ACT XIII: Comet II, the Underestimated Part 11: Third Wheel
Echo Creek. Earth-Realm.
Marcia Diaz and Comet Dragonfly raced each other home from school, excited for the Love Sentence concert later that night. To make certain that he could truly appreciate the concert, he had spent the past few days borrowing her CDs to hear all of the band's songs. Much to his pleasant surprise, he actually enjoyed Love Sentence's music. However, Comet was more excited to be spending some quality time with Marcia. Ever since she stood up for him in front of the Magical High Commission and the rest of the kingdom, the prince began to see his best friend in a new light. Not only that, but he also admired her strength in battle, her intelligence, and her kindness.
Prince Comet had a crush on his best friend. And he decided he was going to tell her at the concert.
Once they were cleaned up, the duo headed to Brita's Tacos to celebrate with Jackson and Jonah. Comet apologized to Jonah for not being able to get a ticket for him, but Jonah assured his royal friend that he didn't even like Love Sentence as much as Marcia and Jackson.
"Oh, man!" Marcia blushed with joy as she hugged Comet's shoulders. "The only thing better than the tacos we're about to eat is the fact that you managed to get us tickets to Love Sentence's first Echo Creek concert!"
"Of course! That's what friends are for!" Comet grinned, trying to hide his blush by reaching for his wallet.
"It's cool, man. I got this." Marcia stopped him and pulled out a stack of bills; she still earned a six hundred and fifty dollar royalty check from Prince Dudebro merchandise.
While Marcia went on ahead to order for the group, Comet took a seat with Jackson and Jonah. "Seriously, thanks for getting us those tickets, Comet!" Jackson smiled. "I've wanted to see them forever!"
"Oh, it's no trouble, Jackson. I know how much this concert means to you and Marcia." The prince turned to their third friend who was rolling up a zigzag. "Are you sure you're okay with not going to the concert with us, Jonah?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal. Like I said, they're not really my-" Jonah stopped himself to reprocess what the prince said. "Wait, 'us?' You're going with Marcia and Jackson?"
"Yeah, of course!" Comet nodded, eagerly. "Love Sentence is awesome!"
"Ye-yuh!" Jackson happily high-fived the prince in gratitude.
Before Jonah could speak again, Marcia returned with a disappointed look on her face. "What's wrong, Marcia?" Jackson asked.
"Brita's is closed due to a shortage of supplies." Marcia complained, kicking the dirt out of spite. "Anyone know any other restaurant close enough so we can eat and get to the concert on time?"
"Hmm… y'know, bit of a long shot, but my mom and I tried out this Thai place last week." Jonah suggested. "The couple who owns the place; I tutor their kid sometimes so they give me a discount. It's pretty good. Wanna try it?"
Jackson smiled and nodded. "I'll try anything once."
"Alright, let's give it a shot." Marcia sighed. She was still disappointed that her favorite restaurant was closed, but she felt her cheeks heat up as Jackson took her hand and they followed after Jonah. Comet walked right next to his third human friend to ask him what Thai food was, but Jonah kept his voice low and changed the subject.
"Dude, you can't go to the concert with Marcia and Jackson." Jonah shook his head. "No one likes a third wheel."
Comet was confused. He looked back at Marcia and Jackson before whispering back. "What's a third wheel?"
"It's someone who tags along with two other people on a date, and ends up making everything awkward for the three of them." Jonah explained.
Comet's heart-shaped marks on his cheeks lit up with a blush. If Jonah's suspicions were correct, then that meant he and Marcia were on a date. In which case, telling her how he felt about her would be so easy. But then, a sudden twinge of guilt gripped the prince's conscience. That also meant Jackson would end up feeling left out, and Comet couldn't stand to hurt anyone's feelings like that. With that in mind, the prince knew what he had to do.
"Don't worry, Jonah." He assured his friend as they approached the restaurant. "I'll make sure the three of us are fine."
Jonah wanted to argue, but he knew some things had to be learned the hard way. "Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you." He sighed as they entered Thai Go. "Hey, Mrs. Boonchuy! Got enough room for four more."
"Sure, Jonah." The kindly Thai woman smiled and opened the door to the kitchen. "แอน, ติวเตอร์ของคุณและเพื่อนๆ ของเขาอยู่ที่นี่แล้ว พวกเขาต้องการโต๊ะ. (Anne, your tutor and his friends are here. They need a table.)" She called.
A nine-year-old girl ran out of the kitchen and made a beeline for the group. "Hi, Jonah!" She smiled, hugging her tutor tightly. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm here to see if you've been practicing your fractions." Jonah said with a serious tone, only to laugh when Anne broke out in a cold sweat. "Ha, ha! Just kidding squirt. My friends and I wanna grab a bite before the Love Sentence concert."
"You're going to the Love Sentence concert?!" Anne squealed, excitedly. "Hey, if you see Sasha and Marcy there, can you tell them I hope they have fun? I wanted to go with them, but-"
Just then, Anne's mother scolded the girl. "แอน! เพียงพอ! พาพวกเขาไปที่โต๊ะและทำการบ้านของคุณให้เสร็จ! (Anne! Enough! Take them to their table and go finish your homework!)"
