Again, I'm so very sorry for the delay of this next chapter coming out! Life can be pretty cray cray at times, and it seems like mine continues to be like that. My summer job starts soon and I hope that I can update this as regularly as possible before I go back to college! I'll see how much I'll be able to write after long days of having kids dangling off of me and playing an endless amount of kickball and four square.
Anyway, as always, I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. The praise is absolutely unreal, and makes me want to shed a few tears.
Real quick before going into the next chapter, I want to make a shoutout to Krysta_Farrell, thank you so much for leaving your wonderful comments! They absolutely brightened up my day when I saw them. Even with everything you have gone through, I'm so glad that you have a better relationship with your adoptive parents. Family means the world to me, and it fills me with joy that although you have had your falling out with them in the past, that y'all have accepted each other again. Everything happens for a reason just to make us stronger in the end, always remember that!
As always, sit back, relax, and enjoy :)
Wednesday, October 18, 1939.
In Rey's eyes, the week so far has been pretty uneventful. She goes to class, comes home, grabs a quick snack, and then heads to her room to finish the remaining homework that she did not have time to finish during study hall.
Kaydel had been absent from school on both Monday and Tuesday. She had callen Rey Sunday night, stating that she had caught the stomach bug and would be unable to walk with her to and from school for the next several days. Before Rey could tell Kaydel about her date night with Ben, Kaydel had rushed to the bathroom to relieve her stomach, promptly ending their conversation.
Though, Rey didn't mind.
She was nervous telling Kaydel about her date with the infamous Ben Solo.
And the fact that he had asked her on a second date.
Golly, it still made her stomach fill with butterflies at the thought of it.
Rey's morning routine during the school year was as typical as it could get. She got up around six o'clock, and went straight to the bathroom to freshen herself up while taking out the curlers that she had meticulously placed in her hair the night prior. Setting her curls into their correct positions, she would head into her bedroom to put on a minimal amount of makeup: some mascara, a hint of blush, and a more neutral shade of lipstick. Once finished with her face, she would head to her closet to choose her outfit for the day.
On this day in particular, she was sporting a dark purple dress when she rushed down the old Victorian staircase and into the kitchen, grabbing an apple off the counter before heading into the foyer to get her coat.
"Rey! There's no need to rush." Her adoptive mother, Ahsoka demanding while she came down the stairs after Rey.
Rey was partially out of breath, "I have to go. I'm almost late for school."
At once, Ahsoka looked down at her watch and her deep-blue eyes widened.
7:20.
School started at 7:30.
Rey's walk to school was ten minutes in itself.
"I'll meet you in the car… Let me go grab my keys!" Ahsoka shouted while she disappeared into the distance.
A smile laced its way across Rey's face.
Her mother was amazing.
A true superhero.
Her superhero.
Rey made it to school with three minutes to spare. She nearly sprinted to her locker, putting her satchel and textbooks into it while grabbing her essentials before running towards her homeroom.
As soon as her feet crossed the threshold of the door, the bell sounded.
"Ahhhh… Miss Tano, this isn't like you. You're late," Her grumpy old teacher stated while sitting down at his desk, as he began to check off the roster for the day.
Rey scurried over to her desk. "My apologies, Mr. Belami."
He looked over the class in her direction, nodding his head down and causing his circular glasses to fall down his nose ever so slightly, "Let's not make a habit of it, hm?"
She nodded before opening her agenda book to create a game plan for the day. Rey almost inwardly groaned when she saw that there was an organic chemistry project due next week.
Really? Does the universe just love crapping in my general direction? She hissed in her subconscious.
While still skimming through her agenda, she felt a finger poke into her arm.
"Looks like you're already taking after Benny boy," a feminine voice called.
She turned to scold whoever said it, and to her surprise, it was her best friend, Kaydel herself. Rey must have not noticed her when she hurried into the classroom.
"Look who it is, back from the dead," Rey laughed while giving her friend a heartwarming smile, hoping to change the subject.
