It seemed to cause quite the stir around campus when it was discovered that the highly desirable and sought after Mara Jade was dating the sweet and kind though entirely too unremarkable Luke Skywalker. To most people, he was just a farm kid from a small town, where as Mara was an exotic beauty, living with a very wealthy elderly gentleman and his mistress, and the picture of social propriety. They were often seen studying together in the library, the cafeteria, the commons area, the student lounges and the towns coffee shops and cafes. They didn't quite do everything together, working out separately and still managing to spend time with their friends. Several times, some of the other girls on campus came up to Mara and asked what it is in Skywalker that was so wonderful. They rarely meant it to be rude or insulting, rather meaning it out of curiosity. Mara would smile and shrug and say that he was more than his simple farm boy nature made him out to be, that there were layers that you didn't get to see unless you were fortunate enough to be close to him. Leia Organa thought it was the greatest thing ever and Mara had teasingly asked if there were any fellow students that Leia herself was interested in. Leia had blushed and muttered something under her breath, causing Mara to laugh.
Whenever anyone asked Luke about his dating the 'famous' and highly desired Mara Jade, he would always shrug, never saying more than he had to. Lando Calrissian, a Senior, had asked what it was like to be dating her and Luke had replied that it was 'great' and 'a lot of fun', never divulging details. Because of that, many of the students made it their goal to try and steal Mara away from him, reasoning that, since Luke was rather shy and quiet, the relationship had to be awkward and couldn't last. Each one was continually frustrated when Mara would look down on their advances and flatly state, "I have a boyfriend so thanks, but no thanks;" and walk away.
There were a few who found it completely unbelievable that 'someone like Skywalker' as they so harshly put it, could possibly be dating 'someone like Mara Jade'. Surely, SURELY there were far more eligible young men for her to choose from. None of it mattered one bit though because it was clear that Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade were going to be 'Luke and Mara' for some time.
"So I'm thinking of changing my major;" said Mara offhandedly as she put ketchup, mayo and mustard in tiny little cups to dip here french fries into. Luke looked at her in mild surprise. He had thought that she loved business and such. Her grades were immaculate at any rate but that was probably just because she would excel at whatever she was doing purely because she could. "Oh yeah? What to?"
"Law maybe; this school has a nationally known Legal Program. I've always found stuff like that really interesting - even more so than business and economics. What do you think, Farmboy?"
Luke considered for a moment and said, "Well I think the law has always been interesting. I'm going for criminal justice so I clearly think it's important and I can say with the utmost confidence that you would be a fantastic litigator."
Mara smiled with pleasure and said, "You're just saying that."
Luke chuckled and shook his head. "Not at all, Babe. You're always able to argue me to a stand still if not change my mind."
Mara swatted his arm and said, "Well that's cause I'm always right, Dummy"
"Yes, Dear;" Luke chuckled and received another playful slap from his girlfriend.
He took a bite of his burger and pulled a face. The burger was burnt, cold and hard, the cheese was probably off-brand american and the bun was stale. "Unbelievable;" he muttered, putting the burger down in disgust.
Mara did the same to hers. Seeing that, Luke softly thumped the table. "That's it! Tonight, I'm grilling us burgers and making us some real, home cut and home made fries! I'm tired of this stuff."
Mara's eyes widened before trying a fry and saying, "Well the fries aren't too bad, actually."
Luke tried one and conceded. "Even so, I promise mine are better."
Mara nodded and finished her fries. Luke did the same and they exited the cafeteria. It was cold outside and they were both bundled in thicker coats, hats and Mara even wore gloves to cover her small hands. Mara pulled a couple protein bars from her book bag and handed one to Luke. He pulled a face. "How do you eat these things? They're so nasty."
Mara shrugged and said, "Yup but they have the nutrition those fries didn't and they'll hold you over till dinner. Eat up or else I'll call your aunt and tell her you're not eating properly."
Luke didn't laugh. His aunt had always lectured him thoroughly on eating healthy while he was away at college and if she suspected that Luke wasn't eating healthily, she would probably call and lecture him some more, giving him a detailed description of what someone his age, size and muscle mass should eat each meal based off of something she had read in a magazine. Sighing, Luke took the protein bar, unwrapped it and ate it, the expression on his face clearly stating his protest. Mara patted his shoulder affectionately and said, "Good Farmboy;" before giving him a peck on the cheek.
That got Luke to smile. They walked into their class together and stopped dead. Everyone was looking at them with expressions ranging from curiosity, awe, jealousy, resentment and mild interest. Quickly, they both headed to the last two adjacent seats in the class room and sat down. The guy in the chair in front of them looked back and said, "Did you see the picture of you two going around Facebook?"
They both frowned. Neither had taken the opportunity to check Facebook and when they did, Mara gasped and Luke growled. It was a very inappropriate though admittedly well done photo-shop job of the two of them in a very erotic position. The picture was well chosen so that nothing too incriminating was showing but it was still clear what was going on. Mara hissed, "Who the hell did this?"
