SVTFOE - Christmas Chaos

Chapter 2: To Grandmother's house we go

An hour or so after Marco's meltdown, Star and the Diazes hopped into their minivan. Grandma Diaz's house was about twenty minutes away from Echo Creek. Star grabbed a coloring book and crayons from under her seat, and Marco stared outside his window, trying not to vomit.

"You'll like Grandma Diaz, Star!" Mr. Diaz exclaimed. "She loves animals and magic, just like you!"

"Magic?" Star asked, beaming. She turned to Marco. "I didn't know that your grandma had magical powers!"

"She's not magic." Marco explained, still staring out the window. "She likes stories with magic, like the Harry Potter  series."

"Oh." Star mumbled. She continued coloring in her coloring book.

The minivan pulled up in front of a small cottage-like house. Star quickly opened the car door and stepped out. She admired the lights hanging from the roof of the house. Everyone walked inside.

"Maria! We're here!" Mrs. Diaz called.

Maria Diaz walked over to where the happy family was standing. "Angie! Marco! Raphael! You made it!" she said, excitedly. Maria turned to Star. She looked her up and down and grinned.

"Marco, would you care to tell you're grandmother who you've brought with you?" Maria asked. Marco looked over at Star.

"This is Star. She's been living with us for a few months now. She's an exchange student." he explained. Star smiled. "Hi!" she waved.

"She would make a fine mother." Maria said, chuckling.

Star and Marco blushed. "I-It's not like that.." Marco explained. "We're j-just..."

"Friends." Star interrupted.

Maria led the family to the dining room, which was full of many generations of Diazes. Maria pulled out four chairs."You can sit here." she said. The Diazes obeyed and sat. 

Marco's cousin, Veronica, sat in front of Marco and Star. She had long black hair, and bright green eyes. Her skin was the color of caramel. 

"Oh, Marco!" she said. "You remember me, right?" Veronica tilted her head slightly.

"Uh, sort of." he said. Star grinned. "Hi! I'm Marco's best friend, Star."

"Hmmm." Veronica mumbled, ignoring what Star said. "I like your hair color."

"Thanks..?"

Maria and a few other relatives walked into the dining room carrying plenty of different foods. Stars mouth watered when she saw it all. As she started to grab food and put it on her plate, she heard bells ringing from somewhere in the distance.

The bells kept ringing. Star strained to hear where they were coming from, but the chatter in the dining room was too loud. She slowly stood up. "Star? What's wrong?" she heard Marco say, but didn't respond. "I-I'm gonna go...to the restroom.." Star lied, and rushed out of the dining room.

Star entered the main hall, and looked out a window. "Where is that ringing coming from?" she asked herself. As she turned to check another window, Star heard a tapping noise. She quickly turned around and saw someone tapping on the window, trying to let Star know to let him in.

Star quickly opened the window, and the person stumbled in. The person had to be only 2 feet tall!

"Aw...you're so small!" Star said. "So cute!"

The little person growled. "I'm not cute! I'm actually very tough and mean once you get to know me." He snarled. "Anyways, are you Miss Star Butterfly?"

Star nodded. "I'm Gilligan V. Noel, and I work for Mister Noel." he explained. "You might know him already."

"No...I don't think I've met him before." Star said. 

"Well, nobody has. Except for me and the other elves."

"ELVES?" Star said, a little too loudly.

"Yes, Elves. And me and the boss need your help." Gilligan said.

End Of Chapter 2