The hallways filled with many unique looking students who attended the school of Echo Creek Academy. The sun hid in the white clouds which passed by in the sky. Boys and girls held their books and bags close to them, as it was very common that bullies would knock them down and pick on them. Star and Marco, who were at their lockers, were trying to figure out what events happened last night while he was gone.
"I couldn't get the stain out of my suit," Marco said, placing his books neatly inside of his locker.
"Did you try that clear stuff? I heard from you T.V. that it 'gets the stain right out!'" She quoted, stuffing her books in her already cluttered locker. She grabbed her dark blue bag hanging on top of the mess and placed it around her shoulders.
"You mean the bleach? I used it, and somehow it didn't work," he said, grabbing his bag as well and closed his locker.
Star, attempting to close hers, said,"Welp, I guess you just have a ruined-ugh-tux. Don't just stand there, help-mmph-me!"
Marco sighed, leaning onto the locker to try and close it. A snap came from the locker, signaling that it was fully closed. Both took heavy breaths as a daily routine, for it was not a surprise to see the two struggle to get the locker to shut.
"Ever thought about cleaning your locker out?" Marco asked, annoyed by having to do this everyday.
"I told you, Marco, I can't. It's a system," she said,"besides, it usually cleans itself up after a month."
"It doesn't."
"Okay, maybe it doesn't. But hey, it makes you stronger, huh?" Star said, elbowing his tired out arm.
"I guess so," he responded, rubbing his arm softly.
"So, whaddya wanna do now?" she asked, skipping backwards as she passed the students.
"We have homework, remember?" Marco said.
"Come on, I have a wand, Marco! I can finish our homework for us!" Star said, holding out her techni-color wand in front of him.
"But that's cheating," he said. Star stopped and gave him a serious face.
"It is?"
"Uh, yeah. If it doesn't come from you, it's cheating," Marco said, holding the arm of a stiff Star. He dragged her out of the school until she unfroze from her shock prison.
"But my wand comes from me. Technically," she said, folding her arms with a smirk. Marco rolled his eyes.
"Okay, Star. Whatever you want."
"Great! So can we go to that Chinese place again? Or maybe we can go to the mall! That's what normal girls do, right?" She asked him.
"Or, we can watch some good ol' television. I'm pretty tired out after today," Marco said, starting his route towards home.
"Was it because you had to do pull-ups on that bar-thingy?" She asked. Marco blushed in embarrassment.
"My palms were too sweaty! I swear!" He yelled nervously. Star giggled.
"Okay, Safe Kid."
"Don't call me that."
_____________________
"And now, back to your regularly scheduled program."
"Star! It's back on! Hurry up!" Marco yelled from the couch. The hyper princess skipped around the room and back to her seat on the green sofa.
"So, let me get this straight: the doctor can't fix the patient's heart problems because he doesn't have enough money? So now he's gonna die?" Star asked in a saddened tone. Marco nodded his head and looked at Star, putting his finger up to his mouth, signaling her to be quiet.
"That's so sad! Why do Earth people like that stuff?" Star asked, her confused smile turning into a frown. Marco sighed and paused the program.
"It's okay, Star. None of this stuff is real. Besides, this creates drama and suspense. Is he gonna live? Won't he? Who knows?" Marco answered.
"Ooh. That does sound interesting," she said, grabbing the remote and playing the show once again.
Minutes later, the lights in the room flashed numerous times, grabbing the attention of the two teenagers. Marco looked up at the ceiling to see if the light would stop, but they never did.
"Marco, what's going on?" Star said, confused yet nervous about the situation.
"Must be a worn-out lightbulb. I'll just turn it off." Marco got up and walked towards the light switch, turning the buzzing lights off. When he turned around, he saw the worried look on Star's face.
"Don't worry, Star. It's an easy problem to fix."
He sat back down on the couch and grabbed the tan blanket beside him. He wrapped himself inside the warm cloth.
"Wanna join?" He asked, opening up the blanket to reveal room for his best friend.
"Sure!" She responded, scooting over to snuggle against his body. Marco fixed the blanket so it could cover up both of them, and they continued to watch the poor patient's descend to death.
The T.V. became static, and it automatically turned off, not much to the two sleeping teenager's dismay. But something creeped up before Marco, waking him up from his sleeping state. He carefully moved the sleeping girl up so he could get out of the position they were in, and he went down into the dark hallway towards the laundry room.
There it was. The suit. It glimmered in the beautiful night, calling the boy's name. Marco quickly grabbed the suit and took his clothes off, replacing them with the blood-stained tux. He slowly crept up the stairs into his room, putting on his shoes and mask. And let's not forget his signature hat.
He jumped out the window, his landing perfect. He slowly walked away from the house whistling all the way.
Ready for round two?
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"Marco?" The tired voice of Star started to panic. She didn't feel his body under her when she awakened from her deep slumber. She carried herself away from the couch and up the stairs, making sure to step on each one softly as to not wake up the Diazes.
Star looked in his room. No Marco. She looked in her own room. He wasn't there either. She went back down the stairs and looked around through the darkness, but her beloved friend was no where in sight. She then looked into the dark hallway next to the stairs. She slowly walked towards it, careful not to bump into anything. She felt a door next to her, and she quickly opened it. The laundry room.
"Marco?" She yelled softly. The suit. The suit wasn't there! But his clothes were. She started to panic again. She ran up the stairs this time, not caring if she woke up his parents. She ran back into his room. The hat. The shoes. The mask. They were all gone! She put the pieces together and made one logical explanation.
He went out.
"But why would he put on the suit?" She asked herself. This same thing happened last night, and last time, he was covered in a red substance.
"What is red other than ketchup?" Star asked. Her eyes widened as she figured it out.
"I HAVE to go find Marco!"
