It was a month and a half after my birthday that we graduated from preliminary school. We stayed out all night, and our parents nearly had heart attacks, especially my father. After all, his little girl was out all night with three boys. Me, Riv, Dek, and Joss went out to many late-night cafés and listened to live bands. I taught Riv the latest dance moves, and we drank way to much caf. And when all the clubs and cafés had closed, we went to the public gardens and played on the children's play equipment until dawn, when we went to the outskirts of town in Riv's and Dek's speeder bikes and lay on a blanket and watched the sunrise over the fields of grass.
It was one of the best nights of my life. I will never forget it.
Our parents found us, courtesy of the Palace Guards under the command of Captain Magneta, King Veruna's bodyguard, on the outskirts of Theed all asleep on the blanket on the grassy hill where we watched the sunrise, at about noon the next day. My father ran out of our speeder as mother watched with a smile on her face, and I still looked around blankly, wondering what in the name of the sith was going on; swooped me up in his arms to take me home right away. I looked over his shoulder as he walked to our speeder and waved a sleepy good-bye to Riv, Dek and Joss, who all waved back. King Veruna was there, with his sister, Danellé, Riv's mother, as was Governor Bibble and Gromyko and Julé Trenerem-Ser.
Poor Riv, Dek and Joss all got into deep trouble. That's not saying that I didn't, but my parents were more relieved that angry. I didn't see the boys for the majority of the rest of the month. So, I focused on my dance. I corresponded with Yané regularly and read all the Jedi bookchips in the Royal Theed Library, which didn't take that long. I got into an extended argument with my parents about taking the Royal Exams, I didn't see the need, but they insisted. Nearly all our talks ended in shouting matches. I finally stopped arguing for two reasons, I could fail them on purpose; and it would be the first time I had seen Riv since the day after we graduated (he had been grounded, and my movements restricted).
So, the day before the exam, I wrote him a long letter that was really just me complaining to him about our current situation. I stored in on a datachip that I hid in my pocket. The day of the Exam, it was gray and cloudy, no rain yet, but the distant rumble of thunder was heard, and everyone knew the rain would come. I got up early and showered and got dressed. I wore my hair down, like I usually do. It was down to mid-back, I braided a few strands on my left side. I was depressed, tired, and the realization of what I was about to do sunk into my skin a little more. I stared into the mirror, my hair was longer and silkier than I remembered, and my face paler from spending so much time inside. I was becoming more of a woman and less of a girl. This both annoyed me and pleased me at the same time.
Someone knocked on my door.
"Enter." I said from the 'fresher. A maid entered and I came out of the 'fresher.
"Your father asks you to join him for breakfast, milady."
"I'll be down in a minute." I replied. She curtsied and left the room. I went over to my closet and got out my shoes. Some pointy-toed, high-heeled things that where deathly uncomfortable, not to mention unpracticed. Whoever designed them should be shot. I thought. A thought occurred to me and I shoved them back in the closet and took out my comfortable white boots. No one could see them under my dress anyhow.
I smirked to myself and went downstairs to eat. I think father noticed, but he didn't say anything, just raised one of his eyebrows and went back to eating. Natan came down a few minutes later and took me to the University of Theed, Queen Epolita Hall, where the Exam was given every three months. I stepped out of the covered speeder and looked at the tall marble building, turned to close the door.
Bye Natan. See you in four hours. I said in Ma'lacian. I always spoke Ma'lacian to my family.
Anytime little sis. You, ah, don't need me to walk with you up there, do you?
Hey! I said, Don't be insulting. I closed the door and the speeder roared away. Natan always did like to drive fast. I walked up the stairs slowly, looking for Riv. I went inside and walked down the hallway. I saw many people from school, and a few strangers. Eirtaé was there, and I knew why Dek didn't sign up for this session. I saw Sabé and Aselpha together and said hi. Nobody was allowed in the Exam rooms yet, so they were all crowded around the doors. I squeezed through the people and saw Riv at the end of the hallway, watching the rain splatter against the window. I grinned and snuck up behind him. He didn't hear me. I quickly put my hands over his eyes, and leaned up on my tip-toes to whisper in his ear as his hands went up over mine,
"Guess who?" I saw him grin, then twist around funny.
"Rabé!" he growled and tickled me. I laughed and twisted around to get out of reach. I was then swept up into a hug, "It's been eons!" he groaned.
"I know." I said. He released me from the hug. I looked him up and down. "You've grown!" I accused him.
"I know." he said, repeating me. "And you haven't at all." he paused, "At least not in height."
My jaw dropped. "Getting quite presumptuous without me around, aren't you?"
He grinned, "I've missed you." he said. "It's very lonely in the Palace."
"How much more time in Jail?"
"Too long." he said, rolling his eyes. "Another week; how about you?"
"Three days. Joss?"
"He's already free. Dek?"
"Oh, he's in for another week and a half. Did you know the speeder bike wasn't his?"
"No!" he said, incredulous.
"It was his father's new one."
"Oh, I'd be dead."
"Me too."
A modulated droid voice came over the speakers. "All students report to assigned rooms. The Exam will begin in twenty minutes."
I looked at Riv, "What room are you in?" I asked.
"305."
"Me too." I said, "Let's go."
So, we went to the room and sat down and took the blasted three hour test. I read the question and then just filled in random bubbles, determined to fail. I was not the first one done, surprisingly, but the third or fourth. Sabé was the last, meticulously going over each answer at least three times. Riv gave me a angst-ridden glance and pretended to knock his head against his desktop. I had to bite my cheeks to keep from laughing. When the droids finally dismissed us, Riv and I were the last to leave. We walked slowly outside.
"How did you get done so quickly?" Riv asked.
"It's a secret." I said.
"You didn't cheat!?" he asked sharply.
"No!" I cried, offended. I gave a small half-smile. "I deliberately failed."
He stopped walking, shocked, "What! Why?" He asked.
I shrugged, "Lots of reasons."
"Like what?"
"To spite my parents, because I don't need to take them, to get them to notice what I am capable of doing when they force me to do something I don't want to do." I ticked the reasons off my fingers. We walked on.
"Then why'd you come? You could have left after Natan dropped you off."
"To get outside, to be free for four hours," I looked pointedly at him, "to see you."
He smiled, the door outside opened and we stepped through. "Good reasons." he said, a pleased little grin on his face. We looked around. Nearly everyone was gone. Eirtaé was waiting for her ride and so were a few others. Natan wasn't there yet, and neither was Riv's ride. We sat on the steps.
"Ugh." I said, leaning my head on his shoulder.
"Careful." He said furtively, "This is what got us in trouble in the first place."
I laughed, "That's not true."
"Point, but I don't think I could stand another month of wandering around the Palace trying to have an actual conversation with anybody. All they talk about is politics." He sighed, frustrated, "I tried to have a conversation with Amidala. It just didn't work; she gave me this look when I started talking about the speeder bike Uncle Veruna gave me for my birthday, so I decided to stop. Boy, is she ever the exciting conversationalist." The sarcasm that spilled from him could be detected by a blind, deaf, mute village idiot.
"I'm sorry." I said. "Sometimes I think it's my fault." I paused, lifted my head. "I doubt if your family, or Dek's or Joss's would have been half as angry if I wasn't there."
"Don't say that. It wouldn't have been the same without you. Whose ideas were they? Yours. We probably would have gone to the Palace and watched holovids if you hadn't been there, and that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun."
I smiled. The wind blew fiercely, tugging at my hair. I could smell the rain. A covered speeder stopped in front of the hall and a short woman with curly brown hair got out of the speeder and beckoned to Riv.
"There's my mom." Riv said. We got up. I got the datachip from my pocket and gave it to him. His fingers closed over mine.
"Read it when you get home." I said, smiling.
"Okay." he said, giving me a hug.
"Try not to go to insane." I said, "I'll see you in a week, okay?"
"Every minute is an eternity." He said in a slightly mocking, groaning way, coming out of the hug and stumbling down the stairs.
"Bye."
He got into the speeder and waved to me. I sat on the stairs and rested my chin on my knees as he sped off. I looked sideways, Eirtaé was watching me. Ugh, what a creepy feeling. I cocked my head towards her.
"Enjoying the show?" I asked in an innocent, spiteful kind of way.
She lifted her head high, her blond hair pulled severely back into a single curl that fell down her back. She strode purposefully over to me and stood in front of me, her hands on her thin hips.
"I know it was you." She hissed at me. "Don't even try to hide it. I'll get you back, one of these days, just you wait." Ooh, I thought, I'm ever so scared. She glared at me, I decided to play innocent. So, I looked dubiously at her.
"That's quite the little statement." I said snidely. "However, I'm confused. What is it that I have supposedly done?"
She glared imperiously at me. "You glued my locker shut. You told everyone I like that sniveling idiot, Kal. You took that holovid and put it everywhere. You put that giant spider in my lunch. You told everyone my family trades with Gungans. You-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I said, putting up my hand to stop her tirade. "Back up the hoverbus of understanding and let me jump on board." I paused. "How many?"
"What?"
"How many mean pranks total?" I said slowly
She thought for a moment. "Ten or eleven."
I stared incredulously at her. "You think I did all those pranks?!"
"If not you. . ."
"Okay. First of all, I don't have that kind of time on my hands. Second of all, your slight insult against my intelligence level and my family isn't worth that kind of effort." I saw Natan pull up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my brother is here to take me home." I got up, picked up my skirt and walked down the stairs. I paused, then turned around to look at her.
"How many people have you insulted?"
"Huh?"
"Be mean to, cause angst and destructive behavior."
She shrugged uncomfortably. "I dunno."
"I suggest you remember, your solution may lie there," I smirked at her, "and maybe it'll keep you out of other people's business."
She gaped at me as I walked away.
Trouble? Natan asked as I got in the speeder.
Nothing I can't handle. I replied as we sped home.
Three days later, I was free and me and Joss went swimming in the country. Four days later, Riv was free and we went boating on the River Solleu. Four days after that, poor Dek was finally free and we were all together again.
A week later, as my family was eating dinner, my father made the announcement that would change all our lives.
~~~