Updated 7/8/2015 - Fixed a grammar mistake
Hey everyone, it's acw28 back with the next chapter of The Runaway!
This is actually a little odd that I get to write a bit more so soon. I've only had an account for a little over half a year. In that time I managed to write around ten total chapters, but I usually had to wait a week and a half between each chapter because I had varying amounts of school work that I needed to get done. In fact, until just recently I was in the middle of a summer course that I passed with an A. So, now that it's the middle of summer that means there isn't as many games coming out or shows on TV that are worth watching, which means more reading and writing for me.
So after some though, I decided that this story is definitely going to last for four chapters. I can't guarantee the chapter length will be consistent, one might be shorter and one might be longer. For once I actually have the entire plot of a story almost entirely planned out, and I intend to stick with my plan, but I will try to have my chapters be a minimum of three pages.
Before we begin, I would like to say thank you to all those who have followed, favorited, reviewed, or have just enjoyed the story. I looked at the stats and in the seven or so days that I've had this story on the site I've received 234 views, surprisingly it's also gotten more visitors in this month, so far, than my other stories. Remember, if you liked what you read, consider leaving a review, I'm always interested in what my readers think. Now with all of that out of the way, let's move on to the story.
Disclaimer: If I owned the show this story is based on, than Star vs. the Forces of Evil wouldn't be on hiatus every other month.
It was mid-afternoon by the time the events at the skate park had concluded. While the two teens where walking home, Star kept repeating the same thing. "How did you do that?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." was Marco's reply.
"How did you do that?"
"Do what?" Marco asked as he continued walking home.
"The thing with the skate board where you jumped over that other dude, slid along the side of the bowl, and didn't get hit!" Star practically yelled as she threw her arms out, wanting to know how her friend did something so amazing.
Marco shrugged as he placed his arms behind his head, "I don't know, guess I just got lucky."
"Marco no one gets that lucky. It'd be lucky if you managed to not fall of the board. But I've seen Youtube videos, what you did requires months if not years of practice."
By now the conversation had carried both teens to the Diaz's front door. Marco sighed as he began to open the door and said, "Look Star, maybe it was luck that I could do all of the things that I did, maybe there was a reason. All that I know is that I don't want to talk about this anymore."
As the two teens walked into the house, they were immediately greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Diaz. "Star, Marco you've been gone all day." Mrs. Diaz said. "Yes," Mr. Diaz continued, "you said you had something to buy, but we expected you to be home earlier. No matter, dinner's almost ready and I hope you're hungry."
A few short minutes later, the family of three and their guest were gathered around the table. Unlike when she had large formal dinners in Mewni, conversation came easy to Star when she was at the Diaz table.
"So how was your day Mr. Diaz?"
"Great Star, I managed to find a great deal on some scrap metal I can use for a new sculpture."
"And I finally found a buyer for that huge, stone, Star head you made weeks ago." While the conversation might seem weird to a normal family, it was perfectly normal for the Diaz home. Marco's father had a full time job at a local office complex, but usually could be found on the weekends in the shed working on some art project. Mrs. Diaz worked as a secretary, but often found buyers for her husband's work. Mr. Diaz actually had quite a bit of talent, enough for the family to have a sizeable amount of extra income, useful whenever Star's fights with Ludo caused the back yard to become a crater.
"That sounds nice, all me and Marco did was go to some stores and then the skate park."
Instantly both Mr. and Mrs. Diaz seemed to freeze momentarily before Mrs. Diaz asked in a strained voice, "Really, Marco took you skating today?"
Marco was instantly waving his hands as he said, "No I didn't, I just went there so I could give Jackie a board to replace the one I broke on Friday. I talked to her for a bit then me and Star left, no skating."
"But what about when you stepped on that guy's board?" Star asked.
Marco felt his dad's stare as he said, "That was a complete accident, I had no intention of skating at all."
"I see." Mr. Diaz slowly said, the usually cheerfulness in his voice absent. "Well it sounds like you two had quite the exciting day, luckily no one was hurt." The man suddenly smiled widely as he said, "Now, who's ready for some of my wife's famous meatloaf?"
