Teen years are often either the most exciting or the most difficult years of anyone's lives. If the battle wasn't already bad in middle school with the negative effects of puberty and one's changing body, high school in some cases was much worse. In movies, you probably saw all the usual jerk-ish varsity football players, mean girl cheerleaders, or spontaneous musical numbers about finding out who someone is and what they hope to accomplish. Well, real high schools aren't like that... usually.
At Walker Prep High School, they welcomed students from all kinds of backgrounds, and even different species. Last year, they got their very first equine student in the form of Comedia Evermare-Mundi, princess of Equinaro and adopted daughter of Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi. And she and Master Mace Windu's daughter Myra were two of the first Jedi to attend their school too. But, the very first royal students came in the form of adopted twins Boba and Omega Skywalker.
The kids all had their own things at this school. Myra was in the music club and on the girls' swim team, Comedia was a hit in the comedy club, Boba became co-captain of the cheer squad recently, and Omega was also getting better at engineering every day, and super cheery when she joined her brother on the team.
But not today.
Omega closed her locker as she got her books for class, and moped most of the time down the hall.
"Hey, Omega!" Comedia said, but Omega didn't answer. "Omega?"
Comedia's ears drooped. She felt a disturbance, and not just in the Force; it was clear Omega was depressed about something, and she decided she needed to find a way to cheer her up. But, she bumped into someone before she could go anywhere. She gasped when she saw who she bumped into and knocked onto the floor.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Vince!" Comedia said. She lowered her head to help him up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Vince said, dusting himself off. And oddly enough, he just scratched Comedia's ear and walked away.
Comedia, however, was confused. She passed by Myra in the hall later and said, "Hey, Myra. Have you noticed Vince acting a little... weird?"
"Weird how? Like the fact that he hasn't hit on anyone since the Fear Leader-Solar Flare incident? I'd say that's a good thing."
"Well, no not that." Comedia said. "I mean, yeah it's good he's leaving the girls alone, but I've also noticed he hasn't made any snarky comments or been his usual tough guy self. He seemed... quiet, and then he scratched my ear."
Myra checked Comedia's ear just to make sure there wasn't a bug or something planted on it. It looked fine.
"Hmm. Well, either way, at least he's leaving us alone." Myra said, stopping at her locker to grab something. "Only gotta deal with him until summer and then one more year unless he transfers somewhere else."
Comedia looked down a little. She couldn't help wondering a few things. In the time since she'd moved into the Temple, she'd come across at least a few jerks, and one question hit her mind a lot: Why do they act like this?
Garrett once said that he dealt with what some faculty members called "Problem Students," but in a nicer way, he simply referred to them as "Special Cases." The way Garrett put it, "Most people who acted like jerks act the way they do because they're angry, upset, or they've been hurt and never properly treated for it. Getting the patient to open up, though, that's the hard part."
"I gotta be honest, though." Myra said. "I wonder why he acts like that too. We've been in the same class for eight years, and I remember at one point, believe it or not, he was actually more playful than jerkish."
"That's the thing. Remember, Boba was on a dark path once too because he went through something very traumatic, or me and Emeraldi after the way our parents treated us all our lives."
Comedia only knew from Myra that Brittney changed after her father's business grew, and she basically became really spoiled and decided she no longer wanted to hang with the "riff raff." But, for some reason, Comedia always got a weird sense around Vince, even when he was laughing or hanging with his fellow football players. Myra had sensed some things about him too, but she usually ignored it.
"Well, whatever the reason Vince acts like a jerk," said Myra. "That's gonna have to wait."
That was because at the moment, Comedia and Myra were a little more concerned about Omega.
Omega sat in class and didn't seem to pay much attention to anything the teacher was saying. Instead, she was sketching in her notebook. In it, she drew a picture of her with her brothers... all of them. And in that picture, she was holding hands with Echo. She missed him so much.
She'd only had a family for about a year and a half now, and one member leaving felt... so drastic to her. Omega used to be all alone, and then she got a family. Most days she didn't let it cross her mind, but deep down she knew she was terrified of losing even one part of her family.
Omega looked at her backpack. On it, she had the little knitted butterfly Mariposa gave her for her eighth grade graduation attached to a little chain. She remembered how Mariposa said in her family's tribe, change was a celebrated thing, a caterpillar hatching from its chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly being one of the most amazing sights anyone could ever hope to see.
Clearly they don't know about sad changes like a brother leaving. Omega thought.
Later at lunch, Omega didn't feel like sitting with her friends. She sat by herself, which her brother, Myra, and Comedia, were all quick to notice.
"Gee, Omega sure looks down." Myra said.
"Maybe we can go try and cheer her up." Comedia said, picking up her lunch and moving to Omega's table.
Boba was already at the table when the two Jedi arrived.
"Hey, Omega." Boba said. "Mind if we sit with you?"
"Okay." Omega sighed, not looking up.
"Did something happen at home?" Myra asked Boba.
"Sort of." Boba answered.
Boba told Myra and Comedia how a few days ago Echo and Banjo left with Rex on a mission to find out what was happening with all the missing clones and how Mariverde connected with it all. Sadly, Omega was having trouble coping with the change.
"You miss him, huh?" Myra said.
"Yeah." Omega sighed.
"You know, I get it. Change can be hard. Believe it or not, when my mom told me she and my step-dad were getting married, that was one change I had a lot of doubts about, but the change I really had trouble with was when Kade was born."
"But you and Kade are thick as thieves," said Comedia.
"We weren't always. When he first came home, at first I was happy because he was so cute, but then came the crying in the middle of the night, smelly diapers, and my parents not having time for me. I hated it."
"What changed after that?" Boba asked.
"Well, for one thing, Kade started to grow. When he finally mastered standing... guess who was the first person he walked to."
Myra would never forget that day; most babies walked to their parents first once they mastered walking, but Kade walked to his big sister first. And when Myra felt Kade hug her legs like that, she began feeling something she never thought she'd feel, and she picked up her baby brother and gave him a big hug. That was her favorite picture in Kade's baby book too.
"How is that supposed to make me feel better?" Omega asked.
"That was a change I didn't like at first," said Myra. "But eventually, it led to something better. You see, Omega, change is scary, and it may feel bad at first, but maybe it'll lead to something great."
Omega just looked down again.
"I've gone through some scary changes too, Megs." Boba said. "I used to be the only kid, then I got a sister, then we moved from the apartment I was first adopted and raised with my adoptive family in to the palace. And some of those changes happened all at once. Just imagine when my relationship with Roya became long-distance."
"I thought long-distance relationships never worked out."
"It's a little different when you're in a royal family, and both you and your significant other's families are allies."
Omega didn't look much better though. She started looking at pictures on her phone. One of the more recent pictures, she stopped at. In that picture, it was on a day the Batch had a new kind of mission Shmi asked them for help with: picking apples. Shmi had gotten better and better with making sweeter, more flavorful treats, and this time around, she was making apple pies. And, as part of an assignment, Garrett told all the royal family members they needed to spend the day doing every task without using any magic.
So, since Omega couldn't cast a spell or sprout her wings to reach the apples, Echo let her stand on his shoulders. But, then Echo sneezed, then fell down while trying not to drop Omega, and Omega instead ended up stuck hanging from the branch...until she fell and Echo caught her.
"I've heard the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree," Echo had said. "And looks like I caught a blonde apple."
Omega remembered laughing as Echo ruffled her hair and set her down. Inconveniently, her dad packed an apple in her lunch today.
Omega felt sad when she looked at the apple; it reminded her of Echo now. She wiped her eyes with a sniff and left the table without another word.
"Omega, wait!" Boba said, but Omega made it clear she wanted to be alone.
Comedia's ears drooped again.
"Seeing Omega like this is making me sad." sighed the alicorn.
"Come on, Vince! What's up with you, man?" said one of the football players. "You look like you got dumped."
Sure enough, Vince did look down. He didn't seem too interested in his food, and he wasn't doing much talking or anything.
"I guess Omega's not the only one." Comedia said.
"I'm not in the mood today, Mike." said Vince.
A girl passed by the football players' table, and Mike pointed her out.
"Check it out. New girl."
"Whatever." Vince rolled his eyes.
"You're not even gonna try anything? 'Cause I'll call dibs."
"Knock it off, Mike."
"What's with you?" Another football player said. "If you don't pick one now, all the good ones will be taken and-"
"I said I'm not in the mood!" Vince shouted, slamming his hands on the table.
Vince just grabbed his bag and left the cafeteria.
"Hmm. I see what you mean." Myra said; she could sense a lot of negativity coming from Vince. Pain, anger, and... sadness?
Come to think of it, Myra didn't really know anything about what Vince did outside of school or football practice. Their families didn't know each other that well like Brittney's and Myra's had.
"You've known him longer than me," said Comedia. "Did he always act so jerkish here?"
Myra thought for a moment back to her earlier years in Walker Prep. And then she remembered at one point Vince tried to hide his face all the time, but she couldn't remember why. But eventually that same year, he'd started hitting on every girl he came across on campus.
"The real jerkishness probably happened after he got on the football team. Classic cliché: the football team is also the jerks team."
"Do all the football players act like Vince?" Comedia asked.
