Supernova, Chapter Four - Two Plus Two:
Star stood at Marco's side as quietly as she could, but her body could hardly contain her curiosity. Questions buzzed endlessly in her mind, but she fought to keep them from reaching the tip of her tongue.
Everything was so new here, even more than when she first set foot in the dimension. She remembered hearing Marco mention taking her to school the night before, but this… it was far from what she imagined.
School was something different entirely in Mewni. Sure, it was a system for Mewmans to learn, but it was nothing like this. Children learned from whichever of their parents didn't work, following a structure passed down from Dirhhennia the Heaped as her sister Crescenta's advisor. Of course, there were exceptions, such as Star herself, who was taught by a line of royal professors, often relieved from their duties by her mother, but without loss of generality, this system was accepted by all.
What stood before her was shocking to say the least. Room after room lined the endless corridors of a building almost as spanning as the castle she grew up within. Thousands of children, some younger and some older than herself, walked the halls as one, in and out of rooms, some alone, and some in crowds. Most people were talking, but somehow, their voices merged as they echoed through the halls, making it nearly impossible to listen to one individual conversation without being distracted.
"Who-" she began, forgetting to silence herself only for Marco to interrupt.
"That's Brittney Wong, she's the… worst," he remarked, having followed Star's gaze.
She felt bad for asking so many questions, but there was only so much she could do to contain herself.
"Why is she-" she started, becoming distracted as an ancient woman slogged past her. "Is that a-"
"A teacher?" Marco questioned. "Yeah, she probably taught my grandparents."
Star gasped, jabbing him in the shoulder as the door to the room they waited beside finally opened.
A woman barely younger than the one Marco insulted stood in its wake, only she was far more hideous. Her hair was a dull orange with thick streaks of gray. Her cheeks sagged inches beneath her lackluster jawline, her nose pointed out like a witch, and her glasses made her eyes grow four times.
"Miss Skullnick," Marco whispered, holding his head low as he led Star into the classroom. Only when they passed did he continue.
"I said Missus Graves was the worst, but Skullnick is a thousand times worse. Just keep quiet and you should be fine."
"Really?" Star questioned. "What's so bad about her? Is she mean or something?"
Marco scoffed, merely nodding as the rotund woman trudged to her desk and sat down.
A boy walked in behind her, but merely two steps from the door, he was paralyzed by Skullnick's shrill call.
"Samuel, you better turn around. You're going to the principal's office."
"But I-" he tried to protest, but the teacher's gaze alone was enough to turn him around, visibly upset.
Star's brow furrowed, but she elected to stay silent, seeing no possibility of making anything better.
It was as if Skullnick was waiting for someone to object, her eyes glazing over the children for several seconds too long before, finally, she sighed.
She pulled a black, rectangular device from a drawer in her desk and pressed a button, lowering a thick white sheet from a compartment in the ceiling until it hung just two feet from the ground.
"Today, we'll be learning from Con Academy. So just… I don't know, watch… or don't. I don't really care."
The lesson was just that. Another device mounted on the ceiling projected a video onto the screen. It was simple math to her, renamed theorems taught by a boring old man in such a way that it almost confused her, even after she had long learned the topics.
In fact, her next several classes matched that same pattern, even without a video playing. The teachers glazed over their curriculum carelessly, and in some cases, it didn't even seem like they understood the topics themselves.
Were they supposed to be professionals? School on Mewni was something to be excited for. She had the opportunity to gain truly valuable knowledge, and with the help of personal teachers, she was able to learn each topic comprehensively.
There was little room for questions, and whenever she needed to ask something, she could have it answered in an enlightening way.
Needless to say, that dialogue was absent at this school. Students like Marco, whom knowledge came easily to, survived these lessons, but she could tell most children weren't so fortunate.
She was ready to make her determinations about the school by the time her and Marco's final class came around. She sat beside Marco as she had for the prior five hours, her face pinned to her fist as she awaited another decrepit teacher's arrival. She was drained, her head ached, and all she wanted to do was go home.