After dinner, Star and Marco were washing the dishes. Star was still perplexed about the shift in the mood of the entire Diaz family at the mention of Marco skate boarding. Seeing that Mr. and Mrs. Diaz were preoccupied in the back yard, and concerned for her friend, Star asked, "Marco, there is a reason why you could do all those things today isn't there?"
Marco nodded slowly, but didn't give a verbal response. Trying a different approach, Star asked, "If you could do all this entire time why not go to the skate park more often, Jackie would have fallen for you in an instant. You saw how impressed she was."
Putting down the sponge, Marco said, "Look Star, maybe I did skate a little in the past, but that's what it is, the past. Some things happened, really bad things, and I decided I didn't want to skate anymore."
"I guess you're not going to tell me what happened are you?"
Marco sighed as he walked into the living room. Kneeling down, the boy walked over to a shelf filled with a multitude of DVDs, both films and home movies. Finding what he was looking for, Marco slide a single case off the shelf before giving it to Star. "Whatever you do, don't let my parents see you watching that." He then began walking toward the front door, causing Star to ask, "Where are you going?"
"It's been a long day and I'm going to go for a jog to clear my head. I'll be back in about an hour, call my phone if you need anything."
Once Marco had left, Star looked at the case in her hands, wondering what was so terrible to cause the normally happy Diaz family to become so on edge. Also, how was she supposed to watch this, she knew how the DVD player worked, but either parent could walk in at any moment. Not knowing what to do, she settled for hiding the DVD in her room until she could figure this out.
Marco had been jogging for around forty-five minutes, but the day's events were still fresh in his mind. He remembered skating down into the bowl, how the wind felt in his face, how he still got that slight adrenaline rush when he did a trick, but he also remembered the incident. He stopped along a short cliff that ended with a small beach and the ocean, trying but failing to stop his thoughts. The boy was about ready to yell in frustration when a voice called out, "Hey Marco, what's up?"
Turning around, Marco was greeted by the sight of Jackie skating by, but stopping next to the boy and picking up her skateboard to have an actual conversation. Much like that afternoon, Marco initially didn't know what to say to his crush, but decided to say, "Hey Jackie, breaking in the new board?"
"Yeah, still needs a little more wear and tear 'til I'm comfortable with it. What about you, not many people go out in the middle of the night to jog."
Marveling at the fact that this was once of the longest conversations he'd had with the girl without stuttering, Marco said, "Just trying to clear my head of a few things."
"Is this about what you did at the park today?" Marco nodded his head as he said, "And now I suppose you want to know how I could do that."
Instead Jackie surprised him by saying, "Actually, I'm good." Seeing the question in Marco's eyes, Jackie said, "It's obvious that you skated for a while, but I guess something happened and you stopped. It's cool dude, everyone has something in their past they don't want to talk about."
"Thanks Jackie." Somehow, just with that short conversation, the weight of the world seemed to fall off of Marco's shoulders.
"It's no problem Marco." Jackie replied as she smiled. "Well I've got to get home, see ya later Marco." As Jackie took a step back along the edge of the cliff to start heading home, the ground underneath gave way. Instantly the girl went flying backwards, rolling down the cliff and onto the beach, her legs landing in the water and her board in the sand. Luckily the cliff was only around eight feet high, but the slightly jagged rocks created another problem.
"Jackie, are you okay?" Marco questioned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jackie replied.
"Hang on, I'll be down in a second." As Marco knelt down to start climbing down the cliff, he was stopped when Jackie yelled, "No, Marco! Stay up there!"
"Why?"
Jackie blushed as she said, "The cliff ripped my shirt off." Only now did Marco realize that Jackie was laying on her stomach and using her arms to help cover her chest. Being the kind person he was, Marco quickly though of a way to help.
