Take-Off
Around three blocks away from Marco's home was the Ordonia household. Ms. Ordonia was snuggled up on her living room couch, watching her bi-nightly horror movie. Janna was upstairs in her room, casually conversing with a close friend. Janna was wearing her matching teal pajamas as she sat on her computer chair. The room was slightly messy, had band posters all over the black walls, and a bathroom that can only be accessed through her room. A single floor lamp lit the room, giving it a mild warm radiance. Janna's preferred music played from her phone to a speaker at a medium-low volume in the room. She was eating spoonfuls of pecan ice cream as the conversation she was having progressed.
"Man, what a douche.." Janna responded with a laugh to her friend, Jackie, who was sitting on the bed. She was wearing a white tank top and baby blue short shorts. "Sabrina has the worst luck with dudes."
"They take advantage of her innocent personality." Jackie eats a half a spoon of her rocky road ice cream. "That's why I'm avoiding dating like the plague until I'm older." She said with ice cream still in her mouth. "It just gets me into awkward situations anyway."
"So just you and your buns for a while? No man meat with that?" Janna joked.
"I'm basically a vegetarian if you explain it that way." Jackie stated with a chuckle. "I haven't got the taste for it. The only guy that tried to get kiss-y and touchy with me was 'he who shall not be named'."
"Oh, yeah, Mr. Rape-y." Janna recounted making Jackie sigh and look down in anger. "Ah—.. Sorry.." Janna apologized and looked at her ice cream, feeling guilty.
"No, don't worry." Jackie smiled at her. "I got through my counseling and got over it.. Still feel a little nervous being around some guys though.."
"And here I am, hanging out with mostly guys all the time." Janna contrasts. "I wonder if even those nerds would make you uncomfortable."
"Oh, yeah, you hang out with Marco and uh.. uh..." Jackie tries to recollect but she rarely even sees the boys in question at school.
"Ferguson and Alfonso." Janna answered for her.
"Right, yeah, I was.. gonna say that.." Jackie looked away with her spoon in her mouth, feeling a little bad. "Brittany gives you shit for that, huh?.."
"Yeah, but it's not like anything she says even matters." Janna responded. "Besides, I'm not the one with the dad complex.."
"She—!.." Jackie looked up at Janna with a defensive face before stopping her sentence and looking down at her frozen treat.
"What?" Janna asked.
"Nothing, nothing.. Haven't you been hanging out with Marco since like, 6th grade?" Jackie said, trying to change the subject. Janna snickers, feeling some nostalgia.
"Yeah. He was my only friend for a while." She recalled. "He's the reason I met you."
"Really?" Jackie asked. "I can't remember.." The sounds of spoons clashing on plastic cups and Thrash Metal on low volume fill the room. "What about you, Jan? You got any guys you've been messing around with?"
"You kidding me?" Janna raised her eyebrows. "The only guy to ever even come near me is Marco. I'll be dead and cremated before a dude even calls me pretty."
"Shut up, that's not true." Jackie rolled her eyes. Janna finishes her ice cream and sets the cup down on her desk.
"Well, I don't really care anyway." Janna leans back on her chair. "John Keats is the only man I want and he's nothing but bones now. Maybe if I get desperate I'll grave rob his corpse. Do some kinky shit." Jackie sighs and eats more of her cup of the chilled treat. Silence takes them over again before a softer metal song plays. "I learned a bit of this song with the guys." Janna said. "Marco doesn't really like this kind of music but he still loves playing with us." Jackie raised an eyebrow at Janna. "His parents are away for like, a month.." Janna yawns, rests her cheek on her palm and closes her eyes as she speaks. "so he's probably gonna invite us over a lot."
"Janna." Jackie called out.
"Hm?" Janna opened an eye.
"How do you feel about Marco? Do you like him?"
"Uh, yeah? You and he are my best friends." Janna stood up and started stretching.
"Bitch, you know that's not what I mean." Jackie gave her a tired look.
"You actually mean in the 'want him as a boyfriend' way?" Janna asked, giving a snarky grin while crossing her arms.
"Yes." Jackie leaned forward a bit.
"Like the 'I want to kiss him and share my feelings' way?" Janna added.
"YES." Jackie leaned in further.
"Like the 'OMG I want to tackle him and fuck him 'til his body lusts for nobody's but my own' way?"
"Dammit, Janna, answer the question!" Jackie stressed.
"No." Janna laughed. "The dude's like my brother. I'm freaky but not that freaky." She walked toward the bathroom and opened the door. "Now turn the music up so you can't hear the horrors of my potty time."
