A few weeks pass and Ben can't stop thinking about Rey. He thanks the universe for having his office be so close to her classroom. On some days when he has his door open during his breaks, he can hear her sweet voice reading aloud to the children or leading them through a lesson. Hearing her voice makes him smile, often leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed as he listens to her. Whenever he passes her classroom picking up trash or cleaning windows, she always waves at him with a big grin on her face. It warms his heart to know he has a friend at work, especially one as kind and beautiful as Rey. Ben finds himself giving any excuse to walk by her classroom throughout each day just to be close to her or see her for just a moment.
"Ms. Oga? Do you have any kids?" Ben hears one of Rey's students ask her one day when he's outside cleaning her windows.
"Of course I do. I have all of you!" Rey says teasingly, causing the kids to giggle.
Ben chuckles to himself, letting his heart calm down after his worry of hearing her first say she has children of her own. Not that he thinks she wouldn't be a good mother. Rey would be a phenomenal mother. But in his heart it would make him sad if she did have children only because that would mean it was too late for him to…Ben stops himself, shaking his head and refocusing on the task at hand.
"Not us Ms. Oga! I mean your OWN kids. Are you even married?" the same child asks.
"No, I'm not married or have kids of my own," Rey replies.
"Why?" asks another student.
"Yeah why? All teachers are married and have kids," a different student jumps in.
While working on a particularly stubborn smudge on the window, Ben pauses and looks inside to see Rey sitting quietly. A small smile is on her face as the students pepper her with personal questions. He admires her calm grace when working with them.
"Not every teacher is married or has their own children. It takes some people a long time to find their family," Rey says softly.
"Well, you should get a husband!" one of her student's shouts out.
"If there's a sale at the husband store, I'll be sure to check it out," Rey replies with a wink.
The students giggle again and Ben can't stop the chuckles that tumble out of his mouth. He returns to the stubborn smudge and happens to lock eyes with Rey. She waves at him with a gentle smile and he waves back. His heart beats wildly in his chest and he hopes the stubborn smudge prevents Rey from seeing the blush on his cheeks.
Lunchtime comes and Ben makes his way to the teacher's lounge to empty the trash and tidy up there. He walks into a dull roar of teachers talking together while eating their lunches. Most seem to be complaining about their days or how their students are little monsters from hell. Ben shakes his head at what he hears and rolls his eyes until he hears the sweet voice he loves and makes his heart bloom.
"Hello everyone! How's everyone's day going?" Rey calls out, her lunch in hand.
Everyone grumbles responses around her as she heads over to take a seat by the window. She pulls out a BLT sandwich and happily begins eating one half of it. Rey looks out at everyone and tries again.
"There has to be one good thing that's happened today," she says to her peers.
"Knock it off Oga. Not every day can be sunshine and rainbows," 6th grade teacher Charles Snoke snarls.
The room grows silent. Ben looks to find the man behind these horrendous words and narrows his eyes at this pompous negative nelly. Rey stares at him, her face still and body language calm.
"I know not every day is a good one. But looking for even one positive moment from each day can help you get through the day," she replies firmly.
Ben stares at her, amazed at her ability to keep her cool. His admiration for her grows even more. Snoke pushes his chair back and he stands up heatedly.
"You're inexperienced. You don't know what it's like to do this job every day for 20 years. It sucks the life out of you and every brat we teach is ungrateful and selfish. You don't know anything Oga," he growls at her.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Ben shouts out, dropping his trash bag and marching over to stand in front of Snoke.
The veteran teacher is shocked at first then angrily narrows his eyes at Ben, a lowly janitor in his eyes. Ben sees how their height difference gives him the advantage over Snoke but doesn't make the first move. His hands ball into fists as he glares at the teacher. The other teachers watch intently in silence.
"If you saw how she teaches, you'd see how much the kids love her. How she can get a class full of 8 year olds to sit still and focus is beyond me. Teaching is a difficult job and yet she makes it look effortless. Ms. Oga deserves more respect," Ben says, trying to remain as calm as possible.
"What do you know, boy? You're a mere janitor who'll never amount to anything in life. This is all you'll ever be good for," Snoke replies snidely.
"At least I know her kids will be more successful in life than the sad old man you are," Ben replies coldly.
Gasps fill the teacher's lounge. Rey watches in disbelief of what is transpiring. The tension in the air is thicker than an overcooked donut. Before Ben can wallop a barrage of punches on him, another teacher stands up and coughs nervously.
"Erm Snoke, didn't you want to go over the field trip details for the 6th graders today?" Armitage Hux, another 6th grade teacher, stammers.
Snoke eyes Ben, fuming at not being able to get the last word in. He huffs at Ben angrily and nods to Hux. As he heads towards the door, he stops to glare at Rey before shoving the door open. Hux follows quickly after him. The tension dissipates slightly but the teachers end up eating the rest of their lunches in silence. Ben takes a breath and looks to Rey. She looks back at him as he starts heading for the door.
"Sorry for the mess," he mumbles.
The door closes behind him and Ben walks with the trash bag to the dumpster just a bit beyond the teacher's lounge. He keeps taking deep breaths but finds it difficult to calm himself.
"Ben, wait!" a voice calls behind him.
Her voice. The voice he loves hearing every single day. Ben turns and sees Rey running towards him. His eyes follow her until she's directly in front of him, panting heavily.
"Ben, I…I don't know how to really thank you. You…you're the only one who's ever stood up for me in front of Mr. Snoke," she says.
"I hope I didn't embarrass you or make things worse. I just…I couldn't…I can't believe someone would say anything like this to you. How could a teacher, really anyone, be so hateful?" Ben asks.
"Mr. Snoke was in line for getting tenure a few years ago. But because he's gotten so many complaints from parents, Principal Holdo awarded tenure to Ms. Kanata instead. She's been teaching almost the same amount of time, give or take a few years," Rey explains.
"If he's such a bad teacher who gets parent complaints, why is he still here?" he questions, confused by this logic.
"Principal Holdo has brought the complaints to the district several times. The head of the district, Mr. Palpatine, only cares about test scores. Although Mr. Snoke has received these complaints, his classes still get high test scores for the school. Principal Holdo can't fire him because Mr. Palpatine sees him as an 'asset' to the district," she replies sadly.
There are a few beats of silence that pass between them. Ben places the trash bag down and steps closer to Rey. He takes off his gloves and reaches his hand for her own, brushing his fingertips gently against Rey's, relishing in the softness he finds. His eyes move from where their fingers touch to her eyes.
"No one has ever stood up to Mr. Snoke before. I…I don't know how I can ever really thank you, Ben," Rey says softly, looking up into his eyes.
"You don't deserve anyone talking to you like this. I meant what I said to him. You are a remarkable teacher and I'm awed by your talent. They can't teach what you already have," he replies with a small smile.
"Ben, you…you are the sweetest person I've ever met," she breathes, their lips coming closer together.
The school bell rings signaling the end of lunch. It brings Rey and Ben back to their current surroundings. They look down and see how their hands are intertwined. Then they look back into each other's eyes. Ben smiles while Rey blushes, sharing a small smile with him. He squeezes her hand and nods for her to go when her students start calling her name. She nods back at him and squeezes his hand back before turning to go. As he watches her go to her students, her lucky lucky students, Ben flexes his hand slowly open and closed trying to remember forever how her hand felt in his.