Jackie was beginning to wonder how she was going to make it home when she heard a small thump. Looking forward, Jackie saw that something red was covering her skateboard. Looking up, Jackie saw that Marco was now missing his iconic red hoodie, having only a grey shirt covering his torso. "I think you need that more than me right now, just get it back to me when you can." Both were quite for a moment before Marco continued saying, "Well, I think I'm going to head home now, have a good night Jackie." and left the girl so she could have some privacy.
Once she was sure Marco had left, Jackie reached out to grab the hoodie and quickly put it on. 'Well that was nice of Marco, I'll have to thank him later. Now, how to get home? Should I try to climb the cliff or just stay down here?' Seeing that nobody was around, Jackie thought to herself, 'It's been awhile since I've had a good swim anyway. I just hope Janna left the back door unlocked this time.' as she grabbed her board.
Sunday had surprisingly been a calm day for Jackie. She got her homework done, made sure that Marco's hoodie was washed and by her backpack, and admittedly stayed up a little too late watching random fails on Youtube. That was why she was currently sleeping in her bed, that is until Janna, a girl with tan skin, dark blue hair, brown eyes, and a green beanie as well as a green shirt, blue jacket, and yellow skirt, woke her up saying, "Come on Jackie, it's almost eight."
That instantly caused Jackie to sit up in bed. Looking at the clock in her room, Jackie realized that Janna was right. The girl quickly got out of bed, got dressed, grabbed an apple and a piece of toast, put her backpack on, and inadvertently Marco's hoodie as well, grabbed her skate board and quickly rushed off to school.
Meanwhile back at the house, Janna calmly walked down to the kitchen to enjoy a bowl of cereal, noting the correct time on the stove clock and saw that she had plenty of time before school. She did consider going early to see what mayhem her plan would bring, but decided she could wait and would just take the bus like every other day.
Jackie was so concerned about being late that it wasn't until she got to the school that she checked the time on her phone. '6:30!' the girl mentally yelled. 'Great, Janna changed my room's clock, again. Oh well, the pool should still be drained so I can skate there for a while.'
However, Jackie was not the only student to arrive early, the science club had an early meeting and one of the sports teams had an early practice, meaning many of the cheerleaders also showed up early to watch. As she skated past the assembled nerds, jocks, and cheerleaders, Jackie didn't know that they all stopped in the middle of their conversations as they saw her wearing a familiar red hoodie. Once Jackie was out of sight, each student pulled out their phones to spread the latest gossip.
As Marco and Star walked off the bus, Marco asked, "Was it just me or was everyone looking at me funny today?" For a change he wasn't wearing his usual hoodie. Even with the one he loaned to Jackie over the weekend he still had several more in his closet, but he simply just didn't feel like wearing one.
Star took a thinking pose and tapped her wand on her chin three times before saying, "Now that you mention it, everyone's phones went off almost simultaneously, then everyone started looking at you. Usually that only happens to me, and that's only after I accidently turn something into a monster."
Before the conversation could go any further, two boys, one a chunky red head wearing a black V-neck and grey sweat pants the other having brown hair, glasses, and a blue and white striped shirt, ran up to the duo. "Marco!" The red head, Ferguson, yelled. "You lucky bastard you! Way to go man, I knew you could do it!"
The other boy, Alfonzo, gave Marco a notepad and a pencil as he said, "You have achieved the impossible and given hope to us all. Please leave me something nice in your will."
By know the boy was only more confused but Star was the one to ask the question, "Just what is going on? Why is everyone acting so crazy?"
"Everyone is going crazy because of this." Alfonzo said as he showed Marco and Star a photo of Jackie skating in one of the outdoor walkways of the school while she was wearing Marco's hoodie. After Marco and Star had stared at the photo for a few minutes, Ferguson said, "And I repeat myself, way to go you lucky bastard."
"Wait, you two think me and Jackie are going out?" Marco asked, the events of the morning finally making sense.
"Well aren't you?" Alfonzo asked. "She's wearing your jacket, that's the most accepted and cliché way of announcing you're going out with someone aside from lip locking with them in front of the entire school."
