(A/N: After living in a fictional galaxy far, far away I figured it was time for me to start a new adventure of sorts. One much closer to home with everyone here, including our intrepid Ezra Bridger on the rock from the sun we all call Earth. I don't own Star Wars, all companies mentioned in this story and certainly not any colleges. The college I attended now owns me, I think if I read my loan agreements right. I'm really looking forward to writing this, and hope you all will come along with me on this journey. Right now I'm planning on keeping this rated T or something around that. It's all language based, because if anybody reading has been to college, swearing isn't something to bat an eye at, it's a miracle if it's not in the syllabus. Apologies if this hits some nerves, I'm trying to be accurate. My PM's are always open if anyone has questions, concerns and feedback. Thanks for reading.)

"Beep, Beep, Beep, BEEP—" The alarm buzzes off before I blindly reach out and smack it silent before rolling over and hearing the sound of pans in the kitchen.

Of course he's up. He's more excited than I am.

Pulling myself together, I throw on a t-shirt and some pants before opening my door and being hammered with the delicious smells of breakfast already cooking. "I'm surprised the alarm woke you up! I thought for sure you'd be up at like 5 AM, wired off your ass."

"Shut up Cayle." I smile at him as I walk by, only to get hit with a stray elbow on my hip on my way to grabbing the gallon of orange juice.

"No!" Cayle replies in a false, childlike voice.

I can't stop a yawn as I grab a glass out of the cabinet, set it down and pour two thirds of a glass then watch as Cayle cracks two eggs into a clear bowl. "I thought I was going to make breakfast."

"Well, you slept in. And I'm feeling nice."

"Well thanks." I joke, then slip past him and grab enough silverware for the both of us before walking over to the clean kitchen table and setting up two spots for us. "It does smell good."

"I can't tell if you're complimenting me or insulting me. The food is smelling, not me." He jokes, inducing a loud, involuntary laugh out of me.

I walk back into the kitchen and lightly shove him. "Not me."

"Couldn't tell."

"I showered last night. In case I overslept." I admit.

Cayle loudly laughs. "No way you'd oversleep, no way! No, you're not wired like that. Aren't you excited? First day of college? Huh? Huh!"

Literally. For real though.

Dodging his elbows, I break off a small piece of the edge of a piece of bacon. "I guess."

"Hey!" He turns around after dumping the eggs into their pan. "No sneaking pieces! I've been good, so you have to be too!"

"I don't have to do anything." I shake my head.

"Go check your government bought backpack for supplies or something. What classes do you have again today?!" He calls out as I cooperate and walk back to my room, where my shiny, new backpack is sitting near my dresser.

"University Strategies, Spanish I and Freshman Composition!" I call out, flitting thru the notebooks I have for each, along with pens, pencils, spare scratch paper, and folders for every class.

"Composition sound fun." He comments. "Nothing you're good at today though."

The dagger, stealthily hidden at the bottom of the second compartment of this enormous North Face backpack then frown to myself. "That comes tomorrow with Chemistry and Computer Sciences!"

"That's more like it! You're gonna kill those classes, you've already trained so well at the Temple that you could sleep and get A's." Cayle says as he bashes plates together, encouraging me to approach the kitchen again in time to see that he's filling up both of our plates.

"I don't think they'd like it if I did that."

Cayle smiles, then hands me my plate. "Your classmates wouldn't, that's for sure. You'd be like Joihana, remember him?"

"Yeah." I nod, setting my plate down then moving back to grab more juice. "He's now designing ships for the Navy right?"

"Air Force." Cayle corrects me. "Their academy isn't all that far away."

Two states. Vegas is a lot closer.

"Comparatively speaking." I shrug before digging into my plate. "Thank you."

Cayle simply smiles at me, mouth full then shrugs like it's no big deal. "Let's go thru it one more time."

"Ugh…" I groan. "Cayle!"

"It cannot fail under questioning. And you're gonna be asked about it everywhere you go. I know you've studied it since the Temple crafted it using the best Masters we've got. Just…humor me."

Fine.

"I'm Ezra Bridger. Eighteen from Augusta, Georgia. Planning to major in physics with a minor in chemistry and an interest in coding." Cayle smiles, then motions for me to go on, taking a huge bite of egg mixed with bacon and coated in pepper.

"No, I haven't seen The Masters, locals get priced out of tickets before our houses get bought out on Airbnb for three times what they're worth." I roll my eyes, causing Cayle to snort,

"I love that line."

"My parents both work in New York for TV, so I never saw them too much. Private high school, which is why so many people weird me out…" I trail off and sip my glass.

"Which is normal." Cayle backs me up.

"No other family really, no siblings, I just work hard and see where it gets me."

