star
Marco walks into my room.
I'm on my bed, still thinking about Glossaryck...
Why? Why'd he reject me? I tried to save him. I thought he needed saving.
I thought he wanted saving.
Marco interrupts my thoughts.
"Star?"
I look his way, not even bothering to lift my sullen expression.
"I can't believe you're still here. You can't mope around all day."
Another pep talk? This is the fifth one in two hours.
"Marco, leave me alone. Just for a while. I need to think, and for me to think, you have give me space to think. Okay?"
"Star. That's literally what you've been telling me over and over and over."
"Well, same goes for you. You've told me to cheer up five times already."
He raises his eyebrows, and looks to the side.
"And you were counting that?"
Ugh.
I groan, frustrated. Can't he just leave me be? Why must he be so annoying all the time?
I turn my head away from him and bury my face into the pillow.
I kick my legs against the bedsheets, my screaming muffled.
Glossaryck must be out there somewhere, in a cave, sitting on the ground.
Digging through a bag of chips and looking for the perfect one, or gulping down a tub of chocolate pudding, in flavor heaven.
I hear Marco sigh and he walks over to my bed, and sits at the edge of my feet.
"Star, listen. Glossaryck... He's with Ludo now. You can't just hold on to him forever. Good riddance... I never liked him anyway."
I shut my eyes tight.
"Maybe this is for the best, Star."
"That's not helping, Diaz."
I know he's looking over.
"You know much he means to me, and it's not just me he's important to. He's taught all of us, every Mewman queen to have ever been, everyone he's ever taught, and... the things he knows about our history..."
Marco stays quiet the whole while. I lift my head and take a look at him.
"And I lose him. To Ludo, to make things worse. Who knows what Glossaryck might do next, since he's already betrayed me. What if he opens up to Ludo? He told me he was his new master."
"All the spells in the book, so much harm Ludo could do... and the first thing he will do is take over Mewni."
I ball my fists up.
"I ruin everything. I'm hopeless, I'm useless, I don't deserve to be the future que - "
"Star."
"What, Marco? It's not like this isn't true. I am a complete failure. My parents didn't raise me like this."
He lets out another sigh and he crawls up the bed to where I am. Both of us have our stomachs facing down.
He puts a hand on my shoulder, and gives me one of his smiles that curve up to one side.
"Star, no matter what horrible thing you say about yourself, I couldn't care less. What matters is that I won't think of you that way."
I give him a slight smile.
He reaches over to me and pats my back lightly. I do the same to his.
I turn my body over so that I'm facing him completely.
"Marco?"
He turns his own body over, copying my pose.
"I won't believe anything positive you say about me right now, because I know I'm still terrible. But thanks. You're the best friend a girl could have."
I hug him tight with one arm, and the other is under my head.
He hugs me back, and we move closer to each other.
I love it when we hug. It tells me we're gonna be this close to each other forever, and nothing can change that, not even Glossaryck, Jackie, or anyone.
Plus, he smells like karate.
...
Wait, why did I think of Jackie?
I shrug this thought off and look in his eyes.
Hazel, soft, and that little mole under his right eye...
His cute little mole.
My heart starts racing. My Mewberty wings start fluttering and Marco is kind of creeped out by the sudden beating.
"What's that noise?"
"Oh, haha. That's just my wings, they don't usually... do that..."
I notice that we're extremely close to each other. Very close. On the bed. Hugging.
Our eyes are just centimetres away from each other.
Our noses, too.
Our lips.
I sit up as fast as I can, and Marco does so too.
"Star?"
I don't answer.
"Star, you okay?"
What is this? This feeling I have, it's weird. It's the kind I get when... Well...
Nah. That's not possible. I like Oskar Greason.
"Star. I thought we were done with this. Give yourself some time, I'm sure Glossaryck has a reason for all this. After all, he said this is what you needed."
I frown.
Marco places his hand gently on my back.
His hands. His little boy hands.
I feel something grow on my face with a soft pop. I touch it and it peels off.
A heart.
My Mewberty ones.
How do I still have them? They've been long gone. Why are they back?
This hasn't happened to me since I got my wings, but this time... the heart is glowing.
Glowing a deep purple, blinking and pulsing...
What?
"Star," Marco says, in a sing-song voice.
I snap out of my senses and quickly turn my head to him.
"WOAH!"
He flips backwards and tumbles off the bed, leaving me shocked.
He pops back up, kneeling, and points weakly at my face.
"Your..."
His voice trails off as I run over to my full-length mirror.
More of them.
The hearts are all over, literally covering my face and some are even growing on my arms and legs.
Hearts flake off as I jump backwards.
What the...?
My wings beat against my back, I'm not even controlling them. I wasn't controlling them earlier on the bed, either.
Is this a side effect of Mewberty?
Is this supposed to happen?
And that's when I feel a sudden, sharp, faint but painful sting coming from both of my wings.
"...What?"
I reach my arms over to my back and feel them. I pinch them together to stop them from moving, but that increases the pain.
"Ouch! Marco, help me take a look. My wings hurt."
He raises his eyebrows and strides over with his hands in his hoodie pockets.
Then his eyes go wide.
"What's wrong? What's happening?"
Marco shrugs nervously.
"Your wings... Wait, let go."
I release my grip on them and wait for Marco to reply.
Now the pain is more intense, and I can't keep in the winces and discomfort my wings are causing.
Marco examines them carefully.
"Marco, hurry. It really hurts, the pain's getting worse."
"Okay, just a sec."
"Ow! Quit poking, they're really sensitive, you know."
"What? I'm not poking them."
"OUCH!"
"Star, you okay?"
"MARCO, HELP!"
All the pain washes over me at full blast, it's as if someone's stabbing them out, tearing and slashing at my back to get my wings off me.
Marco grabs my wrist, panicking.
"Star! Stay still, I need to see what's going on for me to explain this to - "
I scream as my wings burn like they're on fire. The pain is starting to flow through every muscle in my body.
"STAR!"
My vision goes blurry as I stumble forwards.
My knees hit the ground with a thud and I fall to the floor.
"MARCO! GET ME MY WAND, HURRY! I KNOW A SPELL TO CONTROL THE PAIN!"
He dashes off to the bed, rummaging through the bedsheets to find my wand where I left it.
"HANG ON STAR! IT'S HERE SOMEWHERE, I SAW IT, IT'S UNDER HERE... FOUND IT!"
The pain in my wings are making me dizzy. Then, I lose my balance.
I fall to my side helplessly, writhing.
"STAR!"
The last thing I see is Marco kneeling in front of me, holding my wand. He shouts words that I can't hear.
Then everything goes black.