My love for high school stories and my love for Star Wars has finally combined; what can I say? This story starts out as kind of a TFA retelling, although it will branch out on its own and certain plot points will be altered. Hope you enjoy!
After five texts go unanswered, Ben's phone finally erupts into its heavy metal ringtone. His tutor peers at him, shaking his head as if the interruption is a personal affront.
"I'm sorry," Ben stammers. He answers and his tone immediately slips from apologetic to annoyed. "What?"
"Where are you, young man?"
Ben stabs at the grid paper he's been drawing parabolas on with his pencil. "Mom. Chill. I'm at Snoke's. Studying."
"Ben, it's almost ten. You have school tomorrow. I want you home and I want you home in exactly fifteen minutes, or I will be taking your keys for the next week."
"Mom, we're almost done—can't—"
"This is not open to negotiation!" She hangs up, and Ben turns to his tutor, the man he trusts more than he trusts his own parents.
"I take it you have to leave," Snoke drawls.
"Or else I'll be walking to our lessons." Ben rolls his eyes and glances out the window. It's too dark to even make out the outlines of his car. He doesn't dare get up, though, not without Snoke's permission.
"You can go," Snoke dismisses him. "Finish these problem sets and bring them next time we meet."
Ben nods, gathering his books and stuffing them into his fraying bag, which, like everything else he owns, is black.
He arrives home to find his mother waiting with her arms crossed. Behind her stands their elderly butler, Threepio, who shakes his somehow-still-golden head and mutters about how disappointed Ben's mother is in him.
"You missed your uncle's visit," Mom informs him.
"Let's not pretend he would want to see me." After Ben stopped his tutoring sessions with Luke in favor of Snoke, his relationship with his uncle has been frosty at best.
Mom sighs. "Ben—"
"How's his new foster kid?" Ben deflects, throwing his bag onto the ground.
'He's actually quite a nice young man, very polite—Luke was wondering if you might show him around—Ben! Get back here!"
"You can't just walk away from your mother!" gasps Threepio.
"You're not my father!" Ben yells back as he stomps up the stairs. It's the trump card he can always play—his parents' on-off marriage is definitely off now, and just yesterday Ben overheard Mom talking to Threepio about seeing a divorce lawyer.
"Will you consider giving Finn a ride to school tomorrow?" Mom calls, weary. "Luke could, of course—but he leaves earlier and showing up with the principal on his first day isn't ideal."
Ben wants to scream. "Fine!" He slams his bedroom door and throws himself down on his bed, screaming into his pillow.
"See you soon!" Finn watches as his new foster father, Luke Skywalker, waves and heads for the door. "Don't eat yourself sick. Ben should be here by 7:30."
Finn gazes at the omelet and stack of blueberry pancakes Luke apparently got up at five to make. "I—thank you."
Luke nods and ducks outside.
Finn's been in foster care since he was born, and never once has a parent welcomed him the way Luke has, taking him to buy his own room decorations, taking him to a basketball game, introducing him to his sister, who's the freaking mayor of D'Qar. Usually the families Finn's stayed with pretend he doesn't exist, instead of parading him around like Luke has.
Maybe this is what being part of a real family would be like, Finn thinks as he sits down. The cheesy onion and bacon omelet melts in his mouth as Luke's fluffy silver cat, Artoo, jumps on his lap.
Finn finishes and starts to wash the dishes before he notices a note taped to the window above the sink: Finn, leave the dishes! We'll do them tonight. Luke
A horn blares from outside, and Finn grabs his new book bag, hurrying outside towards a black car with windows tinted way too dark for a high school student.
"Um, hi," Finn says as he opens the passenger door to see a tall kid with long black hair staring at him with eyes caked in eyeliner blacker than his hair. "I'm Finn."
"Ben. Get in."
