In which Rey has an embarrassing moment, Ben tries to not be a jerk, and Finn gets a new jacket.
"Good practice, everyone!" Jess shouts as she picks up the football a few days later. "Especially for our first one!"
"You did good, Rey," Phasma remarks to her.
"Thanks." Rey grins as she gathers her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. Phasma's actually being nice. Who knew it was possible?
"You aren't going to shower?" Jess questions, untying her ponytail and letting her onyx hair tumble down her shoulders.
"I'll shower back at Jakku," Rey says.
"Why? We've got showers here." Jess waves her hand at the locker building. "I mean, if you want to walk all the way across campus looking like that…"
Rey smirks. "I don't have anyone I want to impress."
"Not even Finn?" Jess winks.
"Definitely not." The chill of impending autumn starts to seep through Rey's shorts and t-shirt. "There's just more privacy in the dorm."
"What are you, a prude?" Phasma comments as she walks by. "Or a lesbian?"
Jess rolls her eyes.
"See you later," Rey says quickly, turning and walking away before Phasma can see the tears building in her eyes. She doesn't want to shower in the locker room because there isn't enough, because she doesn't want to change in front of anybody but herself.
Stop crying, she tells herself. Grow up. Why am I so upset? She's overreacting, and that's enough of a reminder to make Rey's chest ache. She keeps her head down as she rushes through a group of students.
"Practice not go so well?" a voice interrupts her. Ben Solo leans against a stone wall, a laptop open on his lap.
"No," she says, sniffing and wiping at her eyes. "Practice was good."
"Okay then." He returns to his screen.
Another boy—Mitaka, if Rey remembers his name correctly—walks by and lets out a guffaw. Rey narrows her eyes, but Mitaka jogs away towards the cafeteria before she can say anything.
"What's with him?" she asks Ben.
He shrugs.
"Rey!" Beebee-Ate runs over to her.
"Hey, Beebee-Ate! What's up?" Rey grins at the kid who always makes her smile.
"I was watching you practice," Beebee-Ate reports. "Because next year I might try out for the boy's team. The girls' team is stronger than they are, this year."
Rey laughs.
Ben sighs. "Can you please leave me to write my college essays in peace?"
"Not a problem," Rey says, moving away from him. "See you later, Beebee-Ate."
"Um, Rey?" Beebee-Ate stutters.
"What?" She catches Mitaka, standing next to Hux at the top of the hill, staring at her and giggling. Rey crosses her arms over her chest, wishing she could disappear.
"You have something on your shorts," Beebee-Ate mutters, head hanging.
Everything suddenly clicks into place, and Rey wants to melt into the pavement. "Oh. Thanks, Beebee-Ate."
The kid smiles sheepishly at her. At least he's embarrassed for her, not of her.
"Hey, Rey," Ben calls out, staggering to his feet and shrugging out of his jacket. "You can wrap it around your waist."
Rey considers shoving it back at him. She doesn't need his help. But she can still hear Mitaka sniggering. She snatches the black leather and ties it around her waist. "Thanks."
He nods and drops back to the grass.
"Bye," Beebee-Ate says.
Rey rushes back to her dorm, holding her head high but the red taking over her face surely giving her away. Chill, she tells herself. It's normal. It happens probably to everyone.
But memories claw their way out of the dark places in Rey's mind, and she stays in the shower for a long time.
"Hey," Jess greets her when she enters their dorm room. "You didn't go to dinner?"
"Did I miss it?"
"Uh, yeah." Jess frowns. "I would have brought you something back, but the kitchen staff caught me and wouldn't let me. Are you feeling sick? Do you need to go back to Dr. Kalonia's?"
"Nah." Rey shakes her head. "My cold's getting better. You don't happen to have any granola bars or anything, do you?"
Jess shakes her head. "Sorry."
Rey pulls out her phone and texts Finn. Do you have food in your dorm room?
Do we need to feed the hungry Rey? he responds. If yes, you'd better get here quick. Poe keeps a supply on hand, but we've got twenty minutes until study time.
"See ya," Rey says, grabbing Ben's jacket as she scurries out of the room. "Finn's got something."
"Good!" Jess calls.
Rey darts down the cobblestone path and over the small stone bridge towards Yavin 4. Was there once a Yavin 1, 2, and 3? she wonders as she enters the dorm, passing a sullen Hux and heading for Finn and Poe's room. She stops at the room next to theirs and knocks.
"What?" Ben yanks the door open. "Oh! It's you."
"It's me." She thrusts his jacket at him. "Thanks."
He nods as he takes it, lips curving into a smirk. "Thanks. Are you okay?"
Rey rolls her eyes. "No, I'm actually dying. Have a good night."
"Don't die," he calls after her. She stops and cocks her head.
"Good night." He slams the door.
"Yo," Poe greets her. "Finn and I scavenged our rations. We've got chocolate and potato chips and fritos and salted peanuts. Take your pick."
Rey peers at the junk food laid out on Poe's unmade bed. "Nothing remotely healthy?"
"I beg to differ. This food is healthy for the soul," Poe counters.
Rey laughs and grabs the can of peanuts. "Want some?"
"Hell yes," Finn says. "Was practice okay for you?"
"Yeah," Rey says around a mouthful of peanuts.
"Our first one is tomorrow," Finn groans as he grabs a fistful from the can.
"You'll do great," Poe says to him.
"I hope so," Finn mutters, his hands twitching.
"I asked my dad to come visit for our first game," Poe says. "He might. And it'd be good for him to get away. I think. You could ask Lando."
"He's busy." Finn shrugs.
"How about you, Rey?" Poe asks. "Your family. You…" He frowns. "You never really mention them."
The peanuts stall in her mouth. Rey swallows. "I don't really have one."
"Hey, me neither," Finn says with a joyless grin. He drops to the floor and leans his head against the bed.
"I'm sorry," Poe says, face turning red. "I didn't mean to—I mean, I figured that because everyone knows who your grandfather is, that—"
"It's all right." Rey drops to the floor. She still has a few more minutes. "I only found out who Obi-Wan Kenobi was right before I came here. I don't think my mother ever met him. I doubt he knew about her, actually." She stuffs more peanuts in her mouth. "As for my father, he could be anyone. Mom never talked about him." And Rey only asked once, when she was five and the other kids at school asked about her dad and she realized for the first time that she had to have one. "Mum left too. Well, most of the time. She got a new boyfriend and he tolerated me, but she wasn't there most of the time. She'd call and say she'd be coming back any day now, but she really wouldn't come, and eventually her boyfriend or ex boyfriend, I don't know which—he wasn't a nice man. He was fat and ugly and looked like a blowfish." Unkar Plutt. The name nauseates her.
You're lucky I don't turn you out on the streets, girl!
And Rey always wanted to tell him she wished he would, because she did wish he would, and she didn't.
Finn and Poe both look at her like only one person has before: her caseworker. It's like they care, like they'll actually scrounge around and try to find the best for Rey, because they don't think she's just a useless no one.
"He hurt me so I stole his car to get away, and he called the cops on me. Then there was this whole fiasco and I found out my mum died of an overdose nine months ago. My caseworker's the one who traced my last name and my mum's. She wrote to Luke to get me a scholarship." Rey wipes at her eyes. "Sorry for oversharing."
"No, you didn't. You're my friend," Finn says, putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing. "Our friend."
"Yeah," Poe agrees. "Good God, I'm sorry, Rey."
"I don't really want sympathy," Rey mutters, hanging her head.
"That, I relate to." Poe says, a wrapper crinkling as he tears it off a caramel chocolate bar. "Here. We all need some."
She, more than them. Rey smirks as she takes two squares.
Finn opens his mouth and closes it, scowling. "Maz Kanata's good, if you want to talk. She doesn't do sympathy so much. Not the squicky kind."
"You're in counseling?" Rey quizzes, biting into the chocolate.
"Uh—yeah. I've got stuff with my family, you know, my lack of family." Finn glances away, at his plain white bedspread.
Something hits the wall.
"Please tell me Ben didn't just throw Hux into a wall," Finn requests.
"I think we'd hear him screaming beforehand," Poe points out.
Tap. Tap. Tap. It's almost as if someone's trying to send a message or something. But they aren't using Morse code, because Rey knows Morse code and this isn't it. Are Ben or Hux trying to warn them?
The door swings open. "Oh dear," sighs Threepio. "Miss Kenobi, you're here after hours."
"Sorry," she stammers, scrambling to her feet. "I'll go now."
"Unfortunately, I have to write to the Dean when these incidents occur," Threepio says.
Finn turns pale and glances at Poe. Rey's jaw drops. "We weren't doing anything wrong!"
"I wouldn't worry," Threepio tells her. "Likely you'll just be confined to your dorm over the weekend."
She storms out and spots Hux smirking at her. You rat.
"Really, these are the kind of menial incidents I shouldn't have to deal with," Mr. Skywalker says to Artoo in front of Poe, Finn, and Rey. He studies them. "You weren't drinking or smoking or anything else, from what Threepio says."
"I just missed dinner and they offered to give me food," Rey puts in.
"How kind of them." Mr. Skywalker sighs. "You're all not to leave your dorms except for meals over the weekend, okay?"
"What about soccer practice?" Poe asks, his heart sinking. Damn Hux! Although, he still can't wrap his mind around the fact that Ben tried to warn them. Maybe he needs to rethink which one is the evil suitemate.
Mr. Skywalker grimaces. "Sorry."
"Jess is going to kill me," Rey declares.
"Well, see, now that's the kind of serious problem I really don't have time to deal with. Murder. Can you imagine?" Mr. Skywalker laughs. "You'll be fine. And, Rey, and Finn, can I just say that I've been impressed with how well you've been doing here. Your teachers have all given glowing reports."
"Really?" Rey's face lights up. Finn grins.
"Uh, guys?" Poe says. "Don't you remember beating the entire history class on a review sheet your first day when you weren't even here last year?"
"Oh right, we did do that." Finn winks at Rey.
"Use your spare time for college applications," Mr. Skywalker encourages them. "School may not be even a month into the year, but I don't think any teachers will object to helping you out."
"I already wrote my essay for the common app," Rey says.
"Overachiever," mutters Poe. She narrows her eyes at him.
"Good for you," Mr. Skywalker says. "I will, however, warn both of you to be careful. A minor incident like last night's is not a big deal and your scholarships are certainly not under threat, but try not to let there be any more."
"There won't be," Finn promises. Poe nods. Rey wraps her arms around herself.
Mr. Snoke. That rancid principal that Poe's parents hate. He remembers when he first stated school at Jedi Academy at age ten, when Mr. Snoke suggested that he mentor Poe and Poe's parents told him he couldn't. He was so angry back then, but now he's grateful. Everyone knows Snoke is the hard-ass who expels kids when he can just for kicks. There's a rumor he drinks from a cup of student tears, and Poe can't be certain it's not true. He should ask Ben sometime. If the guy actually stops being a dick for more than just five seconds.
"Have a good day," Mr. Skywalker dismisses them.
Rey shivers. "It's cold today."
"Fall's coming," Poe declares.
"Time to buy a jacket," Finn says. "Somehow."
"You don't own a jacket?" Poe gapes at his roommate.
"I have a winter coat?"
"Good God, man. Here. You can have my leather one." Poe shrugs out of his leather jacket, ignoring Rey's smirk.
"What? No! I can't take your—"
"Dude, I've got other ones." Poe holds it out.
"Try it on," Rey urges, and Finn rolls his eyes but complies.
"Keep it," Poe declares, heat prickling as he watches Finn shrug it on. "You have to. I won't accept it back. It suits you."