A tall young woman with long auburn hair came inside the room of 3-A, and as soon as she got in, all students rose to their feet and greeted her "Good Morning".
"Thank you students," she said, and motioned them to sit down. The woman got a laser pen from her pocket and started to write her name on the holographic board.
"I'm Ms. Cara Koophius", she said to the students in a loud voice as she wrote her name. "I'll be your class adviser for this school year, and I hope that we will get along together." Then she proceeded to explain the different rules and regulations of the school.
From the back of the class, Winter whispered to Leia and said, "This is so redundant, because they always do this every year."
"As always, it's the same. Different sets of uniform to be worn during the winter and summer season, no fancy jewelry allowed and no colored ponytail holders and headbands except for black, white, blue, and red," Leia whispered back.
"And no shaved head and body piercing for the boys," Winter told the boys' rules to her. "Instead of having to tell these rules every year, why don't they just record it and play it every time they have to do this?" Both giggled discreetly at the idea.
"Oh, I forgot, no fancy hairdo allowed," Winter said as she played with Leia's hair, which was shoulder-length and braided into two.
"My dad always wanted me to keep my hair long," Leia said. "He thinks it makes me more girly," she said, emphasizing the knowledge that Winter was always mistaken as her because she was the more princess-like one with her demeanor.
"That's because you're so boyish in demeanor, Leia," Winter told her. "Be more princess-like next time," she advised her.
"What's bad with being boyish and going to the shooting range every so often?" she asked.
Winter wasn't able to reply to her. She nudged Leia to stop whispering because Ms. Koophius already noticed that they were talking. Leia looked at their adviser, who gave them a mean shot, and got her point. Both kept quiet in their seats.
Ms. Koophius got back to their discussion of school policies, when somebody knocked at their classroom door. She motioned the students to be quiet, while she assisted a woman by the door. After a while, the woman left, and Ms. Koophius entered with a pretty blonde girl with striking aquamarine eyes and long hair as flat as a board. The class started to talk in hushed whispers at the prospect of a new classmate in sight.
"Wow, she's so beautiful," Leia told Winter. Both were in awe upon seeing her.
"She could be a movie actress, what with her beauty," Winter commented. "You know what, she resembles an actress whose name I forgot," she said, thinking that she saw an actress before who looked like her.
"Class, I want you all to be quiet," Ms. Koophius reminded them. When the whispers died down, she introduced the girl. "I want you all to meet Siobe (Shiow-bee) Iwa. She's new here in school, so please be nice to her. Siobe, why don't you introduce yourself?"
Siobe went up confidently to the front and said, "I'm Siobe Iwa, fifteen years old, and currently in third year, just like all of you. I came from Naboo, and my mom and I went to live here in Alderaan some two years ago." She spoke confidently, unlike other new students who stuttered when asked to introduce themselves.
"Oh great, another dumb blonde," Bearwin shot back nastily. Siobe cocked her head at him, obviously offended with what he said, and gave him a Force push-back with just one piercing glance of her eyes. Bearwin flew from his seat violently and hit himself on the bulletin board, his head bumping, before he fell down to the ground in a heap. The atmosphere in the classroom became a pin-drop silence after seeing what Siobe did.
"Bearwin, stop saying mean things!" Ms. Koophius scolded him, who wasn't appalled at all with what Siobe did. Bearwin stood up and returned to his seat. Ms. Koophius went up to him and said, "Go to the principal's office, right now! This is your first offense!" she exclaimed.
"But ma'am, I..." Bearwin said, trying to look innocent.
Ms. Koophius grabbed him by the ear and said, "I said, go in there now!" She led him towards the door and before they went out, she said, "I'll be back in a while," and disappeared.
While Ms. Koophius and Bearwin were out, Siobe still stood in front of the class, and people started to ask her.
"What school did you came from?" a boy asked.
"Althera Girls' Academy," she replied.
"A private all girls' school?"
"Yes. My mom thought of transferring me here, so that I'll learn how to get along with boys," she said, trying to smile a little.
"I remember now!" Winter exclaimed to Leia. "She looks like the actress named Airra Iwa!"
"Who?" Leia asked, confused, as the class was very noisy again.
"The Nabooan actress. The one who started in this soap opera called "One Love", you know, which was the most popular soap when we were in sixth grade."
"Oh, now I know!" Leia exclaimed, as if a light bulb flashed in her mind. "I didn't know she has a daughter," she said, while she glanced at Siobe. "But maybe they just have the same surname," she said, unsure whether actress Airra Iwa actually have a daughter.
"Are you related to Airra Iwa?" Winter stood up suddenly to ask Siobe.
