The bell rings on a typical Tuesday afternoon – the bell for fourth period. While the other classes bounce about with joyful expressions on their faces, one class goes about in a solemn manner. Well, some of them. Others are crunching their fists in anticipation for the event that's coming soon:
Gym class.
Gym was mandatory, unless you had a really good excuse for not playing (say, if your face melted off, but even then you might not get excused). Twice a week, for one pain-filled hour, gym wasn't something the dorks, nerds, geeks, wallflowers, and losers in general liked.
The class was divided into two: Lando, Leia, Biggs, Darth Maul, and Anakin against Padme, Han, Chewie, Luke and Obi-Wan. Jabba was excused from gym (that sneaky twerp), and was busy cackling silently as he sat on the bleachers.
The gym teacher, Coach Ripper, was this buff Ewok who wasn't afraid to poke you with his spear if you didn't behave.
"Yerba cherba choo poop pah!" Coach Ripper yelled at the class. No one knew what he was saying half the time, but the Ewok used his spear and gesturing to communicate. Right now, Ripper was jabbing his spear towards a box of dodge balls. Uh oh. Dodge ball.
The teams separated and stood on opposite ends of the court. Coach Ripper raised a whistle to his furry lips. Everyone tensed.
Then Coach ripper let out a long "TRIIIIIILLLLL" and the game began.
Padme didn't last long. She ran around, shrieking, as the dodge ball hit her face. Anakin, though on the other team, hurried over and carried her away. He didn't get far when he was hit also.
Two down, eight to go.
Lando held out a bit before slipping on his long cape and landing on his face. A dodge ball to the back of his face pronounced him out.
The only people great at the dodge ball game were Darth Maul, Han, Obi-Wan, and Leia. Biggs and Luke just sort of walked away after dodging balls for a few minutes and happily started discussing flying.
Obi-Wan and Darth Maul skipped the balls and were fighting like madmen, but that was usual. (There was a rumor circulating that Maul had gotten Qui Gon-Jinn, Obi-Wan's favorite teacher, fired, but nobody but Principal Yoda knew the truth.)
No, what everybody was watching now was the intense match between Han and Leia.
Leia was like a human cannon, shooting balls at Han, who was dodging the balls and throwing them back just as fast. For forty minutes, the match went on, and neither of them wavered or backed out. The clock ticked louder than usual, reminding the class that gym would be over in a mere three minutes, but no one celebrated like always. They wanted to watch the game and see it finished, to see who would be announced the winner.
Leia threw a green ball at Han, who at the same time threw a purple one.
The balls seemed to go in slow motion as both competitors reached to catch the ball.
The clock ticked some more, seeming as loud as ever.
And the impossible happened.
They both caught the other's ball.
For a second, Han and Leia stared at each other, looks of shock on their faces.
And then the bell rang.
"Merche wa waaaaaa!" Coach Ripper clapped his furry paws together.
Everyone assumed the coach was talking about the great game ending in a tie, but then the Ewok pointed his spear at the shaggy fur carpet at the far end of the court.
"Chewie . . .?" Han looked confused. "But what's he got to do with anything?"
Leia tried not to laugh as she said, "I think . . . I think the coach is saying that Chewie won the game."