She thought she would be waiting forever, when suddenly, a youthful voice summoned the attention of the terribly bored class.
That voice belonged to a young woman who stood behind the teacher's desk.
"Alright!" she shouted enthusiastically. "Good afternoon, class! I see we have a new classmate today!"
Star's eyes shot open. She hadn't even noticed the teacher coming in. She looked the same age as the children at first glance, but behind her auburn bangs, her wide eyes displayed great determination.
Infected by Ms. Daron's passion, Star's boredom was vanquished in an instant. She struggled to fight an urge to jump from her seat, tapping her foot repeatedly as the teacher prepared for her lesson.
She started with a teaching medium the likes of which Star had never even imagined. As if out of thin air, she pulled a hand puppet from behind her back, poorly, but amusingly giving him a voice.
She tried to purse her lips while she spoke, but the entire side of her mouth was open every time the puppet spoke.
"What a wonderful day!" shouted the puppet with excitement.
"I know!" she remarked in kind, fake coughing to alert her newest student to pay attention as she addressed the puppet by name "...Mr. Wright…"
"Oh come on, call me Arthur," he shouted back. "We've known each other long enough, huh Katie?"
"You're so right, Arthur," she replied with a chuckle, visibly focusing before continuing. "Now, let's get this day started right!"
Crudely combining her own voice with Arthur's she shouted with excitement. "Topic Number Three: Critical Thinking!"
Star smiled, clapping twice before realizing she was the only one. Still, the rest of the class smiled. Ms. Daron took notice, scanning the class and smirking.
"How many of you think of the number four as the sum of two and two?"
The class was quiet, all but two students sitting in the back raising their hands.
"Well, what about three and one? Or one, four times. Or even six minus two What I'm getting at is that there is always more than one solution to any problem, and it is up to us as people to choose what solution we want, or maybe more applicably, form our own opinions about the world around us."
She continued, but Star stopped hearing her for several moments after that. She wasn't sure why, but the teacher's words were confusing to her. She was still talking when Star's attention returned, but Star couldn't stop her question from leaving her mouth.
"Well aren't some things best left the way they are?"
Miss Daron smiled, pausing in her lecture without hesitation. "Yes. And no. Sure, there is alway a risk to changing the world around us, but without the risks that have been taken in the past—the thoughts that were critical of flawed systems of the past—would we be where we are today? So, to return to my analogy. Yes, four can just equal itself, but elevating the number to even just five would be more than worth it in any case."
She turned to the class. "So, take risks, think for yourselves, and…"
She lifted Arthur from her side. "Have a good rest of your day!"
Star stood in place for several seconds, only moving when Marco called her name for what must have been the umpteenth time.
"You coming?" he asked, gesturing toward the door as the last classmate left the room.
She nodded, her mind still elsewhere, but as soon as they moved for the door, Ms. Daron called out.
"Hey, you… wait for a second!"
Star glanced over her shoulder with a quizzical expression, easing up as Ms. Daron jogged to catch her.
"Hey Miss Daron," Star addressed. "That was a really good lesson!"
"Thank you," she said, catching her breath. "What's your name?"
"Me? I'm Star. I'm… not from here."
"Star? What a pretty name!" the teacher praised. "I just wanted to talk to you about your question a second ago, I-"
"Oh, that? Yeah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken over you-"
"No!" the teacher refuted. "Don't apologize. I wanted to tell you that I was intrigued by your question. Is there… anything else you wanted to ask? You looked like you were a bit confused after I answered."
"Oh," Star said, blushing slightly. "I- I don't know, I just- Where I'm from, people don't really… question… what's going on around us. This is all just so foreign to me."
"Really? That's strange. Where are you from?"
"I- I'm from-" Star stammered, turning to Marco.
"Switzerland," Marco answered, playing off Star's confusion with a smile. "She's a foreign exchange student. She's living with my family."
