"Rey! You're going to be late for your first day!"
Rey exhaled nervously and checked her outfit in the floor length mirror before pounding down the stairs. Rey was thankful that she didn't have to wear a uniform at her new school, but she knew her outfit wasn't exactly 'in-style'. Her beige skirt fitted loosely at her hips, and the previously-owned striped sweater hugged too tightly at her chest, but Rey didn't mind. She was too excited to start her first day at Star Killer High, the first real school she'd ever attended.
Rey walked into the kitchen, patting her cat BB-8 lightly on the head before picking up an apple and biting into its delicious red skin.
"I should have made you a warm breakfast," Rey heard her foster-father, Luke, say as he strolled into the kitchen. He poured his coffee into his travel mug and turned to give Rey a goofy grin. "Ready to hit the books my young padawan?"
"Luke," Rey giggled. "You know I don't read the same old, musty textbooks as you do, right? I have no idea what that means!"
"Expand your vocabulary my dear!" Luke replied, shoving pens into his messenger bag. "But in all seriousness, we should head out. We both can't be late."
Rey nodded and picked up her identical tan messenger bag. The bag was formally used as another suitcase between the various foster group homes that she was sent to, but now it was really going to be used at a school. Rey smiled at the image of herself strutting through the halls, surrounded by friends and giggling like there was no tomorrow.
She was pulled out of her daydream with the sound of Luke honking the horn of his dark green Toyota. Although she had only known him for a couple of weeks now, one of the first things she picked up about him was how proud he was of his car. He always boasted about how even though he was on a teacher's salary he could have nice things.
Rey walked out the front door and up to his car. Sliding into the passenger seat, she changed the radio station before buckling herself in, and Luke backed out of the driveway and embarked upon the journey to school.
"Any words of advice on how to survive sophomore year?" Rey asked Luke as they pulled into the 'Teacher's Only' parking lot.
Luke scrunched his nose up, deep in thought. "Well you're starting the first day of your second semester of sophomore year, meaning you're almost a junior! Which is crazy close to senior year and graduating! Oh my, and then there's college!"
"Luke!" Rey started giggling in her seat. "I'm serious!"
Luke smiled warmly at her. "All I'm trying to say is, don't let it go by too quickly. I know this is your first time being in a private school system, and not the rubbish teachers that taught at the foster homes you were at. It's different, but you'll really like it, and if you don't make any friends today, don't hesitate to come and eat lunch with me in the Psychology classroom."
"Thanks, Luke." Rey said, a genuine smile on her lips.
They got out of the car and walked in the large gray building. Luke stopped and turned to Rey. He hugged her strongly before releasing her, then handed her a piece of paper with class names and room numbers printed largely on it. "Have a great day!"
"You too!" Rey said, before waving one last time and heading towards the staircase that was marked with a large 'A'. Her class list said that she had Calculus first period, which, according to the list, was on floor A. She ascended the stairs, and turned towards the door that matched the number on her sheet. Rey inhaled, and stepped into the classroom.
Twenty pairs of eyes were on her immediately. Rey tried to smile at everyone, but she only received glares in respond. Quietly, she went up to the teacher's desk and introduced herself. The teacher seemed to be the only person in the room capable of showing her a sliver of kindness. The woman pointed to Rey's seat, and Rey thanked her before sliding into the empty desk in the very back of the room.
Overhead, the first bell rang and class begun. Rey took out her pencils and color-coded binders. She beamed up at the teacher, waiting for the woman to notice her superb organizational skills.
"Hello class!" Boomed the teacher. Rey examined her wild red hair which was in two thick braids, trailing all the way down her body, only stopping short of her waist. "I'm Mrs. Tano, and I'll be your advanced placement calculus teacher for the rest of your school year."
"To begin, let's go around and everybody can introduce themselves!" Mrs. Tano exclaimed. Rey smiled at Mrs. Tano, thankful for her happy energy.
She looked over at Rey, and pointed directly at her. "Why don't you start us off, honey?"
