Author's Note: I've been having a good time getting into Star's head and fleshing her out. She's fun to write! And her sassy dynamic with Danny is very fun, too.

Star Error VI

The rumors continued throughout the morning. Star kept catching students looking at her and whispering, giggling behind their hands.

Damn it. All she wanted to do was prove that Fenton's stupid freckles glowed. How did she let this happen?

After the lunch bell rang, Star caught a glimpse of Fenton down the hall. She paused for only a moment before deciding not to meet the rest of the A-List for lunch and power walking toward Fenton. She wasn't hungry anyway.

Students stared at her as she dashed past them. She was sure she could hear them whispering about her. What's she doing? Where's she going? Is she chasing after Danny Fenton? Oh, she must be, yes, she's so very in love with him, isn't she?

She clenched her jaw and kept her gaze straight ahead, making no eye contact with anyone. Fenton was leaning against a row of lockers and chatting with his two loser friends.

"Hey. You." Star marched up to him, her hands balled into fists by her side.

Fenton turned to her and blinked with an expression of mock innocence as he pointed to his chest. "You talking to me?"

"Yes, I'm talking to you," hissed Star. "Who else would I be talking to?"

"I don't know." Fenton shrugged and looked around. "There's a lot of people in this hallway."

"Quit acting dumb," said Star. "We need to talk."

"Isn't that what we're doing now?"

"You know what I mean. Somewhere private."

"Oh, my. Whatever about, Star?"

Fenton's eyes became larger in his continued faux naivete. Manson and Foley exchanged glances and quirked eyebrows.

"I just couldn't possibly imagine," said Fenton.

"Are you going to come talk with me?" demanded Star. "Or am I going to have to drag you somewhere?"

Fenton laughed. "Oh, wow. I'd kind of like to see you try that."

Star growled and could feel her face heating up.

"All right, all right, we can talk." Fenton looked at his friends. "I'll meet you two at our usual table for lunch a little later."

"See ya," said Foley.

"Good luck," said Manson.

Star stomped ahead of Fenton, leading the way down the hall. She could see more people staring at them as they walked past, whispering their names and giggling.

The first empty classroom Star spotted, she darted inside. Fenton followed in behind her, and Star locked the door.

"So how have things been since last night, Star?" asked Fenton with a pleasant smile.

Star scowled and opened the picture of his glowing freckles on her phone. "You need to tell the A-List that this is real, that your freckles really do glow."

"You really sent that to them, huh?" Fenton squinted at the photo, as if he were studying it.

"Yes!" cried Star. "And they think it's photoshopped or some kind of Snapchat filter. And then they recognized the background and thought we were on a date and now the entire school thinks you and I are dating."

Fenton burst out laughing. Star seethed, her grip on her phone shaking.

"What about this is funny?" Star gritted her teeth.

"This really backfired on you, didn't it?" asked Fenton, still grinning.

Star sputtered and fumbled with a response.

"I mean, am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" Fenton raised his arms, palms up. "What do you want from me right now, Star?"

"I want you to tell everyone the truth!" yelled Star. "You have to tell the A-List that your freckles really do glow so that people will stop thinking we're dating."

"Hmm." Fenton scrunched up his mouth and glanced up at the ceiling before dropping the expression and looking at her again. "Nah, I don't think so."

Star growled. "What? What do you mean, you don't think—you can't just—"

"Look, I don't care if people think we're dating," said Fenton with a nonchalant shrug. "First Paulina, now you—I mean, everyone's gonna think I'm a stud. This is only a good thing for me."

"But not for me!" cried Star. "I can't let people think I would actually date a freak like you!"

"Hey, you're the one who brought me in here and locked the door," said Fenton, gesturing around the classroom. "You don't think anyone saw us come in here together?"

"If you would just tell everyone the truth, that won't matter!" insisted Star.

Fenton exhaled loudly, rubbing his fingers over one eyebrow. "I can tell anyone who asks that we're not actually dating, but I'm not going to admit that my freckles glow."

"That's not enough, Fenton."

"Well, I don't know what else you'd expect from me after what you did yesterday."

Star huffed. "Oh, is that what this is about? Did I hurt your feelings when I tricked you, Fenton? Is this your way of getting back at me?"

