jackie, who had a bountiful breakfast earlier, opted for smoothies instead.
"Hey, Diaz." Janna stopped drinking her strawberry smoothie to lightly elbow Marco. She pointed into the distance. "Ain't that Chantal over there?"
Marco pulled his lips off of his banana and mango smoothie and followed her eyes halfway across the wide seating area. Though he tried not to make it obvious he was searching for her, he managed to catch sight of that familiar bowl cut hair and the same clothes she wore when she visited his house earlier. She was eating some marinated beef and rice from some Chinese-American fast food chain.
"Weird, it's just her." Jackie pointed out, before taking another sip of her grape smoothie. "Usually she'd be with at least one other girl."
"Maybe she's uh, 'at work'.", Marco deduced.
Janna shook her head. "Nah, couldn't be. Brittney's hoes have a buddy system, so they always come in pairs."
Jackie shrugged. "Maybe she's just hanging at the mall like the rest of us."
"Alone?" Janna doubted "No one hangs at a mall alone!"
There was a loud thud as a big tray full of nachos, tacos, and burritos plopped right onto the table.
"Dig in!" Star exclaimed as she jumped right into her seat and wolfed down a handful of nachos in one hand and bit off half of two burritos in another.
"Nah, we're good." Jackie politely refused.
"I was talking to Mariposa." Star spat bits of tortilla and ground beef with each word.
"Geez, how'd you afford all this?" Marco asked, looking at the food which filled almost the whole table.
"Star." Mari simply answered before continuing to eat her taco more gracefully than her roommate.
"Oh right. She's a princess." Marco rolled his eyes. "She could buy the whole mall if she wanted."
"Yeah. Pretty much." Star spoke with a full mouth. Her face had become a mess of cheese sauce, beef, and tortilla crumbs.
Still curious about Chantal, Marco decided to discreetly check on her one more time. He stiffened when he saw her resting her chin on her folded hands while looking directly at him her lips turned up into a small smile. After he tore his gaze away, he felt Chantal's all over him for the remainder of his time at the food court.
After Mari and Star (mostly Star) finished their feast fit for queens, the group decided to catch a movie at the mall's cinema. Out of every recent release they all decided to watch some medieval fantasy action flick called The Doom Crusader. From what Marco's seen in promotional material and from an online synopsis, it's about some faceless, voiceless knight who slays a bunch of demons in the most gruesome, goriest way. Mariposa, Star and Janna have apparently been looking forward to the movie for a long time. Though not her cup of tea, Jackie went along anyways because she thought the movie sounded fun. It was Rated R, but Marco, as the accompanying adult, allowed it. After all, he let Mariposa borrow his copies of Berserk.
After getting their tickets, then their snacks and drinks, the five walked into their designated theater, hiking up the high incline then squeezing past other movie goers to get to their assigned seats in a top corner of the theater. Marco opted to sit in the very middle, while Star and Janna were keen on sitting beside him, leaving Jackie and Mariposa beside Janna and Star, respectively.
Once the movie started everyone relaxed and ate their snacks while watching a mad knight massacre demons without words or mercy.
"Man… Tom would hate this movie." Star quietly said to herself.
Star laid her head on Marco's arm, which prompted the man to spread his arms wide and rest them on both seats adjacent to him. Star followed up by resting her head on his side while tossing handfuls of popcorn into her mouth. He almost wanted to push her away, but she honestly looked too cute, so he let her be.
Janna also ended up resting her head on Marco's body absentmindedly as the film went on. Realizing her position, a sly smile creased her face while she pulled her gaze away from the film to Marco. Her hand slithered towards his body, gently running a hand on his torso, feeling his solid pecs even through his thick hoodie. Then her hand slowly slid down as she began eyeing his lap. She licked her lips, her heart fluttering in delight as she was just seconds away from grabbing the one thing she's been dying to get her hands on and sink her teeth in.
Janna grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bucket on his lap, drawing a brief look of ire from the man. Despite this, she ate away at his popcorn.
Marco turned to Mariposa, who watched the movie while looking a tad upset. Her cheeks squished against her palm while her eyes were on the screen. Curiously, he extended a hand towards her and managed to lightly brush her brown locks with a finger. Mariposa looked at Marco, before swatting his hand away, seeming annoyed by the gesture.
