Chapter Text
“Marcooo Diaz, are you ready for the greatest night of your life?”
“You bet I am, Star Butterfly! Are you ready for the greatest night of your life?”
“You bet your booty I am,” Star responded cheerfully. The Diaz household was filled with a palpable sense of tension and excitement emanating from the two young teens buzzing around the second floor, preparing for Jackie Lynn Thomas’ end-of-the-school-year party, advertised on the flier as “the absolute raddest party” ever.
The hype actually started about two weeks prior, the day Jackie began passing out fliers as invitations. Each flier accounted for the recipient as well as a plus one, so almost the entire school was attending, but receiving a flier from Jackie was a lot like a VIP pass and set up your cool-kid rep for the rest of the summer.
“So, basically, I am dying to get a flier,” Marco finished explaining to Star as they walked into school on the fated day that Jackie would be passing out the fliers, “If I can get into that party, then I may actually get a chance to talk to her!”
“That sounds great, Marco! I love parties,” Star replied. She’d never really celebrated anything like the end of a school year, and she was endlessly fascinated by the bond that was formed between earth students through mutual hatred of school.
“Are you guys talking about Jackie’s party?” Ferguson asked, walking up to the pair with Alfonzo.
“Yup! And this year I’m totally gonna get invited,” Marco boasted.
“How do you know that, Marco?” Alfonzo asked, “None of us have been invited before!”
“Well…” Marco began, but was cut off by the merciful warning bell for homeroom. He didn’t want to say that the reason he thought he’d get invited was that Jackie thought Star was cool, and Star was his best friend. There was a partial truth to this, but it did make him feel sort of like he was using Star for her popularity – but then he’d think about spending an evening dancing with Jackie and the guilt was replaced with day-dreamy desire.
As Star and Marco walked into their morning classroom, splitting up with Alfonzo and Ferguson, Star spoke up, “Y’know, Marco, Jackie already told me she was going to invite me. So, even if you don’t get a flier, I’ll totally make you my plus one!”
After hearing this kind offer, Marco’s slight guilt appeared again in the pit of his stomach, weighing him down like a greasy fast-food burger, “You’re really the best, Star.” He’d make it up to her. Take her out for ice cream or something…
As the bell rang again for homeroom to begin, the last few students shuffled into the classroom, including Jackie Lynn Thomas with a handful of fliers.
Marco’s heart skipped a beat and his palms became sweaty as she wove through the maze of desks, dropping a few fliers on kid’s desks with a cool smile.
Oh, here she comes! Be cool, Marco, no worries, it’s all good, it’s all –, He choked on his thoughts as she neared the corner of the classroom where he and Star sat.
“…and of course one for Star Butterfly,” Jackie handed Star a flier and got an upbeat thank you and a 100 watt smile in response. Then Jackie turned to him.
“Oh, Marco, you should totally come too!” She extended her arm towards him, flier in hand.
His mind was hazy – he could hardly believe it! What he’d always wanted, what he had longed for. He wasn’t a plus one. He was invited!
“Thanks, Jackie,” He managed, coughing after he spoke to cover up a voice crack he could feel coming on. He tried to discreetly wipe his palm on his jeans before taking the flier from her.
Still buzzed from the invitation, he didn’t even notice Ms. Skullnick demanding that everyone take their seats, or her grumbling about finals and how everyone should be studying. If he hadn’t been trained to respond with “here” when called on for roll since grade school, he may not have even responded to that.
It took Star jabbing him in the side once class had begun for him to come back to Earth.
“Marco,” Star whispered, gesturing excitedly to her flier and squealing with glee.
Marco nodded back excitedly, gesturing to his flier with the same amount of glee.
The two were on cloud nine the whole rest of the day, and after a quick chat with Alfonzo and Ferguson they agreed to take them as their plus ones.
Most of the energy from Jackie handing out her invitations died out by the weekend, but Marco rode this high all the way up to the last day of school. As he and Star were leaving the school for their regular weekday walk home, Star realized something. There hadn’t been an attack from Ludo all week – which meant he’d either attack in the next few hours… or…
“Marco,” she spoke up during a lull in his chatter, “I just realized something –,”
“Me too, Star!” He responded, stopping in his tracks and grabbing her shoulders.
“Oh? What’s that?” She asked, genuinely surprised.
“I haven’t thanked you!”
“Thanked me?”
“Yeah! You’re the whole reason Jackie invited me,” His arms dropped to his sides and he shrugged sheepishly, “The only reason she noticed me, I mean, is because I’m friends with you. I wouldn’t be going at all if you had never come around. So… thank you, Star. I never knew that having you around would improve my life so much! And tomorrow is going to be the perfect night!” He pumped his fist in the air victoriously.
“Ah, yeah! Woo hoo!” Star cheered with feigned enthusiasm. She couldn’t bring Ludo up now and ruin his great mood. So, she formulated a plan to deal with Ludo and his minions tonight, before they could ruin anything for Marco.
