Hi everyone! WOW! It's been so long. 4 years?! Where was I? What happened? Well, I finished school, got my degree, and now I have my dream job! And what's that?! I get to deliver babies! :D
So much has changed in my life these last 4 years! I started off my career in the ICU at the height of COVID, and all the things I saw really affected me that I'm still trying to get through all this time later. I thought going back to writing might help. Who knows. But once thing remains, I love Star Wars. It has and always will be my safe space! Now, I can't guarantee that I will post and update often, but I will try my best. I found this in my notes written roughly 4 years ago, and added bits and pieces here and there.
Well, enough of my ranting. Let's see what Rey and Ben are up to after all this time!
Saturday, November 10, 1939
Just like clockwork, Ben ended up getting sick two days after he visited Rey on Saturday night. In the past he might have been upset about getting the stomach flu, since it makes everyone so miserable. But he was able to have two days off of school and practice to think about important things, like his future, and a particular new woman in his life, Rey.
But now, it was finally Friday night.
Today was a day he had been waiting for since the beginning of the football season.
Playoffs.
And not just the playoffs.
It was the quarter-finals.
Tonight was the quarter-final match for the state of Illinois, against their arch rival: West High School.
The team had prepared all week leading up to this fateful day.
Hours of hard work on the field was going to be put to the test against one of the most powerful defenses in the state of Illinois high school football.
Thankfully, Ben was able to gain enough strength back to attend practice Wednesday and Thursday night.
He was going to need all the strength he could muster.
While Central had great offense, West had an almost impenetrable defense.
All week the team went over every strategy in the book to try and find a solution to break through the defense. And they think they finally have it.
Now they just have to put their plan into action on the battlefield tonight.
As Ben was getting ready for school that Friday morning, he was looking forward to the prospect of seeing Rey at the game tonight. He had invited her over the phone several days prior, and Rey was more than excited to come to the game. Of course, Ben knew she would have been dragged along to the game with her best friend Kaydel, but knowing how excited she was to see him made him happy.
After finishing shaving his face, he walked out of the small bathroom and into the kitchen where his mom was making scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.
"Big day today," Leia said while scraping some of the eggs onto a plate with toast that was lathered in butter and grape jelly for her son.
Nodding while he sat down, Ben took a sip of his orange juice before speaking, "Yeah, hopefully we bring back the win."
Leia got her own plate of eggs with toast before sitting down across from her son.
She was proud of him and the many accomplishments he had made thus far in his academic and sports career. Baseball was his life when his father was still in the picture, but she was happy he finally found a new sport he seemed to enjoy playing. He had a great group of friends too.
"I'm sure the team will do wonderfully," Leia stated after swallowing a piece of her toast. She piped up, "Are you going to see Rey at the game?"
A small blush made its way across Ben's cheeks and he nodded. As soon as she captured her sons nod, Leia smiled from ear to ear.
"So… Things are going good then?" She said impatiently.
Ben took another sip of his drink and nodded, "Things are going fine between us."
Leia's brown eyes filled with joy, "I would love to meet Rey one of these days. Perhaps you could bring her over for Thanksgiving? Maybe even invite her mother? It's been so long since we have had company over and I was just gifted this new China set from the company that is of the most wonderful quality."
Ben reached his hand across the table, firmly grasping his mothers hand, "Of course, I will bring it up to her after the game tonight. I would love to invite them both."
Her smile grew even brighter as she squeezed her son's hand before letting it go to take in the rest of her breakfast.
The night came quickly.
And it was cold.
Real cold.
Kaydel and Rey had just gotten to West High School. The two best friends weaved in and out of the crowd trying to find a spot in the bleachers for them to sit and watch the match of the century.
The moment Kaydel found Zekk on the field she jumped up and down waving, trying to get the love of her life to notice her excitement for the game.
Noticing sudden movement up in the stands, Ben looked to see Rey's best friend jumping up and down like a lunatic while Rey sat down on the bleachers looking up at her, seemingly embarrassed by Kaydel's energy.
On the opposite side of the football field, Zekk laughed at the sight of his love, and waved to her before turning around to discuss battle plans with the rest of the team.
Finally winded from the cold air and the constant jumping, Kaydel sat down next to Rey.
"Doesn't Zekk look amazing in his uniform?" Kaydel exclaimed while hearts seemed to fill her eyes.
"Ummmm…. Sure?" Rey chuckled a bit while rubbing her mittened hands together, trying her best to warm them up.
Kaydel smiled, "Ohhhh, your mind is just filled with Benny boy, isn't it?"
Rey's face turned a little red, "Shush." Thankfully, it was hard to tell whether she was blushing or if the pinkness in her cheeks were from the cold.
"See, my favorite part of the uniform is the pants… They just fit so nicely around-"
Rey smacked her friend's arm feeling slightly embarrassed, "Kay!"
Her best friend winked while putting a piece of popcorn in her mouth, "Hey, I'm not lying."
Rey rolled her eyes and threw a piece of popcorn into her mouth.
Both of them waited there patiently for the game to begin at 6 o'clock sharp.
Only a few more minutes to go.
"Are you nervous?" Kaydel asked while shoving her hand into the popcorn tin.
"About what?" Rey said back.
"West losing, of course!" Kaydel blurted out while munching on the bit of popcorn.
"Kay, I'm not worried about that, I'm more worried about my butt freezing on these seats!"
Rey and Kaydel both laughed while continuing to eat the popcorn.
Rey looked down at her wristwatch then back at the field.
It was 5:55.
Almost game time.
She searched along the sidelines looking for Ben.
It didn't take long to see his gangly appearance stick out of the crowd. He was in the middle of the huddle with his teammates still.
A few seconds later, they pumped fists and Ben started to walk onto the field with the quarterback to his right.
Zekk and the quarterback from West followed suit from the opposite side of the field.
In the middle, the four football players were met with the referee and coaches of each school.
Ben and Zekk looked at each other, and simultaneously nodded to each other in recognition of the battle about to be fought.
The referee, a chubby older gentleman in his late 50's, stepped out in between them and received a coin deep from inside his pocket.
Placing it between his fingers, he looked between both sides.
He cleared his throat before piping up, "Well gentlemen, here we are. Now, I don't want any funny business tonight. We are here to play a respectful game of football. Do we understand?" He emphasized while looking intently at both Ben and Zekk.
The two of them nodded in agreeance.
The referee looked back at Zekk, holding the coin still between his fingers, "Since this is your home field, I will let you decide your fate. What do you choose, heads or tails?"
Zekk glanced down at the coin in the referee's hand and then over at Ben before returning his gaze back to the referee.
"Heads," Zekk said confidently with his gap toothed smile.
The referee nodded before flipping the coin into the air out in front of him.
In slow motion, Ben watched as the coin flipped through the air until it finally landed on the ground.
A mischievous grin etched its way across his face immediately.
It was tails.
Sorry that was so short! I'm just getting back into the game. Hope all of you enjoy. - Ana :)