When Star, Jaxon and Lennon Thomas moved to New York to live with their biological father, who was oblivious to their existence prior to the death of their mother, they never expected to get wrapped up in a friend group that would divide their famil...
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Star and Lennon had gym with Lucas, Maya, Riley and Farkle, but it seemed the last of the group was nowhere to be seen. Billy Ross had once again tried to flirt with Star, but his attempts were always rejected – she didn't want a boyfriend, nor did she need one. The group was dressed in their gym uniforms: red shirts with the school logo and bottoms of their choice. Star had on a pair of yoga pants and tennis shoes while Lennon, along with Lucas, was wearing grey shorts.
"Where's Farkle?" Maya asked as she took one long look around the room.
Lucas straightened up almost immediately and Lennon and Riley exchanged a shy smile as the blonde boy stated, "It thought he said he wasn't going to miss anymore classes."
"Then why haven't we seen him?" Maya protested.
Then, seeming to appear out of nowhere, Billy appeared, "Oh. Hey, Man. Baseball after school?"
"Ah, I don't think I'm gonna make it," Lucas shook his head, "My buddy's still being hassled and I wanna be there for him."
Billy was unimpressed, "Your buddy? You mean Farkle?"
"It was you," Star realized, catching the others by surprise, but she had seen the look in his eyes at the mention of Farkle, "You're the one who convinced Farkle that he had no business being friends with Lucas."
"He is a nothing," Billy shrugged and Lennon's hand wrapped around Star's wrist as her hand pulled into a tight fist.
Lucas' face changed drastically and he shoved Billy against the mats and his friends' faces changed in surprise. The entire class had turned to look, excluding the teacher who frankly didn't care and Star uncurled her fist, placing her open hand on his shoulder. Lucas' heart was beating so hard she could feel it in her hand and she took in a deep breath, steadying herself.
"You're the nothing, Billy!" Lucas shouted.
"Lucas, don't," Maya protested.
"I thought this is what you wanted, Maya," he turned, finding himself face to face with Star, her eyes boring into his.
"What? She wanted you to pop me, Mr. Perfect?" Billy spoke in a condescending tone.
Star quickly diffused his confidence, her movements quick as she twisted his arm behind his back and spoke dangerously low, "Considering what kind of person you are, I'd do it myself, but I'm not going to stoop to your level."
Lucas watched with his mouth slightly ajar, his eyes flickering to Lennon who seemed ready to stop his younger sister if need be. Maya furrowed her brow and Riley's face was completely shocked. Billy struggled against her until she forcefully released him, her face pulled in a dangerous warning. Star didn't mess around when it came to bullies – she'd been too blind to see it before when it was her brother, but she refused to be ignorant this time.
Then, she calmed, "Why? What reason could you possibly have – I know there is one. There always is. And why Farkle? I've known the kid for two days and I can tell that he is a sweet, smart and funny guy and that's on a bad day – not to mention you claim to be Lucas' friend, but Farkle is his best friend. Why would you hurt your friend's best friend?"
"Do you really mean all that?" Farkle's shrill voice came from above and the six of them looked up, then looked to Lucas, "You're my best friend too." "Farkle, how'd you get up there?" Lucas questioned, "I thought you couldn't climb the ropes."
"I can't! But in desperate situations, apparently I can fly!" Farkle nodded.
Riley and Maya rushed to get the mats, Lennon joining after a moment and Lucas spoke to Billy, "You really don't wanna be friends with a goofball like that?"
"Not really, no," Billy shook his head, turning to saunter off.
"Let me ask you something," Lucas stopped him, "What's wrong with you?"
"There's nothing wrong with me," the bully scoffed.
"I've never actually seen you hang out with anybody that isn't on the team," Lucas added.
"Dude, whatever. I don't need this," Ross shrugged.
"You don't? Too bad. Because friends like Farkle don't just fall out of thin air," Lucas gestured upward, his statement followed by Farkle falling from the sky and hitting the mats.
"You can have him. You'll figure out sooner or later that they're not us."
"Who's 'us'?" the blonde male shook his head, growing slightly frustrated with the pig-headedness of his 'friend'.
Billy Ross sauntered out, only catching the end of one of Janitor Harley's remarks as he left. Star ran a hand over her waves and stopped at her large bun, then shook her head. Maya assumed it over, but it was clear to Star and Riley that it wasn't. Billy had something else going on – a reason that he was so cruel – nearly every bully had a reason and the two of them wanted to figure out why. However, it seemed that it would be a problem for the next day to follow.
And the day following, the entire class came early, Riley convincing them to write their issues on their heads. Everyone had something different – Jaxon: 'Stupid'; Riley: 'Insecure'; Lennon: 'Invisible'; Maya: 'Broken'; Lucas: 'Mr. Perfect'; Star: 'Lost' and Farkle: 'Nothing'. The only one without any writing on their head was Billy Ross. Mr. Matthews entered the room, his eyes skimming his students in confusion.
"What's going on?" Mr. Matthews asked.
"Riley made us write on our heads!" a girl in the back of the class cried, her flaw was 'Tattletale'.
"Riley?" Cory leaned forward in anticipation.
"Insecure. It's always mattered more to me what my friends think about me than what I think," his daughter explained.
"Maya?" he moved on.
"When I own it, it doesn't make me feel so bad," the blonde female explained.
Then, Matthews turned to Star, his brow furrowing, "What about you?"
"For a while it's felt like I got lost at sea and now I'm just floating," she shrugged, not wanting to go into detail.
"Alright, so, before someone can use our own flaws against us, maybe it would help us to admit we all have them," Mr. Matthews suggested.
Lucas turned to Billy Ross. Billy, still adamant that he had no reason to be ashamed, stood and started to the front of the class, preparing to leave. Their teacher stopped him and it took a bit of pushing, but he finally admitted his flaw. He was jealous because Farkle made friends without having to be on a team or in a club. Soon, they were wiping each other's flaws away and Billy apologized, Lucas turning to Star after Billy and Farkle did the handshake.
Star watched as Lucas took one of the wipes and brought it to her forehead, "Doesn't matter how long it takes, you're done floating, it's time for you to come back to the mainland."
Her grin was wide and she grabbed a wipe of her own, rubbing away the lettering on his face, "Nobody's perfect, Lucas, you're just a little more put together than the rest of us and there's nothing wrong with that."
The pair exchanged a grin and later that day, the awards were given out.