"Now that I think of it, I've seen the pattern in at least a few of them, except…. The other football players tend to be more…. Hands-on in their approach, and persistent, if you know what I mean. But it took one fractured wrist on Tigro Adams when he tried to get touchy with me that made the football team fear me."
Even the snarkiest football players were smart enough not to mess with Myra Dawson-Windu. She was as pretty as she was vicious when provoked. But, similar to how there was more to Myra and her dad than most people thought, maybe there was more to the football captain than some students realized.
"Maybe one of us should talk to Vince?" Comedia suggested. "See what's bothering him."
"Since when has talking done anything?" Myra scoffed.
"It worked for you and your dad, didn't it?"
Myra thought for a moment.
"Good point. You should talk to him."
"Why me?" asked Comedia.
"He's afraid of me, but apparently not of you, and he doesn't hit on you. You're a better candidate."
"I don't know. I guess I could give it a go."
Comedia left the cafeteria and looked around the halls until she found Vince taking his jacket off and placing what looked like ointment onto his arms, which were covered with bruises, and a scar that looked like someone or something scratched him.
Comedia's eyes went wide.
"What happened to you?" Comedia gasped.
Vince quickly put his jacket back on and said, "Ever heard of minding your own business?!"
"Uh, you're in the hallway, not exactly private." Comedia said. "I just noticed you seemed upset and-"
"I'm fine! Okay? Just leave me alone!"
Vince looked like he would start crying at any moment, and he just slammed his locker shut, grabbed his backpack and ran, but not realizing he'd dropped something.
"Vince, wait! You dropped-"
But Vince already vanished.
Comedia looked down to see what Vince had dropped. A notebook. It was dark blue with sports stickers all over it, and it had Vince's name written on it in silver cursive letters.
Curious, Comedia opened the cover, and saw that the page had writing, and each new entry started with Dear Mom...
But Comedia quickly closed the book; she knew better than to read something that wasn't hers. After that incident with the holocron leading to grounding for two weeks, Comedia wasn't going to make that same mistake again. So, she decided to just pick up the journal and give it back to him. They did have literature class together, she figured she could give it back to him then.
Except, when Comedia got to class, Vince wasn't there. And then she heard rumors in the hall. People thought Vince was feeling sick with a stomachache, or that he'd gotten caught doing drugs in the bathroom, or he just ditched school, but she wasn't sure she believed it.
And then school finally ended.
Today, it was Carmine's turn to pick up the twins from high school while his wife got the younger kids.
"Boba! Omega! Where are you?" Carmine called, walking into the schoolyard.
"Coming, Uncle Carmine." Boba said, his sister still looking down in the dumps as they exited the building.
But Carmine was pushed by someone as he was coming to meet the twins, and it was done by someone who wouldn't look up from his phone. And Carmine fell onto his back and dropped his lightsaber from his belt.
"Hey!" Carmine said angrily, picking up his weapon. "Ever hear of manners?"
"You ever hear of-" the man who pushed Carmine. "Carmine?"
Carmine got a better look at the guy.
"Derek?!" Carmine said.
Both men looked peeved to see each other.
"Hmph! I thought I'd seen the last of you when you got expelled from Melody Academy." Carmine huffed at the guy.
"Still haven't ditched those stupid glasses, I see." said the man, apparently Derek. "And for the record, I was too good for that school anyway."
"Do you also see I have a lightsaber now?" Carmine threatened. "And I won't hesitate to use it if you don't back off."
"Wait a minute!" Boba said. "You mean the same guy who harassed Aunt Caroline all the time when you were in high school?"
"Same guy, unfortunately." Carmine said. "Why are you even here?"
"Picking up my half-brother. Hey, Vincent! Where are you?" Derek called.
"Coming, Derek." Vince said, coming out.
Both Boba and Omega's eyes went wide at this. Vince was the younger brother of their uncle's high school bully? Well, that probably explained where Vince learned to act like a jerk.
"Hm, I guess your brother didn't go into music like you tried?" Carmine said.
"Ha! Like this loser could make it in music!" Derek laughed, ruffling Vince's dirty blonde hair.
"You know I hate when you do that!" Vince whined, then he noticed the twins. "What are you looking at?"
"Come on, Vince. Dad and Tatiana are waiting." Derek said.
"I know. I know."
Derek basically pushed Vince into the limo that would be taking them home. Suddenly, the twins couldn't help feeling bad for Vince. It didn't look like he had a good example to follow.
Carmine got his kids to the speeder and began driving them home. But throughout the ride, Boba couldn't stop thinking about how he'd seen Vince's brother treating him.
Sure, Vince didn't exactly act friendly to Boba or any of his friends since they started school, but Boba had to remember, he didn't start out so friendly either when Gabby first met him. But, she managed to help him change for the better just by talking to him and helping him confront his emotions instead of taking them out on someone else like he used to. So, why couldn't Vince be helped too? Except... Vince wasn't really the emotional type, or so he seemed.
