God Only Knows

You reached the tent with plenty of time to spare as most of the seats were still empty.

Making sure she still had her 'professional' image, Starlight took a seat where her name was marked, next to the minister, and facing the entrance so all the entering teens could see her when they arrived.

Honestly you wondered if by some ripple effect no one was going to come since the next 7 or 8 minutes were spent in silence, only the reverend taking his seat, but right on the dot a assistant of some kind came in, a trail of bodies behind him softly chattering as they all took their seats.

"Well, how about we get started?" The pastor asked as multiple replies of 'Sure' and 'Okay' came forth.

"Well, we should probably start with the elephant in the room, no offense meant. I'm sure you're all thinking, holy crap is that really Starlight of the Seven with us?" The reverend said to a few soft giggles before taking his seat as Starlight spoke up.

"That's me, I used to be just like you, coming here, worshiping God, me and my mom probably traveled around the whole US, coast-to-coast to be here every single year." Starlight said, as the teens watched with rapt attention. "So I don't want you to think of me like some out of touch adult, I'm here for you." She finished with a kind smile, and reminded you just why she was a superheroine, despite her mistakes, she genuinely wanted to help people.

"So does anyone have any questions?" The minister said as a young boy raised his hand. Calling on him, the boy cleared his throat.

"Growing up, did you have any boyfriends?" The question was met with a few soft giggles from the assembled teens.

"Well, I used to go with Drummer Boy for a while." Starlight replied.

Next was a girl, who tried to get the curious smile off her face before she asked her more intrusive question, "Did you ever have... sex?" This was also met with some giggles, although they were less muffled than before.

Starlight paused for a moment, her mind trying to decide between honesty and adherence to her image, not to mention her responsibility, as her mother would've put it.

"I think everyone wants their first time to be special, but sometimes..." Star trailed off as she spotted both the teens inquisitive looks and the reverends piercing glare next to her, " I'm a virgin." She finished shortly, as the pastor smiled, giving a soft clap.

"Yes, 'Let nothing defile the marriage bed.'" He said as some of the teens looked disappointed, while you spotted one boy shift around, a familiar movement.

From there most of the questions were more innocuous, like how Starlight got such shiny hair or what her favorite food was, one kid, probably a plant even asked which bible verse Star thought best described her, and less... sexual was a harsh term, but you couldn't think of a more appropriate term at the moment, at least not until the end.

"Okay, our hour is almost up, I think we can squeeze one more question in here if we make it quick." The minister said, glancing at his watch.

At first no one raised there hands, and you prepared to escort Starlight out of here, thank the reverend for the opportunity, all the normal stuff, but finally a young girl's hand slowly raised.

She looked different from the rest of the teens if simply by the virtue that all the other teens seemed to come in two varieties, either sharply dressed in dress shirts with ties and dresses, or casually dressed for the long hours both ahead and behind them. They were all happy, smiling, enjoying themselves.

She wasn't. Her hair was tightly tied up in a bun, she was wearing a baggy hoodie, which was probably **** in this environment, she had on loose sweatpants, and sneakers. Honestly you wouldn't have even known she was a girl until she spoke.

"How do handle tempting boys?" That was met with not even an attempt at muffling the giggles that ran through the teens, and Starlight seemed almost stunned by the accusation.

Glancing to the side, the reverend looked as if he was going to let Star field this one and let her sink or swim all alone.

"I um, I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about." Starlight finally got out as a light dusting of rose hit her cheeks, a look that you noticed was mirrored on the young girl.

"I mean, you're so pretty, and confident, and I mean..." She trailed off, and for a moment you wondered if she had reconsidered before she seemed to find her confidence. "At my school, I always hear boys talking about you, your... body, and what they'd like to do with you, and I wondering what you do about that, about boys having such improper, impure thoughts and fantasies about you?" She got out, the light blush now a full bloom.

"Oh, okay, I think I understand what you're saying. Well first of all, I can't stop people from thinking things about me, but I can discourage it, or encourage it." Starlight seemed satisfied with her answer, even if the young girl wasn't as she tried to keep the dialogue going.

"But don't you think-" "That's all the time we have for today. I hope you got the answers you were looking for, go enjoy the festivities!" The young minister said as assistants began herding the teens out the door, the young girl quickly lost in the crowd.

After thanking the coordinator for the opportunity, you and Starlight left, hunting down either Hughie or Donna, her mom.

"So, what did you think?" You paused at the question, not expecting it out of Starlight, the blonde's footsteps stopping a few feet away from you.

You gave a wry chuckle, "You did good work, a few hiccups, but its really your first time so you'll get better. You certainly helped reinforce your image, although, call me a hypocrite, but I noticed you changed your answer on having sex." You made sure nobody was listening in on your conversation.

"You're unbelievable, first you want me to protect my good girl image, now you're wanting me to admit that I'm not as pure and virginal as I appear!" Starlight shot back irritated. You briefly considered just letting her go off on her own to find someone she knew, but you were stopped by the voice in your head saying it was your turn to extend the olive branch.

"Sorry, like I said maybe that makes me a hypocrite, I just... growing up I used to be kinda religious, and my family was pretty strict. I made a choice to give myself to a girl, the relationship didn't work out, but it killed me inside because whenever I heard my family talk about how bad people that can't wait until marriage were, they were talking about me... I think everyone needs to have a personal walk with God, you know.. and my way I decided was about redemption, just because you made a mistake you just keep going. But that's me, not you so... yeah." You went silent, not intending to ramble like that, you don't even know where most of those words came from, from what you could remember, your mom and sisters weren't that religious at all. You heard people call you CEO Christians, Christmas Easter Only.

Apparently Starlight hadn't expected the info dump either as she just stared at you for at least a minute in silence before surprising you with a soft kiss on the cheek as she looped her arm through yours as you smiled, matching her pace like a pair of soldiers marching along.

You searched for maybe fifteen minutes but didn't find anyone, well at least not anyone you knew when both you and Starlight were stopped short, ironically by the same poster, one depicting Homelander with the words 'FLY STRAIGHT'.

"Well, at least I know why Homelander is the one giving the speech later and not Maeve." You mumbled under you breath, but Super that she was Starlight heard you.

"You mean...?" She trailed off as you looked at her and gave a short nod.

"You didn't hear that from me, but yeah, well really she's open to either side of the coin, so to speak but..." You trailed off as Starlight looked contemplative before you heard a muffled buzzing as Starlight pulled her phone out.

"OH, Hughie wants me to meet him over near the barricade. I'll see you later Nick." She said, starting to jog off.

"Hey, you mean to tell me we've been walking around all this time and you could've just text him?" You shouted after her, but you only answer was a teasing smirk.