3. Cool-Ex
Warning: I have never been on a date, been in a breakup, or know anyone who has gone through a breakup. But this idea has been rattling around in my head and needs to be put down.
Jackie stood in the woods, sighing as she waited for Star to show up. Why the princess asked to meet her here at Isolation Point was a mystery to the blond skater, but she was hoping this would be a start to a friendlier relationship.
Star was friendly with everyone in school, even Britney. The only exception was her.
She thought she knew why though. She was living with her ex-boyfriend Marco.
The two broke up a week before Star showed up, so maybe some resentment had rubbed off on the princess from another dimension. Marco was good at putting up a brave face and not letting the breakup seem to bother him, but she knew him well enough to see through it.
Star might seem goofy, but she was good at telling when someone was happy. Add in living with him, and Star would definitely be able to pick up on his hurt feelings no matter how well he tried to hide them.
"Jackie."
Jackie turned around with a start, relaxing when she saw it was Star.
"Whoa, warn a girl, Star. You startled me."
Jackie then realized Star's stern expression, which is not something she usually sees on the peppy blonde.
"Um, are you ok?"
Star scoffed at that.
"Oh, so NOW you care about other people's feelings? Why didn't you care about that back when you broke Marco's heart?"
Jackie sucked in a breath at that and took a cautious step back.
"What? Star, it wasn't like that. Marco and I just weren't compatible, and it was an amicable breakup."
Star narrowed her eyes at her. "So you weren't the one to break things off with him?"
"Un, no, I did. But that was-"
"So, how weren't you compatible?"
Jackie began to panic as the princes took a few steps closer with a rage-filled expression.
"We… um… just weren't. Sometimes people seem like they would make a good couple, but they go on a few dates and realize they aren't."
Star's expression didn't change as she closed on the blond. "You didn't go out on a few dates; you had been dating for months. I saw the photo album."
Jackie swallowed at that. "Um, anyway, I can just say 'it's personal' and leave it at that?"
Star began beating her wand against her open palm. "No. You broke my best friend's heart, and I'm not going anywhere until I get a good reason why."
Jackie nervously eyed the wand as it continued to slam into her palm.
"Um… bye!"
She immediately turned around and tried to make a break for it.
"Get back here!"
Jackie ran as fast as she could through the woods, angry Star Butterfly behind her, firing spell after spell at the fleeing skater.
She was forced to dodge, weave, jump, and duck around razor-sharp harts, glowing worms, and narwhals flying at her. The spells felled multiple trees, and she felt her heart leap into her throat when she saw a large boulder explode from one such hit.
"Are you trying to kill me?"
"This is what you deserve for hurting my best friend!"
Jackie would have been so happy that Marco had a friend willing to do this for him if said friend wasn't trying to kill her at the moment.
She eventually made her way to and across a rope bridge. Looking back at the deranged blond on the other side, Jackie took out a pocketknife Marco had given her for their three-month anniversary.
With a quick flip of her wrist, the blade extended—the sharp steel sliced through the rope easily, sending the bridge tumbling into the canyon.
Jackie sighed in relief as she sat on the ground and pulled out her phone.
"Please pick up Marco. I really need backup if I want to keep your new friend from killing me."
"Glitter Dragon Escalation!"
Jackie then felt a large shadow covering her, making her look up to the terrifying sight of Star standing on the back of a giant dragon made from the bridge she had just cut down.
"AAAAAA!"
Jackie turned and ran again, not even realizing her phone was ringing.
"Hi, Jackie. What's up?"
Jackie didn't realize Marco had picked up due to her fear, which turned to terror as the dragon's head slammed into the ground behind her in a large explosion that sent her flying forward.
Jackie groaned as she turned herself over. Paling as she saw the terrifying visage of an angry Star walking towards her. Her eyes darted to the pocket knife she was still holding.
The pocket knife with the words "To Jackie, from your boyfriend Marco" plainly written on it.
"So that's it, isn't it? You only dated him to get gifts from him, and when he wasn't of any further use, you kicked him to the curb."
Jackie shook her head at the other blonde. "No, that's not it."