"I met your mom last night," Finn chatters nervously. "Wow, you've got the mayor for a mom and the school principal as your uncle? And Luke says you're a genius, too—like, a certified—"
Ben backs out of the driveway and pauses on the street, looking at Finn like he's an alien. "Do you mind?"
"Mind what?" Finn squeaks.
"Forget it." Ben shakes his head. "You like music, Finn?"
"Yeah! Yeah, I like music. I like—"
Ben turns on the radio and screaming instruments and screaming people fill the car. Ben cranks up the volume so that even if Finn had wanted to mention how uncertain he was that this actually qualified as music, Ben wouldn't have heard him.
By the time they arrive at D'Qar High, Finn's eardrums are ringing.
"Right," Ben says. "The office is on your left when you go in the main entrance. Even you can't miss it."
Finn flinches.
"They'll know you're new and assign you someone to show you around."
"You aren't going to do that?" Finn asks as he notices more kids arriving. His classmates.
"No." Ben walks off in the opposite direction, towards the athletic field.
Finn shows up in the office wondering how he's going to explain to Luke that his nephew apparently can't stand him, and they only exchanged a few sentences. But Luke smiles as if he's thrilled to see Finn and doesn't ask questions. Maybe Luke knows what Ben's like.
"Phasma," Luke greets a girl who is literally as tall as Ben has to be. She towers over Finn. "This is Finn. Finn, Phasma will be showing you around today."
Her eyes sweep Finn up and down. "Nice to meet you."
"And you," Finn says, relieved that someone's actually being polite to him besides the principal.
"English first, huh?" Phasma says, snapping chewing gum as she peers at his schedule. "Me, too."
"Is it a good subject?"
Phasma shrugs. "It's all right." She holds out the gum packet. "Want one?"
"Is it allowed?"
"Of course not." She grins, and Finn so desperately wants a friend that he takes a piece. Cinnamon flavored. He hates cinnamon.
"We've got the same subject right before lunch too," Phasma observes. "Physics with Ackbar. That's good. You can eat lunch with us, if you want."
Finn smiles. "Sounds great."
After a prolonged discussion on Hamlet, Finn endures calculus and world history alone before meeting up with Phasma again in physics. Her tall, blond head stands out above all of their peers—except for Ben, who sits near Phasma with a scowl on his face.
"He's the worst," Ben mumbles as Phasma waves Finn over, and for a moment Finn's heart freezes, until he realizes Ben isn't talking about him.
Instead, Ben, Phasma, and a skinny redheaded boy are all looking at another boy who chats jovially with their teacher. The boy's jet black, tousled hair and leather jacket all scream douche to Finn, but his smile seems so genuine that Finn can't help hoping otherwise.
"Who's that?" Finn inquires of Phasma.
"Poe Dameron. He's the overachieving type. You know. Great grades, on the football team, teachers fighting to write his college recommendations. He also interns part-time for Ben's mom."
"And Ben's jealous of him," taunts the redheaded boy. Judging from his beady eyes alone, Finn isn't sure he likes this kid.
"This is Hux," Phasma introduces them. "Hux, Finn. Finn'll be eating lunch with us today."
"My GPA is ten times higher than his," Ben scoffs.
"Snoke would say if he's bothering you so much, you should teach him a lesson," Hux points out.
Ben rolls his eyes. "I'm not like that, Hux."
"Who is Snoke?" Finn asks. Ben looks at him like he's a worm.
"Ben's tutor. He's better than even Mr. Skywalker, apparently. Oh, that's right, you're staying with him, aren't you?" Hux's voice is terribly sweet.
"Shut it, Hux," Ben snaps. "I don't want to talk about that man."
Maybe it's not me after all, Finn thinks. Maybe he just hates his uncle. Though how anyone could hate Luke, he doesn't know.
After class, Finn leaves the classroom, tagging along behind Phasma and Hux as a scowling Ben stalks away from them.
"He's not nearly as special as he thinks he is," Hux gripes.