"Yuck, man, gross!" Jackie laughed and Janna entered the bathroom. Jackie turns the volume up on her friend's phone. "Janna, oh, Janna.." she whispered to herself and shook her head. She finishes her ice cream and stands up from the bed. She picks up Janna's cup and decides to take both their cups to the kitchen sink downstairs. As she leaves the room, Janna's phone vibrates repeatedly on the bed.
"Agghh, Janna, the one time you don't answer and it's an emergency." Marco quietly said to himself in a frustrated tone. He puts his phone in his pocket and continues to stir hot chocolate in a pot. "I don't know how long I can keep this crazy person busy.." He watched the homeless girl in the corner of his eye. She was eating PB sandwiches and sitting on the living room couch.
"Mmmmmm, good!" She said happily, really overusing the new word she learned. Marco sighed and poured some of the hot chocolate into two mugs. He walked them to the girl and set them on the coffee table in front of the her.
"H-Here you go!" He said cheerfully.
"Mm?" The girl stopped.
"This is hot chocolate." Marco sat next to her and handed her a mug. The girl put down the two sandwiches she had and took the warm cup. "Chocolate." Marco declared again.
"Cho-co-late.." She repeated back. "Chocolate?" She tries taking a sip and burns her lip slightly, making her hiss at it.
"Look, look." Marco smiles and grabs his mug, bringing it near his mouth. "Cool it down by blowing like.. I'll.. I'll just show you." He blows air on it for a moment then takes a sip comfortably. "Okay,.. you now." He gestured at her. She cautiously mimics him, being able to take a sip without burning herself.
"Mmmaahhhh!" She let's out a blissful moan with a blush. Marco swore her irises shaped to hearts for an instant. "G—..Goood?" She looks at Marco for approval of usage of the word.
"Good." He chuckles happily.
"Good! Good! Chocolate good! Good chocolate!" She proceeds to drink it the way she was taught. Marco smiled at how precious she was now that she wasn't trying to kill him. She was even kind of cute. He could see her being rather popular in the correct mindset.
"So, um.. what's your name?" He asked her.
"Mm?" She responded.
"Name? Your name?"
"Nayymuh." She responded, clearly not understanding but trying her best.
"Umm.." Marco pondered momentarily then put his hands on his chest. "Marco." He said as he looked at her. "Name, Marco." He added then gestured for her to do the same but she just sipped hot chocolate and stared at him with an innocent smile. "Marco!" He puts his hands on his chest again. "I'm Marco. You are.." The girl puts her cup down, gently. She then puts her hands on Marco's chest.
"Mar..co.." She said looking into his eyes with shimmering happiness.
"Y-Yeah.. Marco." He nodded with light fluster. The girl grabs Marco's hands and puts them on her chest, feeling her suppleness. "Hey! What are you doing?!.." He whines.
"Star." She said softly.
"St—St-..Star?" Marco asked, red as a tomato.
"Star." She tells him again.
"Star." He says assuredly.
"Star!" She shouts it this time.
"Star!" He shouts back, trying his best not to squeeze.
"Star!" She shouted happily, lifting up his hands in her's. "Marco! Star! Marco! Star! Marco! Star!" She bounced up and down as she held onto him.
"Yes! This is us! Can you please let go?!" Marco whined, being taken for a small ride. Star laughed with a blush. Marco couldn't help but smirk as well. Who knew how long it's been since she's laughed out even smiled. Maybe it wouldn't be hard to care for the girl without involving the authorities. He really didn't want to do that to the poor girl.
Space Unicorn! Soaring through the stars!
"Ah!" Marco's phone goes off suddenly, scaring Star. She looks around frantically.
"It's okay! It's okay!" Marco put a hand on her shoulder. Star looks at him anxiously. "It's just my phone." He removes his phone from his pocket and they look at it for a moment. "It's supposed to be ironic..." Marco assures her. He stands up and walks a few steps away from her to answer.
"Janna?" He picks up.
"Sorry, Diaz, I was in the bathroom. I've failed as a booty call.. you're gonna have to punish me." Janna joked on the other side.
"Janna, I need your help." Marco got right to the point.
"Oh, excited, are we?" Janna continued to joke, though.
"Marcooo? Marcooooooo." Star whined like a cat crying for food.
"Don't worry, Star." Marco assured her with a forced giggle and smile.
"Who-.. Who was that?" Janna asked.
"That's what I need help with.." Marco looks back at Star then looks away and whispers. "A homeless girl walked into my house and now I'm giving her food so she won't get mad at me."
"Chocolate!" Star shouts happily.
"...What?!" Janna vexed. "The hell are you talking about, dude?"