"Well, what am I supposed to think? I asked around and no one knows why you two broke up. Even Marco won't talk about it. All the pictures I'm getting paint you two as happily dating one day and breaking up with no in-between!"
BOOM
"Star! Stop that!"
Marco's pleas were unheard over the spell blasts fired around Jackie.
"Marco is the kindest, most considerate person I know. What possible reason could you have for breaking his heart?"
Jackie began to panic. "It wasn't him, it was me."
Star scoffed at that. "Really? Then what was wrong with you to make you dump him?"
"Leave this alone, Star."
The two girls were so engrossed in each other that they couldn't hear a word Marco was saying.
"It's personal."
"PERSONAL! You broke up almost two months ago, and he is STILL crying himself to sleep."
"What?"
BOOM
Another spell fired to the left of Jackie's head.
"Yesterday, we were looking at his photo album, and he cried while looking at the pictures. Not a little cry, it devolved into full-on bawling!"
"He did?"
BOOM
"Star Butterfly!"
Star continued to march forward with purpose.
"He still spent all day yesterday agonizing about getting you the perfect birthday gift! He was crying the whole time!"
"He didn't-"
BOOM
"He thought the world of you! He is a great guy who deserves the best!"
"He does, but-"
Star was now tearing up in a typhoon of conflicting emotions aimed at the skater girl.
"Why did you do it?! Why did you break his heart and stomp on the pieces!"
"I-I-"
BOOM
One last spell fired so close Jackie could feel her hair scorch from the blast. She felt herself falling apart from the stress of everything.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
"I FIGURED OUT I WAS GAY!"
…
It seemed like the entire world froze at that. Star stopped, Jackie stopped, and Marco stopped. They all stayed where they were in the woods, processing what she had just said.
"What?"
Jackie wanted to stop, but the words couldn't be halted any more than the tears from her eyes.
"I don't like guys that way. I enjoyed spending time with Marco, but not in the way he liked me. I know I broke his heart, but dating him wasn't healthy for me."
Star found her wand pointed at the ground as she tried to process what she was hearing.
"But, why all the secrecy behind why you broke up?"
Jackie began to sob as she answered. "Because I'm not ready for people to know yet. Marco is the only one who knows, and I asked him to keep it a secret."
Jackie climbed to her feet, tears still running down her face.
"Congratulations, Star! You finally figured out what's wrong with me. Are you happy now?"
Star could only look at her, trying to think of what to say now.
"There isn't anything wrong with you."
Jackie's scoff mixed with her sobbing.
"Then why did I break the heart of the best guy in town?"
She then turned around and started to run.
"Just leave me alone!"
Star did nothing as Jackie ran. She just stared at her as she disappeared into the trees.
"Come home, Star."
"MARCO?"
Star started looking around for the source of Marco's voice, finally landing on the phone on the ground.
"How long-"
"Jackie called me a little before you accused her of dating me for gifts. I tried to intervene, but neither of you heard me."
"Oh my gosh, Marco, I'm-"
"DON'T! We can talk later. For now, please bring the phone to me at the school so I can give it to Jackie when I talk to her later.
"But-"
"Anything you do now will just make things worse. You are going to come to the school so we can have a short talk so I can get all the facts before I talk to Jackie. Got it?"
She had heard that tone from her mother often enough to know to obey it without question.
"All right, see you in a bit.
Jackie
Jackie loved the sunset. The beautiful colors, the slight chill in the air, the ocean as it reflected the light, and how the waves looked. Even better, it was the promise of moving to the next part of her life.
Despite how much she loved them, she was having trouble enjoying it right now.
Her clothes were torn and muddy from running through the woods. Her face was stained with snot and tears. She lost a shoe somewhere. Her guilt over breaking up with Marco was at the forefront of her mind.
The cherry on top of it all?
Star knew she was gay.
Her biggest secret lay bare to someone who had every reason to hate her. What was worse was that she was from a medieval society! She didn't know any examples of what was done to gay people back then, but she thought it was pretty bad.
As much as she wanted this messed-up day to end, she was equally terrified of what the next day would bring.