Rey swallowed, her mouth suddenly feeling very dry. All eyes in the room were turned to face her, and she could feel her face heating up.
"Hi," Rey said slowly, her accent booming out of her voice. "My name is Rey, and I just transferred here, so this is actually my first day at Star Killer High."
"Wonderful!" Mrs. Tano beamed at Rey. "Where are you from? I noticed your accent. Is it British?"
"Something like that," Rey replied swiftly. Mrs. Tano nodded her head and turned to her next victim.
"How about you next?" Mrs. Tano directed her voice at the boy in front of Rey who was slumped over his desk sleeping. The whole class let out a laugh when the boy didn't wake-up.
"The first day of the new semester and Finn is already sleeping!" Shouted a boy from across the room, which sent out another ripple of laughter throughout the class.
"Settle down, settle down please." Called Mrs. Tano. "Rey, would you please wake Mr. Finn up please?"
Rey nodded, leaning forwards to jab her finger into the tan leather of Finn's jacket. He jumped, taking a moment to adjust himself to the room. "Hey! What the he-," Finn began, but stopped when turned and saw Rey staring wide-eyed at him.
"You were sleeping." Rey said apologetically.
"I guess so," Finn replied, still staring intently at Rey.
"Mr. Finn, if you'd like to introduce yourself please?" Mrs. Tano asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"M'sure," Finn replied and went on to tell a very detailed story of himself, which received another large round of laughs from the class.
As the rest of the class went on to introduce themselves, Finn turned around and strummed his fingers on Rey's desk.
"Could you stop that? It's bothering me." Rey said.
Finn laughed. "Alright. Rey was it?" She nodded. "You don't look familiar. Have we met before?"
Rey snorted. "If you would have actually paid attention during introductions rather than sleep, you would know that this is my first day here."
Finn's dark brown eyes lit up. "I can show you around if you'd like."
"I'm fine-," Rey began, but stopped. She remembered that she actually had no idea where she was going after this, and could use help getting to her next class.
"Actually that'd be nice. Thank you." Rey said.
"Great!" Finn said beaming.
For the rest of class they talked, and Rey quickly grew too really like Finn. By the time the second bell rang, they were laughing like old friends.
"Let me see your class list," Finn said, putting his hand out. Rey handed him her list and waited until he located her second period class, Astronomy.
"HOW DID YOU GET ASTRONOMY?" Finn asked, his voice bouncing off the walls in the hallway.
"I didn't ask for it. They just put it on my class list." Rey said, snatching the list from Finn.
"Incredible." Finn said in awe as they kept walking. "I've been trying to get into that class since freshman year! It's so popular that they have a waiting list. You practically have to wait until your senior year to take that class!"
Rey nervously brushed her fingers through her shoulder length brown hair. She didn't like the idea of being in a class full of seniors. "So this is a good thing?" Rey asked instead of voicing her anxiety.
"I'M SO JEALOUS OF YOU!" Finn shouted in reply.
Rey laughed, and tried to ignore her uncertainty for the rest of their walk to the room.
When they reached the large astronomy room, Finn handed Rey a piece of paper with numbers scrolled across it.
"That's my number, give me a ring when you're on your way to the cafeteria and we can sit together." Finn said, smiling wide. Rey nodded, and thanked him for all his help.
"I'll see you at lunch then!" Rey called at Finn as he walked to his own classroom.
Rey opened the classroom door and stumbled inside. It was pitch black, with only a dim light coming from the ceiling. Rey looked up at the source, to find the planets dancing across the ceiling. She took in the beauty of all of them, appreciating how the projection allowed them to glide around. Rey moved to find a seat in the auditorium-like room. She turned into a row, and felt in front of her for a seat. Rey removed her bag and let it fall to the floor, then sat herself into what she thought was a seat until she heart an 'umph' come from behind her.
"You're uh-sitting on me," she heard a guy's low voice from behind her say.
"Oh my," Rey jumped up. "I'm so sorry!"
There was a low chuckle and then the voice replied, "Its fine."
