Anakin was saying good bye to his room mate Jenka, after four years of sharing the same dorm at the Jedi Academy. They had grown to be very close friends during that time, and they were really sad to be drawn apart.
Jenka was leaving the Jedi Academy for personal matters. His father was very sick, and his mother needed him to help her take care of Jenka's little brothers and sisters.
"I've got to go or I'll be late", Jenka said sadly. Anakin forced a smile in an effort of lightening the mood and helped Jenka carry his bags outside the room. Once out in the hall, they dropped the bags and stood awkwardly in front of each other.
"Well, I guess this is good bye...", Anakin started. Jenka nodded and they hugged. "Take care, alright?"
"I will". They broke apart and shook hands. "See you, buddy". Anakin smiled and watched as Jenka walked away. After he was out of sight, Anakin walked inside his room and lied on his bed, depressed as hell.
Jenka was the closest thing he had to family. He was like his brother, they always took care of each other and get in trouble together. Being alone was going to be hard on Anakin.
*
Anakin was at the dean's office, waiting to hear who his new room mate was going to be. This made Anakin really mad. Jenka had only left two weeks ago and already he was being replaced. Whoever his new room mate was going to be, it would take Anakin a lot of time to accept him.
"Your new room mate is an outstanding young man and a remarkable Jedi Padawan. Though he comes from a wealthy family he chose to enter the Jedi Academy in Alderaan. He has been transferred to Courasant to finish his training", the dean said as he read the file. The only part that Anakin seemed to hear was the one about his new room mate's social status.
"He's rich?", Anakin asked frowning. The dean nodded and left the folder on his desk.
"Yes". They stayed in silence for a moment. "Why, is that a problem, Skywalker?", the dean answered raising a brow. Anakin shook his head a little nervous.
"No, no, of course not", he answered in a shaky voice.
"Good. Now go, your new room mate will be arriving soon and I want you to be there to help him".
"Of course. Thank you, dean Flyus", Anakin said as he stood up. He shook hands with the dean and left to his room, not really looking forward to meet his new room mate.
*
A pile of boxes laid on the hall right in front of Anakin's room. He muttered something through his teeth and unwillingly walked inside. He saw a young man puting some clothes in the closet. Anakin realized that he would be sharing rooms with this guy until who knows when, so he decided that it was better to be nice from the start. He sighed and cleared his throat.
"Hi, I'm Anakin Skywalker, your new room mate", he greeted. The young man turned around and smiled. He reached for Anakin's hand and shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Anakin. I'm Caleb", he said smiling. Caleb had brown curly hair and brown eyes. It reminded Anakin of his friend Jenka.
"Do you need help with those boxes out there?"
"No, thanks. I'm alright", Caleb answered as he went back to his unpacking.
A couple of hours later, Caleb and Anakin were buddies. They found out that they had a lot of things in common, like they both rather have lightsaber practice than meditation sessions, and stuff like that.
Caleb had a large family; two brothers and three sisters, and he was the younger brother. He also was the only member of his family that had ever studied to become a Jedi, and this made him proud. Most of his family was business people.
"So, Skywalker, do you have any brothers or sisters?", Caleb asked curious. Anakin got a little uncomfortable with the question. He had always wanted brothers and sisters, but his family was just him and his mother.
"No. My mom lives back in Tatooine alone. We used to be slaves, but somehow master Yoda discovered us and set us free. I'm waiting to become a Jedi so that I can go back and bring her over here. We haven't seen each other in years... I can't wait to be a Jedi, that way I will be able to take care of her", he explained.
"Wow, that's really nice of you", Caleb remarked. Anakin shrugged.
"She's my only family, it's the least I can do for her", he replied. Caleb nodded and they stayed quiet for a while.
"Oh, speaking about family! My sister is coming over for the weekend, I hope you don't mind...", Caleb mentioned.
"No, of course I don't mind, not at all".
"Great".
***
Anakin was walking through the temple's halls heading towards the caffeteria. He was so distracted that without noticing he bumped into some one. When he realized what had happened, he saw a girl lying on the floor, looking extremely mad. Anakin reached down to help her up.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going...", he started, but the girl interrupted him.
"No kiddin' ", she said sarcastically. "You should watch where you are going, Jedi".
"Hey, I said I was sorry", Anakin said shocked. This girl was being really rude.
"Well, sometimes sorry is not enough", the girl muttered. "Men... they think that everything is solved with saying 'sorry'. I can't believe this, you are supposed to be getting some education in this place..."
"What's you problem?", Anakin asked frowning.
"That's none of your business. Now get out of my way", she spat out. She kept walking and passed by Anakin, pushing him out of the way with her shoulder.
Anakin stood there with a "what the hell..." look on his face, wondering what was the matter with the young girl. He dismissed the issue and headed towards the caffeteria, ready to have a giant meal.
A couple of hours and five courses later, Anakin was heading back to his room. A girl Padawan caught his attention, and while he 'checked her out', he bumped into some one. Anakin fell to the floor, and he noticed that the other person was right in front of him, face on the floor.
