Chapter Ten: Regrets

About two hours after Star had run into Zeriph, she lay naked, shaking, crying and bleeding on the floor of the broom closet. She was so scared, and her entire body hurt. She didn't…. No, she couldn't believe what had happened to her. All Star had tried to do was say no and ask to be let out of the broom closet, but he didn't listen to her. Instead, he thought no meant yes, so in his mind, she wanted it.

Starlight pulled herself together, slowly sitting up and getting dressed, wiping her tears away as exited the closet, hoping that no one was around. When she saw that the coast was clear, she let out a relieved sigh and headed back to her dorm.

By the time Star made it back to the dorm, Jezebel and Nova were awake. Jezie was getting ready for the day, sitting on her bed while putting her hair in a half ponytail. Nova had just come out of the bathroom from a shower. Star only knew she had a shower because her hair was wet and not styled.

"Hey, Star you look a little disheveled, what happened?" Jezie asked once she was done getting ready.

"Oh, she probably just met up with that guy, so he could have his way with her again" Nova muttered, not giving Star a chance to explain herself.

"Nova, that was rude" Jezie scolded.

"No, it's alright…... I'm gonna go get ready to head out…" Star muttered softly as she walked off towards the bathroom.

Once the bathroom door was closed, Jezebel turned on Nova, "What the hell was that about?" she snapped at her, "She is your sister and, yet you treat her like crap; you never know what could have happened to her," she continued.

"I don't particularly agree with this guy she's been seeing…." was all she said before she walked out of the room.

"Oh great, there goes the only person that could possibly know where this Neptune person is…..." Jezie muttered angrily at the empty room. She finished getting ready, putting on her combat uniform and putting her hair up in a half ponytail.

Starlight started the shower, stripping out of her clothes carefully since she was still sore from earlier, 'How could Nova be so rude? It's not like I wanted a boyfriend…. It just kind of happened and for the record I'm not even sure if we're a couple….' she thought to herself as she stepped into the shower.

After fifteen minutes, Star and Jezebel were ready to go, they just had to wait for Nova to return. Jezie had to pull rank on her to get her to stop being a jerk and get her to come back.

"Hey, Star, I would like to talk to you about what happened earlier today; as a friend and not the leader of the team," Jezie broke the silence, looking up at Star from the book in her lap.

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass on that. I don't really want to talk about it," Star responded softly, shifting a little as she sat on her bed. Her lower regions still hurt a lot.

"Alright, but the offer to talk still stands; anytime you need to talk about anything, you can come to me, alright?"

"Alright, thanks…..."

Nova walked into the room a few minutes later, "I found who we were looking for, but he didn't know anything useful, so we are back to square one," she said abruptly, plopping down on her bed.

"What the fuck is your problem? You've been incredibly rude all day," Jezie asked forcefully, getting tired of her attitude.

"Why do you care? It's not like you actually care about any of us, you just pretend you do because you're the team leader," her voice dripped with sass.

"Of course, I care," her eyes searched her face, "why wouldn't I care about the members of my team? You guys are my friends first, and teammates second."

She sighed, "Alright, if you must know, the girl I really liked found someone else, so she dumped me."

She gasped softly, "Oh Nova, I'm so sorry. Breakups are hard, but you shouldn't go through them alone, and you shouldn't take your pain out on your teammates, especially your sister."

"Yeah I know… I'm sorry about that, it just hurts a lot that she didn't even have the courage to tell me in person; she messaged me this morning saying that she's leaving me for another girl. She was the first person I'd ever really thought of in that way…."

"That bitch!" She blurted out, "Sorry but it's true, she obviously didn't care about you enough. If I ever see her I'm gonna punch her in the face for the pain she caused you."

She chuckled softly at that, "I was wrong about you, Wolf Girl, you really do care. Thank you for that by the way, but the face punching won't be necessary. I left her a very detailed and long reply full of colorful words."

She rolled her eyes at her nickname for her, "Well at least I can cheer you up, and don't ever think for a second that I don't care about my team."

"So, what now?" Star piped up, shifting a little so that she could look at both of them.

"Well, since we no longer have a plan, I'm going to head to the library to see if I can find out more information. I think you two should talk things out and rebuild the bond," Jezie responded to Star, getting up to head towards the door, not bothering to change out of the tank top and sweats she had been wearing.

"Alright, be safe and come back before it gets too late," Nova said before she left.

"I will, don't worry," Jezebel left the room, heading towards the library.

"Star, I want you to know that I'm extremely sorry for the way I've been treating you lately…... I was so caught up in the whole girlfriend thing that I left my baby sister to fend for herself, can you ever forgive me?" Nova moved to sit next to Star as she spoke.

"Of course, I forgive you, you're my sister and I could never stay mad at you," Star replied, "but did you really have to call me your baby sister? You are only older by three and a half minutes," she added with a whine.

"You know I like to tease you about it, but I promise I will never abandon you for someone else. From now on you come first no matter what."

"Same goes for you, I've always been there for you and I always will be."

Nova gave her sister a tight but gentle hug, a soft sigh of relief coming from her when she returned the hug.