No Strings Attached

The red string of fate is a myth that originates from East Asia. A red string is tied from one person to another. Those who the strings connect are destined to be lovers. Cupid is more western. The god of attraction, love, desire, and affection, shooting arrows at people that fill them with an uncontrollable desire. Even with these myths told repeatedly through generations, they could not have prepared Marco Diaz for a firsthand experience with an angel of love.

Marco Diaz was fourteen; his only real friends were Alfonzo and Ferguson. He was never popular, with most his classmates mocking him for being the "safe kid." From kindergarten and onwards, he only had eyes for one girl, Jackie Lynn Thomas. She, in his honest opinion, was the coolest girl in the school. The only thing that stopped him from asking her out was himself. Full of self-doubt and anxiety, he could only mutter hellos and goodbyes to her. Oh, how he wished he could look cool in front of her.

Marco was currently walking with his friends. Ferguson was trying to introduce him to some anime while Alfonzo babbled on about Star Trek. His two friends fought over the mediums of the screen: animation and live action. Marco spent most of his time either practicing karate or watching and making fun of ads. Unable to add to the current conversation, he just walked along.

Out from the corner of his eye came Jackie on her skateboard. He momentarily froze and remembered his plan. Today was the big day of his grand plan. Away with the days of his shyness for today he would move from muttering to a full volume greeting. Moving to the regular position where he stood, in the way of Jackie's usual skateboard route, he prepared his throat for the glorious greeting that would come.

"Hey, Jackie!" he waved at her.

Jackie stopped her skateboard and greeted him back, "Hey, Marco. What's up with you?"

Diaz felt his heart skip a beat and his mind clouding. This was a dream come true for him. His heart beat faster and faster as he came up with an answer, "Uh, nothing much right now." He mentally slapped himself. What kind of a response was that? He needed something, anything was better than those words he'd just uttered.

"I've been working on my karate," he said seconds later. "Might get my red belt soon." His soul triumphantly roared. This was it - his first real conversation with his crush. Pass this and there would only be a few hurdles left until he became her boyfriend. Maybe even more….

"Cool," Jackie gave him a thumb up. "I've been practicing with a few tricks with the board. See you around, Marco." She waved at him as she took off.

He waved back with a huge smile. He had finally done it, he- His thoughts were interrupted as an object flew by him. He didn't realize it at first, but his head instinctively moved. The object hit the floor instead. Upon closer inspection, Marco saw that it was an arrow. Its head was a pink heart, the feathers were amazing soft upon touch, and the shaft was regular wood. He looked around. There was nobody near him now. He turned around and saw something that made his brain stop.

Behind him was a young woman that looked his age. Flowing blonde hair that reached her knees, bright blue eyes, beautiful skin. She was wearing a white dress. Her hands held a bow. A quiver of arrows was strapped on her. On her back were wings - Marco wasn't sure if they were real or not. He shook his head and pushed those thoughts away. He didn't know who she was.

"Excuse me?" Marco came closer to her and asked. He noticed that she had a frown on her face. Her eyes stared at the ground, but not at any real thing on the floor. Her eyes were vacant, as if deep in thought.

"Miss?" His question seemed to have missed her ears. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked right at him in shock.

"Are you all right?" She looked to him like she was panicking. "Hey, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." He put his hands up as a sign of peace.

"You can see me?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked back. "Of course I can see you."

"You're not supposed to see me," she said with a type of firmness that only a person who truly believed in that statement could've said it with.

"What are you-"

Marco was interrupted with Ferguson shouting from behind him, "There you are! We were wondering where you went." Diaz's two friends approached him.

"Who were you talking to?" Alfonzo asked.

"Huh?" Marco turned to the angel and waved his hands at her. Alfonzo's and Ferguson's expressions remained unchanged. "I was, uh, practicing some pick-up lines for the next time I see Jackie." His buddies were obviously in on the joke. Well, he wasn't going to let them fool him, no sirree.

Ferguson slapped him on the back. "Don't worry, even if you fail you'll still have us!"

Alfonzo looked at his watch and said, "Class starts in five minutes, we'd better hurry!" The three made a run for it.