Why are these kids so miserable? Finn wonders as he passes the boy the others were hating on earlier. Poe. He's on his phone, and his eyes are wide and his tone wavering. "Are you sure, Mom?"
"He's for real talking to his mom during the day," Hux grumbles. "He's such a—"
Ben walks back over to them, observing Poe's distressed face. "Are you sure?" Poe keeps asking. "You've looked—"
Ben rolls his eyes as Phasma gives him a pointed look.
Finn crosses his arms across his chest, heart thumping. He'd give anything to have a mother to call during the day.
Rey staggers home from Jakku High, hating herself as she remembers deciding not to wash the dishes this morning and now has to add that to the eternal list of chores Unkar Plutt will be expecting her to complete before she can even attempt the mountain of homework her teachers assigned.
A soft meow comes form the overgrown bushes guarding the door. Rey ignores it until she hears it again. Meow.
Curiosity gets the best of her. Crouching down, Rey digs through the brush, scraping her thumb on a thorn and wincing.
With a purr, a rather rotund orange-and-white tabby leaps out at her, straight into her arms.
"Whoa!" Rey tries to put the cat down, but it mews and crawls onto her lap. "No! Go away!"
The cat looks at her with huge, pleading dark eyes. With a sigh, Rey extends her hand to rub behind its ears. The cat purrs. "Where did you come from?" she wonders.
Almost instantly, she spots something silver dangling from the cat's collar. "You're not going to bite me, are you?" she asks as she reaches for it.
Beebee-Ate.
Property of Poe Dameron.
There's also a phone number.
"Well, Beebee-Ate," Rey muses, getting to her feet and scooping the cat up in her arms. "I can't say much for your owner's taste in names, but I'll give him a call."
The cat rubs its head against her shoulder as if to thank her.
"What—" intones the gravely, cold tone of her foster father. "—the hell is that?"
"A cat," Rey answers.
"We don't keep pets in this household! Keeping you is enough of a burden!" Unkar waves his stubby arms. "Especially not a cat—think of the hair it'll shed everywhere—"
"It won't be staying," Rey insists. "He's—" She's? Rey hasn't checked. "—got a collar on. I'm just going to call the owner. I'm sure they'll come pick him up."
"If they don't come by tomorrow," Unkar threatens. "I'm taking it to the pound."
"They'll come," Rey insists, although she has no way of knowing. The kitty growls as Unkar comes closer.
"And you, girl," Unkar spits. "You left all the dishes this morning!"
"I'll do them," Rey promises. "Right now. I'll—I'll put the cat in my room, and get right to work."
"You will," Unkar agrees, reaching out and grabbing her arm so tightly Rey gasps. "Or there'll be hell to pay."
Beebee-Ate hisses.
"Don't do that to me, cat!" Unkar's hand flies out to slap Rey. She stumbles but manages to hold on to the squirming animal. She tastes blood and figures her lip must be split again. Not that anyone ever noticed enough to care. None of her teachers ever asked about Rey's black eyes and the purple marks on her arms. All they cared about was Rey raising their school's ratings with her genius levels of intelligence.
"Lock it in your room," Unkar orders, and Rey scurries to obey. Judging from his mood and the disruption with Beebee-Ate, Rey already knows her dinner is at stake. Unkar withholds food from her at least once a week, sometimes more.
Rey sets Beebee-Ate down, and the cat rubs against her again. I wish I could ask your owner to pick me up, too, she thinks wistfully as she dials the number.
"Someone found your cat?" Lor San Tekka asks, smiling at Poe as he hangs up his phone.
Poe nods, a lump in his throat. He's been so worried since lunchtime, when his mother called to tell him Beebee-Ate had gotten outside. "He's in Jakku."
"How'd he get all the way over there?" Lor wonders.
Poe shakes his head. "Well, we do live close to the town line." He glances at the clock. Four. It's already getting dark out. The perks of winter. Not. "The girl on the phone said I needed to pick him up tonight."
