Diaz Plan Chapter 1

"How about a family movie night tonight?!"

Marco didn't think much when his mother stated her plans for the evening. "Okay, sounds good! What movie?"

Marco felt a twinge of suspicion when his father grinned mischievously in response to this. "Oh, the movie is not important. But your mother and I wanted to try out this nice little independent movie theater. They have big comfy seats, and they even let you drink beer in there!"

"Oh...okay, cool. So when should we-"

"Oh, you know, I was thinking of taking the day off early from work. You and Star should just...head to the theater yourselves after school. Your mom and I will meet you there."

Marco narrowed his eyes. Something seemed off, here. Marco's father grinned back at him as innocently as he could while his mom sang a little song under her breath and brewed some coffee.

"Okay," said Marco, deciding they weren't up to anything. "I guess we'll see you guys there."

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"So what sort of movie are we seeing here, Marco?" Star was fanning herself with her wand. They had just made it to the movie theater, which had been an hour walk away from their school, in the hot sun. Marco was beginning to feel more and more like something was out of place.

"Uh, I dunno. I guess we'll decide when we get there. My parents just wanted to check out the theater, I guess."

The theater itself was very, very small, and didn't seem to do much business. It was, apparently, a renovated older theater, everything done up in a very retro art deco style. There was only one counter where they could purchase tickets and snacks both. He decided to check out what movies were playing.

"There's only ONE screen here," said the bored clerk, a pudgy twenty-something of indeterminate gender with obnoxiously colored hair. "And we're playing 'Rose's Passion.' Next showing in twenty minutes."

"Passion?" said Marco doubtfully. That sounded like a romance movie. "Man, Star, I don't know. Do you like romance movies?"

"Marco," Star said, as serious as Star ever got. "I LOVE passion. C'mon. I'm a very passionate person. ABOUT EVERYTHING."

"Okay-"

"EVERYTHING."

"Yeah, but I don't know if I want to watch this with my PARENTS-"

Just then, Marco's cellphone beeped out his text indicator. It was his father, telling him that he couldn't make it after all. But that he and Star should watch the movie anyway. And then a smily face. And then a winky smily face. And then some japanese-style smily face that communicated an emotion inscrutable to Marco.

"Fine," said Marco wearily. "Two for Rose's Passion, I guess-"

"And a popcorn. Oh my god, Marco, they have a machine that makes it in front of you. You get to watch it pop. GET A LARGE. GET TWO LARGES!"

************************************************************

Rose's passion was an independent film of limited release, apparently, with a story that Marco found frankly a little dull. Rose was an American who took a year in Europe before she went to college. She met a guy - Victor - in the UK and spontaneously decided to travel the continent with him. It struck Marco as a little too convenient - who makes that kind of a decision on a whim? Rich people, apparently. The movie was full of a seemingly endless parade of side characters, some of them Rose's friends from the US, one of them her ex, some of them just colorful characters she met on her travels. Marco wasn't exactly opposed to romance, but it struck him as not really that well put together. He mentioned as much to Star, but she was apparently enthralled by the story. He guess that she could kind of relate to Rose and maybe just found it a bit more interesting.

He was drifting off when a sudden gasp startled him awake. "Oh, Victor," Rose was gasping on the screen, squirming on a hotel bed, mostly naked. Then completely naked. Then having sex. Then having more explicit sex than she would have ever had in any mainstream movie.

"Uhhhh," said Marco. "Uh....um. Uh."

"Oh my God," said Star. She was staring intently at the screen, color rising in her cheeks, shoveling popcorn in her mouth. "WOW."

"Uh, you know," said Marco, trying not to sound awkward, "Maybe we should go." Something on the screen squirted, and his ears were filled with a series of loud, satisfied moans from the speakers. "Just uh. Just go. You know? This movie has been kind of boring-"

"Marco are you KIDDING?" said Star, her eyes never leaving the screen. "This is the best scene yet, you don't want to miss THIS! Oh wow, what is he going to do with THAT?!" she exclaimed, as a loud buzzing noise filled the theater.

So Marco sat, and crossed his legs, and tried not to look too much at the screen, or think too much about the blush in Star's cheeks or her quickened breathing.

************************************************************

They walked out of the theater in complete silence. It was starting to get dark out. Star was the first to break the silence.

"Wow."

They walked for another minute, and Marco decided to try to keep the conversation going before the silence became unbearable. But there was only one thing he could possibly think to talk about. "Uh, yeah. I didn't, uh...expect the sex scenes to go on so long. Almost a half hour."

"Or to be so intense," said Star.

"Yeah."

"Or so...explicit."

"Yeah. Hahah."

"Or so....unsimulated."

"Ahum. Yeah."

"Or for the couple a few rows in front of us to get so frisky. Or for them to be so loud about it."

"Yeah, Star, a lot of really unexpected things happened, huh? But yeah, the movie was nice. I liked the ending! Hahaha. You know, when Victor died and Rose went back home but she could never get over him? That is ALSO something that happened in the theater."

"Well good thing your parents couldn't make it! Could you imagine how awkward that would have been?"

It was pretty awkward already, Marco thought. "Yeah. That reminds me, I guess I should ask them for a ride?"

"Oh, no, that's not necessary. There's a new spell I've been wanting to try that should get us home quickly. Here, hold on to me."

"What?"

"It's a sort of...rainbow slide teleportation thing, I guess? You have to hold on to me if you want to come with me though."

"Oh. Um, okay." Marco grabbed Star's hand.

"Marco, I've never tried this spell before. You might want to hold on tighter than that. For safety, you know? I mean we'll be flying through the air and everything." There was a strange gleam in Star's eyes that Marco couldn't interpret. She guided Marco's hands around her waist. "There, now hold on tight. Tighter." Marco was hugging Star as tight as he could, intensely aware of just how closely their bodies were pressed together. He could feel each breath rise and fall in her chest. Star's free hand snaked around the small of his back and pushed him even tighter against her. Her voice had dropped its cheerful tone, something serious had snuck into it. "Tighter."

"Uh...Star? I think I'm about as tight as I'm gonna get." Marco grinned, and Star seemed to snap back into reality a bit.

"Uh? Huh? Oh yeah. RAINBOW SLIDE TELEPORTATION!"

There was a lurching sensation, and then the town around them turned into a gray blur as a solid light rainbow appeared beneath them. Although the rainbow rose and fell like a rollercoaster through the sky, while on it it seemed like every direction was down. It was a disorienting, unsettling way to travel, but Star laughed all the way, clinging tight to Marco.

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"Soooooooo, how was the movie?" asked Marco's father, as they walked grinning through the door of their home.

With the mention of the movie, Marco felt all the weird tension that the wild ride home seemed to have dissolved. "Uh, it was...really interesting, you know?"

"REALLY interesting," Star said, completely shamelessly. "REALLY, REALLY interesting."

"Anyway, I've got some homework to do," said Marco, trying to keep certain scenes out of his mind.

"I guess I do too," said Star. "But I, uh, want to take a shower first. Will you help me with mine after that, Marco?"

Mr. and Mrs. Diaz watched as Star and Marco bounded up the stairs. Mrs. Diaz grabbed Mr. Diaz's arm and delicately laid her head on his shoulder. Mr. Diaz smiled approvingly and sipped at a cup of tea.

"Those magical, royal-blood grandchildren will be ours, dear," he said, when he was sure both the kids were out of earshot.

"Yessssssssssssss," hissed Mrs. Diaz, eyes narrowing. "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS."