Author's Note: I don't have a clear plan for how this story is going to go, but I really enjoy writing it!
Star Error IV
Star entered the small cafe and held her breath as she scanned the tables. No one she recognized was sitting at any of them. No one even looked up at her as she took a seat at an empty table in the farthest corner of the room.
She watched the time tick away on her phone. Of course Fenton would be late to this, too. He was late to everything. Class, tutoring, why would this be any different?
Fenton at last burst through the door, panting. He looked around the cafe before spotting her. Star glared at him as he approached.
"I know, I'm late, I'm sorry," said Fenton between deep breaths, shifting his backpack off his shoulder as he took a seat next to her. "I just got caught up with something."
"Caught up with what?" Star wrinkled her nose.
"Just something."
"You're bleeding."
Star pointed to the glistening wet cut just below his jaw. Fenton dabbed at it with his fingertips and studied the resulting red stain. He then reached across the table and grabbed a napkin, pressing it to the cut with his thumb.
"How'd it happen?" asked Star.
"I just—ah—I don't remember."
"How could you not remember? It obviously just happened right before you came over here since it's still bleeding."
Fenton shrugged. "I guess I just wasn't really paying attention to where I was going. Must've hit or bumped into something."
"Okay. Whatever." Star cleared her throat. "So my first question is—"
"Do you want something to drink?"
Star blinked. "Do I—what?"
Fenton gestured to their surroundings. "I can buy you something. If you want."
"Fenton, this isn't a date," said Star. "I don't want you buying me anything."
"Are you sure? I've heard their smoothies are pretty good."
"Yes, I'm sure. Can I ask my first question now?"
Fenton shook his head, taking the napkin off his neck. The cut was clotted and no longer bleeding. "Nope."
"What? No? Why not?"
Fenton reached into his backpack on the floor beside him and pulled out a math textbook and notebook. "The deal was you help me with math, and then I'll answer five yes-or-no questions for you."
Star groaned. "Really? I have to tutor you first before I can ask them?"
"Well, yeah. How else am I going to make sure you actually keep your end of the deal?"
Fenton tilted his head and pouted in an expression of mock query. Star stared at him, not sure if she was more annoyed or puzzled by his behavior.
"You know, I'm not used to being around you without Dash," said Star. "Like I've never seen you this bold. It's kind of weird."
Fenton frowned. "What does Dash have to do with anything?"
"Well, you get timid when he's around. Like you're afraid of him."
Fenton scoffed. "I am not afraid of Dash."
"Then how come you never act like this around him?"
"I—" Fenton groaned and shook his head. "I mean, I certainly don't want to give him any reason to mess with me, so I try not to put him in a bad mood if I can avoid it. But he's not even in my top ten when it comes to people I'm afraid of."
Star cocked a brow. "You have a top ten list of people you're afraid of?"
"Ah—no, I didn't mean it like that," said Fenton quickly. "It's just—I've got bigger problems than Dash."
He was pointing to the cut under his jaw. Star squinted one eye, trying to figure out what he meant.
"Why are you pointing to your cut?" she asked. "Exactly what kind of bigger problems are you talking about?"
Fenton blinked and looked down at his finger, lowering it immediately. "Oh—um—nothing."
Star scrunched her mouth. Weird. Everything about him was just so weird.
He wasn't looking at her now, instead keeping his gaze to the table. Star took the opportunity to study his freckles closely, but they seemed normal now.
"So is there any way I could ask you just one question right now?" asked Star.
Fenton looked at her again. "No."
Star slumped in her seat.
"But I'll tell you what." Fenton reached into his bag and pulled out a couple pencils and a calculator. "There are five math problems I need to do for homework tonight. So if you help me with the first one, you can ask your first question. And then help me with the second problem, and you can ask your second question. And so on. Sound good?"
Star sighed. "If that's what I have to do."
Fenton handed her a pencil. Star hesitated before taking it, wishing she had some wipes to disinfect it first.
"So here's the first problem." Fenton pointed to a page in the textbook.
"Is it another space word problem?" asked Star.
"Nope, just a boring regular problem with numbers and some letters."
"But wouldn't you rather talk about space right now?"
She watched his face, but he just smiled.
"Nice try," he said.
Star shrugged. "Worth a shot."
She looked over the first problem. Just simple algebra. Nothing too out there or complicated.
She walked him through the steps, told him exactly what to write, explained to him what was happening in each step and why it was necessary. When he finally produced the correct answer, Star glanced at her phone clock and groaned.
"Fifteen minutes for just one problem." She chortled. "I sure hope every problem doesn't take you this long or we're going to be here a long time."
"Which is why I'm more than happy to buy you something," said Fenton with a slight waggle of his eyebrows.
"You're just trying to stall so I can't ask my first question," said Star, narrowing her eyes.
Fenton sighed. "All right, all right. I guess I do need to hold up my end of this deal already."
Star straightened up in her seat. "So my first—"
"Wait." Fenton tapped a spot on the table. "Put your phone here first."
Star balked. "What? Why?"
"I need to make sure you're not recording this. Show me you have no apps open and put it here."
"Are you serious? I'm not showing you anything on my phone."
"I'm not answering any questions until you do."
Fenton's face was blank as he waited. Star glared at him.
"That wasn't part of the deal," said Star.
"I'm making it part of the deal right now."
"Exactly what are you trying to hide, Fenton?"
"Well, you get five questions to try to figure that out."
Star's glare turned into a scowl. But still Fenton held his ground, his expression calm and unwavering.
With a huff, Star showed him her phone and let him watch her close out all of the apps. Then she set her phone on the table. "There. Are you happy now?"
Fenton smiled. "Is that your first question?"
Star pressed her lips. "No, of course that's not my first question."
"Well, the floor is yours," said Fenton, leaning back in his chair. "Ask anything you want. Just remember it has to be a yes-no question."
"And you swear you'll be completely truthful, right?"
"Yes. I do."
The two were quiet for a moment. At a table nearby, a couple laughed about some inside joke between them. Behind the cafe counter, a barista prepared a customer's latte.
"Okay. Here's my first question." Star looked Fenton dead in the eyes. "Do your freckles glow sometimes?"
Fenton rubbed the back of his neck and averted his eyes. "You're really going straight for the big questions, huh?"
"You have to answer," said Star. "You promised."
"I know, I know. Just give me a minute." He released a long, heavy sigh and glanced around the cafe. Then he leaned in close to her and said in a low voice, "Yes."
Star waited, but he leaned back and was already looking at his text book again. "Yes? That's it?"
"I didn't say I was going to elaborate on any answers."
"But—"
"Yes or no, that's all you get."
"But I already knew the answer to that question, I just want to know why—"
"I answered your first question," cut in Fenton firmly. "Now you have to help me with another math problem if you want me to answer another."
Star fretted and sputtered before giving in. "Fine, Fenton. Have it your way."
The next problem was similar, another simple algebra problem. Star walked him through the steps again, watched him carefully write out each of them as he attempted to solve for the abstract symbol. Once he reached the end, Star had him circle his final answer.
"That took you ten minutes," said Star, using a clock on the nearest wall instead of her phone to time him. "Thankfully, you're getting faster at this. Maybe we won't be here all night after all."
"How long does it take you to do a problem like this?" asked Fenton.
"Like two minutes. Maybe three at the most."
Fenton's jaw dropped. "What? Really?"
"Oh, close your mouth." Star rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I'm not bragging. That's actually normal. You're just painfully slow."
Fenton also chuckled. "Yeah. I really struggle with math. So I appreciate you helping me."
He gave her a sincere smile. Something she had never seen on him before. Certainly not one meant for her.
It was…nice.
Star cleared her throat. "Yeah, well, I'm not doing this for you, remember?" She tapped the table a couple times. "I get to ask my second question now."
Fenton sat up straighter. "Yes, of course. Ask away."
Star looked down at the table, creasing her brow in thought. Since Fenton was going to give only straight yes-or-no answers, she knew she had to be cleverer with her questions.
"The reason your freckles glow." Star looked up again. "Does it have something to do with the reason you refused to donate blood?"
Fenton pressed his lips and ducked his head.
"You remember what I'm talking about, right?" said Star. "When our school was having that blood drive and you said you couldn't donate blood?"
"I remember," mumbled Fenton.
"So? What's your answer?"
Star placed her elbow on the table and leaned her head into her hand as she waited. Fenton appeared to be thinking very deeply.
He looked up at her, his expression serious. "Yes," he said.
Star blinked, picking her head up off her hand. "Yes, the reason your freckles glow is related to why you can't donate blood?"
"Yes," said Fenton with a small, defeated groan.
Star leaned toward him eagerly. "I knew it. I knew they had to be related. So what is it? Is your house just full of ghost radiation or something? Is it just your freckles that glow, or other parts, too? I know I've definitely seen your eyes glow—"
"Shh." Fenton scanned the cafe, his eyes wide with alarm. "Keep it down, okay? And I'm not answering any more questions until we finish another math problem."