"Alright, mom! Geez…" Anne sighed and led them to their table before heading back to the kitchen. "Bye, guys. Have fun at the concert."
After dinner, Jonah took his leave from the group. Comet took out his scepter, smacked it a few times to get it started, and whispered a spell. The light from the scepter circled around Marcia, Jackson, and himself, forming t-shirts with the trio's faces on them under the words "L S TOUR!"
"There!" Comet cheered and hugged his friends. "Now, we all have merchandise to remember this night!"
"Cool! Thanks, man!" Jackson smiled before reaching into his backpack and pulling out two skateboards with pictures from Love Sentence's album covers on the bottom. "I actually got these years ago and thought we could ride 'em to the concert."
"Oh, uh…" Comet nervously fiddled with his scepter. "I, uh… I don't know how to skate, though."
"No problem, dude." Jackson took out three pairs of knee pads and elbow pads from his backpack. "No time to learn like the present."
With that, Comet put on the safety equipment, got on the skateboard to balance himself and allowed Jackson to keep him steady. Marcia - who was also wearing the safety equipment - was on Comet's other side, ready to catch the prince if he fell. Comet smiled at how close the trio were getting to each other. Jonah was wrong; no one was being treated like a third wheel.
"There you go. Now, keep your left foot right there, and very gently push off with your right." Jackson instructed. Comet did as he was told, much to his friends' delight. "There you go! Now, after you get up to speed, put your right foot on the center of the back of the board."
Once Comet was fully educated on the basics of riding a skateboard, the trio set off once again. Marcia rode on Jackson's skateboard with one arm around his chest and the other holding onto Comet. Soon enough, they arrived at the concert and took their seats. Marcia sat right in between Comet and Jackson and the concert started. The prince was listening to the music, but his attention was focused on Marcia. The way she completely dropped her bad girl appearance to happily dance and sing along to her favorite songs melted his heart. After about half an hour, the band started to sing the song "Just Friends."
Comet and Marcia gasped and stood up from their seats. "This is my favorite song!"
"Mine too!" Jackson cheered and grabbed Marcia's right hand.
Comet grabbed Marcia's left hand with a warm smile and the trio stood up to sing along to their favorite song. Suddenly, Comet noticed that the screen was displaying everyone in the stadium sharing a kiss. His cheeks heated up once more and he turned to give Marcia a soft peck on the lips. But when he turned, Marcia was kissing Jackson. With eyes wide in shock, Comet let go of Marcia's hand as he continued to watch them. At last, he understood Jonah's warning.
He was the third wheel.
Suddenly, Comet didn't feel so happy anymore. Instead, he felt some sort of emptiness deep in his chest. As if he were all alone in spite of the hundreds of other people in the arena. Without thinking, the prince quietly stood up from his seat and hurried outside. He didn't care that he was missing the rest of the show; he just had to get away from Marcia and Jackson for a few minutes. Once he was outside, he rested his hands on his knees and tried to breathe, but soon felt something wet running down his cheeks. Why was he crying? Why was it so upsetting to see Marcia happy with Jackson?
"Comet?"
Drying his eyes, the prince turned around to smile at Marcia. "Hey, sorry about that." He said. "I needed some air."
"Are you okay?" Marcia asked, still blushing from the kiss. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I meant to tell you, but when I told Jackson about the tickets… I kinda phrased it as asking him out on a date. I didn't tell him you bought the tickets until yesterday."
"Oh… that's fine." Comet nodded. "Yeah, no problem."
"Really?" Marcia brushed her hair behind her ear in the cute way that usually made Comet's heart flutter. But this time, it just made him feel like his heart was breaking. "I swear, Comet, I never meant to make you feel left out-"
"Marcia, I swear, it's fine." Comet promised, half-heartedly. He pretended to yawn and motioned towards home. "I'm actually feeling kind of tired. I'll meet you back at the house, okay?"
Marcia reluctantly looked back at the stadium where Jackson was waiting for her. She gave Comet a hug. "Thanks for setting this up, man." She whispered, happily. "I owe you."
"Just enjoy the rest of the show and tell me how it was in the morning." Comet requested.
They broke the hug, and he watched as she retreated back into the stadium before heading home. Just as Comet left the stadium, the band started to sing "Too Little Too Late." Maintaining his smile, Comet's cheek-marks turned dark-red and aimed his scepter and a nearby promotional poster for Love Sentence. A ball of fire erupted from the scepter's crystal, vaporizing the poster in an instant.
To Be Continued!
Author's note: I know this chapter's a bit shorter than the others, but I couldn't really think of a way to make this one unique from the actual show. I tried to make up for it by throwing in a little Amphibia cameo. But I promise the next chapter will be much better. Also, regarding Anne's age, the wiki says she was 13 when Amphibia started, and Star vs the Forces of Evil begins in 2015. So here, she's nine and hasn't traveled to Amphibia yet.
Disclaimer: The Thai Mrs. Boonchuy spoke was provided by Google Translate. So, I've provided an English translation in parenthesis. Please, be kind.
As always, please READ AND REVIEW!