While in mid-sprint, Marco heard the girl say, "I'll be at the fountain after school." He turned towards the voice and saw her phase through another person. He turned his head back in the direction of his run.

'I hope I'm not going crazy,' he thought.

After school, the girl was where she said she would be. The two of them were alone at the spot.

"So… what's your name?" Marco asked.

"It's Star. Star Butterfly, angel of love, at your service."

"Angel of love?" he questioned skeptically.

"Yep, I am part of a group that specializes in having people fall in love!"

"Is that why you're wearing the costume?"

"It's not a costume!" Star huffed. "I am an angel of love, a descendant of cupid, for your information."

"Really, so those wings are real?"

"Yes!" The wings moved and pushed her upwards. The angel flew a few feet off the ground. "You see? Completely real." Her wings stopped and she dropped to the ground, knees bending as she did so. Marco winced thinking about how painful to the knees that landing was.

"So what's an angel of love doing here?" Marco asked.

"We operate all over the world, shooting arrows at people to make them fall in love," she replied. "Sometimes, there are people, like you, who don't have any red strings attached to anyone. It's our duty to have them fall in love with another without a red string."

"If your arrow had hit me…." Marco motioned for Star to complete the sentence.

"You would've fallen in love with that girl in front of you," she said.

Marco frowned at that. "But I'm already in love with Jackie," he argued. "What good would that arrow have done me? Make me more in love with her?" At Star's confused expression, he added, "Jackie was the girl in front of me."

"Well, it doesn't matter because you don't have a red string attached to you," she responded. "Without it, you can't experience 'true love.'"

"Okay, let's say that arrow hit me and I can experience 'true love' with Jackie," Marco started. "According to you, Jackie doesn't have a red string, right?" The angel nodded. "Then how can she experience this 'true love' with me?"

"What a silly question," Star laughed. "I would've shot her with my arrow later with her looking at you, of course!"

"Isn't that a bit dishonest?" he asked. "To force people to fall in love with each other instead of letting them find it on their own?"

"What are you talking about?" she inquired with a frown.

"I mean… Jackie deserves someone who wants to get to know her, for who she really is. And I think I'm that someone. Shooting an arrow at her so that she falls in love with me bypasses that step."

"Then how are you supposed to experience true love?"

"What's the difference between 'true love' and regular 'love?'"

"True love is, uh, well, when you, uh…." Star trailed off. Marco raised an eyebrow.

Seeing that, she exclaimed, "It's not something that I can just explain to you! You have to feel it for yourself."

"What about you?" Marco questioned.

"What about me?"

"Have you experienced this 'true love?'"

"No," Star shook her head. "Angels can't experience that, or at least can't find our own soulmates like that. Whoever is able to see others' red strings are fated to be unable to see their own."

"That sucks," Marco commented.

"That's the rules," she shrugged. She took out an arrow from her quiver and put it on the string of her bow. "Nice talking to you, but you need to be shot for me to complete my mission."

"You don't have to shoot me, do you? Theoretically, all you need to do is to make sure Jackie and I fall in love with each other."

"... I guess…"

"Therefore, you could complete your mission by helping me charm Jackie," Marco argued. "And as for that 'true love' stuff, you can shoot us when Jackie does fall in love with me. Only if she likes me because of who I am and not anything else." Seeing Star about to argue, he quickly added, "Think about it. We humans don't just fall in love without consequences. You shoot two people to fall in love. What if they can't get along? What if their parents or friends can't get along? You can't just force people to fall in love and expect it to work."

"..." Star remained silent as she thought about what he said. Her job was a simple one: shoot people when they're looking at the one that they were supposed to fall in love with. She never had to think about the other stuff. None of the other angels even mentioned anything about these problems. "...I guess…" was her response.

"Right, so you can be my wingman, or wingwoman," Marco said.

"Uh, right!" she exclaimed. "Let me find a guide for that and I'll get back to you." Marco put his right hand in front. Star looked at him with a confused expression.

"Friends?" he asked.

"Friends?"

"No strings attached?" he joked.

Star smiled at that. "All right, Marco. No strings attached." The two shook hands.

Fun Fact: Cupid is sometimes used to represent how impulsive love can be.