"Awesome. Now the Facebook and Twitter stuff. You downloaded it onto your phone right?" Cayle pesters me. "You remembered to charge it right?"

I nod and make a noise, mouth full of food. "Yes, I did. All the apps and everything downloaded with profiles made. Twitter is more fun even though it can be a toxic waste dump with how people like our dear President Palpatine, but he's our leader so…" I shrug. "Made a Facebook and Instagram because why not?"

"Tinder? Grindr?" Cayle goads me.

"Not Grindr. And yeah Tinder, but I'm not messing around with that. I'm not here to fall in love."

"Wouldn't kill you."

I disagree. "It might, actually." Which causes Cayle to laugh loudly.

"Oh let me think, what else…the profiles are fully loaded to make you look completely normal…phone has more than enough room for screenshots and pictures and stuff like that…"

From the walks around Los Angeles I've had, every person around my age has their face buried in their phone.

"Oh! The job. Where is it again?"

"Academic Advising." I smile. "They really liked me over there."

Cayle smiles, pushing around the last pieces of food. "Can you blame them?"

"Yeah." I joke, standing up with my plate before moving to grab his.

"Throw it in the sink, I'll wash 'em when I come back before I leave." Cayle tells me.

Leave.

Cayle is silent for a second as I set the glasses and plates in my sink before I turn right into him grabbing me by the shoulders. "You've got this. I'm here now. Kanan, Hera, Zeb and even Chop are around man. Shit, even Kyle can pop by if I can't when he's coming back to report on whatever in the world the Koreans are up to nowadays. Might even buy you dinner if you're nice enough."

"Just kind of nervous." I confess.

I haven't been left alone like this in almost three years.

Cayle gently shoves me. "You shouldn't. You've earned this. The Council and Masters wouldn't have given you this gift, the gift of being normal and attending the University of Southern California, like a normal person if you didn't earn it! You've passed every test, earned everyone's trust, everything. We believe in you, now believe in yourself."

"I'm trying." I smile nervously.

"I know." Cayle massages my shoulders. "Now grab your backpack, we can save you some gas money by walking today. It's a beautiful day anyway."

Trying to cast my nerves inside as I walk back to my room, I scoop up my keys, backpack and wallet before walking back to Cayle as he lingers by the door. "Hurry up!"

"You slow down! I'm the one that actually has to go to class and do things today."

"Not true." Cayle opens the door. "I have to deal with the airport and security."

"Oh no, you're PreChecked like me. The whole thing will take like 30 minutes from front door to the gate." I shake my head as Cayle moves aside so I can lock the door. "And you can sleep."

Cayle smiles. "Not quite, Master Tano sent along my next mission briefing."

"Where to next?" I ask, causing Cayle to glance around as a door heavily shuts below us.

These doors are heavy, you don't have to slam them.

"Western China. Reports near the Tibetan border. Haven't read much more than that." Cayle tells me as we swing around a bend and see a group of attractive looking brunettes with a blonde sandwiched in between. "At least the visuals will be good."

I shrug, feeling anxious about them being so near. "They're students I think, not actors."

"Then why do they all look like they're the third lead on a CW or network show?" Cayle asks me sarcastically.

"I don't know." I confess.

"You have to at least try to get a few numbers. Just try."

"Cayle." I snap, getting two of the girls to glance back at us, instinctively forcing me to smile and Cayle to pull his suave guy smile and wave. He simply glances over before the girls drift over to the parking lot.

"You got that parking pass right? I couldn't sleep last night and saw a lot of people bitching about there being nowhere to park and the price of passes being ridiculous." He asks me as we take a right where the university rises just a few blocks away.

"Yeah." I nod. "Well, Kanan and Hera did, they stuck it in that folder we found in my room."

"I can't believe how big this place is. I would say that you have no excuse to be late to anything, but…" Cayle starts digging in my bag, where he knows where I slipped my schedule. "I don't know where Lothal Hall is and how close it is to Andres Center, Corellia Pavilion or Seaver Hall or wherever the hell you're supposed to eat. I don't think you'll have time to walk up and back for lunch on many days."

"I won't today. It's back to back to back then work." I inform him, inducing a nod.

"Makes sense, and that's three out of five days. Well hey, chance to make friends."

This again.

"I don't think it's like the Temples or anything. Class sizes are bigger than entire age groups at any Temple. Plus you know how I was when I first arrived." I frown at him.

"You were 14 and straight out pretty much hell on earth. You didn't know it, but that's what it was. We patched you up, you asked for a chance to go be normal, learn some stuff before you come back and here we are. You're gonna be fine." Cayle rubs my shoulder as we start approaching an archway. "Besides." He suddenly leans in close. "You're better and you know it. I know you get antsy around so many people because of…you know—"

"Exactly, Which is why I thought—" I start before Cayle talks right over me.