That evening, Star snuck out to the backyard after dinner, going unnoticed by the Diaz family. She had a purse full of dog treats and checked to make sure of the laser-eyed puppies were napping in the living room, next to the door to the outside.
She pulled out her wand and yawned nonchalantly, “Well goodness gracious, I am just so tired from studying for school finals! I’m so stressed I can barely think straight! I sure hope I don’t Star anything up in my mentally strained state!”
She posed like a damsel in distress, letting her wand hang loosely in her hand. She tried to suppress a grin as she heard one of Ludo’s minions disappear into his portal to report back to Ludo. Finding a soft spot of grass, she decided to make herself comfortable until they attacked.
It took barely ten minutes for a portal to open and for Ludo and his goons to emerge, with adorably stupid looks on their faces.
“Star Butterfly! At last the strain of Earth school has weakened your defenses, and now I am here to – ,” Ludo began, but was immediately cut off by a Narwhal Blast to the face, “Ah! What the heck?”
“Hi guys! Listen, here’s the deal, we’re going to a suuuper important party tomorrow so I decided to wreck your shit today so you can’t ruin our evening!” Star explained, walking over to the back door of the house and resting her hand on the handle.
Ludo laughed as one of his minions helped him up, “Ha! And how do you intend to defeat us alone, without your precious friend-boy?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me… Say, Ludo… are your minions good with dogs?” Star asked coyly.
“Eh? Dogs?”
“Why don’t we find out?” Star threw open the door and scattered the treats from her purse among the minions, “Fetch, puppies!”
“HA. Haha, you’re slipping, Princess! You don’t think that a litter of puppies could possibly – AH!” Ludo shrieked as a laser nearly knocked his hat off, “Oh, laser puppies, of course. Should have seen that coming, honestly.”
The puppies caused the minions to panic, lasers firing haphazardly, and although the beams weren’t strong enough to defeat any of the minions, all Star needed was a decent distraction.
Taking care to shut the door gently as to not disturb the Diaz’s, Star turned to the fray and cleared her throat.
“Tiger Shark Ultramarine Annihilation!” She called out, aiming her wand at the confused group of minions.
“Oh, this one is new,” One of them commented before being knocked in the face by a handful of razor sharp, deep blue striped sharks with the legs of a tiger.
The new powerful spell took no time to level the yard of minions, the laser puppies still stinging the fallen occasionally with their small blasts.
Star was left exhausted after using the difficult spell, but was comforted by a feeling of triumph as she watched Ludo’s minions slink back into the portal.
“I don’t like the new spell…” One of them murmured.
“Do you really like any of the spells? Really? Do you? Because I don’t!” Ludo ranted belligerently, following them all into the portal, cursing lasers and puppies and anything to do with them.
Star fed the puppies and then returned to her room, exhausted. As she fell on her bed she heard a gentle knock at the door, “Star?” a quiet voice asked.
“Wassup, Marco?” She responded, propping herself up to face him as her door swung open.
He laughed nervously, “Whatcha been up to? You look crazy tired.” He walked into the room and sat next to her.
“Oh, nothing much, just tried out a new spell. It’s a doozy!” She twirled her finger in the air to illustrate and then plopped bad onto the bed.
“Hey, Star?”
“Mm?”
“I saw you fighting Ludo and his goons.”
Star sat up, “You did? I was trying to be discrete; I didn’t want to bother you!”
“It’s kinda hard to miss a huge army of minions outside my window.”
Pausing momentarily, Star nodded, “Fair enough.”
Marco looked at her for a moment, and there was something in his gaze that made Star’s stomach tie itself in a knot. She suddenly felt nervous, and anxious, and she couldn’t explain any of it.
“Star, don’t think I didn’t account for Ludo not showing up this whole week. I might have been preoccupied but I’m not stupid,” Star’s gaze shifted away, “I was totally prepared to take time out of the party tomorrow to fight him but… did you lure them here just so I wouldn’t have to do that?”
“Well, yeah,” Star confessed, still averting his gaze, “I know this magic stuff can be fun but I figured everyone, and you especially, could use a night of Earth-teen normalcy.”
Star let out a small cry of surprise as Marco tackled her with a hug, “Thank you, Star! You are the absolute best!”
Stars face was completely flushed, and she was glad her room was dimming with the setting sun so Marco couldn’t see, “Hey, what else are best friends for?”
As he pulled away, he had the biggest, silliest smile on his face, but it made Star’s heart warm to see him so happy.
“God, I’m so excited about tomorrow, I hope I can sleep,” he stated, standing up and stretching.
The ache in her bones reminded Star that she would have no problem sleeping, “I’m not worried about sleeping, I just hope I’m not sore tomorrow!”
“You should take a warm bath, it helps your body recover,” Marco suggested, leaving the room, “Goodnight, Star!”
She gave a small wave, “Night,” for some reason, Marco saying anything about her body made her face uncomfortably warm.