AN: Wow, so that was an amazing and much appreciated flood of reviews I hadn't been expecting. Thank you to everyone! I really can't put into words what the flurry of support and compliments for my ideas mean to me, especially when I know there's so many great and better writers in this section and on the site. I thank you for your continued support. As always, prompts are always welcome. (And there's a smidge of Kwan/Star in here. Just a smidge.)
Star's mother was the coolest mom in the world.
She gave her kids names like Haven, Star and River. She braided Star's hair, let River dye his hair blue, and always had snacks ready. She was a seamstress, selling custom made dresses and skirts online, while her husband worked as an elementary school teacher. They made a modest income, but anything Star wanted was made up for in all those moments she had with her mom that other girls didn't seem to. While everyone else was fighting with their mother, Star hugged her every day when she got home. Her mother was like the sun, cheerful and warm, soft blonde hair and the smell of the ground after it rained.
Her mom had such vivid blonde hair that as a baby, Star had called it yellow. Haven had tried to correct his little sister until she started referring to his hair as dandelion and cut his losses before she came up with anything more embarrassing. But Star's mother wasn't embarrassed. She always laughed, picking her daughter up to cuddle her close, asking her what she wanted to do today. They had done it all together over the years – made food, colored, sang, cleaned, danced, run errands, and most of all read stories. Star's mother was a fountain of story books and fairy tales, some of which she knew from memory.
Little rhymes and long tales worked their way into Star's life. Where other kids grew up on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sailor Moon, Star remembered The Brothers Grimm (especially The Golden Children) and Ku and 'Ulu Tree. She couldn't recall what Pokemon was about, but she could recite most of How Maui Slowed The Sun from memory. Star's memories of her mother were yellow hair and yellow skirts, pastel yellow dining room and banana and peanut butter sandwiches with honey, the smiles of a woman who gave everything she had to offer to her children. She made Star's every dress for each school dance and wove ribbons into her hair like something out of a story. She was always there for her children, like the sun itself.
It was a long time before Star realized it, but she loved her mother more fiercely than anything. More than shopping, more than Paulina, more than the A-list, and she proved it one day in the cafeteria, cutting through her best friend's gossiping voice. Paulina was giggling about the new transfer student on the cheerleading team being into witchcraft or something, and that struck a raw nerve in Star. She narrowed her turquoise eyes and turned her head sharply, frowning.
"She might just be pagan or Wiccan or whatever, Paulina," Star said in a 'you are an idiot' tone of voice. "Quit acting like she rides a broom or something."
"Even if she is, that'd be weird. I mean, she'd probably, like, dunk her cheerleading outfit in goat's blood or something before practice," the Latina snorted, getting laughter from the entire table except for Kwan and Star. Kwan looked at his girlfriend with questioning eyes, but before he could defend her or the new girl, she did it herself.
"My mother is pagan and so am I," Star said loudly enough to silence several tables. "So what, I'm okay but the black pagan isn't?"
Several jaws dropped. Kwan gazed at her in a way that said 'this is why we're dating'. Paulina flushed and stammed.
"You know what, I'll be right back. I'm going to go talk to the Coach about this." She shoved her tray aside and strode towards the door. She didn't have to shut her eyes to remember singing to the moon or celebrating Yule, her mother's smiling, rounded face framed by yellow hair, her dark blue eyes bottomless in their love. Star paused at the doorway of the cafeteria and turned to look back at Paulina.
The other girl snapped, "I'm, like, waiting for an apology."
"So am I."
Star started wearing her pentagram to school after that, the one her mother had bought just before finding out she was pregnant with Star; it was gold with a yellow marble bead in the center.