//Oh no, twice in one day...//, he thought to himself. He reached for the other person's hand, and to his surprise he found the same girl he had bumped to hours ago, in the very same hallway.
"Oh no, not you again...", the girl muttered. She fixed her long blonde hair and stared coldly at Anakin with her brown eyes. Anakin helped her up and tried to take the dust off of her clothes. Clearly offended, the girl slapped him on the face.
"What was that for?!", Anakin asked grabbing his red cheek.
"And you have the nerve to ask? Your hands were all over me!", she almost yelled. Anakin laughed sarcastically and waved his hands in the air.
"I was trying to clean your clothes!"
"Yeah right, I've heard that one before...", the girl spat out. "Anyways, I gotta go. I have better things to do than discussing with little perverts in the hallway of the Jedi Academy", she said bitterly.
"Excuse me?", Anakin asked offended, but the girl was already on her way to the caffeteria. "Women..."
*
Caleb was reading a datapad from his lap when Anakin suddenly walked in, ready to tell his new friend about his little 'encounter' with the hysterical young female.
"Hey, Skywalker. What's up?", Caleb asked, not taking his eyes off the datapad. Anakin laughed and laid on his bed, putting his hands behind his head.
"I had an interesting experience today". This caught Caleb's attention, so he left the datapad on his night table and leaned on his elbow, waiting to hear more. "I was heading for the caffeteria when accidentally I bumped into a girl. I said I was sorry, and everything and for no apparent reason, the girl lost it!"
"That's weird...", Caleb said frowning. Anakin nodded.
"I know...", he added with a smile. "I've never seen some one lose it like that before! She even slapped me!". His hand reached for his cheek, as if he could still feel the stinging pain the girl's palm had left there.
"Well...?", Caleb asked smiling.
"Well what?", Anakin asked confused. Caleb smiled and raised his brows with a wicked grin.
"Was she pretty?". At his question, Anakin cleared his throat, a little uncomfortable. "Come on, you know you want to answer! There are not many girls walking around the temple, and I'd like to know if there are any pretty girls out there", Caleb insisted while he threw a pillow to Anakin with the Force. Anakin was off guard so the pillow hit him right on the face.
"Hey!", he said. Caleb laughed and Anakin soon joined him. "Alright, alright. She was...", just when he was about to answer, a girl entered the room. Anakin's eyes widened and he stood up. "YOU!", he said almost yelling. Caleb turned to the door and after a while he smiled.
"Padmé! Wow, I wasn't expecting this surprise!", he said as he stood up and hugged his sister. Padmé returned the embrace and kissed her brother's cheek. "But why are you wearing this wig?", Caleb asked clearly confused. Padmé giggled and took the wig off, setting free long locks of chestnut hair.
"I didn't want you to recognize me if you saw me in the Academy", she explained.
"Well, it kinda worked". Caleb and his sister hugged once more and laughed, really happy to be with each other again. When they broke the embrace, Padmé looked around the room and her jaw almost fell when she saw Anakin. Suddenly, she blushed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Padmé: this is Anakin, my new room mate. Anakin, this is Padmé, my little sister", Caleb introduced. Padmé reached for Anakin's hand and waited for him to do the same thing. Anakin hesitated before finally shaking her hand, just for a couple of seconds. Caleb noticed the tension between them and frowned. "Have you two met before?"
"NO!", they both said at the same time. Caleb raised his hands and stepped back.
"Alright, alright..., I'm sorry", he said smiling. Caleb turned to Padmé and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Tell me, Padmé, for how long are you staying and where?", he asked in an older brother tone. Padmé forced her look away from Anakin and looked at her brother.
"Until Monday, at the Salke hotel", she replied.
"That's great! I can't wait until Friday night, that's when they let us go out of the academy. I'll take you to this wonderful restaurant that I know. I'll take Crystal, so that you meet her", he said referring to his girlfriend. Then Caleb turned to Anakin. "Skywalker, you could go with Padmé. A double date... I haven't been in one for ages!"
Anakin turned white when he heard his friend's request. Padmé wasn't very pleased either. She and Anakin looked at each other, hating the fact that they would have to hang out together in order to keep Caleb from knowing that they had met before. And that they practically hated each other, even though they had just learned the other's name two minutes ago.
"So, what do you say, Skywalker?", Caleb asked smiling. Anakin shrugged.
"I don't know...", he said forcing a smile.
"Oh, come on, don't be shy... Padmé would love to go out with you, right Padmé?", Caleb asked turning to his sister.
"Can't wait...", she said sarcastically. //Why do you insist on playing matchmaker?//, she blurted at Caleb n her mind. She just wanted to scream. Caleb smiled and brought them together into a hug. "Caleb!", Padmé said annoyed, begging him to release her. Caleb let her go and stood between her and Anakin.
"Friday will be an interesting evening", Caleb said.
//You are damn right//, Padmé thought to herself. Anakin read her thoughts and nodded, clearly agreeing with her.
