No Laughing Matter: Star's Story

"Sound check been done?" I asked Chloe.

The percussionist for G2B2 gave me the thumbs up. I tugged on my short, slouchy purple dress (over a long white turtleneck and black jeans for modesty) and looked around backstage nervously. Chloe, Nina, Darline, Laru, and I had all played shows before, but here at Night Sky the top all ages club in New York... it all seemed so different.

What if we drive them all out? I wondered. G2B2 had an nontraditional sound. I mean, we were a girl band... who did covers of songs done by boy bands... on instruments used by school bands, not rock bands. What if Night Sky threw us out because we stunk up the stage? Or worse, what if they didn't pay us?

The curtain opened, and I grabbed the mic and tried to look confident. "Hey everyone, we're G2B2, and we're going to start out with something we know you'll love. You guys ready?"

The response was barely enthusiastic. It was a Tuesday, after all, the deejay's night off, and so the place was only half as crowded.

Whatever. I nodded to Laru, on violin, and slowly Chloe followed, launching into I Should've Kissed You. By the time Nina (on flute), me (the vocalist), and Darline (tuba) got into it, I could tell that reception was better than I expected, but not enough to make us wildly famous. When the song ended, Laru motioned to get my attention amid the minimal applause. I looked at her, and she mouthed use your secret weapon.

Not yet, I said. I knew I would have to eventually, to keep the audience interested, but no way would I do it right after the first song! I didn't want it to lose novelty, so I started I Want It That Way and hoped for the best.

We were midway through the fourth song, Troublemaker, when I decided it was time. Between verses, I twirled around and threw up my hands. And out of nowhere, sparks flew. Literally. With a snap of my fingers, they turned into bubbles, and I blew them out towards the audience, who was now paying twice as much attention.

We finished the set, ending with oldie-but-goldie MMMbop, blew kisses to the audience. For that hour, we were like real celebrities. And we all knew it was thanks to my secret power. I smiled. Night Sky wasn't closing for a half-hour, so I even had time to grab a Diet Coke and relax for a little before I had to head back to my apartment.

When I emerged from backstage, I was immediately bombarded by what I assumed to be my first ever rabid fan. She was taller than me, with pink hair I would die for (my mom made me keep my hair black, though let me put in purple highlights as a compromise), and an adorable semi-punk outfit. "Hi," she said. "Are you Star?"

"That's me," I grinned. "Star Carson, at your service."

She smiled. "Um, this might sound weird. But do you want to come sit with me and my friends until the club closes?"

There was a beat of silence where I stared at her in wonder. Because nobody had ever asked me that before. Not even my bandmates. I may have been the lead vocalist in a semi-popular band, but everyone who knew me thought I was that freak who believed in magic and spent her weekends watching shows for Japanese elementary school girls (though I tried to explain that a lot of them also had older fans) and didn't go to school (I was homeschooled with my sister Ayesha and my brothers Cliff and Armandi).

Then, I broke out into a smile. "Yeah," I said, grinning wider as time passed. "I would love to!"

She led me over to a crowded table, where about ten girls were sitting. Pulling up another chair, she made room for me by her side. "I'm Roxy," she said. "and these are... well, there's really too many to name. Everyone, this is Star. She's the vocalist. You know, the one who played the trick with the bubbles?"

A girl with short blonde hair, a trucker cap, and a flannel shirt leaned towards me. "Yeah, Star. How'd you do that, anyway?"

To be honest, if I hadn't watched so much television, I probably would have told them. But all the episodes in mahou shoujo shows that were dedicated to hiding powers had taken a toll. "A magician never reveals her secrets," I said, laughing it off.

The blonde girl raised her eyebrows. "Really."

"Your band is really cool," said a girl across the table, who had stormy eyes. "I'm actually here in NYC on a band field trip, so it's cool to see a pop cover band using a tuba, flute, snare, and all that. So unconventional. What's your band called again?"

"G2B2. Girl Band Band Geek for long."

"Wouldn't that be GB2G?" the blonde asked.

"We thought about that," I admitted, "but it really isn't as catchy."

"And what does the bubble trick have to do with band?" she continued.

"It looks cool!"

"Are you hiding latent magical powers?" she asked, nearly yelling.

Roxy's eyes widened. "Avalon!" she demanded in a whisper. "Why are you pushing this?"

I thought about getting up and running. But there were so many of them. If they wanted me, no way could I outrun them all. "Yeah," I said. "I am. And I think it's because I'm a Precure Warrior."

They stared at me. "A what?" asked the one who I assumed was Avalon.

The girl next to her, a petite brunette with a Vampire Diaries shirt on, perked up. "Precure! Oh my gosh, I wish we were Precure. I already have my catch phrase picked out and everything! I'd be Cure Creativity. Instead of just the fairy of Creativity like I am now. And we would have awesome powers of fighting, not just magic, and then we'd be in one of those All Stars DX situations and I would meet Cure Moonlight..."

"Mia!" Avalon said. "We get it. You wish you were Precure, just like you wish you were Elena Gilbert, and Misha Collins."

"Oh, good choices," I noted. "I think we're going to be friends."

She gave me a thumbs up before Avalon looked at me. "You're the fairy of happiness. And you're blatantly using your powers to put on a show with your band. Do you know how dangerous that is? There are people out there who want to find you and destroy you! Ugh."

"The first time, it just happened," I said defensively. "And everyone thought it was a stage trick. So I didn't think anyone would actually... you know, know. I mean, people do stage magic all the time!"

"Yeah. But magical beings sense other magical beings. They know what they're dealing with."

"Like you guys," I realized softly. "What are you?"

"Fairies, of course! I mean, what other magical species has been proven to exist?" Avalon asked with a sigh.

"Spoiler alert, though," Mia said. "Wizards are real too. We're dealing with some nasty ones."

"So... so I'm a fairy?"

"Mmmhmm!" Mia said.

I looked down at the table. I had to admit, though I didn't even consider that I could be a fairy, it made perfect sense. They had been rediscovered about a year ago, and I knew that some girls were becoming fairies themselves. But I hadn't put two and two together when my own weirdo magic started develouping. Now, though... now there was only one question. "So. Now what?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Roxy inquired.

"I mean... I mean... now what? So, I'm a fairy. What do I do with this little bit of information?

"Well," she said slowly. "You could travel with us and help find other new fairies. You could go to California to study at the Institute of Magic, or to the realm of Magix to study at Alfea."

"Can I stay here and get on with my life?"

"Well, of course you can, but..."

"The wizards!" Avalon said. "If we leave you here, defenseless and alone, they might come and rip off your wings. And that would not be good."

"So I need to train so I won't be defenseless?"

"Right!"

"So, if you teach me how to defend myself, I can stay here?"

Roxy nodded. "Wow. I don't think any of us think of this stuff that we need to be considering."

"Yeah," Mia agreed. "First with the trying to talk to Rider civilly, and now with the teaching fairies so we... cough cough... don't have to kidnap them from their schools?"

"Mia, you can't even do a simple matter merge exercise, let alone cast defensive magic. If I was on the team, I would have kidnapped you too," said a fairy with dark brown hair and lightly tanned skin.

Mia stuck out her tongue. "No one asked you, Kristina."

I rose from the table. "Why don't we go back to my apartment. Night Sky is closing any minute, and my parents work nights. We can train. Maybe I can get enough defense down for me not to be kidnapped. Because if you don't mind, I really don't want to be kidnapped."

"Sounds good to me," Roxy grinned.

The living room was crowded. No wonder, as it was part of a relatively small NYC apartment, and we were cramming fourteen girls into it and trying to hold a magic lesson. Some of the older, more experienced girls were sitting out of the way, in chairs and couches- Roxy, Kristina, and Avalon, along with girls named Safeyah, Kaylee, LeLe, and Lysis. But a woman named Vicki, who I had learned was the fairy of teaching and education, was leading a lesson with some of the less experienced fairies, such as Nakisha, Mia, Amanda, Lynn, and me.

"Okay," Vicki said. "the very basics of magic is something easy, just some energy manipulation. Just put out your hand and let your heart lead the way. Your magic, at it's base, is all about belief, so the more you believe in yourself, the easier it will be."

I stretched my hand out, and the other four girls followed. Slowly, we let our hands focus our powers, and the room lit up with magic glows. Mine was a midnight blue sparkle that seemed to consume my entire hand. I wondered if it was that strong because I had always believed in magic, even before it was proven to exist? I had always expected to have some sort of powers.

I glanced at the others. Nakisha had a soft but steady glow of orange that she was slowly trying to make bigger. Lynn's energy was an odd color, sort of like magical strawberry lemonade, a mixture of pink and yellow. Amanda's was silver and crackled like lightning.