"But treat this like a new beginning. Nobody knows you. How could they? Nobody from Texas would come here unless to play football. And what are they gonna do? You'd kick their ass."

I laugh. "I'd love to see them try."

"Me too. Warn me so I can come watch that show."

"The trained warrior I always meant you to be—"

No, no no. Not now.

I let out a heavy breath as Cayle grabs me by the shoulder, rooting me to reality, "—was stupid, sorry, sorry dude. My bad, totally on me. You with me here Ezra?"

"Yeah." I answer, then crouch to try and get rid of the lump in my throat. "I don't think I'm ready for this man."

Cayle, for whatever reason, shakes his head. "No, you're gonna be fine. I won't be here to stick my foot in my mouth. You'll be good."

"But what if I can't? Surely the Council will let me teach combat for a year, let me keep preparing."

"No, they won't. If you don't think you can do it, why should they give you a second chance? You clearly can't. Plus they've sunk a lot of money it. You're going." Cayle says seriously, tempering it with a supportive grin.

I sigh, then pace for a second, avoiding a rush of students as we've steps away from an archway with a lot of hustle and bustle behind it. "You're right."

"Usually am." He smiles, causing me to stare at him. "I said usually."

"Half of the time."

"Better than none. C'mere." Cayle smiles at me.

Here we go.

I comply, walking over and let him give me a big hug. "You've got this. I'm planning on popping by at some point before Christmas. People are here if you have trouble, but I don't think you will. You don't see it, but you're like a chameleon. You can fit in anywhere. Okay?"

"Okay." I smile, hugging him back.

He lets go, smiling from ear to ear. "Good. Love you bro."

"You too man." I smile before he spins and starts to walk away. "Fly safe!"

"Even if I have to fly it myself!" he calls back, getting multiple weird looks.

Can't blame them. It is kind of a weird thing to say, even though he's one of the best pilots the Jedi Order's got. He can outfly any normal pilot.

I turn back to the campus, where some students are grouped up, talking while tables are set up with students behind them, flagging down students who are walking alone, looking lost.

Probably trying to ease them into things.

Slipping into the throngs, I try to stay unnoticed even though I don't totally know where I'm going other than deeper into campus.

I've got a map, and there's just way too many people around.

Something heavy whacks into my backpack, causing me to look back and see a guy looking apologetic. "My bad man. Sorry."

"No problem." I smile at him, then keep walking, right into a waiting girl in a white shirt.

"You look lost." She smiles at me. "First day?"

"Yeah. And lost-ish I guess." I try towave off her concern.

She smiles widely and ignores my attempt. "Where are you headed?"

"Lothal Hall." I answer.

"Oh!" She lights up again. "That's not too bad. You see that red brick building?" She moves to stand beside nme and points to my 10 o' clock.

"Yeah." I nod.

"It's just behind it. There'll be a sign." She smiles helpfully.

"Okay, thanks." I thank her.

Really helpful. See that building? Behind it.

"You're welcome. Don't be too worried about times and all that today. It's always chaos on syllabus day."

"On what day?" I ask her.

"Syllabus Day! That's what today and tomorrow are. Good luck!" She waves as she moves to help somebody else.

Well okay then.

Reorienting myself, I lock onto the building I'm supposed to walk past, start that way while also pulling out my phone.

What in the heck is a Syllabus?

"Syllabus: an outline or other brief statement of the main points of a discourse, the subjects of a course of lectures, the contents of a curriculum, etc." my dictionary app displays.

So a class summary. Hope they don't expect us to have printed these things out. Reminds me of the stat that I read on the way down here about the waste of paper. Residence halls mostly advertising stuff. They're trying to move to email, but students don't open it up, instead marking it as read and wasting hours of work that they're paying for.

"Back at your apartment. Your neighbors in 4-D are nice." Cayle texts me, lighting my phone up as I fold my schedule over top of it.

Hall 101 – University Strategies. This should help a lot.

I take the stairs two at a time and slip in the back of the room, only to find that it's sparsely filled. Naturally, like at the Temple, I find a seat in the back, near the wall on the right side.

Class is supposed to start at 9 and it's 8:55. Better get my stuff ready.

Self-consciously, I glance around, only for nobody to be looking at me before I dig in my bag, grab the green notebook and folder on a whim and toss them onto my tiny desk.

These things really aren't big. You can barely fit a notebook, maybe a book on it. Isn't the point of a desk to spread everything out so you can use it?

My phone buzzes, and I discard my backpack so I can fish my phone out of my pocket.

"How are we looking?

I roll my eyes before something smoothly moves in the corner of my eye, causing me to glance over and see a girl with blue and orange hair, wearing a hoodie with a soccer ball and a sword thru it, shorts, tennis shoes bobbing her head to some music only she can hear, completely oblivious to me over here.

"Not bad." I respond. "Can't tell if the room is supposed to be filled or not." Immediately, a gray bubble pops up with three dots.

"How many seats? And I was afraid we'd lost you already." Cayle texted, adding a winking face thing at the end.

I think they call them emoji.

I quickly look around and spot two columns of seats, with six to each row and 15 or 16 rows. "About 200 hundred. I'm counting 180 right now."

More grey bubbles pop up before he answers snappily "Did you seriously count?"

"Not really. Two columns, six seats per row. 15 rows." I answer before a male voice speaks up.

"Good morning everyone."

I cast my eyes up in time to see a bored looking man set down a briefcase as most of the auditorium says something back to him, and for him to smile.

"Well, first off, knowing this is a mandatory Freshman level class and on behalf of the University, welcome. A lot of you are probably nervous, and you should be, it's the first day. Nerves are good. All nerves mean is that you're still scared, that you still feel things. You can still learn. In my opinion, there's nothing worse than feeling nothing." The professor lectures. "I'm Dr. James Calhoun, professor of well…that doesn't matter since I'm teaching this class."

Scribbling down the name "Calhoun", I keep my ears peeled as he continues. "—lot of people think this class specializes in bullshit, but I prefer to think it shows you the yellow brick road you can follow down…"

On and on and on. Like a Ki-Adi-Mundi history lesson.

I write down "yellow brick road" just to give myself something to do, then covertly flip on my phone and text Cayle. "He's lost me already. The guy is like Mundi is Archives and Historical Facts."

"Most of our fellow friends have conveniently decided not to show up today since today is a day commonly known as Syllabus Day." Calhoun continues, plling out a stack of paper, splitting it and two and handing one to the first person in each column and row. "Take one, pass it back. You know the drill."

Man mocks students for not showing up, then proceeds to do the thing that prompts the mocking. Not very observant.

The blue haired girl giggles quietly, and I quickly glance over to see her looking at me before covering her mouth to hide a smile and looking away, back to a notebook.

"—you can really look at it later. But I hid a present for everyone who didn't come today. There's a section on the third page that tells you of a way to get a free perfect test grade. Just follow the instructions and you'll be all set."

So color within the lines.

"And now he's holding our hand and handing out a test for showing up today." I text Cayle.

"Two other things. One, this class has a clicker portion that you're required to buy at the bookstore. Points will begin on Friday so that everyone has a chance to buy one. This is also mentioned in your syllabus. Finally, a group activity to break the ice. Please find a partner, group up and get to know them a little. Once you've shared two or three things, you're free to go." Calhoun nods, then turns back to his bag.

Okay then. Well, I don't need to look right at the girl, that'd just be—

"Hi!" She turns in my direction. "I'm Sabine Wren."

I turn to her and return her smile. "Hi Sabine, I'm Ezra."

Sabine smiles back, looking electrified. "Hello! So, two things or three things?"

I immediately laugh, getting her to do the same. "Up to you. I'm cool either way."

"Cool huh?" She narrows her eyes. "I'll be the judge of that. So where are you from, Ezra?"

"Georgia! Augusta." I say awkwardly as she keeps smiling at me. "You?"

"I'm from Chicago. Well a suburb really. But yeah, Chicago. Dad works in pharmaceuticals there."

"Lived there your whole life?" I ask, trying to hide my jealously.

Sabine nods. "Yup, unti I came out here. What are you thinking of majoring in?"

"Physics, maybe computer sciences?" I shrug. "I don't really know. You?"

Sabine smiles again, then shows me the notebook she's been using the whole time. "Art."

It's a sketch of the tree outside the window.

"That's really good…" I trail off, glancing from her sketch to look at the real thing near the bottom of this auditorium.

"Thank you!" She continues smiling while glancing at her drawing. "Now, that's two or three, or maybe even four things. One final question for you Ezra."

"Okay."

She wants to get out of here now.

"Would you like to come to the underground to get coffee and breakfast with me? I didn't get to eat and I'm starving." She admits, then smiles once more at me.

"You didn't get to eat?" I ask. "Why not?"

"Went to the gym instead." She shrugs while slipping her notebook into your bag. "So? Want to continue this in a less awkward place over food?"

I smile nervously. "Sure. But don't say less awkward. All I do is awkward." I steal one of Cayle's lines.

"Tell me about it. C'mon." She laughs, then starts leading me out of the class and outside.