"I need you to come over to help me with a homeless girl that has the power to easily wring my neck and the only reason she's not doing so right now is because I've been giving her tasty food! Now I'm afraid of what will happen if I run out of tasty food so please come over and help me deal with this, Janna! Please!" Marco said very sternly, being sure to enunciate well. Janna was dumbfounded and silent on the other side. "Also, I think she has amnesia or a mental illness or something, because she doesn't know any words.." A few quiet moments pass.
"Marcooooo..." Star whines once again and Janna sighs.
"A-Alright.. I'll be there soon." Janna exhaled. "Don't be a perv, Diaz."
"Hehehe.. Hah..." Marco slumped, feeling awkward about what's happened. "Bye... Thank you, Janna." He hangs up and takes a deep breath with his eyes closed, preparing himself to go back to the anomaly in his home. "Sorry, Star!" He jumps up and approaches the girl with an excited demeanor.
"Marco?" Star smiles.
"Uh-huh. I'm Marco." He sits down with her. "Uhhhm.." Marco ponders with slight stress, wondering what to do to keep this girl happy and interested. Before he knew it, there was a silence between them and his leg became restless. Star just stared at him happily as she drank her chocolate. "I-I'll get you some marshmallows for your chocolate!"
"Marshmallows.." Star repeated and Marco stood up.
"Yeah. You can watch.. uhhhh.." Marco turned on the TV and frantically flipped through the channels. "Nature Channel!" He stopped his channeling surfing and set down the remote before going to the kitchen.
"Hm?" Star looked at the TV and saw an elephant drinking water from a small creek in an African savannah. Its trunk was in the water sucking up and spraying up in the air for a little shower. It made Star's eyes glisten with excitement. "Ohh! Marco! Marco!
"Huh?" Marco looked away from the kitchen drawers and at the TV, seeing the majestic creature. "That's an elephant, Star." He said confidently.
"Hmm?" Star didn't understand, giving him a puzzled look as she tilted her head to the side.
"One second.. Lemme.. Here they are.." Finally finding the bag of marshmallows, Marco returns to the living room walks up to the TV to point at the gentle gray animal. "Elephant."
"El.. Ele...phaa..phaant?" Star said very unsure of herself, making a strained face.
"Yeah, that's right!" Marco congratulated. "Elephants are really big. That's one reason why they're so cool. Other than being one of the smartest animals out there."
"Elephants.. are big?" Star asked.
"Yeah, look." Marco pointed at a few birds that were perched on the elephant, feeding off anything that might be stuck on its back. "Small." Then pointed at the elephant. "Big. Elephants are big. Birds are small."
"..." Star stared blankly before a big smile crept on her face. "Ohh! Big not small, small not big! Elephants are big, birds are small!"
"Right! Good job, Star." Marco praised her and nuzzled her head with his hand. This made Star jolt in surprise before her body eased. She closed her eyes and blushed. It seemed like she was able to learn rather quickly. Perhaps it was amnesia she had and was just recounting things her brain already knew.
"Ahh..." She lets out a comfortable sigh.
"Okaaay.." Janna exhales as she crosses the street and arrives on the block Marco lives on. She was still wearing her pajamas but with a coat, her boots, and a dark blue backpack. "You know, you didn't have to come, dude. It's gonna be boring."
"Well, surprisingly, taking care of a buff, homeless, amnesia-girl sounds like one of the more interesting parts of my week." Jackie told her sarcastically. She was also still in her pajamas but had her high-tops and a gray backpack of her own.
"Marco's family takes in homeless people all the time." Janna informed. "This is just gonna be another run-of-the-mill. I bet Marco's gonna freak out that you're there too."
"Why does he do that? I'm not that scary am I?" Jackie smirked.
"This coming from the curvy nice girl with vibrant eyes and perfect skin?" Janna says as her eyes rolled away.
"Then does he have a crush on me or something? It would make sense.. For the past like, eight years, I can barely say a word to the him before he ran off stuttering."
"No! He doesn't." Janna retaliated quickly.
"Does he hate me?"
"Marco doesn't hate anyone."
"Then what's the problem, bitch?" Jackie lightly bumps her shoulder against Janna's. "I wanna get to know him. He's actually one of the few guys I feel like I can trust. Seriously, it's like you wanna be alone with him or something."
"Yeah, I do." Janna said casually. "I wanna tie him down in the basement and use him as my gimp. Maybe ask that homeless girl to help me punish him."
"..." Jackie closes her eyes and sighs. "Okay, seriously, show me your phone. What is making you like this?" The girls continue to mess with each other before they eventually arrive at the Diaz' front door. Janna rings the door bell and hears a scream inside as she removes her finger from the button.
"Was that?.."
"That was probably the girl.." Jackie answers in a worried tone. They were both starting to feel uncomfortable. Maybe this girl was dangerously crazy? Would she attack them as soon as she saw them?