Marco did the same to Jackie who, on the contrary, accepted the gesture and rubbed her head against his hand like she was a cat, while letting Marco run his fingers through her hair, then caress her cheek with the back of his fingers.
While basking in the warmth of almost every girl being close to him while witnessing demons being massacred on the big screen, Marco was glad he decided to go with them that day. It's been a Hell of a week and a nice normal outing with the girls was just what he needed.
Marco felt a poke at his side. He looked to Janna who, without a word, pointed behind her. Marco followed her finger, past Jackie and his eyes narrowed towards a seat all the way in the opposite side of the theater.
"What the Hell…?" Marco remarked under his breath.
There she was again. Chantal was sitting alone, the smaller row of seats completely empty save for her. She sat there with her eyes glued to the screen like everyone else. She didn't even have popcorn or soda with her.
Jackie looked at both Janna and Marco, looking at them like she had a question to ask. Janna wordlessly pointed her to where Chantal was sitting and when she saw her, she instantly looked back to Janna and Marco, mouthing, "What the fuck?"
Marco turned his gaze to his other side, checking on Star and Mariposa. Star was absolutely entranced by the movie while Mariposa still looked at the screen with slight contempt in her eyes. Though he wasn't sure if it was just a trick of the light, he could've sworn he saw Mari quickly shift her gaze back to the screen as soon as Marco looked her way.
Once the movie ended and they all took a pee break, the five finally commenced their long-awaited shopping spree. They ended up going to various sorts of shops, yet much to Marco's shock and chagrin, he and the girls weren't the only ones going to them in the order they randomly chose.
First, a bookstore where Mariposa and Janna introduced Star to the world of manga, while Jackie sought history books. Not wanting to leave her alone, Marco accompanied Jackie, casually looking at the various titles of books while engaging Jackie in conversation.
"Marco, 9 o' clock." Jackie abruptly cut herself off, her face instantly becoming more serious as she continued browsing books.
Knowing full well what she meant, Marco took a quick glance and rolled his eyes at the sight of Chantal browsing books at the Business section, a few aisles down.
"Dammit. Here, too?" Marco whispered.
"Should we call her out?"
"No, we shouldn't make a scene. Especially while Mari's around."
"So, what should we do instead?" Jackie asked.
"Just… try to lose her. Check if she's following when we go to the next store."
Jackie nodded. "Gotcha."
After the girls got the books they wanted, they searched for their next store. None of them had any plan in mind besides walking around until something caught their attention. Marco, Jackie, and Janna looked around as they walked, scanning every group of people, every corner and every store for any signs of their stalker. They found not a single trace of her walking nearby at all.
The group visited a few niche stores like a Japanese Antique store at Mari's request. Then some witchcraft store suggested by who else but Janna. After that, a beach supplies store because Jackie planned to go to the beach sometime soon. Then some medieval weapons shop where Star asked the store owner some morbid questions about the various arms, like how well they can cut through bone.
Somehow, some way, Chantal was in sight every time. Whenever she wasn't in the same shop, she was outside browsing a random kiosk or shopping at a store across from where the group was. The weird past was that they can never see Chantal while they're walking, only when they've already reached a store. Maybe she had dimensional scissors, too.
In the end, the group ended up at one particular modern clothing store that catered to teens and young adults with their own sections based on style and demographics. The girls split off in groups of two with Mari and Star going to the section with more "feminine" clothes while Jackie and Janna went to the punk/alt section.
Marco sat on a long bench outside of the store, waiting to be dragged to the next one. He was on his phone trying to contact Brantley but he wasn't answering either the calls or the texts. So Marco resorted to putting his phone away and sitting with his thoughts. He relaxed under the assumption that, since they walked a much longer time from the last store and took a very convoluted route, she might've gone home or given up the chase entirely because no one's seen her at all.
"Lonely out here, Marco?"
Marco flinched hearing that familiar voice. He almost wanted to ignore her or even run off somewhere else, but he knew that he couldn't do so forever. Reluctantly, he acknowledged her.