Siobe smiled and said, "She's my mother. You know her?" she asked, surprised.
"We've seen her in One Love before," Winter told her, smiling.
The noise in the classroom was ear-splitting, with whispers of "She's Airra Iwa's daughter! Cool!" to "I bet she's snooty like her mom," penetrated the air. And they grew silent again when Ms. Koophius returned just as soon as she had left.
"Ms., Siobe's the daughter of Airra Iwa!" a girl exclaimed gleefully.
"Can she take us to a shooting of a soap opera for a field trip?" another girl suggested.
Ms. Koophius laughed and said to Siobe, "Your mother's well-known here in this planet," she commented. "They all liked her dramas and movies."
"Thanks for the compliment, ma'am," she said.
"Now, enough of the dilly-dallying and let's get back to class," said Ms. Koophius. "Siobe, you take your seat beside Leia." she said, pointing to the empty chair situated beside Leia. Siobe walked there silently and sat beside her without even glancing at her seatmate or saying a word, while Ms. Koophius started to discuss again about school policies.
Leia stared at Siobe, who took out the school handbook given to her. Leia whispered to Winter and said, "I feel uneasy with her, because she's so quiet, and add to that, she's prettier than me."
"Don't say that, Lelila. Everybody's beautiful in their own way," Winter advised her.
"I'm not being envious. It's just that she has this snooty air that makes her seem prettier than she already was. I mean, she's more princess-like than me. Just like you." she joked, chuckling.
"Let's get to know her better. Maybe she's kind," Winter said to her friend.
For the rest of the morning, Siobe didn't spoke much except when she asks Leia or Winter a question, to which they would appreciatively reply. The bell rang, which signaled lunchtime, and all students immediately rose at their feet and scampered out the classroom in groups.
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At the canteen, Leia and Winter ate their lunch silently as they looked at the gazillions of students passing back and forth in front of them. Some were already seated in the benches, and one could easily tell who among them were the popular kids and the ones who were picked on. The popular students, which were composed of the jocks, cheerleaders, and their friends all sat at this long table in the very middle of the canteen, as those who were "outcasts" ate alone or in a tiny group. At the counter, people still line up to buy their food, and the line seemed to be never-ending.
Leia and Winter were at first apprehensive about eating lunch with just the two of them as company, but they tried to get used to the idea, thinking that thankfully, they didn't belonged to the group of people who were the resident outcasts. Leia's royal status kind of saved them from being picked on. Leia blended well among the crowd, but people dared not messed up with her.
"You know, Winter, I miss the girls," Leia mumbled in between chews of her sweet ham sandwich that she brought earlier.
"It'll be more fun if Xandy and the other girls were here with us," Winter replied sadly. "They're the ones who liven up our day and would always make us laugh." In their group of friends, Xandy was the prankster of the gang, the one who has the ability to make them laugh, and brought out the real persona lurking behind Leia, a.k.a. Ice Princess. Winter remembered how Xandy would make them laugh until their stomachs hurt.
"I miss Xandy and her green, gay jokes," Leia spoke again before taking another bite of her sandwich.
Winter was about to take another spoonful of her General's Steak when a noise of a shouting girl was heard behind them. "What was that?" she asked Leia, startled.
"Look," Leia said, as she pointed to the said table. They looked there, and they saw their new classmate, Siobe, lifting a guy up from his seat using a Force hand-gesture.
"STOP FLIRTING WITH ME AND CALLING ME BABY!" Siobe shouted at the boy, and her voice was loud enough to be heard at the canteen.
"I'm... sorry... miss..." The boy said in between chokes. "But I can't help it... you're so... pretty..." He even tried to wink at her, but it made Siobe angrier.
"YOU NERF!" she exclaimed, and tightened her hand gesture on the boy, and he went up even higher in the air.
"Miss, stop it!" A male student said, while trying to reach out for her upraised hand. "Don't do anything that'll bring you to the Principal's Office!" Siobe glanced at him and understood. Carefully, she put down her hand, and the boy slowly went down to his seat. The boy was panting, and drunk a bottle of water to get rid of his choked breath.
"Miss, thank you," he said, as he stared as Siobe, who was dumbfounded with her beauty.
"Don't flirt with me again, will you!" she said, and went up to him to punch him on the face. The boys seated with him at the table were shocked at what she did, Leia and Winter included.
"I won't mind being punched by a beauty like you," the naughty boy joked. Siobe gave him another punch on the face before she walked away, saying something under her breath. The boys hooted at her.
Leia was surprised when Siobe chose to sit beside her. "Moron," she mumbled.
"Are you alright, Siobe?" Winter asked, concerned.
"Boys are a pain in the neck," she said, and sighed.
