Star and Marco vs Evil Book 1

VIII

Star, in a pink lava suit and bubble helmet, rode a lava wave on Cloudy atop a surfboard. It had been a couple days since her humiliating encounter with Marco and the subsequent horrific nightmare, and Star had desperately wanted something to take her mind off the events. When Tom invited her to spend the day with him and his family, at their lake house on Lava Lake in the Underworld, she happily accepted.

Star surfed up to Tom at the top of the wave. "Last one ashore is a rotten gargoyle egg!" Star yelled to him.

"Oh no you don't!" Tom yelled, swinging his board around to chase after Star.

On the beach, Star giddily said to Tom, "Man that was fun!" Star removed her helmet and lava suit, then took her locket out of her beach bag. Tom scowled as he watched her put it on.

Sitting on the beach were Tom's parents, Lord David and Lady Wrathmelior Lucitor, and Wrathmelior's sister, Exasperella. Tom mentioned that Relicor was lurking about, putting an evil sound into the word "lurking."

"Fun's just getting started, Star," Dave said. "It's so good to see you here. We've missed you."

Wrathmelior added her agreement in Demon-Tongue.

"Say, I hope this isn't too personal, but when are you and Tom going to ..." He formed his left thumb and index finger into a circle, while slowly inserting his right index finger.

Star lost it. "Why?" she yelled, stomping her feet. "Why, why, why, why, WHY? Why do people keep asking me that? Why does anybody think it's any of their GODDAMN business?"

Star stopped, noticing the look of shock on everybody's faces, including Tom's. "Oh, your majesties," she said, blushing, "I am so sorry for cursing."

Dave stammered, "Er, um, okay. Well, in any case, we are glad to see you. We can't wait to hear what you and ... what's the human's name?" He thought for a second. "Margo ... what you and Margo have been up to."

Star rubbed her arm, Dave reminding her of how she had left things with Marco. "Well, actually, I should go. I have something I need to do."

"What?" Tom asked. "You're going to leave so soon? Where are you going?"

"Welllll ... I kinda need to talk to Margo ... I mean Marco. I left Earth kinda suddenly, and I need to explain."

"Orrrrr ... you could stay."

"No, I really need to do this."

A peal of thunder echoed across the beach. The "sky" quickly turned dark, thunder and lightning crashing as storm clouds rolled in over the beach.

"Uh oh," Dave said, "one of our nasty storms is rolling in. It's not safe to travel, Star."

"Guess you'll have to stay here with us," Tom added.

"What? No," Star began, "I'm not gonna let a little drizzle get in my ..." Star was interrupted by fireballs falling from the sky. "Right. Stay. No problem."

They all quickly gathered their belongings then ran into the house. They took seats in the Lake House great room, watching out the windows as the storm intensified. Star and Tom sat together on the love seat. A crash of thunder startled Star, causing her to grab onto Tom. She blushed as Tom laid a comforting hand on hers.

"Yeah, this one looks pretty bad. We might be stuck here for a while," Dave said. "Honey, why don't you make us some refreshments, I'll get the Drabble board, and Exasperella, you find Relicor and make sure he's not into the Demon Nip again."

As soon as everyone else was out of the room, Tom turned to Star. "Starship, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Star's compact phone chimed "Space Unicorn," indicating a text from Marco. "Hold that thought," she said. Opening the phone, fearing the worst, she read the text with a frown on her face.