Chantal was sitting next to him, giving him a friendly, yet knowing smile. She carried with her several paper bags carrying all that she bought including one with the logo of the store in front of them.
"Okay seriously." Marco kept his cool, trying not to let his annoyance show. "What the Hell are you playing at?"
Chantal innocently tilted her head to the side. "Whaddya mean?"
"You've been following us everywhere we went."
"Have I?" Chantal asked, seemingly feigning ignorance.
"Yes!" Marco hissed. "Okay, the food court I can get. But watching The Doom Crusader in the same theater? The bookstore? Everything else? And now here?"
She shrugged. "Probably just dumb luck we ended up in the same places. As you can see, I've got bags from shops nowhere near where you've been. And I've been looking forward to the Doom Crusader since it was announced last year."
Marco's inner Attorney screamed "Hold it!"
"How do you know what shops we haven't gotten close to?" He asked, eyeing her skeptically.
Chantal had a face like she was caught in a lie.
"Uhh, y'know. I haven't… seen you guys since the uh, food court."
"Uh-huh." Marco crossed his arms. "So why are you here alone?"
"Uh, I'm actually not?"
"What?"
Chantal straightened her posture, trying to make herself look just as tall as Marco but falling literally short.
"I'm here with a friend. She's just at another store around here. That's why I came here to sit while I wait for her."
"Oh."
Marco turned away from her, looking at the clothing store the girls were still browsing. After some time, he rested his elbows on his knees while his chin laid on his palm. Chantal also kept waiting beside him.
The cheerleader leaned forward, getting closer to Marco while also lowering her voice enough that Marco can still hear her over the din of the mall-goers.
"So, how about it? You comin' tomorrow?"
"I still don't know why I should. Or why I was even invited in the first place."
Chantal placed her palm over her mouth as she giggled, then snorted as if trying to fight back a much louder laugh.
"Gosh, you are so bad at playing dumb. It's actually kinda cute."
Marco stiffened before sitting up straight to make himself look taller and imposing as if he was faced with a bear.
"I really don't know what you're going on about."
"Marco c'mon. I- We know that you've been sleeping with Janna and Jackie for weeks."
The truth laid bare so bluntly felt like a punch to the face. Marco instinctively twitched an eye which Chantal had to have noticed because her smile became wider.
"I saw the way you were touching Jackie in the theater earlier." Chantal's voice remained low. "Not sure if that's how guys treat girls unless they were dating… or fucking."
Unable to find an argument against that, Marco held a furious glare at the girl, who simply kept her own expression neutral. Once again, her eyes moved to and fro, as if searching.
"Alright, fine. You win. Yes I have been seeing them." Marco conceded with a sigh, unable to deny it any longer. "So what does this have to do with me going to Brittney's party?"
Chantal's smile returned in full force. "Well-"
"Hey!"
Marco and Chantal both looked like deers in headlights when they turned to see Mariposa, with the others behind her, standing in front of the store. Every bag she had immediately fell to the floor when she started walking slowly, menacingly towards them, her usually cute face twisted in scorn.
"Oh hey there Mariposa," Chantal greeted casually. "I was just chatt-"
"Get. Away. From him." Mariposa spat, venom deep in her tone. She rolled up her sleeves as if preparing to throw hands.
"Whoa whoa, chill Mari. No need to make a scene." Chantal got up from her seat, her arms up in surrender.
"Whatever you're selling, he's not buying!"
Mari took one big stomp forward, causing the cheerleader to flinch and back away further. Passersby started to look their way. A few stopped to watch.
"There you are!" Suddenly another girl came up to Chantal. She had soft green eyes and light auburn hair tied up in a little ponytail. There was a blue cast covered in writing and drawing on her right arm.
"Sorry I took so long in the bathroom. I thought you were still waiting for me." Said the girl.
"I just had to do something real quick." Chantal eyed Mariposa cautiously. "We can be on our way now, Sab."
The girl named Sab nodded. She took Chantal by the hand, pulling her away from the area.
"Better keep that bitch on a leash, Sabrina!" Mariposa yelled after them as they left the scene.
Marco watched the whole scene unfold without uttering a word. Though it wasn't the first time she exhibited such aggressive behavior like that, he wondered why she did so then and there.