"Have you eaten your lunch? And don't mind those boys, they're really like that," Leia said. Siobe smiled at her, saying, "I don't feel like eating lunch today. But anyways," she continued as she took out a sandwich from her lunch bag, "I'll eat. We have a long day ahead of us."
"How did you do that? You must be Force sensitive," Winter told her, amazed that she can use the Force to lift things.
"I found out that I could use the Force to lift and make things fly around. Even people," she replied, smiling. Then she added, "You must be thinking I'm on the dark side, huh?" she asked mischievously.
"Not so, although you shouldn't be doing that again. You might get caught," Leia reminded her in a friendly manner.
The three girls became silent as they concentrated on their meal, until later on, Winter spoke up to ask Siobe.
"How do you find it here?" she asked.
"Oh, full of mean, naughty boys. I never really liked boys, you know that?" she said, matter-of-factly. "But I guess I have to get used to being with them all the time," she said, exasperated.
"Not all boys are mean. I can introduce you to some of my kind guy friends," Leia procured.
Siobe stared at her for a long time and said, "Aren't you the Princess?" she asked.
"How did you know?" Leia asked back.
"Your name plate said so." She pointed at her nameplate pinned at her left side, on which it was written "Organa, Leia." "Ms. Koophius told me about you before coming here, that you'll be my classmate. That you're Viceroy Organa's daughter."
"Oh yeah, I'm a princess, all right," Leia said huffily.
Siobe seemed to be interested with the thought of having a princess as her classmate. "Oh..." she said, nodding her head. "This is so cool! Imagine, I'm seated next to Princess Leia!" She then started shaking her excitedly, while Winter looked at her, surprised.
"Hey, I'm getting dizzy," Leia told her, still trying to be nice. Siobe stopped herself from getting excited, and went again with their talk. "Oh sorry about that," she apologized. She was now more cheery than a while ago. "So, how does it feel to be a princess?"
"I think I should be asking you about how it feels to be an actress' daughter." Leia turned over the question to her.
Siobe frowned and said, "You get to be invited to parties and watch your mom during her shootings, but it's nothing exciting at all, even though you get to shop a lot. My mom's always out of the house, and I rarely get to be with her. But nowadays, she took a break from showbiz, and I'm glad she's always with me."
"Who was the lady with you?" Winter asked.
"She's my auntie, my mom's sister," Siobe explained. "She said she'd rather bring me to school than to have my mom get trampled over by fans."
"That's better." Winter piped in. "Airra Iwa's very popular here on this planet, and I'm sure people would be excited to see her again, what with her long showbiz hiatus."
"How is Princess Leia like?" She asked Winter excitedly.
"Leia's just the same as any other girl out there. She crams for exams and is clumsy sometimes, but she knows how to have fun. And if you want a free trip to the Palace, she can accompany you," she joked. "You can raid their ref if you want free snacks.", Winter said smilingly.
"Oh please stop telling her that," Leia butted in. "But it's nothing special. Yes, you're a princess. You live in a palace and you get to wear nice outfits, but it's pretty tiring too. People expect too much from you and you have to be perfect all the time."
"Is that so.." Siobe mumbled.
Leia smiled at her and said, "But I'm still glad to be one, because it keeps people from picking on me here."
"Because she's actually a nerd," Winter joked again. "She's in the honor list."
"Hey, at least I'm good-looking!" Leia exclaimed, and they all burst into laughter.
They enjoyed the remaining time left for lunch. The bell rang and the students returned to their classrooms. By this point of time, Leia, Winter and Siobe now talked with each other as if Siobe was an old friend. They liked Siobe's company and her good sense of humor.
"Oh don't mind Bearwin, he's really mean," Winter told her when the topic of their conversation was about the renowned class bully. "And we'll protect you from him."
"Tormentor's gotta watch out, for he met his match," said Leia.
"I can be mean to him if I want to," Siobe told them.
"What's the next class?" Leia asked.
Siobe looked at her schedule card and replied, "Clone War Lit. And I heard a girl said that our prof. here is a cute guy."
"Where did you hear that?" Winter asked.
"I happened to pass by a classroom this morning, and they were all talking about him."
"I wonder who could that be..." Leia trailed off, when she felt the presence of somebody in the room. She looked at the teacher who entered, and her mouth gaped upon seeing who it was.
"Oh gosh," she said while she nudged Winter. The guy was all too familiar to her. "It's him."
"Who's him?" Winter and Siobe asked her at the same time.
"The cute guy I met this morning."
A/N: I was trying to think of Star Wars-ish sounding names, but I guess Japanese-sounding names will do just fine. (-) RR Please! Thanks!