Promises

Chapter 13.1

...It's too much...*clears throat* sorry uhm... Tell Tom I'm alright and that I'll come see him soon. Thank you Pony...See you soon..."

Marco and Pony looked over to Janna, who had fallen back into her chair, staring at Pony's phone. It was lunch period and they were in an empty classroom, sitting around a table with Pony's phone in the centre.

"She's alive..." Janna said with a hint of relief and disbelief. She tore her eyes away from the phone to Pony and Marco. Marco met her gaze but shifted his eyes down, giving a slow nod.

"Hopefully. That message was from the day she left." Marco said.

Janna turned to Pony, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I-I didn't know what to do Janna..." Pony started to tense up and shot a glare at Janna. "What about you? Why didn't you ask me to join your manhunt for Star?"

Janna deepened her glare at her and the fingers resting on her bicep flexed into a tight grip.

"Hey, don't change the subject. You have something more valuable than her bracelet the day she left, and you thought to keep it?!"

"Oh, shut it Janna, you of all people should know about doing favors for someone, especially when that person is Star!"

Marco held his stare between the now aggravated duo. They were baring their teeth and leaning closer to each other. He scoot closer to the edge of his chair and cut in before anything got worse.

"Hey enough...we have another lead to find her. What's done is done..so let's move on." Marco asserted.

Janna softened her expression and leaned back into her chair again, tilting her head down. While for Pony, she hunched forward and dropped her head down as well, twiddling her thumbs on her lap. Janna broke the silence with a sigh. She looked over to Marco.

"So, did you find out where the telephone booth she was last at?"

"I found a few...but since she didn't say specifically where, it's hard to pinpoint which it is." Marco answered.

"Okay, it's better than nothing. Let's go find it." Janna said, leaving from her seat and walking out the room. Janna closed the door behind her, leaving Marco and Pony behind.

Marco looked over to Pony, who still had her head hung low. She wasn't twiddling her thumbs anymore, but was now staring instensely at the floor.

"Hey, you can look with us if you like." Marco suggested.

"I don't think Janna would want me to..." Pony trailed off, pouting.

"Neh, despite what happened earlier, she would want you to come. We need all the help we can get."

Pony looked over to Marco, who returned with a half-smile. She curled a corner of her lips and nodded.

As they both rose to their feet, Pony stuffed her phone into her pocket as Marco waited for her at the now opened door. Pony ran out and walked with Marco down the empty hallway.

~~~

It was the first day of their search for the telephone booth that Star was at before she disappeared. Marco was walking to school with his earpiece on, playing the last log he had from Star:

This the third log and it is very much a clear indicator that...Consistency is never my forte. The last log was so long ago and I'm doing this third one in September...Marco would kill me if he knew this is how I work, if we ever do another project together, but with actual time to spare of course.