Mariposa waited until Chantal and Sabrina were out of sight before turning to Marco. Her furious expression from earlier had faded to one of worry towards her older brother.
"Marco, you okay?"
"Uh, yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" Marco answered, confused.
"What was she talking to you about? Did she ask you to do anything you didn't want to?"
"No, nothing like that." Marco briefly looked at Janna and Jackie before continuing. "She said something about a… party? Or whatever? I dunno, I wasn't listening. She kept going even though I said I wasn't interested."
Mariposa's worried look fixed on Marco for a bit, her eyes scanning him like she searched for some sign of injury on his body.
"Alright." Mari finally said. "I think we're done for the day."
She turned to the girls behind her.
"Girls? Anywhere else ya wanna go?"
"Nope!" Star said, smiling.
"All set." Said Jackie.
"Nah, we Gucci." Janna said, throwing up an "A-OK" gesture with her hand.
With that, Star ripped open another portal. When everyone stepped in, they ended up back in the Diaz family's backyard. It was late afternoon by the time they got there.
"We should go inside, check out the loot." Janna said as she lifted her bags.
"You guys go on ahead. I wanna talk to Marco first."
Mariposa waved off her friends, with Star taking her roommate's bags into the house. Once they all got past the sliding door into the house, Mari turned back to Marco.
The elder Diaz was the first to speak.
"So, you mind telling me what that was all about?"
Mari didn't answer for a while. Instead she rubbed her arm and looked at the grass beneath her feet.
"You sure that was all she said?" Mari asked. "Just something about a party?"
"Y-yeah." Marco averted his gaze for a second, scratching his cheek. "Why?"
"She didn't ask you to go with her to somewhere private? Maybe buy her some clothes or something for certain… favors?"
Marco knew she was getting at but maintained his facade of ignorance.
"Not at all. Why would she do that?"
"Nevermind that. You said she mentioned some kinda party to you. Any specifics on it or…?"
Marco shrugged. "Nothing weird from what I heard. She mentioned the name 'Brittney' if that means anything to you."
"Huh." Mari crossed her arms, her brow furrowed and eyes narrowed as if deep in thought.
"So do you know her? That girl from earlier, I mean." Marco asked.
"Unfortunately." Mari sighed. "Well, I don't know her-know her, but like… I know she's down with Brittney and her gang. They're bad news, Marco."
"How so?"
"Like…" Mari hesitated for a moment. "Ugh! Just… they're so…!"
Mari was quiet for a while, her head hanging to stare at her own shoes.
Then he looked back at Marco with big, pleading eyes.
"Just… if you ever see any girl in an Echo Creek Cheerleader's uniform walk up to you and try to talk to you, just don't give them the time of day. Avoid them like the plague. Okay?"
"Like that advice I, Mom, and Dad gave you before?" Marco smiled. "Don't talk to strangers?"
It was Mari's turn to smile. "Exactly."
Marco chuckled. "Okay Mari. I won't. Heck, I'll just run the opposite way if I have to."
"Good."
Mari walked up to her older brother and suddenly wrapped her arms around his torso in a very strong hug.
"I love you, Marco." She said while nuzzling her cheek against his chest. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
Marco was confused but reciprocated the hug regardless.
"Of course not. I mean, I'm the one who taught you the best ways to physically break someone."
"Yeah but who knows if you'll go against someone or something that nothing you've taught could help?"
Marco laughed at the familiar words. "Ha, throwing what I told you earlier back at me, huh? If anything, I should be worried about you."
"Well if I trained under you, then you shouldn't hafta worry, right?"
"Fair point."
The two siblings broke away from their hug. Mari offered Marco to stay for dinner and perhaps even sleep over to which he happily accepted but said that he needed to go to his house and get some stuff ready first.
Marco got into his car and made the very short drive back to his house. His mind drifted back to what happened towards the end of their Mall trip.
The way Mariposa acted towards Chantal and the talk they had in the backyard made Marco wonder just how much Mariposa knew about Echo Creek's seedy underbelly and how she'd feel if she found out Marco was deeper in it than she would ever imagine.