But when I looked at Mia, my heart melted. Tiny purple sparks were coming out of her hands, but no steady glow like the rest of us had. The look on her face was utter concentration and frustration... and a little bit of sadness. Thinking about how bad that would feel, to not be able to do a simple thing like this when even the new girl got it... it made me feel so horrible for her. And as I felt that, my own glow weakened.

Fairy of happiness, I remembered. I was the fairy of happiness. No wonder her sadness made my power less powerful.

But... if I was the fairy of happiness... maybe I could do something?

I looked at my hand and smiled. I believe in myself. I believe in my power. I believe in Mia, I thought. And as I thought that, the glow in my hands turned into something that looked like ribbons, or streamers. Instinctively, I blew them out towards Mia, and they whirled around her, then fell into the floor and vanished.

Lynn looked up. "What just happened?" she asked in her cute Irish accent. "Everybody just got a mood lift."

"I did it!" I said. "I used my power to try to share happiness."

"Wow," Vicki said. "I haven't seen a brand new fairy that powerful since... ever."

"Do you think she's a major fairy?" Lysis asked.

"Major fairy? What's that?" LeLe furrowed her brow, confused.

"A major fairy is a fairy who's power comes not from belief in magic, but simply from the world around her in some form- whether it be something in nature, a general human trait, or even a concept. There's plenty of them in other realms, but less on Earth. Nobody knows why. So while they aren't differentiated from others at Alfea, here they are. They're normally more powerful and control their power easier. The fairy queen, Nebula, is the major fairy of war and peace... Roxy's mother is the major fairy of thought... but I've never heard of there being a major fairy of happiness before. Why not, though?"

"But what would that mean for me?" I asked. I was suddenly a little bit terrified. Yes, I had always wanted magic, but being some magical fairy bigshot sounded scary.

Vicki smiled at me. "Relax. It only means as much as you want it to mean. There are major fairies who are guardians of the Earth and all, but Morgana just lives a normal life, and I'm certain others do as well."

"The question now is if Star is a major fairy, does that mean she's in more or less danger? Yes, she should be able to protect herself without even blinking. But if the Wizards outthink her, or somehow overpower her, they'll be all the more powerful with the wings of a major fairy." Lysis looked at me as if I had the answer.

"So, does she come with us?" Vicki asked.

I suddenly realized something. "No, I don't. I'm going to risk staying here because where I am, who I am, that's my decision. My entire life only means what I want it to mean, right, like my major fairy status?"

"Possible major fairy status; you'll want to get that tested at some point," Lysis said.

"So I'll risk it. I'm eighteen years old, an adult. And I have decided to defend myself. Though... is there anyway I can learn magic here in NYC? I want to learn, I just... I can't freak out my parents and siblings by randomly going off. Who would babysit, anyway?"

"Hang on," Vicki said. "I think I have a plan that will satisfy us both." She took out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Oppidan? Hey, Victoria here, and I have a favor to ask. There's a new fairy in the Big Apple with you... Star. We think she might be the major fairy of happiness. Could you possibly look after her until she goes to college, just keep an eye out, maybe teach her some things? Awesome. I'll give her your number, she can call you and you guys can meet up? Wonderful. Thanks, Oppi. I owe you one. Yeah. Bye."

She closed her phone. "That was Oppidan, the fairy of metropolises. She's going to help you out, since she lives fairly close. That okay with you?"

"Sounds good!" I said.

She put her hand out and concentrated, and a pencil and paper appeared. She scribbled down a ten digit number and handed it to me. "Call her tomorrow. She'll be glad to hear from you."

"Thanks," I said.

Roxy looked at the clock. "Wow. It's really late. Sorry about this, but some of us have a plane to catch, so we have to be going. We'll see you again though, Star, I know it!"

"Yeah," I said. "I know it too. Safe travels!"

Roxy reached out and hugged me. "Good luck on your own... slightly more metaphorical... path," she whispered.

"Thanks," I said with a smile. I knew I'd need that good luck, my path wouldn't be easy. But I was so much better off than I had been. I had magic. I had a teacher. I even had friends.

What more could a girl need?

Author's Note: Star is the creation of smiles1998! Hope you enjoyed!

And next we get to go to Greece! Yay! That'll be fun.

Also, question. Has anyone noticed that the titles of the stories are puns of a sense?