The student shrugged and said, "No one knows. It just appeared this morning. It was probably ISB though."
Mara had to avoid grinding her teeth. Her face was beat red with anger. Luke wasn't in much of a better state. Both his hands were fists in his lap. They made it through class and then hurried back to Luke's dorm room, throwing their bags on the floor and sitting on the bed. Mara pulled her knees up and rested her arms on them, hiding from her nose down and Luke leaned forward, looking down at the floor between his feet and resting his elbows on his knees. After some time, Mara said, "I cannot believe this. I have never been so humiliated in my life."
Luke sighed and leaned back rubbing his forehead. "The only good news is that it was obviously fake;" he murmured.
Mara snapped, "That doesn't make a difference! People are still going to think that you and I had sex and there is nothing we can do about it."
She rested her forehead on her crossed arms. Luke managed to chalk up the venom in her comment to her being upset and not let it bother him too much. After a moment of silence, the only thing he could think to do to comfort her is try and put an arm around her. To his surprise, she shook it off, standing and stalking around the room. "What are we going to do, Luke?"
Luke shrugged unhappily. "I have no idea. I don't know enough about all that computer stuff. I've already started reporting every picture I've seen but that's all I can think to do."
Mara snorted. "All they're going to do is re-post it or post another one."
Luke stood and walked over to her. "I'm sorry that this happened, Mara. This is just so infuriating and I have no clue what to do."
Mara sighed and said, "It's not your fault, Luke. I just can't believe that someone would go to such trouble to post a photo of you and me having sex. It's unbelievable."
Suddenly, she registered the very hurt look in Luke's eyes and clapped her hands over her mouth before saying, "I didn't mean it that way, Luke. I promise."
Luke was trying to hide the hurt behind a mask of apathy but he was failing utterly. Her words cut him deeply. In a quiet, husky voice, he said, "I didn't realize that the idea disgusted you so much. I'm sorry this happened to you."
Mara took his hands and said, "Please, Luke, let me explain. I didn't mean it that way."
He looked at her expectantly and she said, "I meant that you and I are not the kind of people to just jump into something like that. We've only been dating a month and we agreed that we wanted to take it slow. I didn't mean that the idea of having sex with you was disgusting, I promise I wasn't. You know how I feel about you."
Luke looked into her green eyes for awhile and then offered a small smile. "I'm happy to hear that, Mara. I still don't know what to do about it though."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and they both heard a number of voices. Luke sighed and said, "Oh joy. Visitors."
Mara held onto his hand as they went to the door and opened it. They were both surprised to see a large group of their friends outside - Wedge, Iella, Han, Leia, the Rogues, their various girlfriends and boyfriends and Mara's roommate Mirax. They all bustled in with bags of items and Luke said, "What the hell?"
Han said, "We figured with that rotten picture on the internet, we'd come cheer you up. We have food from the gas station, soda, ice cream and, of course, candy for you two."
Mara wanted to find a way to tell them to go away until she smelled the air. The food smelled great and she could see her favorite ice cream brand and flavor in the bag. Luke said, "We appreciate the offer but..." and Mara shushed him saying, "Luke, they have my favorite ice cream. Shhh..."
Luke smiled at her and the others chuckled. The room quickly became very cramped as they handed Luke and Mara the hot food and cracking open bottles of cream soda. While they ate, Luke said, "This is just really embarrassing. How should we even handle it?"
Han took a sip of soda and shrugged. "Why is it embarrassing? You're two consenting adults in a steady relationship. The only reason they did it is because they knew it would bother you."
Luke blurted, "But it never happened!"
Leia picked up where Han left off, surprising them all. "So what? You and Mara know the truth. Who cares what they think? If they give you a hard time just say 'so what'. Once it stops bothering you, or at least looks like it stops bothering, they'll lay off."
"And think that Luke is the luckiest guy on campus;" said Dack Ralter, one of Luke's Rogues.
Luke blushed as the other Rogues murmured in agreement. Mara giggled and waggled her eyebrows at Luke. Winter, Leia's roommate, said in her normal, matter-of-fact manner, "and seriously, there are quite a few young women who would love to learn more about the humble, quiet and sweet Luke Skywalker. If you ask me, all this is going to do is inflame more jealousy and frustration, backfiring. Food for thought;"
Mara nodded and asked, "Out of curiosity, who are these young women?"
"That would be telling;" said Winter before finishing her drink and standing up. "Come on, everyone. Finish your drinks and leave the couple to console each other. We did our good deed for the night."
Han stood and clapped Luke on the shoulder with a wink and a roguish grin. Wedge gave him a brotherly hug before throwing an arm around Iella and leaving. Slowly, the other Rogues and visitors followed, leaving Luke and Mara alone - with entirely too much ice cream, candy, soda and food. They looked at each other and smiled. They started stashing it and Luke murmured, "I think Han's right, you know."
Mara pursed her lips before straightening from stowing the unconsumed soda under Luke's bed and looking at him. "You think we should just tell everyone we had sex?"
Luke shook his head vigorously. "NO, no; not at all. When he said that we are two consenting adults and shouldn't be embarrassed about having sex, that's all."
"So you're saying we should have sex;"
Luke opened his mouth once and closed it; then a second time and closed it again, blushing a dark red. Finally, he said, "I think that if we did, it's no reason to be embarrassed. If they ask, we just reply that if we did, so what? That's all I'm saying."
Mara pursed her lips again and laid down on the bed. "I like the second idea better;"
Luke shot up and banged his head hard on the cabinets he was putting the candy in. "OUCH! Say that again, please;" he croaked in surprise, his voice suddenly lost.
Mara got off the bed, grabbed a cold soda and pressed it against his head where he had hit it, her other hand brushing down his cheek and resting against his chest. "Why don't we have sex? You can't tell me you don't want to. You fidget and adjust yourself when you think I'm not looking every time we make out. And I know I want to. Why shouldn't we?"
She put the bottle down and kissed him. Luke pulled her against him and enjoyed the feeling and flavor of her plump red lips for a few moments before pulling away and saying, "Are you sure? This decision shouldn't be influenced by a bunch of jerks and a stupid photo-shop job."
Mara frowned and said, "Are you saying you don't want to have sex?"
Luke chuckled breathlessly and said, "Believe me, I do. I really, REEEEALLY do but I want it to be because we decided that we were ready to take that step and for no other reason."
Mara bit her lower lip for a moment. It wasn't that she didn't want to. Everything about Luke was very inviting but she didn't want their relationship to be so easily dictated. With a smile, she kissed him again - a long, lingering kiss. She pulled away before it could get too heated. "You're right."
Luke's baby blue eyes went playfully wide and he said, "Say that again? I can't possibly have heard you right."
Mara swatted him and said, "I said 'you're right', Dummy. Now stop gloating and tell me what fun stuff you have planned for us this evening."
Luke chuckled and said, "Well I was going to grill but after that food, I don't think we need to. So what will it be: an audiobook, music, a tv show or a movie?"
Mara pursed her lips again and shivered slightly. It was the well known signal and Luke gave her the sweatshirt he had warn earlier that day. As she put it on, she said, "What other audiobooks do you have?"
Luke grabbed his cracked Ipod and said, "Hmmm... well I have some Tolkein, some Lewis, lots of classics. Hey! It's almost Halloween! How about Dracula?"
Mara nodded and they settled in to listen, still eating ice cream and candy and cuddling together under a heavy blanket. After a few minutes in, Mara stopped the book and said, "We have one more very serious thing to talk about, Farmboy."
Luke looked a little concerned. "Okay, what's that, Baby?"
"What are we going to be for Halloween?"
Luke laughed at her seriousness and shrugged. "I dunno. I wasn't planning on doing anything to dress up for."
Mara gasped. "Oh yes you are! You're going to go see your girlfriend in the talent show!"
Luke grinned and said, "Oh and what are you doing for the talent show?"
Mara winked at him and said, "It's a surprise so you'd better come and see it or else it's the dog house for you. And you have to dress up too. Should we do matching costumes? I always thought that was kinda lame. Then again, my last boyfriend didn't really do Halloween so I haven't dressed up in awhile. What do you think?"
Luke chuckled and said, "Well there are a million different people you could go as: Mary Jane from Spider-man, Jessica Rabbit, Wilma Flintstone, Jane Jetson, that random redheaded girl from Peanuts, Daphne from Scooby-do, Josie from Josie and the Pussycats - the list goes on. Let's not forget Poison Ivy from Batman."
Mara looked at him and said, "And you would just love to see me in any one of those costumes, wouldn't you?"
Luke laughed and said, "That's a trap if I've ever heard one. This ice cream is really creamy."
She swatted him playfully. "Well you could be a farmer or a cowboy. How about a medieval peasant?" She snapped her fingers, a look of mischievous triumph on her face as she said, "I got it!"
Luke looked at her expectantly. "You could be Captain America - pre-super soldier serum!"
Luke grabbed her and tickled her mercilessly as tried to wriggle free, shrieking with laughter. After a few moments, and several desperate pleas for him to stop, Mara was released and she caught her breath. Luke tried to look affronted. "I'll have you know that I am no where near that skinny, thank you very much."
Mara gave a very flirtatious smile and said, "I know. I saw you with your shirt off that one time you were working on your fighting techniques. You're right. Pre-SSS probably won't work. How about Captain America, then? I think you'd look great in tights, carrying a painted trashcan lid around."
Luke just looked at her but before he could retort, Mara waved her hand and said, "No, you're right. That wouldn't work either. You're not tall enough."
Luke tickle-attacked her again for another several seconds. When she had, for the second time, regained her breath, she said, "Seriously though, what are you going as?"
Luke shrugged. "Not sure. I'll find something though, never you fear."
Updated 10/15/2018