"Okay, okay, fine." Star searched for the next problem in the textbook. "Let's do this."
Star guided him through another problem, squirming in her seat as she tried to hurry him along, rushing him to just get the right answer already! But he wrote slowly, carefully, barely speaking and simply following her instructions. Disgruntled and quiet. Where was all his cheeky sass now?
"You're being slow on purpose, aren't you, Fenton?" Star smirked. "You don't want me to have time to ask a third question, do you?"
Fenton shot her a quick look before penciling in the final answer to the problem and circling it. He then leaned back in his seat. "Ask away, Star."
His expression was now calm, neutral. Star stared at him a moment, waiting for him to break eye contact first. But he maintained that same poker face.
No matter. She knew she was getting under his skin with her questions. And she intended to beat him at this little game he came up with.
Star clasped her hands. "Do your parents experiment on you?"
She watched his face closely, expecting him to pale or blush, perhaps twist his face with panic or shock, maybe even disgust. But instead, he remained solemn for a couple moments before smiling softly.
"What?" asked Star, her eye twitching. "What are you smiling about?"
"Nothing," said Fenton, amusement edging into his voice. "It's just that I get asked that more often than you might think."
Star raised a brow. "Really?"
"Well, my parents kind of have a reputation for being 'mad' scientists. And with all the ghost research my parents obsess over and the many times they've taken out the whole block's electricity with just one failed experiment, the neighbors have been watching us a while. And they've tried asking Jazz and me about what they're doing and if we're all right. Stuff like that. We tell them we're fine, but they never believe us."
"How do you know they don't?"
"Because we still get concerned phone calls or knocks on the door every now and then."
"From who? More neighbors?"
Fenton stared at the table a moment before turning to look at her again. "My answer to your question is no. My parents don't experiment on me."
Star frowned. "That's the truth?"
Fenton nodded.
"Would you tell me the truth if the answer was yes?"
Fenton smiled. "You're not going to waste your fourth question on that, are you?"
Star rolled her eyes.
"Look, I promised I'd answer all of your questions honestly," said Fenton. "Even the…really uncomfortable ones. Which you're so good at coming up with."
"Hey, don't blame me for beating you at your own game."
"Of course not."
He was still smiling at her, a small, almost wistful smile. Star could feel heat coloring her cheeks the longer she looked at him.
"Let's get to the next math problem already," said Star quickly, looking at his textbook so she could stop seeing that dumb smile of his.
Fenton hummed and picked up his pencil, using it to point to the page. "It's this one next."
"You don't need me to tell you how to start this time, do you?" asked Star.
Fenton shook his head and began the first step all on his own. Star couldn't help but beam as she watched him work.
"That's good, that's right," said Star. "You've got it."
Fenton circled his final answer and set down his pencil.
"And that only took you five minutes this time," observed Star, glancing at the clock.
"Well. I have a pretty good tutor."
He smiled at her again. Star looked away.
"Yeah, of course you do," she said to the table. "I don't need you to tell me that."
On the edge of her vision, she could still see him smiling. She cleared her throat and looked across the room.
"Fourth question," she said. "Um, just let me think for a moment."
She breathed out, composing herself. Fenton's smile faded. She looked at him again.
"Does anyone else in your family glow?" she asked, running the words over her tongue carefully.
Fenton stared at her for a long, quiet moment. Then he lowered his gaze and sighed.
"No," he said softly. "It's just me."
Star pursed her lips and cocked her head. "If it's really just you, then what makes you so special?"
"It doesn't make me special." Fenton chuckled, but it was a hollow sound. "It makes me a freak. But you already knew that."
"But isn't everyone in your family exposed to the same ghost radiation or whatever? Why are you the only one who glows?"
"That's not a yes-or-no question."
"All right, fine, I'll rephrase it—"
"No."
Star stopped, surprised by his stern tone. Something she had never heard from him before.
He picked up his pencil again. "There's one more math problem. Then you can ask."
Star watched Fenton scribble the steps to solve the next problem, but her mind was churning, puzzling out what her final question should be. She wondered what it meant that he was the only one in his family who glowed. Why would that be? Was there some ghostly radiation that somehow only he was exposed to? Did his parents and sister know about it?
She chewed the inside of her cheek as she stopped looking at his notebook and studied the side of his face. He didn't notice her stare as he continued working.
He said he wasn't special. But he was certainly different. And just what was it that made him different from the rest of his family?
"Is this it?" asked Fenton, tapping his final answer with his pencil.
Star blinked and looked at his work. "Oh. Um…yes, that looks correct."
