Study

Study- Test Day

The morning sun had just peeked over the horizon when Marco's alarm clock started its annual beeping cry. Marco sleepily placed his hand on the off switch and gave it a clumsy flip as the alarm ceased its shrill and repetitive howling. Marco stood up and walked over to his dresser where he had already preset out his clothes for the day. He scooped them up in his arms and groggily staggered his way into the bathroom where he shut and locked the door so that Star would not accidentally waltz in, or worse yet have Janna slink in somehow. Marco shuddered at the thought before he turned the water on and hopped in. Marco didn't even notice that his "preset" clothing lacked his standard red hoodie.

Marco gave a sigh of relief as he turned the water off and wrapped himself up in his towel to dry off and finish his morning ablutions. Marco stared at himself in the mirror before pointing at his reflection "You can do this Marco. You are gonna ace that test. You are gonna defend your solid streak of A's. Protect this house" Marco nearly shouted as he began to chuckle at his own silly energy. Star sure was rubbing off on him. Marco finished brushing his teeth and dressed for the day before walking out the door with a confident swagger.

Star's alarm clock could still be heard from her room down the hall. Marco shook his head and smiled as he would be, yet again, waking up the princess of hearts. Marco chuckled to himself as he walked down to Star's room as he quipped "Good thing she isn't Queen yet, or else I wouldn't be brave enough to mess with her." Marco blushed lightly as his mind wandered to Star being the Queen of Hearts. Marco smiled as he lightly sang "The joker ain't the only fool, who'll do anything for you" as he opened Star's bedroom door only to be immediately run over by a stamped of hungry laser puppies as they scrambled down the stairs to be the first at the food bowl in the kitchen.

"Star...it's time to wake up swee..." Marco nearly bit his tongue off he slammed his mouth shut so quickly. 'Holy crap, did I really almost call her Sweetheart out loud', Marco thought panicked as he looked to Star's bed. Much to Marco's relief, Star was fast asleep bundled up in her covers. Marco smiled brightly, today was gonna be great if his luck was this good from the get go! "Wake up Star," Marco said gently as he shook Star by her shoulder to rouse her from her dreams "its pancake Friday!"

Star sat up groggily as she stared at Marco in confusion. Marco chuckled at her cute reaction and even cuter appearance. Star's hair was a jumbled disheveled mess, she still had some drool on the side of her face, and her facial expression indicated her brain had yet to turn on despite the fact she was sitting up. Marco reached over and muffled her hair more "Come on sleepy head. Go get ready for school. Try to hurry though, its Friday and you know what that means" Marco sang. Star looked at Marco as if he had grown a second head for a moment before her eyes lit up and she bounced out of bed with a new found enthusiasm as she sang back "Pancake Friday".

Marco laughed as her shook his head at her excitement as Star seemingly flew around the room grabbing her clothes for the day and ran out the door to the waiting bathroom. Marco walked from her room with a spring in his step as he hummed the "Queen of Hearts" song that was now lodged in his brain. Hopfully that would not be the case come time for his test. Marco, upon reaching the kitchen, was surprised to see his mom had gotten up before him and already started the pancakes. "Hey, you know you're supposed to wait for me to come help. It's our thag" Marco whined as he slid into his place and began mixing the ingredients that his mom had already gotten out of the cupboards. Mrs. Diaz giggled at her son as he dutifully mixed in the pancake mix with the eggs and milk. "Oh sweety, I didn't really do anything yet. I just pulled the stuff down. I want to make sure you and Star have enough time to enjoy your breakfast rather than wolf it down like you two seem to like to do" Mrs. Diaz said with a smirk as she gently poked Marco in the side of the belly.

