Dinner had been the worst part of the evening for Anakin. The most he could afford was a casual restaurant and that was hardly the place for a Homecoming dinner. It was his limit though – the bill for himself and Padme had eaten up his allowance for at least two weeks. He watched not without jealously as Obi-Wan easily paid the bill for both himself and Sabe. Padme had offered to pay for herself and Anakin wished she hadn't. Blushing, Anakin had assured her that it was alright and put out the cash. Anakin was grateful that Padme and Sabe had been so polite as to not say anything about the simplicity of the place. This tact made him love Padme even more and respect Sabe more as well. The fact that Obi-Wan didn't say anything ether, naturally, went over Anakin's head. Of course this tact of the two girls made Anakin feel worse. He was tying them down, in his opinion. He wanted to take Padme to an elegant, expensive restaurant with romantic candle lighting, soft music, and prim waiters with French accents. He also felt bad because of Sabe. She deserved to go to a nice place for dinner on a formal date night, especially since Obi-Wan would be able to pay for any restaurant she wanted to go to. That was actually one of the things Anakin thought of when he asked himself why a cute girl like Sabe would date someone like Obi-Wan – he was loaded.
Once they arrived at the dance Anakin started to relax. Spotting Quin, who was already trying to fondle a sexy looking Aayla, Anakin waved and shouted, "Thanks for the favor!"
Quinlan smiled at him and mouthed, "You owe me details later, Skywalker."
"You wanna go dance?" Anakin asked Padme, still a little fidgety.
"Of course."
Anakin took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor, The fast song that was playing made excessive contact a little difficult to obtain, which was frustrating not only for Anakin but other guys with "hot" dates, but it was a blessing enough for the smitten blonde to have Padme dancing with him – not some other guy but HIM.
Obi-Wan, feeling that he wasn't quite ready to "get out and giggy" as his mother had called it, led Sabe to the refreshments table. The music was loud and made conversation a little difficult but Obi-Wan was pleasantly surprised when he realized that Sabe seemed to be quite interesting in a political conversation. 'This might turn out alright after all,' Obi-Wan thought to himself, now more because he was actually thinking that way and not as a way of reassuring himself.
However, things just had to go wrong. "Hey, Obi-Wan," called a female voice behind him and Obi-Wan turned to come eye to eye with a rather flushed Siri. 'Probably because of all that dancing,' Obi-Wan thought, more bitterly then he should have. Siri had abandoned her usual black style for a baby-blue, spaghetti-strap, cocktail-length dress. It was glossy and flowing, bringing out her icy eyes, which sparkled with excitement. Next to her stood a lanky jock, who had on a disturbingly lusty smile.
"Hello, Siri. You having fun?"
"Yup! You want to introduce me to your date,"
"Oh umm…yes of course. Sabe this is my friend Siri. Siri this is Sabe."
"And I'm Dave," the jock, Dave, butted in.
After a round of sincere and not so sincere "nice to meet you"s Siri finally waved a goodbye to Obi-Wan and Sabe and walked off with Dave to dance to the new slow song.
A slow song was the last thing Obi-Wan needed. He had to ask Sabe to dance, she was starting to look annoyed with him and other guys had started to look interested in her. Obi-Wan knew that if he let her go off with someone else then he would obtain the reputation of "ditched at dance" along with other things. Obi-Wan glanced to where Siri was dancing with Dave and felt him stomach tie into an unexplainable knot. Tearing his eyes away from Siri, Obi-Wan turned to Sabe and asked her to dance. A smile spread on her face/ "I honestly thought you'd never ask and we'd just babble about politics all night. Padme would enjoy the conversation more," Sabe said with a laugh, dragging Obi-Wan onto the dance floor and locking her arms round his neck. Obi-Wan couldn't help but blush. Had he really so miscalculated her interests?
But the embarrassment faded as his eyes found Siri in the crowd. There was something about her tonight that made his stomach lurch and his breathing a little more shallow. Something about her blonde hair and blue eyes. And that stupid wa y she was smiling up at Dave. All her smiles for him had been teasing, even if friendly, and he had never mined. Not once – until now. Now something inside of him made him wish that she would smile in that…special…way.
Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of Bant and Garen dancing together and thought off handedly that they would make a cute couple. Then his attention returned to its previous alternation between Sabe and Siri.
Anakin had lost the sense of time and space rather quickly. He had given Padme his full attention, not letting Tru's glares that demanded attention get to him. She was beautiful in her open-back pink dress and her hair up in elegant curls. Her brown eyes would look into his and Anakin would have the biggest urge to kiss her. Kiss her long and deep.
After several songs Padme had excused herself and steeling Sabe from Obi-Wan made her way to the ladies room. Anakin, dreamy and slightly flushed, made his way over to one of the refreshment tables.
"Finally!" Tru called. "Why is everyone always ignoring me?"