"No, no, no." Marco said as he shook his head. "This is all a misunderstanding. I ran into Jackie last Saturday night and talked for a bit. She said she was getting cold so I let her borrow my hoodie. We're not going out." Marco said, stretching the truth a little to save Jackie some embarrassment.
"So it's all a misunderstanding?" Ferguson asked, getting a nod from Marco and Star. "That be a problem since it has been declared."
Marco instantly paled. Star was about to ask what it is, but stopped when she saw a large mob of boys suddenly appeared, being led by Justin, the blond, blue eyed overly buff quarterback of the school's football team. "There he is. Men of Echo Creek High, charge!" As one the entire mob surged forward while chanting "BRO CODE!" Marco immediately took off running, barely staying a head of the rampaging teenagers.
Once the area was clear, Star quickly grabbed Alfonzo and asked, "What is going on?"
"A Bro Code has been declared." Alfonzo said. Seeing the confusion on Star's face, he elaborated by saying, "When the school was founded there was a disproportionate amount of male students to females, obviously that lead to a lot of conflict." Alfonzo paused to take a breath. "To fix that a rule known as the 'Bro Code' was implemented, if a group of boys believe that a boy is going out with a girl that is too far out of his league, they can form a mob and chase and or fight said boy until it's either proven he is in her league or breaks up."
Star was horrified when she heard this, Marco may be able to fight off Ludo's goons, but with practically the entire male population of the school chasing after him, who knew how long he could last. "We've got to go help him!"
"Can't," Ferguson said, "a Bro Code is a duel between one man and a group. Even though we would support him if he was going out with Jackie, we can't do anything. Neither can you since the only girl that can interfere is the one the duel is about."
As soon as Ferguson was done speaking, Star dropped Alfonzo and immediately went rush off as she yelled, "I've got to go find Jackie!"
As Jackie had thought, the pool was still drained. She had been enjoying herself for the past forty-five minutes, although the multitude of people pointing and whispering at her was starting to get annoying. She was distracted from this when she saw a blue and blond streak heading right for the empty pool. Quickly realizing who was running so fast, Jackie jumped out of the pool and asked, "Hey Star, where's the fire?"
The princess from another dimension stopped and bent over as she tried to regain her breath. "Marco….you…hoodie…Bro Code." Star managed to wheeze out. Luckily Jackie heard enough to make out what was said and replied, "But that doesn't make any sense, me and Marco aren't…" Jackie managed to catch a glimpse of her shoulder as she shrugged and finally realized she was wearing Marco's hoodie, "dating. Oh no," a look of horror crossed the skater's face, "Star where was Marco running to when you saw him last?" Jackie demanded.
By now Star had regained her breath and said, "I think he was going towards the football field."
"Alright, come on, we have to stop this before things get too serious." Jackie began to skate away, not hearing Star sarcastically say, "Yay, more running."
Marco was hoping he could avoid the mob until the first class where he would have a small break from the madness and could plan what to do. He decided to go to the football field as it was a mostly open space so the mob couldn't set up an ambush. The plan worked, he was able to keep most of the mob behind him on the field and if some of the faster teens were about to catch him he could maneuver around the bleachers or gym and lose them.
Unfortunately the members of the mob were starting to get smarter. About half broke off from the main mob and waited until he tried running under the bleachers again, then closed off his exit. With his strategy failing, Marco was now trapped and, seeing no other option, settled into his karate stance. As he was mentally preparing himself, Justin stepped forward saying, "You know why we are all here, now do you have any think to say before we begin Marco?"
Marco was about to say something sarcastic until he spotted a small bit of yellow cloth moving. Pointing outward he cried, "Look, one of the cheerleaders is practicing her booty shaking."
About half of the group turned around, more looked ready to do so as well until someone toward the back called out, "Forget about it, it's just Chantelle." Immediately the entire mob's attention was back on Marco, who thought to himself, 'Well looks like this is how it ends, getting beat up over a girl I'm not even going out with. I guess there are worse ways.'
As Marco was getting ready to accept his fate, everyone stopped when Jackie skated in asking, "What is going on here?"
