Afterwards (Starco)

Chapter 7

Star's plan was slowly but surely getting into action. They planned not to tell the grown-ups until the preparation for the party was done. Kelly and Marco were working in the Monster Temple's large hall, where the party was going to be held. They were setting up the tables and table cloths.

Kelly was working but her brain was somewhere else. As she smoothed out the white table cloth on the opposite side of the room, Kelly thought hard. She envied Star's spot and she wanted to be with Marco. Star was her friend, and so was Marco. She didn't want to ruin theirs, or hers, friendship. But Kelly couldn't help it.

"So, Marco, do you remember the day we fought the librarian in my world?" she asked, turning to look at him. Marco laughed and turned too. 

"Yup! Good memories, hey?" he said with a twinkle in his eyes. Kelly's heart started to race. Stay cool, Kelly, she thought to herself. Kelly returned to spreading the table cloth.

"And the moment we agreed to be break-up buddies?" she asked as she finished her work and walked over to Marco. He turned to face her and smiled.

"Yeah... that was...really sweet of you," he said, blushing a little and scratching the back of his neck.

Kelly took a deep breath. She stepped closer to Marco, her hand on his face. To Marco's horror, she pulled him closer until their lips touched.

Jackie leaned on the pile of party supplies she and Kassie had to carry from the store. 

"Ugh! Why did Star make us do this?!" she groaned and tossed her head back to look at the sky. Kassie groaned too and stood up. 

"Let's get going, Jackie," she called as they began to lift the boxes again. After a while, they plopped the boxes onto a bench and slouched onto it. The sun was going down, and they knew they had to get the party supplies to Star before the sun goes down completely. They sat in silence for a while, looking at the setting sun. 

Jackie turned to look at Kassie. Over the few weeks that she stayed, Jackie had gotten to know her a lot better and consider her a close friend. She was also Marco's sister, and thinking about Marco made Jackie's head spun. She decided to talk to Kassie about it.

"Hey, Kas?" Jackie said, looking at Kassie.

Kassie looked at her. "Yea?"

"Well, you know that I used to date Marco, right? Well I- I think... I still have feelings for him..." Jackie said quietly, looking nervously away.

Kassie just smiled and touched Jackie's arm comfortingly. "Why are you so nervous? That's normal! I mean, you can't get rid of them easily,"

Jackie looked up in surprise. "So..you're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be?! Jackie, if you feel guilty, then just pretend that the feelings weren't there. Not hide them, but try to face them and conquer them," Kassie said, looking off into the distance.

Kelly tried to pull Marco deeper into the kiss, but he tried to pull away. Just then, Star walks into the hall.

"Hey guys! I-" she stopped and dropped the paper plates she was holding (thank god they were paper). Star couldn't believe her eyes. As she felt tear well up in her eyes, Star turned and ran off, crying. Marco pushed Kelly away. He looked at her for a brief second then ran after Star.

"Star! No, wait!"

Even though he only looked at her for a second before sprinting away, Kelly could clearly saw the confusion and hurt in his brown eyes. She kneeled down to the floor with a thud and undid her hair so that it wraps around her whole body. Now she realized how dumb she had been. Kelly sat alone in the big hall of the Monster Temple, crying tears of regret.

"Come on, let's get going," Jackie called to Kassie. Once again, they lifted the party supplies and headed for the Monster Temple.