"Jackie?"
She looked up when she heard the voice.
"Marco?"
Sure enough, Marco was standing next to the boardwalk bench. He had her phone in his hand and looked at her worriedly.
"Can I sit and talk with you, or do you want me to leave?"
Jackie sighed. "I doubt there's anything you can say that can make this day get any worse."
Marco grimaced at that. "Yeah, I know. Your call connected a little before Star asked if you were dating me for my money."
Jackie groaned and buried her head in her hands.
"And now I'm at rock bottom. Any chance you can help me put on cement shoes?"
Marco chuckled as he sat down and handed over her phone. The two then sat silently together on the bench, watching the sunset.
"I talked to Star about what happened. She said that she was sorry and that she was just projecting her own bad breakup onto us. I also got her to agree to leave you alone until you're ready for her to apologize and make it up to you in person."
Jackie didn't respond; she just kept looking at the sunset.
"She also told you that she was bi."
"What?"
Jackie turned to look at Marco in shock.
"Wait? When she said Bi, did she mean Bisexual or some Mewni thing?"
"Bisexual. She even mentioned having a rebound crush on Janna."
Jackie chuckled at that. "Wow, Janna would be all over that. I can totally see those two getting along."
"Yeah, and maybe if they got together, Janna would stop messing with me so much."
"Fat chance, she likes messing with you too much for that."
The two then returned to a comfortable silence for a minute until Jackie broke it once more.
"I'm sorry I broke your heart, Marco. Don't tell me you didn't; anyone who knows you can see it. I didn't know how badly until Star laid out all the ways you were hurting."
Marco continued to stare at the sunset as he pondered how to answer her.
"No one likes going to the dentist."
Jackie raised an eyebrow at the non-secular but decided to let him continue.
"It's important to go regularly; it's important for your health and well-being, and not doing it just means more problems in the long run. But none of that makes the experience any less painful in the short term.
"The same is true for our breakup. We couldn't keep dating because my feelings would get hurt as we broke up. It's like you said, it wasn't healthy for you."
Jackie gave Marco a small smile. "Thanks, Marco, but I can still feel crummy for making you feel sad all the same. You're a great guy, and you didn't deserve to fall in love with someone who didn't love you the same way."
Marco then gently placed his hand on Jackie's.
"I don't regret the time we spent together. Those were the happiest six months of my life so far, and I will treasure them always. I won't lie that it makes me sad to think about now, but I'm not going to let the pain of the past stop me from trying to live my life to the fullest today. And neither should you.
"If you want, I can get Star to use her scissors to bring you to a gay bar in another dimension where you can practice picking up girls where no one in town will know. Star might be willing to be your wingman. If you're uncomfortable with her, I can borrow them and be your wingman."
Jackie was torn between amused and mortified at the idea of her ex helping her pick up girls.
"Thanks, Marco. It's nice to know I'll always have you as a good friend, no matter what."
"Same here, Jackie."
Once again, the two looked at the sunset together, but not together.
It was fitting; it felt like they had finally closed one chapter of their lives, but another had just opened.
I really like this idea. In the show, Marco dated Jackie, got sidetracked with Mewni, and broke up due to never truly leaving. When they met again, Jackie was dating a girl. Here, Marco gets the courage to ask her out a lot earlier, leading to them dating and Jackie realizing she is gay a lot earlier. They break up, but I doubt there is a way to do that without breaking Marco's heart, at least a little in the process.
Add in Star coming to Earth after a bad breakup, and you have a recipe for an interesting dynamic. Star and Marco break up buddies in seasons one and two. This can also lead to the two dating earlier than in our timeline, since the main reason Star didn't act on her feelings was that she did not want to get between Marco and Jackie.
You can also have Jackie and Star bond over both being LGBT since it wasn't handled that well (or at all beyond one quick scene) in the show. There are lots of interesting things you could do with this.
As for Janna, I always thought they could have written out Oskar and had Janna be the one Star was crushing on. It would have served the same function while also being an organic way of introducing her bi status. I'm still a Starco shipper, but it could be interesting.