Justin seemed to be the leader of the mob as he said, "We're having a Bro Code with Marco over you."
Jackie sighed as she said, "Look I'll admit that Marco is a good guy and will probably make some girl very happy," the mob looked ready to pounce, "but we aren't dating." Someone from the back of the group yelled out, "But you're wearing his hoodie!" Jackie face palmed as she said, "That doesn't mean we're dating, we just ran into each other and he noticed I was cold and was nice enough to loan it." That seemed to do the trick as the mob lost its blood lust and started to disperse. By the time Star arrived it was only Marco and Jackie left. "Sorry about that Marco, I didn't even realize I was wearing your jacket." Jackie said as she took off the hoodie and gave it back to the boy.
"No problem Jackie, just glad you go here in time. The last Bro Code I saw was pretty brutal."
"I know, wasn't that guy in the hospital for three weeks?"
The two teens were silent after that, both looking toward the ground. The bell was going to ring soon, but Jackie spoke up first saying, "Hey, how about I take you to go see a movie after school, AS FRIENDS," she yelled out before the mob could complete reform, "to apologize for all of this and as a thank you for last Saturday."
Marco smiled at the offer while he said, "As much fun as that sounds I have a karate thing later, I'm only here to turn in the forms allowing me to leave early and get the work that I'd miss."
Before Jackie could reply, the bell rang, "Well later you two, I've got chemistry, don't want to be late for blowing up the classroom."
Star and Jackie waved goodbye and started walking over to the gym, both sharing the first period class. "Well that certainly escalated quickly." Star said.
"I know, all over a simple kind gesture." Jackie then paused as she looked at Star and asked, "Hey Star, do you have any idea why Marco stopped skating?"
"No clue," Star answered, not even bothered by the fact Jackie knew some of Marco's past, "I tried to ask him on Saturday and he gave me a DVD to look at. He warned me not to let Mr. or Mrs. Diaz see me watching it so I didn't get a chance to see it over the weekend, everyone gets so on edge whenever skateboarding is mentioned."
This did cause Jackie some concern. She couldn't say she knew the Diaz family personally, but everyone in Echo Creek knew how happy and carefree the two adults were. "If it's not too much trouble could I come over and watch?"
Star smiled widely as she said, "No problem Jackie, the more the merrier." 'Plus now I can see if there is a possibility of you falling for my friend.'
The Diaz Residents – That Afternoon
After walking home with Jackie after school, Star ran up to her room to grab the DVD while Jackie looked around the living room. "Wow," Jackie said to herself as she looked at all the photos above the staircase, "the Diaz's have had a lot of exchange students."
"Yep they sure have," Star said as she appeared out of nowhere, "I think Mr. and Mrs. Diaz were trying to get Marco to make more friends." Holding up the blank case, Star said, "Now let's watch this thing."
The girls sat on the couch as the DVD tray retracted back into the machine. For a moment the TV's screen was blue, before it was quickly replaced by a young Marco, perhaps four years old, sitting on a bike with training wheels. "Ah, little Marco, so cute." Star said, with Jackie silently agreeing.
"And here we have Marco with his first bike." Mr. Diaz narrated off screen. Marco began to peddle away, only for another voice to get his attention. "Wait Marco, you need to wear your helmet," a younger Mrs. Diaz appeared on screen, kneeling down as she put a black helmet on Marco. "There, safety first."
The next few minutes were of Mr. and Mrs. Diaz walking behind Marco as he peddled around the neighborhood, until Marco stopped and stared at a few older kids on skateboards trying to do some simple tricks. Seeing where her son's attention was, Mrs. Diaz said, "Oh Marco, you're much too small for a skate board, maybe in a couple years."
The film then cut to a camping trip, then sped through some holidays and Marco's fifth birthday, until it was once more focused on Marco sitting on a bike, this one lacking training wheels. "Okay," Mr. Diaz once more narrated, "this is Marco's first time without training wheels. Are you ready son?"
"Ready Dad."