Kaydel skin was starting to regain it's normal pigment, and she had even taken the time out of her morning to create a fabulous ponytail out of her pale blonde locks. Even though she seemed to have been on death's doorsteps forty-eight hours prior, she looked almost as glowing as ever.
She narrowed her teak colored eyes at Rey, "You and I have a lot to talk about."
Rey began to fidget with her hands underneath the desk, "About what?"
A harsh throat cleared itself from the front of the room, causing the two best friends to dart their eyes forward. The homeroom teacher, Mr. Belami, gave them the same look he always did which translated to: shut your mouths.
"I should smack you for that response…" Kaydel mumbled under her breath before opening her Spanish textbook to finish last minute vocabulary she needed to know for her quiz third period.
Thankfully, the bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom and saving Rey from having to spill her feelings out to her friend, at least for the time being.
She huddled her books into her arms, "I'll see you at lunch, bye Kay!"
"Wait, Rey-"
And before Kaydel could finish her sentence, Rey rushed out of the door to her second period class, English Literature.
Rey released a sigh of relief before realizing she would have to confront not only Kaydel at lunch, but Zekk as well.
Darnit…
Wednesday was already shaping up to be the same as always, at least in Ben's eyes. He got to school late, like usual, taking his sweet old time to enjoy the brisk morning air while it made its way through the Ford's slightly cracked windows.
It was finally nearing one of Ben's favorite subjects of the day: lunch. First, he had to get through the last ten minutes of European history.
He sat there, in a desk that was almost too small to hold his large frame, tapping his pencil on edge of his seat. History was boring to him. Well, at least learning history at school was boring to him. He had already learned all of the information his teacher had been spitting out the entire semester. Growing up, one of his favorite pastimes was reading, especially when it came not only to history, but military history as well.
Ben almost chuckled under his deep-breath, thinking that he could teach the class better than the nimwit of the teacher in front of him. But alas, he didn't speak his mind when it came to the matter, instead keeping his thoughts to himself. It always gave him great satisfaction each time he saw the surprised expression on his teacher's face each time he had gotten a 100% on an exam.
School had always come easy to Ben, and he didn't put much effort into his studies. That didn't stop him from acing nearly every single class he had ever been in. Except for chemistry. He never wanted to look upon a periodic table again once he finished that class.
Was he a dumb jock?
No, he wasn't.
His friends on the other hand… God help them.
After what seemed to be an eternity, the bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch.
Once he had stopped by his locker to drop off a few textbooks, he made his way over to the huddle of football players that were congregating in the hallway. He reached out and slapped several of their hands and gave a few brotherly side hugs to the players.
As they walked into the cafeteria, the group of neanderthals made their way to their usual table.
Ben sat down in his traditional spot, at the end of the long rectangular table, while the rest of his closest friends sat on the other side. He opened his brown paper bag, revealing three sandwiches and an apple for dessert. Wrapped around one of the sandwiches was a note from his mother:
Enjoy Benji, with lots of love. XOXO. - Mom
She really had to stop doing this, he was eighteen for God's sakes. But still, it always tugged at his heart strings whenever she left a note, which had become few and far between now that she was working such long hours at the non-profit downtown.
Out of what seemed to be nowhere, his best friend, Dopheld Mitaka came prancing into the lunchroom before taking his normal seat to Ben's right. He too had several sandwiches, and a glass of milk he had ordered from the line. Dop looked over to his left while taking a bite out of the turkey sub before saying with food still in his mouth, "Oh Benny boy. That's too cute," while motioning towards the note before swallowing.
Ben rolled his carmel colored eyes before folding the note and putting it into his back pocket. He wanted to say a mean comment back to his friend about how at least he had a mother who wrote him notes. But he knew that would take things way too far, especially since Dop's mother had abandoned the family, leaving his father to take care of four hungry children during the height of the depression.
It seemed like so many of those around him had been abandoned, just like him.
Maybe that's why there was such a strong sense of brotherhood amongst the football players at Central. Each of them had gone through too much in their short lives, all because some bankers and the government were unable to handle the economy.
Ben mentally shrugged while digging into his own sandwich. It was the usual: ham, lettuce, cheddar cheese, and some mustard. Sometimes he wished there was more on the sub, but he was happy to at least have a meal which filled his stomach.
Once his first sandwich had been devoured, Ben felt Dop's elbow nudge into his ribcage, "So… you never told us about your evening with the girl from West."
Instantly, the small crowd of men started to holler a bit, which caused other patrons within the cafeteria to give the group harsh glances.
Ben refrained from rolling his eyes before swallowing his bite, "It was fine."
"Let's get the most important question out of the way, did you get any tail?" One of the burly defensive tackles asked from across the table.
Ben didn't say anything and continued to eat his sandwich, while taking a swig of water to help it all go down.
Dop's brown eyes widened before he smirked and slapped his best friends shoulder before shaking it, "You dog."
Ben smacked Dop's hand away, causing the smaller man to wince.
Ben had to hold in a small laugh.
Even though Mitaka was the quarterback for Central, he could be soft at times. Especially when it came to his girlfriend. It was almost hysterical the change in his demeanor once she came around. Mitaka would go from an aggressive wolverine and turn into a complete and utter teddy bear, doting on his girlfriend for any of her needs. Little did Mitaka want to admit, his girlfriend definitely wore the pants in the relationship.
In a way it disgusted Ben.
Why would someone act that way?
Yet again, Ben had never been in a real relationship, so he had no idea how couples were suppose to act.
Would he change too if he had a girl to lovingly dote upon?
Then his mind went back to Rey.
Maybe with her, things could change.
But was Ben willing to change?
Change was something that Ben didn't accept with open arms.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he shot his best friend an annoyed glance after smacking the quarterbacks hand, "Stop acting like you're twelve."
"Come on… We just wanted to know! She looks like a catch, Solo," the defensive tackle across the table pushed while taking a drink of his chocolate milk.
Solo.
Another thing he didn't like being called.
The name made him think too much about his father.
Han Solo, the man that dumped his family.
The vital parental figure that had been absent from his only child's life.
One time when he had been called that on the football field during a playoff game his sophomore year by a member of the opposing team, he sent the boy to the hospital.
Did he have a temper?
Most definitely.
Did he release that temper on other people?
All the time.
Especially on the football field.
Now Ben was starting to become even more ticked each second that passed, "That's for me to know, and me only," he hissed while shooting gazes of pure resentment at his closest friends.
Mitaka was thrown back a bit by his sudden demeanor, it had been around a week since Ben's last out lash, "Woah, calm down Ben. We're just messing around."
Ben had enough of their immaturity for the day.
He got up from the table and went for the side door of the cafeteria, causing it to slam against the building before he made his way over to the forest green Ford pickup.
Ben flicked his keys out of his side pocket, opened the door, got inside, and promptly started to hit the steering wheel as hard as he could, trying to release his rage.
Solo.
Han Solo.
A man that ruined him.
How dare someone say that name in front of him.
Ben made a mental note that one day, in the near future, he would go to the courthouse and have his name changed, so that he did not have to be reminded of it for the best of his life.
While continuing to hit his steering wheel, a familiar scent filled Ben's nose. He looked over to his right where the scent had come from, and it took him a moment to pinpoint its origins.
Rey.
Her perfume.
It still continued to linger in his car, and he closed his eyes to get a better mental picture while taking a deep breath of the pleasant smell.
As if by pure magic, Ben instantly started to calm down.
Rey.
Why was she having this effect on him?
Too many questions started racing through his mind, causing him to rub his temples.
He needed a release, and he knew the best way to solve the problem.
Ben reached over to his glove compartment, and withdrew a fresh Camel from its packaging.
