Promises

Chapter 7.1

After Class 4-A's two-week sightseeing, it was now their turn to visit the universities they were interested in enrolling in. Marco, Ferguson, and Alfonzo were standing at the entrance of a college.

"That's a really cool college. Ferguson, are you gonna cook for us someday?" Alfonzo asked, looking over to him.

"Ya, unless you pay for it." Ferguson joked, earning a noogie from Alfonzo . Marco, with his hands in his jacket's pockets, chuckled before fishing out his phone.

"Where to next, Marco?" Alfonzo asked, looking over and letting go of Ferguson.

"Uhm, next is UCLA. It's a 36 min drive from here." Marco replied, scrolling on his phone.

"What about by bus?" Ferguson inquired. Marco tapped his screen and immediately scrunched up his nose. He looked over to his friends.

"...4hours, with transfers." Marco mumbled.

"Ughh!! Why are they so far away?! We already took a 2-hour journey to Ferguson's and I can't handle another 4 hours!"  After his cry, Alfonzo crouched with his fingers tangled in his hair.

As Ferguson and Marco watched their friend in distress, they shrugged to each other. They returned their attention to Alfonzo, after hearing his anguish groans.

"Hey, can't we ask Star to help us?" Ferguson asked, looking over to Marco. Alfonzo stopped his groans and immediately stood up, grabbing Marco by the shoulders.

"Marco, call Star. She can save us from this madness." Alfonzo spoke with wild eyes.

"He lost it." Marco thought, taking a step back, releasing himself from Alfonzo's grip.

"I don't know...She might be at her university now, which may be a burden to get us." Marco said as he rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact. Alfonzo looked to Ferguson then back at him.

"If you ain't gonna do it, I'll do it." Alfonzo said as he lunged forward. 

He proceeded to snatch Marco's phone, but Marco quickly threw his phone to his other hand and extended it upwards.

"W-What? Dude! Back off!" Marco cried out. He then extended his leg to Alfonzo, hopping away from him.

"Ferguson!" Alfonzo ordered and Ferguson immediately tackled Marco to the ground. As Marco struggled under Ferguson's weight, Alfonzo quickly snatched the phone out of his hand.

"Ferguson! You too?" Marco glared at him. Ferguson shrugged his shoulders.

"Free ride, dude." Ferguson said nonchalantly, still sitting on Marco.

He let out a groan, with his face now planted to the ground.

After Star agreed to pick them up, the boys sat on the stairs to the college, waiting for her to arrive.

"Sorry about that, Marco. But, you gotta admit: we need her." Alfonzo said, looking over to him.

Marco scratched the back of his head and let out a sigh.

"By the way, what happened between you and Jackie? You guys didn't even say goodbye to each other at Disneyland, or even look at each other for the rest of the sightseeing weeks."

Marco furrowed his eyebrows and looked down, avoiding his friend's stare.

"W-Well, we were talking, and we were staring at each other..." Marco trailed off looking down at his thumbs as he played with it. Alfonzo leaned closer to him, making him glance over and lean away slightly. He shifted his gaze to the ground.

"She leaned in, so did I...but I stopped it."

"What? Why?" Ferguson asked, leaning forward to look at his friend.

"Sup, losers! Get in!"

The boys turned to the familiar voice and stood up. Star was leaning against the door of a limousine, staring at them with her shades on. The boys shared a look before running up to her.

As they drove to UCLA, Marco, Alfonzo, and Ferguson were seated facing the door opposite them, with their backs straight. Star was sitting cross-legged near the door with her arms stretched out on the seat, facing away from them. She was wearing her signature skeleton jacket and black shredded jeans, with a pair of black boots.

"Where's Pony and Janna?" Marco asked, looking over to Star.

"They left earlier to their universities." Star replied, still facing forward.

"What about you?" Alfonzo asked, looking at her with an eyebrow raised. There was a moment of silence as they held their stare at Star.

"I'm not going to any." 

Marco raised his eyebrow and was about to speak.

"Really why?" Ferguson asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Too many questions. One more, and I will kick you guys out." Star spat out as she fished out her phone from her jacket's pocket.

The boys looked to each other and then out the window, sitting silently as they made their way to the next university.