"Of course not," said Fenton. "I'm not the one who started the rumor about us dating, Star. I just don't care. You've given me no reason to care."

"You know, all I wanted was proof that your freckles glow," said Star. "I don't even know why you want to hide this so much, like no one at this school could possibly think you're any freakier than you already are."

Fenton raised a brow. "You think so, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," said Star. "Everyone already knows your parents deal with weird ghost stuff. No one would be the slightest bit surprised that some of it leaked into your skin or whatever."

"It's really not as simple as that."

"Then what is it?"

Fenton averted his gaze.

"Can you just tell me, please?" asked Star.

Fenton slowly shook his head. "No. I can't."

Star scoffed. "I really don't get you, Fenton," she muttered.

Fenton sighed. "Look. You and everyone at this school, you're not the ones I'm trying to hide this from."

"What do you mean?" Star cocked her head. "Who are you trying to hide it from, then?"

"Just…" Fenton rubbed his upper arm. "People."

"What kind of people?"

"People who would…want to hurt me." Fenton looked at the floor. "If they knew."

Star eyed him warily, sticking out her bottom lip. "Why would anyone want to hurt you just because your freckles glow?"

"I can't tell you."

"Well, if you won't tell me, then let me ask my last yes-or-no question to try to figure it out."

Fenton groaned. "Star—"

"I still have one left, don't I? You said you'd answer five questions for me if I helped you with five math problems."

"That was before you took that picture of me and sent it to the A-List."

"Come on, are you really going to keep holding that against me?" asked Star. "It backfired, like you said. Now we're even."

Fenton shook his head and turned to leave. Star grabbed his arm, causing him to look at her again.

"Let me ask." She didn't let go of his arm. "Please."

He stared at her for some time, silent. Then he opened his mouth but jumped when someone rattled the door handle.

"Did someone lock my door?" asked a teacher's muffled voice. "Who's in there? I just stepped out for a few minutes!"

Star let go of Fenton's arm. "It's Mrs. Winters. Shit."

Fenton headed to the door and unlocked it, swinging it open. Mrs. Winters scowled at them, a textbook in one hand and her other hand on her hip.

"Star, Danny?" Mrs. Winters moved past them to her desk. "Look, I know you're a new couple, but please don't use my classroom to make out."

Star's jaw dropped. "What—we were not—I mean, we're not—"

Fenton smiled and took Star by the wrist. "Sorry, Mrs. Winters. It won't happen again."

He tugged her wrist. Star allowed him to pull her out of the room and lead her down the now empty hallway until they were out of earshot.

Star took her hand out of Fenton's grasp and leaned against the lockers, groaning. "God, even the teachers have heard the rumor about us dating now."

Fenton started walking away. Star stood up straighter. "Fenton! Where are you going?"

Fenton turned back to her. "Lunch. Sam and Tucker are waiting for me."

"But we haven't finished talking about this!"

"What more is there to say? And don't you think your friends might be wondering where you are, too? Do you really want to tell them you were with me for all of lunch?"

Star glared at him before sighing with defeat. "No, I really don't," she muttered, looking down at the floor.

"But you know…" Fenton turned to her more fully. "I never got to thank you for your help yesterday."

Star looked up, raising a brow.

"The way you explained how to do those math problems was really helpful," Fenton continued. "Usually I don't have a clue what Falluca is saying, but today, math class made more sense to me. And Falluca actually seemed impressed when I turned in the homework you helped me with."

"Oh. Um." Star shrugged. "Well, that's my goal as a tutor."

"You're good at it," said Fenton. "I hope it really does help you get into your top college."

"My top college?"

"Yeah. You told me that you joined the tutoring club so it would look good on your college applications."

"You actually remember that?"

"Of course."

He smiled at her kindly. Star could feel herself blushing and pretended to scratch an itch on the back of her neck so she could look away from him.

"I really need to go now." Fenton pulled his vibrating phone out of his pocket. "Tucker keeps spamming me, asking where I am."

"You will let me ask my fifth yes-or-no question, won't you?" asked Star.

Fenton hesitated, then chuckled. "I might. Maybe. If we ever go out again."

"Wha—again?" Star put her hands on her hips. "That wasn't a date last night, Fenton. You know that."

Fenton shrugged and gave her a small wave before turning to walk toward the cafeteria. Star let him go this time, unmoving, staring after him.