"Marco," Mrs. Diaz called from off screen, "have you seen your helmet, I can't find it anywhere."
"I'm wearing it, safety first." Marco called back.
"Okay then," Mr. Diaz then passed the camera to his wife as he stood behind his son's bike and held it upright by the seat. "Start peddling Marco."
Marco immediately speed off so quickly that Mr. Diaz could not keep his grip on the bike. Marco never stopped, just kept going down the street as his parents raced after their son. "If he's this fast right now, I'm going to be worried when he starts to drive." Mr. Diaz said.
"He gets his adrenaline junkie tendencies from your side of the family." was Mrs. Diaz's reply, causing both girls to laugh.
The video then jumped to Marco's sixth birthday right as Marco blew out the candles. "Happy Birthday Marco." Mr. and Mrs. Diaz said as one.
"We didn't get you much this year," Mr. Diaz began, "But we hope you enjoy what we did get you." Mrs. Diaz finished as Marco unwrapped an oddly shaped present, revealing a skateboard and a set a knee and elbow pads. Marco smiled at the camera as he said, "It's fine Mom and Dad, it's just what I wanted."
Almost all of the video following this point was of Marco skating around, first just getting use moving on the board, next doing a few ollies and manuals. As the video continued, both girls saw Marco doing more and more complicated tricks as he grew older, either at a skate park or on a homebuilt ramp. They also noticed that the knee and elbow pads began to be absent, even after Marco was show sporting a cast around his arm in one short segment, but a helmet was always present.
The last part of the video showed Mr. and Mrs. Diaz sitting in the front of the car with an approximately ten-year-old Marco sitting in the back seat. "Here is the Diaz family on our way to the beach. What are you going to do when we get there Marco?" Mrs. Diaz asked.
Marco smiled as he said, "I heard that there's a brand new skate park with a jump over the canal."
The girls could see the look of concern on Mrs. Diaz's face, apparently so did the younger Marco as he said, "Relax mom, they don't let you do the jump unless your fourteen."
Star paused the video and asked Jackie, "Have you ever heard of this skate park?"
"I think so," Jackie said, "it's a few counties south of here, makes sense as there is a larger beach there and attracts more tourists."
"So do you think Marco tried the jump anyway?" Star asked.
Jackie shook her head and said, "Even if he was younger, Marco still looks like a person who would do what he was told. Let's watch the rest of this, no telling when the Diaz's will be home and we probably don't want to be caught watching this."
Unpausing the video, the girls saw a look a relief on Mrs. Diaz's face. "Okay Marco, just remember to have fun, and safety first."
The video then showed the Diaz's day at the beach, the family sunbathing, enjoying the water, eating at a local restaurant, and Marco grinding on a few benches along a path, helmet still present. The last part of the video was Mr. Diaz filming Mrs. Diaz as she walked in the water alongside the setting sun. "Here she is, my Calypso, with a song that rivals the sirens, and beauty that could make Aphrodite jealous."
"Oh stop you." Mrs. Diaz gave her husband a slight shove while she blushed. "It's getting late, we should probably head home. Now where did Marco go?"
"I think he said something about going to the Boardwalk."
The girls saw Mrs. Diaz go deathly pale as she asked, "Do you mean that Boardwalk?"
When Mr. Diaz turned around, the girls saw that someone was grinding along the railing of part of the Boardwalk that was at least 20 feet high and jutting out into the ocean. They could tell that it was Marco based on the black, grey, and red swim trunks, and even with the distance could see that he was not wearing a helmet. However, what truly scared them was when a security guard ran up and tried to grab Marco off his board, only to send the boy and the board in the opposite direction, causing Marco to hit his head on the railing.
As soon as Marco began falling, the camera showed Mr. Diaz's feet and was very shaky, indicating the man was running. Already the girls could hear cries of "Marco" coming from both parents. This lasted for perhaps ten to fifteen minutes until they heard Mrs. Diaz cry, "There he is!"