"Mom," Marco whined playfully, "don't do that while I'm mixing. I don't want to make a mess!" Mrs. Diaz giggled "Ok Mr. Safe Kid". Marco looked horrified that his mom was now calling him the safe kid, but before he could protest Star walked into the kitchen "No, no, no Mrs. Diaz," Star said matter of factly, " Marco is a misunderstood bad boy" all while mimicking Marco's usual accompanying hand gestures. Mrs. Diaz began laughing so hard that she excused herself. Marco, who was beginning to cook the pancakes, shot Star a "menacing" glare before he too began to laugh. "Oh shut it princess", Marco chuckled as he began taking the first of the pancakes from the pan and placing them onto a serving place.

Star excitedly watched Marco cook the remaining pancake batter into delicious fluffy golden pancakes. Star zoomed to her seat and grabbed her fork and knife in anticipation of the coming pancake goodness. Marco walked over to the table with a heaping plate of pancakes. Marco smirked at Star "Pancakes are served your highness". Star smiled gratefully at him and, with a sweeping gesture with her arm, pointed at the chair nearest to her "Ah, my faithful Marco. Do join me for Pancake Friday" Star giggled at her royal air that reminded her a little bit of her mom back on Mewni, when she was in a good mood.

Marco sat next to Star with a grin "I would be honored to join you my Queen" Marco said mockingly. However, as soon as he said it his face flushed brilliantly. Star, oblivious to Marco's embarrassment, nodded her approval at his response. "You know Marco, if you keep acting like that I'll actually take you to meet my mom. She would be so happy to see me bring home someone with manners". This response only made Marco's face grow redder as his face now greatly resembled his hoodie. Star, after dousing her pancakes in syrup, began devouring them as a look of bliss graced her features. "Marco, you are a fantastic cook. I think I'll have to keep you around a little longer" she said playfully before tearing into her pancakes again.

Marco, for his part, felt he handled Star's remarks very well considering the only thoughts that consumed his mind the rest of breakfast were "take you home to meet my mom" and "I'll keep you". The rest of breakfast, thankfully on for Marco, passed without incident as he and Star team worked the cleanup process as Star brought Marco the dirty dishes and dried the dishes after he had washed them clean of "Pancake Friday".

Marco smiled over at Star as she dried and put away the clean dishes. Star, noticing Marco's stare, smiled back at him enthusiastically. "Are you ready for that test today Diaz" Star asked as she put away the last of the plates. Marco smirked "I'm always ready Miss Butterfly, always ready." Star smiled fondly at him before she turned and grabbed her backpack "Alright then," Star called over her shoulder as she walked from the room "get some pep in your step". Marco hurriedly grabbed his backpack from the back of his chair and chased after Star as she was already out the front down.

Marco caught up to Star as they fell into a comfortable silence as they walked the relatively short fifteen minute walk to school. Marco was admiring the clouds and was about to ask Star if she thought that one of them looked like Tom's anger management bunny when he noticed a surprising lack of a certain magical princess by his side. "Marco," Star called from a couple houses back "come here and look at this." Marco turned on his heel and walked back where he had, apparently, left Star. "What's up Star" Marco asked as Star simply pointed at the tree grew near the street in front of the Johansson's house. Marco inspected the tree and noticed that someone had carved a heart with initials into the rough outer layer of the tree. "Ya, what about it Star" Marco asked as he continued to study the obviously old carving. "What does this mean" Star asked innocently. Marco gave Star a somewhat surprised look before smiling gently at the dimension hopping princess. "Well," Marco began "this is something that people on Earth sometimes do. It means that two people love each other." Marco studied Star's face as she still looked confused. "How does it mean that? What do the letters mean? Why is there math in it" Star asked as she looked to Marco pleadingly.

"The letters represent the names of the two people in love. One letter stands for one person's name and other represents the other person's name. The plus sign just kinda drives home the fact that they are together. You know, adding one half to another half makes a whole" Marco said as he started to blush. Star's face started to take on a look of understanding as she eyed Marco suspiciously. Star then quickly and happily began to skip down the sidewalk, happy with her new found knowledge.