"You can go right now," Lor says.
"Are you sure?"
"You're a hard worker, Poe, and the mayor knows it. She's not going to be mad you skipped one day of filing to rescue your cat." The old man crosses his arms and smiles down at Poe. "If you want, I'll even call your parents and let them know where you are."
"Nah, I can text them. I better text them. Mom's worried, too." Poe whips out his phone.
"Drive safely," Lor calls after him as Poe heads out. "And wear more layers tomorrow!"
Poe smirks. It never ends—his mother, his father, the mayor herself, Lor—they all badger him to wear a scarf, a hat, gloves. Poe doesn't care, though. He likes the cold.
He traipses around back to the parking lot, where his old hunk of junk sits. He and his father worked hard to get the car up and running all summer, which is why when he sees slashes in the tires, his jaw drops and he freezes.
How can I get Beebee-Ate now?
There's always the employee car, Poe remembers. But still:
Who did this?
Poe hears footsteps pattering behind him, then slamming into the pavement. He whirls around as someone pushes his head into the side of the car.
Finn watches from the shadows. When he'd stopped by the office to tell Luke to say two new friends had asked him to hang out after school, his foster father seemed pleased. Ben had vanished after the final bell rang to go to his tutoring session. Why a genius needs tutoring, Finn doesn't know.
But Finn hadn't expected Hux and Phasma's idea of fun to be breaking into the mayor's parking lot and slashing the tires of a boy Finn hasn't even properly met.
What would Leia think? Finn wonders, thinking of the kind woman who told jokes the night before. What would Luke think? That I'm some kind of delinquent?
And now it's gone to a whole new level. Hux insisted he just wanted to see Poe's face, but when Phasma whispered plans to Mitaka and Nines to beat Poe up, Finn's stomach tightened itself into a knot.
He's never been in a fight before. Finn doesn't want to start now, not when he finally feels hopeful about his life, not when he's got a kind foster father, not when he's attending a good school…
Hux stands by with Finn, watching and laughing. Finn wants to vomit as he watches Poe try desperately to throw a punch and get knocked down.
"Think you're so tough?" Phasma taunts. She sends her boot into Poe's face.
"Stop it!" Finn shouts.
Hux gapes at him, but no one else pays Finn any mind even as he storms over to them. "I said, stop it! Leave him alone!"
"Hit him too," Phasma says to Mitaka, who lunges at Finn.
"Didn't you hear him? Stop it!" Poe yells, leaping to his feet and throwing Mitaka to the ground.
Finn sends his fist into Phasma's face. "Let's go!" he shouts, because running is the only thing that's ever saved him from bullies. He takes off down the street and realizes that Poe's hurtling after him.
"This isn't over!" Phasma hollers, and Finn glances behind him to see her pulling out the same pocketknife she used to slash Poe's tires.
"She won't really stab us, will she?" Finn pants.
Poe casts him a why are you asking me sort of look. His left eye is already swelling.
"What are we gonna do?"
"I have an idea!" Poe skids to a stop besides a silver, unremarkable car. "Get in!"
"You have two cars?"
"I have a key!" Poe yanks the door open. Finn barely dives inside before Poe takes off, speeding straight at Phasma, Nines, Hux, and the rest. Finn screams, but Poe turns to the side at the last minute.
"Oh my God," Finn says as realization dawns on him. "You just stole a car!"
"I have a key! It's for employees—we're borrowing—" Poe's brow creases. "What's your name?"
"Finn!"
"Hi Finn, I'm Poe. Good to meet you!"
"You stole a car! I could be held liable for this!" Finn thought Poe was supposed to be a good kid.
"We're borrowing, Finn. It's actually a car that's available for all employees to use, although I'm not technically an employee. We'll tell Lor San Tekka after we get back."
"After—we're going back now, aren't we?"
"We have to go to Jakku first," Poe informs him. "I need to get my cat!"