Nothing Comes Easy (Hiatus)

Chapter 2

(Star's POV)

(The next day)

I was sitting on the bus on my way to school, alone, since Marco wanted to walk to school with Stella. It was more of an 'I didn't want to be a third wheel' sort of thing, seeing as Marco doesn't normally take the bus due to his motion sickness. "I wonder what they're talking about right now?" I asked myself as I looked out the window. The feeling in my chest from yesterday hadn't gone away and it was really starting to annoy me.

As I was looking out the window, the bus came to an unexpected stop. I looked to the front and saw the door open and Jackie, of all people, get on. "Hey Star." She said as she took a seat across from me.

"Hey Jackie." I responded. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you taking the bus when you usually ride your skateboard to school?"

"I don't always." She said as she pulled out her skateboard and placed a hand on it. "Sometimes I like to take it easy." She looked up at me. "And what's your story? I don't usually see you on the bus either."

I turned to the front. "I usually walk."

"So what happened today?" She asked. "And where's Marco?"

I rolled my eyes. "There's another foreign exchange student living at the Diaz residence and Marco wanted to walk with her to school and I didn't feel like being a third wheel."

"Sounds to me like you're jealous." Jackie replied.

"Maybe a little." I said, as I looked to the side. "But Marco is going through some … drama and he seems to really hit it off with this girl."

"What kind of drama?" Jackie asked.

I looked over at her. "Um … not my place to say." I looked around trying to think of a way to change the topic. "So I heard that you and Justin got together."

"What?" She asked as she almost laughed. "Where did you hear … wait a second, you and Marco saw Justin and me holding hands yesterday, didn't you?"

I looked at her, confused. "Yeah, why?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I fell to the floor and he offered to help me up. As it turned out, I fell on some quick drying glue that had been there, and we got our hands stuck together."

"Oooooooh." I responded. "So you aren't going out with Justin then?"

She shook her head. "No, Justin is an idiot and I'm not even looking for a boyfriend at the moment."

"Oh … good for you." I said as the feeling in my chest began to clear up.Then I thought that Marco could go back to chasing Jackie if I tell him that she's not really dating Justin. I thought.

"And even if I was I would sooner go out with Marco than Justin." Jackie added.

I instantly felt the strange feeling in my chest begin to form again. "Wait … what?"

"But don't tell Marco." Jackie quickly added. "Like I said, I'm not currently looking for a boyfriend."

"I mean, why Marco?" I asked.

She looked at me jokingly. "Seriously?" She asked. "You mean to tell me that you haven't noticed that Marco has a thing for me? Or that you think I haven't noticed that he has a thing for me?"

I laughed a little. "Yeah … the second one … sorry."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it, just don't tell Marco."

"Okay …" I began. "So … you do like Marco?"

"Haven't thought about it that much." She said as she looked to the front. "I mean he is funny, quirky, somewhat cute, smart, and he's a party animal; but telling him that I know would needlessly complicate things, and you said that he was getting close to that other exchange student, right?"