He placed it between his full lips while flicking the lighter open, and brought it to the end of the cigarette, which caused the piece of paper with tobacco to glow to life.
As soon as the cigarette was lit, he snapped the lighter shut and proceeded to take in two long drags, holding it in his lungs before breathing the smoke out through his nose.
And in that moment, Ben realized something.
Cigarettes had been his first and foremost way to calm himself down.
Now, it seemed as though he had a new drug of choice to calm his nerves.
Her name was Rey.
Rey's eyes were glued to the clock in the front of the classroom, hoping that time would stop forever.
The last thing she wanted to do in fifteen minutes was talk to her best friend about Ben Solo.
Why was Kaydel so concerned about Ben Solo in the first place?
He seemed to be a nice person when they had gone on their date a few nights prior.
Ben had been a gentleman. He opened doors for Rey, and even complimented her when she came down the stairs. He was beginning to look like a winner in her books.
He had been more of a gentleman than any of her other dates in the past, and she took that to heart.
In the days following the date, she tried her best to keep Ben off of her mind. She still had school that she needed to focus on, but still, her mind seemed more focused on imagining the bigger than life man that had cupped her cheek on Saturday night.
Rey jumped in her seat once she finally heard the bell ring.
Heading out of the classroom, she started to get knots in her stomach the closer she neared her locker. She fiddled around with the textbooks in her locker, trying to seem more occupied than she actually was.
She became startled once more when Kaydel and Zekk creeped up from behind before pouncing on her.
Rey rolled up a TIME magazine which had been in her locker since the beginning of the year and slapped Zekk on his muscular arm with the piece of leisurely reading, "Stop doing that all the time, you jerk!"
Kaydel let out a quiet laugh while Zekk wrapped his arm around the small dirty-blonde, putting his right hand on the small of her back before his deep-voice spilled out, "Hey, you should at least expect it by now."
Rey mumbled under her breath while grabbing her lunch pail before shutting the metal locker shut, "I'm hungry. Let's go eat."
Once again, Rey was trying to avoid the inevitable.
"Oooo… yes, my favorite part of the day!" Zekk gleamed as they made their way into the cafeteria. Honestly, around eighty-five percent of the time, Rey thought that Zekk had to of been a five year old boy stuck in the body of a six foot, four inch, two hundred and ten pound, eighteen year old by the way he acted on a daily basis.
Was food the only thing that men thought about other than certain parts of the female anatomy for God sakes? Rey questioned in her mind.
She shook her head as they took their seat at their usual table. It was close to the other members of the West football team, so that Zekk could holler over to them every so often, but still far enough away so that Rey didn't have to deal with the stupidity of high school football players.
Like always, as soon as they sat down, Zekk started to devour his lunch. It was quite nauseating to look at.
Rey redirected her attention down towards the lunch pail sitting in front of her, before she started to dig in as well.
A few moments of silence transcended between the small group of friends, before Kaydel could barely hold it in any longer, "So, Saturday. You and Ben Solo. Let's discuss that wonderful encounter."
Rey's eyes widened a bit as she shot a glance to the blonde on the other side of the table before looking down at her lunch, "There's nothing to discuss."
Zekk looked up from his chicken sandwich and locked his pale blue eyes into Rey's, suddenly filled with an ounce of panic, "What happened? Did he hurt you? I swear to God if he did, I will kick his ass into the next decade."
"And how did that go for you last time, Zekk?" Rey shot back narrowing her eyes at her best friends boyfriend.
Zekk instantly shut up while taking another bite of his sandwich before swallowing some of his pride.
"Hey… Don't make fun of my Boobear." Kaydel joked while placing a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. A smile full of a few crooked teeth appeared on Zekk's face.
Rey wanted to throw up.
They were always so hands on with each other.
Granted, no one had ever put their hands on her.
Well, except for this last Saturday.
But that didn't count.
Wait, did it?
He only touched her cheek.
Still, did that count?