Ms. Daron nodded, visibly processing the information before responding.
"I see. Well, even so. I would urge you to look at the world around you a little deeper. No matter where you live, America, Switzerland, or anywhere else, opinions are being formed. Politicians form opinions, governments form opinions. Everyone has something they want to improve on, and part of becoming an adult is forming your own thoughts."
She paused, realizing that she had been rambling. Star hung on every word she spoke, but lacked the confidence to urge her to continue, so when the teacher stopped, there was nothing to be done.
"Anyways, I'll let you go now. I'm sure you want to go home. All of the classes here are so boring!"
Both Marco and Star sincerely giggled, thanked the youthful teacher, and walked out of the school's front doors.
The sun hung much lower than when they entered the school. The peach-colored horizon shone around nearby buildings, a warm breeze gusting around them as they made their way home.
Both members of the duo were quiet for the first half of the walk, content in their silence after a long day of classes. Star's mind was still back in Daron's classroom, the teacher's words swirling in her head like a tornado.
When Marco called her name, just like in the classroom, she didn't hear him.
"Star, you alright?" he asked, softly.
"Hmm?" she questioned, shaking away her thoughts. "Me? I'm okay. Just a little distracted."
"Daron's really sticking with you, huh?" he questioned, smiling. "She definitely has that effect on people."
"It's just- I can't stop thinking about what she told me. Ever since I was a baby, I've been taught to uphold things the way they are. I've always wondered whether things could be better for my people some other way, but my mother explained why they couldn't. Was she wrong? I don't know why I'm trusting this woman I just met, but I just can't help but question what I've been taught."
Marco nodded, his hands in his hoodie pockets as he digested her mental strife.
"Well, I guess that's kinda the point…" Marco remarked, meeting her eyes with a slight glance. "I mean, it's just like Miss Daron said. Maybe things could be better with change, but maybe your mother is right. It's her opinion that change is always better, but clearly your mother thinks the opposite. The thing is, as likely as it is that either one of them is right, it's equally likely that they're both wrong or both right…"
Star remained silent, her eyes planted on the ground and her face tense.
Marco continued. "Think of Miss Daron's analogy again. Every issue is unique. No one combination of solutions is the only solution to the problem. Some solutions are simple, some complicated. Oftentimes, decisions are risky, but what Daron said was true. No positive change can come without risk. At the end of the day, it just comes down to whether you think any risk is worth taking. It's your decision to make."
Star couldn't help but smile, her gaze rising to meet the eyes of her partner once more. She couldn't believe how wise everyone seemed in this dimension, most of all Marco and Miss Daron. She wasn't sure if taking risks would benefit her kingdom, but a seed was planted in her mind. She would keep her eyes trained, and maybe next time she had to make a choice, she would take a risk.
"So," Marco started. "About Mewni, is there anything else you can tell me? I've tried not to bother you about it, but I've been really curious."
Star chuckled, pushing her introspective thoughts aside. "It's… different… for sure. Honestly it's really hard to explain. I mean, we have a neighboring planet that we can always see in the sky. It blocks the sun all the time. Oh, and our trees are like… alive most of the time. And our animals… oh my god… anything could kill you if you're not careful. Then there's the monsters! There are millions of them, just like the ones in Ludo's crew! They can be anywhere from bigger than a house to as small as a shoe! They-"
She paused, her eyes landing on Marco's smiling face. "I was rambling, wasn't I?"
"Don't worry, it was cute. Plus, it's really interesting," he reassured, walking as nonchalantly as before for several seconds before realizing what he said.
He met Star's eyes, a nervous blush on his face, but she was all the worse. Her entire face was bright red.
"It was… cute?" she questioned, looking away as if she could hide her nervousness.
"What? I don't know what you're talking about. You need to get your ears checked!"
"Wait…" Star said, her gaze returning to him in an instant, her blush vanishing. "DID YOU JUST STEAL MY LINE?!"