Notes:

Marco takes Star out on the town, and we get a look at her biggest fear. After that, we get to meet someone in the top running for Marco's ;)

Chapter 8 (Edited 12/22/2020)

"Oh thank Mewni, we're not going inside." I raise my eyebrows, bemused at Star's reaction once I've told her we're just going for my bike.

"Why do you even hate it? You didn't spend like, any time there yesterday." a bit odd that her usual endless excitement doesn't extend to schoolwork and learning, but fitting I suppose.

Star blinks, then starts holding up fingers as she names reasons in turn, "Well, the faces of all the kids there looked like they were suffering, it looked like a suuuper boring building, and it kinda reminds me of… Saint Olga's School for Delinquent Princesses! AAAAAHHH!" the blonde girl's eyes go wide as saucers as she lets out the seemingly random scream. I myself nearly jump into the air, hands raising up into a defensive stance.

I look around for what has terrified this girl who blasted monsters without a peep yesterday, sure that something right out of a horror movie is coming for us, "Star?! What's wrong?" after my quick scan of the area finds nothing, I glance back towards where Star was and find her gone. This sends me into full on panic mode and I run towards a nearby alleyway, the only place I see she could have gone, "Star!?"

Suddenly, a dumpster right next to me pops open and my crazy foreign exchange student pops her head out. I'm torn between having a heart attack and punching the dumpster, but thankfully I manage to avoid either, "Saint O's is a horrible, horrible place where they send rebels like me to have their minds wiped! They come out as perfect little dolls, all personality ironed out. If this Earth gig doesn't work out, that's probably where I'm headed."

I'm a hair away from going into lecture mode on the dangers of both dumpster diving and randomly screaming, but Star clearly looks honestly quite bothered by all of this. I let my tension out with a sigh, and reach up to grab Star's hands, "C'mon, those things are where we keep our garbage. School might be...kind of like that, but it's got a lot of fun things too. Like my friends we'll be talking to today." I yank her out of the dumpster and start brushing off a few little pieces of trash from the front of her dress, then nod. Can't do anything about the smell, but at least she looks clean.

"Well...I guess I can give it a try if you say so." Star still seems a bit down, but I'm certain that with her personality she'll have forgotten this little scream fest as soon as she sees something exciting. I wince, knowing that unfortunately there is someone who fits the bill, but I'm willing to brave that evil witch if it can improve Star's mood. I'm responsible for her now, after all. I suppose it's time to introduce Star Butterfly to Janna Ordonia.

"Lets go, Star. I think we can make a detour and meet another…. friend of mind before we hit up the school. Maybe that'll convince you it won't be like this Saint Olga's place." Technically speaking, it's actually closer to walk by Janna's house to get to Echo Creek High, but I naturally avoid her entire city block. I really hope these two meeting isn't a horrible mistake, but I have a bad feeling in my gut.

"Okay?" Even the mention of meeting someone new has Star's face brighten up, which is enough for me to keep on my current course. A few minutes later we're in Janna's territory. I shudder a little at all the bad memories here, Janna's pranks tend to get more vicious when she's less concerned about being caught-and she's most confident in getting away with things outside her house. I still remember when I had to make my way home in nothing but my boxers, all the rest of my clothes stolen in a series of awful traps. I never saw that hoodie again…

"Alright, we're here." I stare up in trepidation at Janna's home, but before I can get up my will to ring the doorbell, Star steps in.

"Ohhh….what's this do?" She starts rapidfire ringing the doorbell, probably pressing the button a dozen times before I pull her back.

"Star! Don't be annoying. That's their doorbell, it tells them that people are outside." besides, who knows what else it does considering this is Janna's house.

She nods a couple times, muttering, "Earth Magic…" with a thoughtful look on her face. Before I can fix her misunderstanding the door is thrown open. I'm face to face with Janna for the first time in weeks, at least outside of a school setting. She has an understandably annoyed look on her face that morphs into a much less understandable look of pleasure upon seeing me.

She is dressed in her usual green beanie and tank top, with a blue jacket and yellow skirt, "Marco Diaz. What a surprise. And you're here with the little firebug from yesterday too, huh. Cool." I feel my skin crawling at the tone of her voice. Is this how girls feel when scumbag guys check them out? God, she's creepy.

Star seems completely unaffected, and waves her hand wildly in spite of being literally right in front of Janna, "Hi! I'm Star Butterfly! You're Marco's friend, right? I'm living with him now." as expected, as soon as Star is introduced to something new and interesting she's right back to her old self.

"Janna Ordonia. Me and Marco go waaaay back." she slides up next to me with almost unnatural grace, and wraps an arm around my shoulders. I still have no idea how she can do that! I was dodging punches from half ton monsters yesterday, and now I can't get away from a thin girl two inches shorter than me? It doesn't make a lick of sense.

I try to back away from her uncomfortably, but she has a grip on the neck of my t-shirt, hidden from Star's perspective behind my head, "You're the new exchange student, huh? You smell like a dumpster, but you look like an improvement over the last guy. That Swedish kid gave me the creeps." is she talking about Gustav? Gustav was great! God, every word out of her lips is a lie.

"Well of course I'm an improvement. I'm Ah-mazing~ Since I'm a magical princess from another dimension!" I freeze when I realize what has to be coming before jerking forwards.

Sadly I only manage to choke myself with Janna still holding my collar, "Star, wait-"

She unslings her wand and declares, "Rainbow Kitten Explosion!" and points that pink font of death at the sky. A cat flashing psychedelic colors pops out of the front of her wand and sings 'Wee!' before spiraling up thirty feet into the air and letting out a massive *BANG*. The three of us are quickly covered in a disgusting amount of glitter, along with the front of Janna's house.

Our reactions to this vary wildly. I'm rather accustomed to the chaos by this point, and gently extricate myself from Janna's clutches before shamelessly hiding behind Star. Star of course is in her hyper-excited bouncy state, glitter catching all the light around her to really show off how otherworldly my new friend is. Janna seems shell shocked-her first introduction to real magic, as far as I know, has managed to stump the usually unflappable girl. Maybe I should take Star and run off before she can recover and turn Star's abilities to her advantage.