After history and a few other classes, Elena walked into the cafeteria, where she ordered lunch and glanced around the room, searching for a place to sit. Finding no open seats other than next to the computer geeks, she heavily trudged over to them and was about to ask them if she could sit, when the dark skinned girl from before came up next to her.
"Uh, you don't wanna sit with them," she informed her, "Come on, you can sit with us." With that, she motioned Elena to follow her over to a table near a window.
Elena smiled and followed her quickly. "Hi, I'm Elena Skywalker," she told her, lifting up her tray to avoid someone's head.
"I'm Beyonce Rodan, daughter of General Kendal Rodan," the girl replied, glancing back at her, "It's nice to meet you."
They came to the table, where another girl was sitting. "Hey Keira, we got someone new," Beyonce said. "This here is Elena Skywalker; Elena, this is the girl I roll with, Keira Piett," she motioned to the girl at the table.
Keira smiled and nodded. "Great to meet you, Elena," she said warmly, "It's always nice to see someone who isn't stuck up like the Grand Moff's daughters or granddaughters." Keira was about Elena's height, light brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a friendly smile.
"Are you in some way related to Captain Piett, Keira?" Elena asked her, sitting down next to Beyonce.
Keira nodded brightly. "Yes, he's my father. Why, have you met him before?"
"Yeah, he's really nice," Elena complemented, "He found the cereal for me on the shuttle."
"What shuttle?" Keira questioned, confused.
Elena shut her mouth. "Uh... I was on a shuttle sometime, a ways back, it was no big deal or anything," she fumbled for words that would not give her away.
The other two nodded, apparently believing her. "Sure thing," Beyonce replied, and dug into her food. "Oh, by the way, Elena, that was a nice answer in history, I never would have gotten it."
"Thanks," Elena blushed.
The three of them continued talking, and soon Keira brought up the subject of Darth Vader. "My father works for him," she told the other two, "He says that Vader can choke someone without even having to touch them."
Beyonce shuddered. "Creepy, so totally," she answered, making a face.
Elena said nothing but looked down, picking at her food.
"What's wrong, Elena?" Keira asked, concerned. "Is something wrong? You don't look well."
"Ah, it's nothing," Elena muttered, not wanting to tell anyone who her father was.
"No, it's obviously something," Beyonce insisted, "We started talking about Vader and you became all glum and gloomy."
Elena sighed and leaned forward. "Ok, here's the thing. What I'm about to tell you two, you can't tell anyone else. Got it?"
Keira and Beyonce nodded, but were bewildered. "What's going on?" Keira asked Elena.
"Lord Vader is my father," Elena said in a low voice.
The other two gasped. "No way!" Beyonce said in a whisper, "You're not serious, Elena!"
She nodded miserably. "Yeah, I'm serious," she replied.
"Is that how you know my father?" Keira questioned, studying Elena carefully.
"Yeah," Elena admitted. "I was just found by Vader only a few days ago, and it turned out that he was my dad. I keep the name Skywalker because that was his name a long time ago. I hope you guys won't be scared of me or anything like that."
Keira and Beyonce shared knowing glances with each other. "Of course we aren't scared of you," Keira finally assured, "And we won't tell anybody."
"Not a soul," Beyonce added.
Elena grinned. "Thanks you guys," she replied, grateful.
For the following week, Elena, Keira, and Beyonce hung out together and became very good friends. At the beginning of the second week, as they were eating lunch, Elena noticed a girl who was looking for a place to sit, but couldn't find one. The girl had striking red hair and green eyes, and was very attractive.
As the girl was passing by them, Elena spoke up. "Hi there!" she said in a friendly voice.
The girl halted and looked at her. "Um, hello," she replied stiffly.
"I'm Elena, and this is Beyonce and Keira," Elena continued, and the two girls waved. "What's your name?"
"Mara Jade," the girl responded. "I'm new here."
"Well, we could always have someone else at our table," Elena cheerfully replied, "Do you wanna sit with us?"
Mara shifted for a second before replying with a small smile, "Sure. Thank you."
"Hey, no problem," Keira piped up. "Take a seat, there's plenty of room at this table."
Mara sat down and glanced shyly around. "So how old are you guys?" she questioned, slowly taking a bite of her food.
Elena cocked her head to one side. "Hmm, well, I'm almost fourteen, and these guys are I think the same age as I am. Am I right?" she asked, gulping down some water.
Beyonce nodded. "Yep," she answered casually. "So, Mara, how did you come to be here? Did your parents move here or something?"
Mara shook her head. "No, my parents died before I was born," she remarked sadly, "So the Emperor sort of took me in, and now I'm training to be his Hand."
"Do you like him?" Elena asked softly.
Mara looked down at her food. "Not really," she muttered. "He's kinda harsh, and power hungry, I guess. But I should expect that from the ruler of the galaxy."
Elena grinned. "Well, welcome to the club, Mara," she replied cheerfully, raising her glass to Mara. "Since we're all outsiders, I think you'll fit right in."
"Who's your father?" Mara questioned curiously.
"Lord Vader," Elena replied nonchalantly. Mara choked on her food.
"THE Lord Vader?" she whispered hoarsely.
Elena nodded. "One in the same," she said. "But you can't tell anyone else. If the media got word of this, they'd forever be torturing me."
"It's kind of our little secret," Beyonce added.
Mara smiled. "All right, I won't tell anyone," she finally replied.
I didn't want Mara to be really cruel, since she's only about fourteen. More conflict will arrive when they get older. Okie dokee, now it's time to REVIEW, REVIEW!