Kaydel and Zekk were almost on the verge of mauling each other every moment they were together.
Was that how every couple was?
Or just her two best friends?
She mentally cringed before taking another bite of her food.
"Come on… At least tell us something," Kaydel urged impatiently, while nibbling on some plain golden crackers. It seemed like she was still recovering from the stomach flu based on her dietary choice for the day.
Rey bit her lip, contemplating what to say, before opening her mouth, "He took me out to bowling… I won by the way."
Zekk winked over to her, "That's my girl."
Kaydel hit his leg underneath the table before rolling her eyes. The sudden movement on his thigh made Zekk release a small growl to his significant other, "You'll pay for that later, my darling."
Ew.
Really?
Right now?
I'm trying to eat over here. At least give her a week or two to recoup after having the stomach flu, you impatient neanderthal… Rey voiced in her head.
Rey glanced over the table to the couple on the other side, who were eyeing each other in a seductive manner that was way too inappropriate for the public's eye, "Well… as I was saying..."
As soon as she started to speak, the couple broke their eye contact and refocused their attention on the girl with the chestnut brown hair across from them.
"After we finished at the bowling alley, Ben drove us over to my favorite cafe. Then we sat there for a few hours, talking about different embarrassing stories from our childhood. Then at eleven thirty, he drove me back to my house, and that was it."
Kaydel and Zekk were not entirely convinced that was it.
Zekk looked like he had just tasted poison in his mouth before uttering the words, "So… did you and Ben, ya know, kiss?"
Of course that would be the number one question.
Rey was more surprised that Zekk had asked it as opposed to her best friend, but the blonde figure sat there, continuing to nibble on crackers while taking the occasional sip on some water.
Rey was happy that she was at least eating something after probably not eating much over the last forty-eight hours. In truth, Kaydel should have stayed home for the day, as she was still recovering. But, she had two quizzes that she could not miss, so here she was, being as stubborn as a bull, sitting at the lunch table, infecting everything that she touched.
Rey made a mental note to promptly wash her hands once they left the cafeteria. The last thing she wanted this time of year was to lay in bed, blowing chunks everywhere.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Rey's face flushed once she remembered Zekk's question, "No, we didn't kiss."
Rey noticed a sense of relief wave over both of her friends.
"Good, or I would have to send him into the next decade," Kaydel noted while flexing her bicep. Of course, nothing protruded from the girl's thin arm. It caused Zekk and Rey to laugh while Kaydel blushed, "Hey, I have more than you Mister…" she snipped to her boyfriend while poking his own arm.
A sly smile came across his face, "Oh yeah? Maybe this weekend I can prove otherwise."
Kaydel's face flushed even more while she took a drink of water, in an attempt to calm herself.
Rey's forest green eyes widened a bit, suddenly feeling the rush of energy between the two people in front of her, "Okayyyy, I think that's my cue to leave and finish my homework in the library. You kids have fun with… whatever you're doing."
The couple were gazing into each other's eyes, while every so often whispering things back and forth between one another.
Jeez, they were only apart for three days.
Apparently that was way too long in Kaydel and Zekk's eyes.
Rey closed her lunch pail and turned around to head out of the lunchroom. From there, she made a quick stop at her locker to grab what she needed to finish her geometry homework. Before long, she was heading towards the library.
She sat down in one of the plush chairs and opened her textbook to begin the tedious work.
However, Rey had forgotten one crucial thing.
She forgot to wash her hands.
Woah! That was my longest chapter yet. Thank you for making it all the way through!
I'm an absolute history geek/nerd/whatever kids call it these days. So, in true historical fashion, I've been trying to make each character's thoughts/conversations with one another as period accurate as possible. I've been told by countless people that teenage boys acted pretty much the same back then as they do now, so I decided to add that in here as well. Sigh... it seems like teenage boys have always been a tornado of hormones, even back in 1939. Oh well, what can ya do?
If you liked it, definitely let me know! :)