"M-M-Marco!" They heard a girl yell in fright. Her speech was unrefined, making her sound like a child to them.
"It's okay, it's okay, Star." Marco responded calmy and opened the door. Janna was startled when he suddenly hugs her. "Oh, my god, thank you! Thank you!" Janna accidentally let a quiet yelp out, causing her to become completely flustered.
"Jesus, Marco! St-Stop.." She told him with a submissive whisper. Marco let go and looked down at her clothes.
"You came in your pajamas at this time?!" He shrilled in worry. "What if you ran into some goons that didn't understand personal space?!"
"You mean someone like you?! Idiot.." Janna growled, noticeably a bit upset.
"S-Sorry." Marco told her. Janna looked away from him and walked into the house, looking around. "Wait, wait, wait!" Marco grabbed her shoulder. "You'll scare Star.." He said near-silently.
"R-Right.." Janna replied with a sighed, starting to feel remorse for her words. "Sorry.. I lost my cool.."
"..Oh, it's okay." Marco smiled. "I won't do that again, promise."
"Well, if you wanna get your jollies, I can't stop you. Just warn me next time, dude." Janna gave a small smile.
"O-..Okay." Marco's eyes were focused on Janna's. For some reason, at that moment, he couldn't look away from them. They share an uncomfortable moment of silence before Jackie finally says something.
"Uhh, hey, Marco." She greets happily. "What's up, man?"
"..." Marco hears the voice. The voice that makes him stutter and breath irregularly. The voice that puts his body in panic mode. He turned his head in a jittery motion, as if he was a malfunctioning robot and makes eye contact with his near-decade-long crush. His face reddens to a completely different part of the color spectrum. "Ja-Jack—!.. What's-.. What's up?! HAHA!" Marco struggles to swallow and starts to breath noticeably louder. His arms start moving around with no direction and his hands start to feel cold. "What uhhhhhhhh.." Jackie just stares at him, in awe of his horrible composure. "HAHAHA. I g-go—!... I... get Star!" He stiffly walks toward the kitchen, leaving Janna with her palm on her face and Jackie completely taken aback.
"Well, when I call it, I sure fuckin' call it, don't I?.." Janna groaned, slowly grinding her hand down her face, stretching her eyelids down in frustration.
"Yeah, seriously." Jackie agrees with a giggle. "But what was that between you two?" She grinned. "Are you guys usually that awkward?"
"He just freaked me out." Janna told her, avoiding eye contact. "Of course, I'd get mad."
"Right." Jackie smirks.
"Come on, Star." Marco was heard. "This way." He said in a motherly way. Janna and Jackie saw glimpses of the girl hiding behind Marco as he walked her toward them. Her large amount of bright gold hair was easily noticeable. She pokes her head out from behind Marco's shoulder.
"H-..Hey." Jackie greets the girl with a soft wave.
"Nuh!" Star jumps in fear and hides behind Marco.
"Star.." Marco says and turns to her, "it's okay." His warm smile was enough to give her some courage. "Uh.. G-Go ahead and tell her your names, guys." Marco looked back at the other girls.
"Alright." Jackie cleared her throat. "My name is Jackie." She looked at Star with the friendliest demeanor she can give.
"Jah-.. Jackiie.." Star muttered, still feeling slightly on edge.
"Yeah. Haha." She smiled at her innocence. "What's your name?" Star gripped Marco's arm and gave him a concerned look.
"It's okay, Star. Jackie's good." Marco informed holding her hand. Star reluctantly stepped in front of Marco and stood shyly.
"Name.. is.. Star." She told them sheepishly.
"Good to meet you, Star." Jackie chuckled before nudging Janna with her elbow, pushing her to do the same.
"Oh, um.." Janna scratched the back of her head. "'Sup?"
"Sup?" Star asked.
"I'm Janna."
"Jannaaanaa? Oh! Banana!" Star smiled.
"What? N-No!" Janna furrowed her brows.
"Banana good!" Star hopped up and down while holding Marco's arm.
"She ate all of the bananas I bought earlier.." Marco told Janna with a defeated tone. "I was gonna make banana bread too.."
"Banana!" Star added.
"No, dude!" Janna walked up to Star and put her hands on her shoulders. Star froze, as did Marco, ready for an attack by Star. "My name is Janna. JAN-NA."
"Jan-na.." Star repeated. "... Janna.. Banana? Janna Banana! Bajanna!" She became ecstatic again.
"Oh, come on.." Janna sighed but let a small grin form on her lips.
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And here we have our last main character. I'm really happy with the characters I'm writing in this story. I hope you will be too.
Thanks so much for reading! ٩( *‿ *)۶
If you want more, don't worry, you'll get more soon.
Okay, I'm leaving.
Byyyyye!