Fenton circled the answer and set his pencil down. He was quiet a moment before turning to her. "Okay. Well. That was the last problem. So what's your last question for me?"
Star's mind again raced through her thoughts as she tried to pin down a good question to ask. "I still really want to know why you're the only one in your family that glows."
"I'll only answer a yes-or-no question."
"I know, I know. Just give me a minute to figure something out, will ya?"
Fenton shrugged and folded his arms, resting his elbows on the table.
Star's phone lit up from where it lay on the table, a shimmery tone indicating the arrival of a new text message. Fenton and Star both glanced at the screen, at the name of the sender.
"Orion?" said Fenton.
"My brother," said Star. "He's probably just sending me a goofy meme or something. Or maybe he's noticed we're out of pizza rolls."
"Your brother's name is Orion?" said Fenton. "Like the constellation?"
Star opened her mouth to respond but paused, seeing the childlike wonder in Fenton's eyes.
An idea clicked in her head.
"Yeah," she said with a slow nod, then turned her body to him fully and smiled. "He was named after the constellation. So, you see, my mom's name is Comet—"
"Comet? No way, really?"
"Well, not really. It was her stage name back when she used to dance at the club, but she just liked it and continued having everyone call her that even when she and my dad got married and she stopped dancing." She stuck a finger in his face. "Oh, and before you ask, no, she was not a stripper, she was a go-go dancer."
"I wasn't going to ask," said Fenton with a small shake of his head.
"Well, good." Star cleared her throat. "So anyway, my mom is really into, like, cosmic energy and astrology and how the alignment of the stars affects things, stuff like that. So she named me and my siblings star names."
Fenton's expression looked eager now, fascinated. Star brightened her tone.
"So there's me, obviously, Star. And then my older brother is Orion." Star gestured to her phone. "And then I have a younger sister, Nova. And my mom was saying if she had another son, she would've named him Astro, but that ended up not happening."
"That's so cool," said Fenton with a breathy sigh. "Honestly, that's how I want to name my kids someday, too. Star or space names."
"Really?" Star rested her chin on her hand.
"Yeah, well, I mean, if my wife would be okay with it. It would be awesome if I could meet someone who loves astronomy as much as I do. But if not, I'm hoping she'll be okay with giving our kids cosmic middle names, at least."
"Ooh, like what kind of names?" asked Star, trying to sound as intrigued as possible.
"Well, I like Aurora for a girl. Or for twins, one could be Aurora and the other Borealis—okay, that's kind of a joke, but not really, like the more I think about it, I kind of like it." Fenton's tone was rising, the pace of his speech quickening, his mouth widening, his eyes sparkling. "Or Canis. I really like the name Canis because, you know, Canis Major, Canis Minor, they're the two dog constellations—they're the dogs that follow Orion on his hunts, actually—and God, I just love dogs so much, my parents never let me have one but I'm definitely not going to do that to my own kids, we're totally going to have a family dog and maybe he could have a cosmic name too, like Polaris or Rigel or—"
Fenton continued babbling about dogs and constellations. Star's mouth fell open as the freckles on his face lit up, specks of brightly glowing dots decorating his nose and cheeks.
Star grabbed her phone off the table and opened her camera app. Fenton turned his face toward her just in time for Star to snap a photo of him looking right at her camera.
Fenton shot out of his seat and stepped back, covering his face with his hands. His eyes were wide with horror. Star smiled up at him triumphantly.
"Delete that," demanded Fenton, still covering his face.
"Hmm." Star pretended to think, then lowered her phone into her lap. "Nah, I don't think so."
They locked eyes. Fenton kept the lower half of his face covered so all Star could see was his hard glare.
"Still wanna buy me something, Fenton?" Star looked over at the counter where the barista was now staring at them. "I think a victory smoothie might be in order here."
Other people in the cafe turned to stare at them. Fenton ducked his head and threw his textbook, notebook, and calculator into his backpack. His skin burned red around his shining freckles.
"Hey, you can't leave." Star mock pouted. "I still have one question left."
Fenton stopped and looked at her, his hands on his backpack and not covering his face. His expression softened into defeat.
He then swung his backpack over his shoulder and covered his face with one arm, dashing out of the cafe. Several baffled patrons stared after him, whispering.
Star watched the cafe door swing shut behind him, sticking out her bottom lip in thought.
She unlocked her phone and tapped open the photo she just took. Fenton was looking right at the camera, eyes wide, mouth partly open, a smattering of light flecks spread across his face.
She opened her group text conversation with the A-List and uploaded the picture along with a message.
See? I told you.