"You should've gotten a date man," Anakin said lightly, clapping Tru on the shoulder and pouring himself some punch. "Damn, Tru, she's so gorgeous!"
"Who?"
"What do you mean who? Padme of course!"
"Oh I see. Well to each his own. I'm board and ditched so I'm not in the mood for your lover-boy drivel."
"Ah lighten up," Anakin laughed. "Have you seen Darra?"
"Yup. But she's ignoring me too. She's been dancing with Olin all this time."
Anakin groaned. "What does she SEE in him? I wonder what kind of crap he's been feeding her."
Darra was having a good time. Ferus was hot, nice, and smart. She really didn't understand why Anakin didn't like him. 'Most likely,' Darra decided, 'it's for the same reason he doesn't like Obi-Wan.' However she wished she could be having a better time. Ferus was going on about some psychological novel's author or something of the sort and Darra found her concentration wavering. She glanced over to where Anakin was standing with Try and wondered where Amidala had gotten to.
She didn't want to admit it but she would rather be dancing with Anakin then with Ferus. Ferus was great of course but he was no Anakin. 'Maybe I'll ask him for a dance later,' Darra decided and returned her attention to Ferus with a mission to change the subject to something more interesting.
"Oh this atmosphere is definitely quite rejuvenating. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Windu?" Principle Palpatine asked as he and Mr. Windu made rounds around the dancing students. "It's always such a pleasure to see our students enjoying themselves here. That is why I agree to chaperone when I can," Palpatine added with a sugary smile.
"Perhaps, but kids these days have no decency like in my days here. Ha! Not only do they not have decency but they lack class and style," Mr. Windu disagreed passionately. "The way people dance these days."
"Oh I am sure you are over exaggerating," Palpatine drawled.
"With all due respect, Principle Palpatine, if you call that decent…" Mace motioned to where Aayla was dancing with her back to Quinlan, her hips grinding against his in a rhythmic motion. Quinlan's hands were moving along her body, traveling to rather inappropriate areas.
"Oh, my…" Palpatine said shaking his head.
Mace put on his tough face and marched toward Aayla and Quin. "Hey, kid!" Mace shouted at Quin. "Stop fondling her and acquire some sense of decency." With a huff Mace Windu marched away leaving Aayla and Quin to snicker behind his back.
"Awful is it not?" Yoda said, coming up to Windu's side. "Maybe right you are, Mr Windu. Have the PE teacher's job you should." Yoda hummed thoughtfully. "In my day, teach ball dancing in Physical Education they did. Teach these children proper dancing you could."
"Pardon me, Mr. Yoda," Mace said slowly. "But I don't know ball room dancing that well so I couldn't possible teach them that."
"A problem, that is not!" Yoda announced almost proudly. "Teach you I could. Be your partner for demonstrations I could too."
For a moment Mace's eyes widened, then regaining control of himself he said with a fake smile, "I think I'll go and dance." Mace stumbled onto the dance floor and tried to roll his hips in an imitation of some of the students near him.
"Strange, Mr. Windu can be," Yoda muttered to himself. "Counseling he may need. Meditate during yoga on this I will."
"I'm board," complained Ventress, tapping her long nails on the tabletop.
"We could dance," Maul said suggestively.
"You touch me and I kill you," she hissed.
"I can't believe they ditched us," Bruck muttered, referring to Dooku, Xanatos, and GG. Dooku Jr. had scored a date with the librarian's helper, not to mention most likely the future librarian. Xanatos, because of his dashing looks had attracted a sexy blonde girl and had gone off to dance. GG had stalked after Shaak Ti until she was forced to hide from him in the bathroom. Maul and Ventress had bet on how much time it would take until GG actually dared to go inside the girls bathroom.
"You know we don't need them," Maul sneered, his eyes fixed on the spot where Obi-Wan, Ferus, and a few of their friends from the Super Quiz team had gathered and where obviously engrossed in some conversation. "We can have our own fun."
Ventress and Bruck exchanged looks. Ventress fingered the beads lining the low cut of her black dress. "What do you have in mind?"
TEASER:
Next time on FACADES...
"Anakin and I," Padme started carefully. "We don't suit each other do we?"
Sabe squinted, confused. "Why not?" Padme sighed inwardly. This wasn't going to be so easy. "Well we are so different." "And?" "And I romantic relationship, or anything like it, between us would be socially unacceptable." "Since when has that bothered you?"
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"Have you ever been to one of the tropical islands?" Padme asked, leaning over the back railing of the bleachers that stood overlooking the football field.
"No. I, ah, I don't get to travel much. But I suppose I'd like to go one day. Have you ever been to one?" "My parents use to always take me and my sister to some warm beachside resort when I was younger. We'd swim out in the ocean, or walk through the forest and listen to the birds sing. We'd always go to the beach to watch the sunset and lie in the warm sand." "I hate sand," Anakin remarked contemplatively. "It's rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere."