One year later
Anakin enters his own room after returning from the last school visit. Together with his father and Tahl he has been to a few middle schools to see which one he would like to attend next year. He knows that he will be going to a middle school then and really wants to make a good choice because the middle school is the stepping stone for high school. Together they went to a few public and a few private middle schools. His father had told him that they will make a choice tomorrow so that he would have time to think over everything he has seen and experienced at those schools. He walks towards his toys as he wants to play a bit before dinner. Thinking back to the schools as he plays Anakin knows that there are two schools which he absolutely doesn't want to attend. He didn't like the atmosphere of the school and he also didn't feel at ease there. The school he liked the best is Theed academy. For this school, examinations are required to be allowed to attend. Last week Anakin took this test and really hopes he will be accepted as he likes the curriculum of the school. The school has a full honors curriculum which makes it really challenging and he wants to challenge himself so that he doesn't get lost in thought during classes. This is something he regularly does at school when the teacher goes over information he already knows. This makes those lessons really boring. By challenging or being challenged he knows that he pays better attention and is able to learn more. Still, he knows that he has to have a reserve option in case he isn't allowed to attend. Waterfall middle school is the one he would like to have as his reserve. This school has a nice atmosphere and really nice teachers. Thier curriculum will be adapted to the needs of every student so Anakin knows that it is possible for him to challenge himself there. He doesn't know how much of a choice he has in it as both are public schools and he doesn't know how his father will like that. He really hopes he doesn't have to go one of the private schools as they are the ones with the bad atmosphere in Anakin's opinion. An hour later he is called to the dining room for dinner and afterward, he does a bit of homework before going to bed.
The next morning Anakin goes to his school where he starts his last week of elementary school. Most are really sad that they have to leave as no one wants to lose their friends. They all have to make their final choice for their middle school by tomorrow evening. Anakin knows that he will make his choice this afternoon when he gets back from school. Yesterday evening his father had told him that he should come to his office after school so they can make the choice to which middle school he will go next year. This day the class spends the morning going over the last subjects they have to know for the tests that will be taken tomorrow. He feels a bit of piety for Miss Nu as she will have to grade all the exams before Friday. That will be an enormous task as she can't have any delays. Friday the class will get their final reports. In the afternoon they go to a pool for a few hours as it is a hot day. It is a fun afternoon where they all can play and relax a bit. It is a great afternoon in which Anakin gets to play with his new friends in the pool and on the grass near the pools. The day ends too quickly in Anakin's opinion when he sees the limousine arriving at the swimming pool. He quickly takes his backpack and swimming gear as he had already dried and dressed himself a few minutes before. He knows that the driver doesn't really like to wait long on him so he has to get in the limousine quickly. The driver almost always has somewhere else he has to be Anakin learned from his father sometime last year.
Twenty minutes after leaving the swimming pool Anakin can see the palace gates appearing in the front window of the limousine. Another few minutes later the limousine arrives for the palaces stairs and a lackey opens the door for him. He walks back to his room firstly so that he can leave his backpack there and put the swimming gear in the washing corb in his bathroom. This is because he doesn't want to take his stuff with him to his father's office and then back to his room. It is a bit circuitous to do so in Anakin's opinion. Ten minutes later he is standing before his father's office door. Knocking once, Anakin waits for the permission to enter the room. He gets it after a few seconds and when he enters the office he can see that his father is putting away the papers he was working on. Anakin can see that his father puts an envelope in his inside pocket. He wonders what is inside the envelope.
"Anakin, good afternoon" Qui-gon says smiling before standing up and saying
"Shall we discuss the choice you made for your new middle school on the couch?"
"Of course, father" Anakin says and they both sit down on the couch. Before the couch, which is made of a dark blue cloth, is a dark oaken table with some refreshments on it. This gives Anakin the impression that his father expected this answer from him and made preparations.
"Which two schools we went to have your preference, Anakin?" Qui-gon asks.
"Well my first choice is Theed academy and my second choice is Waterfall middle school" Anakin answers.
"How did you come to your choice?" Qui-gon asks curiously. Personally, he would not have put Waterfall middle school among the top two as it is a large school located with not as many resources as the other schools have. Theed academy actually is a school he would have preferred to go to when he was Anakin's age. His father instead sent him to a boarding school. This was one of the worst years of his life. Thus this a choice he will never make with Anakin. He will live at home with his parents and not at a boarding school. His first and second choice would have been Theed academy and Westpoint middle school. Westpoint is one of the best private middle schools in Theed and the surrounding areas. It really prepares their students to go to a university after graduation. Still, he would like to know Anakin's reasoning before he makes a decision. In his final decision, he knows that he will keep Anakin's choice and reasoning in mind.
"Well, Theed academy has a full honor curriculum which is really challenging and I like being challenged. It makes sure I don't become bored during class. As for Waterfall middle school, I choose it for its nice atmosphere and the nice teachers there. Also, it is possible for me to adapt my classes so that I can challenge myself. The other schools didn't have such a nice atmosphere as these had. The atmosphere there was really that of arrogance and I don't like it. Yes, I know where I stand and what I can do but those people there don't care for those things as much as I do" Anakin explains as best as he can.
"Of course. Well, I got word back from Theed academy this morning. As I haven't opened it yet I don't know what it says. Will you open it?" Qui-gon says while reaching for his inside pocket to take the envelope out of it. He holds it out to Anakin who calmly but quickly takes it from his hands. Anakin opens the envelope and takes the letter out of it before carefully reading the letter. While he is reading Qui-gon can see the smile starting to form on Anakin's face.
"Well, what does it say?" Qui-gon asks curiously. He wants to know the answer almost as much as Anakin does. This is because they both like the school so he knows that if Anakin is accepted that they will both be happy.
"It says that I'm accepted. Can I go there, daddy?" Anakin asks hopefully after he is finished with reading the letter. He really hopes he can go there as he has been hoping to be accepted for the past week. Since yesterday he was hoping even more as he likes the school the best based on the school visits they made then.
"Yes, Anakin. You can go there" Qui-gon answers and smiles at Anakin when he shows his joy on his face. It is then that Anakin flies in his arms and keeps repeating "Thank you, thank you" over and over again. He really has to learn to mask his emotions better as he grows older.
"I know you're glad and I'm happy for you too. Now, don't you have tests tomorrow for which you have to study? Qui-gon asks and gets a nod for an answer.
"Go then. You don't want to get worse grades than you could get if you studied, am I right?" Qui-gon asks teasingly.
"You're right. See you at dinner, daddy" Anakin says and dashes out of the room back towards his own room. Qui-gon has to laugh at his behavior and goes to sign the papers so that Anakin can start at Theed Academy after the summer break. Meanwhile, Anakin is really happy that he is accepted and does his utmost best to study for his tests. He knows that his new school will look at them also and he wants to make a good impression on his new teachers. He spends the remainder of the day on studying for the tests.
Four days later Anakin arrives at school and can see some of his friends already on the playground. Thus he walks up to them and they play a bit together before their last day starts. They all feel excited about getting their final report and starting at a middle school. It is a new experience which they look forward to the experience. Yesterday during a break they discussed which middle school they would go after the summer break. Most of Anakin's friends go to private middle schools while only one of them will go with him to Theed academy. Anakin feels sad that he will lose his friends after a few years but knows that it won't be difficult to make new friends. This he learned when he moved to Naboo a few years ago. He took his time to see who really wanted to be his friend before calling them his friends. It was not really difficult to make new friends as most wanted to spend time with him. This way he learned who would be his friend and who wouldn't. After the discussion, they decided that they would have a goodbye party together in the beginning of the summer break so that they could say goodbye to each other. Another reason for this is that they wanted to have something to remember each other by and this would be the ideal time to give it to each other. So they had decided to get for each of them a similar necklace which they could wear to remember each other by.
Five minutes later the school bell rings and everyone makes their way to the classroom. Once they get there they can all see that Miss Nu has snacks and drinks standing on a table in the room. Also, they can see wrapped packages lying on her desk. Anakin wonders if this is a gift from the school or from Miss Nu herself.
"Children, take your chairs and make a circle in the middle of the room" Miss Nu says and everyone is quick to follow her orders as they all want to go home soon. Five minutes later they all sit on their chair in a circle and Miss Nu says after sitting down on her own chair in the circle
"Today our program will start with talking about which school you all will go to. Afterwards, the will be a small break during which you all will get a snack and something to drink. It is then that we will talk about your plans for the summer break and lastly I will call each of you to me and give you your final report and the present the school bought for all of you. After receiving your final report you will go back to your seat and wait until everyone has their report. It is then that you are allowed to leave"
Afterward, they follow the day's program Miss Nu has explained just yet. Anakin learns that most of his class go to private schools while only six go to public schools. From those six only three go to Theed academy, himself included. He actually had expected this and is thus not surprised that many to private schools. A lot of those families only allow their children to go to private schools as those schools have really good programs in the opinion of those families. Anakin spends the time during the small break talking to his friends and making the last plans for their party. After Miss Nu calls the class back to order they discuss their holiday plans. It is then that he learns that most have plans to go on a vacation during the summer break as is normal. The destinations are in all directions of the world, from South America to all the way to Asia. He himself will go to the same place as last year and really hopes that he will see his friend there again. His friends and he also tell them about the party they have decided to hold. It gets really great responses from the class. It is then that Miss Nu finally starts to call them to her one at a time. Five minutes later she calls Anakin to her. Anakin stands up and moves to her. When he stands before her she holds out an envelope which he knows contains his final report and then gives him his gift. Thirty minutes later, Miss Nu tells them goodbye and wishes them good luck in the future. The entire class hurries out of the classroom on their way back home. None of them can wait to be home, himself included. During the time he had to wait in the classroom Anakin had looked at his report as did most of his classmates from what he could see. He saw there that he has really good grades so is confident that nothing will stop him from attending Theed academy. He had refrained from opening his gift as he saw, from his classmates, that everyone got a yearbook as a gift. They had already opened it during the time they had to wait before being allowed to leave. Thanks to them Anakin knows that he also has gotten a gift. Once he is outside he can see the limousine waiting to take him home.
Six weeks later Anakin is preparing his desk and bookshelf for next week when he starts at Theed academy. Last week he went shopping for school supplies with Tahl. Two days after that he had prepared his locker at school together with his father so that that is done. Now he only has his desk and bookshelf left to prepare for next week. He puts the binders on the lowest shelve so that he can easily find and grab them. Each one is a different color and he has the matching crafting paper sitting in a magazine holder on the floor next to his desk. On his desk is an organizer containing his writing supplies, a MacBook which is connected through Ethernet to the internet and paper stored in another organizer.
Anakin is currently unable to craft his books as he doesn't have them yet and will get them and his backpack in two days when he goes to pick them up. The books are rented and he will keep them in his locker at school after crafting them. In his bookshelf stand the same books as he will pick up at school. These he will use at home for studying. Through this, he doesn't have to carry the books with him to school each day. Tahl had offered him help with crafting as it will be the first time he will be doing it. Anakin had accepted her help gratefully as he didn't know how he would be able to get it done on his own if he didn't get any help the first time.
Looking at his desk he sees a few books lying around and puts them also on his bookshelf. These are the books he read for school during the summer break. He wrote a summary of each of them so that he is able to remember what they are about in the future. He remembers that these books were really nice and easy to read for them as all of them interested him to some degree but doesn't remember really well how the story went. Touching the necklace he is wearing, Anakin remembers the friends he will miss but also knows that he will make new friends when he starts at Theed academy next week. This comforts him a bit as the loss of contact with Obi-wan still hurts. He hopes that he will be able to meet him again in the future.