Rey fumbled for the phone that Luke had bought for her, and illuminated the screen to use as a flashlight. She held it low, so it would not shine in the strangers face, and used it to slide into the empty seat next to him.
"Is this better?" Rey asked in a feeble attempt at a joke.
"Much," the stranger said, his voice enticing Rey to keep the conversation going.
"I'm Rey," she said quickly, her eyes immediately rolling at the shrill sound her voice had just made. "I'm sorry, truly."
"I'm Ben Solo." He replied, his voice giving Rey goose bumps. The words flowed from his mouth with such an elegant ease that made Rey intrigued.
It was quiet for some time, until suddenly the projected planets became brighter and brighter, filling the room with more light. Rey dared herself to glance over at the mysterious face of Ben Solo, but resisted.
Their teacher introduced himself, and announced that he would be playing a video on the basics of space for the rest of class. Rey let herself relax slightly, and finally turned to sneak a look at Ben Solo. As she turned her head, she realized that he was already watching her.
"Sorry," he said, clearly slightly embarrassed that she caught him watching her.
She was about to say that it was fine, until she fully realized his appearance. He was so handsome, with a long structured nose and perfectly full eyebrows. She noticed that he was lightly biting his full bottom lip. She allowed herself to take in the shape of his jawline, and his wonderfully tussled black hair. His eyes were the most untainted brown she had ever seen, and they were fixed on her.
She tried to speak, but her voice was caught in her throat. "I guess it's my turn to say sorry. Again."
He smiled softly, keeping his lips pressed together to not reveal any teeth. "I guess so."
Oh God, Rey thought to herself. She wiped the sweat off her palms onto her skirt, and tried to focus on the video playing. Rey couldn't help but feel like he was still staring, the weight of his gaze crushing her more and more every minute that she didn't turn to meet it.
"Are you a senior then?" Ben Solo asked, his question light but still hitting Rey harder than she wanted it to. She debated lying and saying that she was in fact older than her actual age, but Luke always told her that lying never solved anything.
"No," Rey began, turning to face him. "I just transferred here. Today's my first day actually."
Ben narrowed his eyes, clearly aware that she went around his question centered at finding out how old she was. "I'm sorry you had to transfer to this sad excuse of a school."
I'm not, Rey thought, but kept that to herself and simply shrugged instead. "I'm just glad to be going to a real school."
Ben stared at her. "Are you a previous homeschooler?"
Rey swallowed. "Not exactly. I'm a foster kid." She said quietly. "I'm used to the true 'sad excuses of a school' that the group homes offered. My new foster family, which is actually the first family I've ever had, was kind enough to send me to this school."
Ben Solo just continued to stare at her. Rey felt her face flush with embarrassment. She didn't know why she just revealed her life story to a boy she met less than an hour ago.
It was quiet for the rest of class, and Rey was furious by the time the bell rang. How could he just sit there and not say anything after Rey told him something extremely important? She rose to her feet and let the auditorium chair slam against its backing as she grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room. She was one foot out of the doorway when she heard him call her name. Rey contemplated not turning around and pretending as if she hadn't heard him, but against her better judgement she spun around, her hands clenched in fists at her side.
"Rey." Ben Solo breathed as he moved to stand right in front of her. "Do you dance?"
"Excuse me?" Rey spluttered, her eyes moving up and down his towering figure.
"Dancing? You know, with your feet?"
"Are you serious?" She couldn't believe this.
"Very much so," he responded.
"Well, not really." Rey answered flatly.
"Great," Ben responded. He reached out his hand to Rey, and she took the piece of paper that was formerly in his grasp. "A friend of mine is throwing a 'half-way through senior year' party. Care to join me?"
"I-I, uh, why did you ask if I dance?"
"Because I don't. And I want to make sure you won't try to force me into awkwardly flailing my limbs to music that is too loud and too predictable."
She just stared at him, a myriad of emotions coursed through her.
"The address is on that paper," Ben nudged his heard towards Rey's hand. "I hope to see you there, Rey."
And with that he stalked out of the room.