When the camera was slightly more stable, the girls saw that Marco had somehow washed up in a small cove, away from the main beach. Miraculously, the boy's breathing was normal and his board was nearby, although he was bleeding slightly from his head. "Oh my boy, thank God you are all right." Mrs. Diaz kept saying. After Mr. Diaz said he was going to go get some help, the video stopped.
"Wow," Jackie said, "that's certainly a lot to take in."
"I know," Star replied, "but I can't help but feel we're missing something. Could you replay that last part?"
"Sure." Jackie said as she pushed the rewind button. Suddenly Star said for her to stop, "Look," the girl got off the couch and pointed to the sand next to the unconscious Marco, bring attention to a small trench leading into the ocean, "Marco didn't just wash up in that cove, someone dragged him there."
"But then where did they go?" Jackie asked.
Star was silent for a moment before saying, "Is there anyway for you to play this slower?"
"Sure, but I don't see how that would help."
Playing the video frame by frame, Jackie wondered what Star was think. Star however wasn't looking at the ground, instead she was looking out into the water until she yelled "Stop!" Jackie was startled but immediately did as she was told. "Now play those last two frames and look here." Not seeing the point, Jackie none the less followed orders. Looking at the area Star said to pay attention to, Jackie saw a quick flash of blue, darker than the water surrounding it. The flash lasted no more than a frame, you wouldn't be able to see it if you didn't know where to look. Seeing Star smile, Jackie said, "I take it you figure something out, mind sharing?"
"I will Jackie, but do you mind if I talk to Marco first? I need to make sure of a few things."
Jackie shrugged her shoulder as she looked at the clock, noticing it was almost eight. "Sure, no problem. I need to get home anyway, it's almost time for dinner and my aunt will kill me if I'm late."
"You don't live with your parents?" Star asked.
Jackie looked slightly angry as she said, "Me and my parents don't exactly get along so I live here with my aunt and cousin. But enough about that, just let me know when you figured out what happened. Later Star."
As Jackie left, Star quickly turned off the DVD play, turned off the TV, and put the DVD away, just in time as Marco and Mr. and Mrs. Diaz walked in. "Hi everyone, how was the karate thing?"
"It was good," Marco said, "I ended up being asked to do some demonstrations and impressed my sensei and a few other people enough to be promoted to a blue belt." Marco smiled as he held up his new belt."
"I think to celebrate, tonight we go out for dinner!" Mr. Diaz announced. "We'll leave as soon as Marco changes, in the meantime the Mrs. and I need to water the plants in the back yard."
After his parent went outside, Star grabbed Marco's arm before he could go upstairs. "I watched the video."
"So you know what happened."
"The question do you?" Seeing Marco's confused look, Star said, "We can talk about it tomorrow."
"Don't we have school?"
"Nope, the mystery meat came to life due to a science experiment done by the science club. Ended up destroying the cafeteria, school's cancelled for at least a day, possible two."
Marco nodded his head, wondering what his friend knew that he didn't.
Jackie was skateboarding home, a million and three things on her mind, but one though kept resurfacing, 'It's him, Marco is him.' She really couldn't believe the odds of such a thing happening, now she just hoped she could explain everything without scaring the boy too badly. He did fight monsters on an almost weekly basis, he should be fine, right?
And that's chapter 2 of The Runaway, bit longer at 12 pages than the previous chapter isn't it?
Now we're getting into the meat of the story, as I said it'd be a short four chapter tale, but I hope that everyone reading will still enjoy it. So, now we know why Marco has skating skills, and why know that Jackie has been searching for him, yet we still don't know…
Why is Jackie searching for Marco?
What does Star know?
What could Jackie need to explain that could scare Marco off? (I've hinted at this a lot in this chapter, but please no spoilers in the reviews.)
These questions and more will, hopefully, be explained in the coming chapter of The Runaway, and remember if you enjoyed what you read, consider leaving a review or you could follow/favorite this story. I'll try to write some more this week, but the next update probably won't be until the middle of next week, however I can't promise anything.
With all that said, here's acw28 saying, "until next update."