As tough as football players looked, big muscles, pads, and helmets could only protect them from so much.
Boba remembered how badly Aurra Sing treated him. Derek was no Aurra Sing, at least that Boba knew of, but if he was even half as bad to Vince as Aurra had been to Boba... it was probably no mystery of why Vince acted the way he did. And he also got to thinking, what about the rest of Vince's family?
When Boba and Omega were cheering at a football game last semester, Boba noticed Vince seemed a little off his game. Before it started, he seemed to be looking for someone or something in the crowd. But, then he looked sad. Boba took a guess that maybe Vince was looking for his dad. What athlete didn't want their parents to see them play at a big game and support them? But, Vince got so distracted, he crashed into one of the other players and hurt his arm.
Just because he was out of the sling now didn't mean he was totally healed.
"Uncle Carmine?" Boba said. "Have you ever met Derek's family?"
"No. But apparently we just met one member, whom I believe you described as just as jerkish. And we just learned you wouldn't know they're brothers by looking at them. When you said his last name was Hall, I'd just assumed it was a coincidence."
Derek and Vince did look very different, that was true. They really didn't look alike. Maybe one of them was adopted?
"I wonder if Derek picks on Vince at home and that's why he acts the way he does." Boba said.
"That's possible. Derek was known to be a player when we were teens." Carmine said.
Meanwhile, Comedia and Myra were waiting for their dads to come pick them up. And the alicorn jedi decided to share something with Myra. She told her all about what happened in the hallway, and about the journal Vince dropped.
"Gimme that!" Myra said, taking the book.
"Myra! That's Vince's journal! We shouldn't be reading it." Comedia scolded. "I know he's been a jerk, but even he doesn't deserve an invasion of privacy like that."
"But it may hold some answers." Myra said, putting the journal in her bag. "I'll just read a couple pages tonight and give it back to Vince tomorrow."
Comedia sighed; talking to Vince didn't work. But maybe he wrote something that might help figure out what was bothering him... and explain why she saw him walking out of the nurse's office earlier. So, while Myra did that, Comedia decided she needed to go back inside and talk to someone.
Comedia walked over the room where the student council had meetings, where she found Rachel Kharen setting up for a meeting.
"Hi, Rachel." Comedia said.
"Oh, Princess Comedia! How nice to see you." said Rachel.
"You can just call me Comedia."
"I'm just getting ready for a meeting. Is there a problem?"
Comedia had to admit, she was impressed; Rachel had a natural gift for knowing when people needed something.
"No wonder you got elected. Somehow you know when students need something before they say anything."
"It's a gift."
Comedia explained to Rachel that she had a problem regarding a particular student; one she believed might've been having emotional problems he couldn't confront on his own, but she needed to find out more about him. Since Rachel had access to pretty much every file in school, Comedia thought maybe she could help her.
"Who exactly is the student you're concerned about?" Rachel asked.
"Vince Hall."
"Vince?! That jerk who hits on every girl in school, including me? Why are you investigating him? He catcalled me last week."
"For the fifth time, I guess?"
"Well... no. Actually, that's one thing I've noticed. He only hits on most girls once, and then that's it, whereas a few of the other football players, they're repeat offenders, and are in detention way more than Vince. Some girls though, Vince has flirted with harder than others."
"Really? Has he ever had a girlfriend?"
"Now that I think about, no. At least, not that I'm aware of. I've never seen him ask a girl out for real, or anywhere with a girl outside of school. The only time I did see him outside of school, he was by himself in the library... reading a book, which I never see any of the football players do."
"Do you remember what book it was?"
"One of those classics I think. Hmm..." Rachel started to think and then, "Oh, yeah! It was Oliver Twist. Such a good book. My grandpa has read it to me every time I've stayed with him since I was little. Story about cruelty happening to an innocent child. So sad that innocent kids end up suffering the most. That's part of why I wanna follow in my aunt's footsteps."
"And if we help Vince out, that would be one step into doing better. If we find out why Vince acts the way he does, maybe we can treat it. In this situation, maybe he has an itch he can't reach, and he's too proud or scared to ask someone to help him scratch it. Metaphorically speaking. You probably know about the Silly Filly incident. That was before I confronted my problem and got help, but it could very well have been a lot worse if I hadn't."
Rachel slowly started to understand. She was the one who started a mental health campaign and planned a fundraiser to raise money for the guidance counselor to hire an assistant and create new ways to help emotionally struggling students, and spread awareness on the matter.
"I remember now. You gotta admit though, the silly mirrors were hilarious. I love those things." Rachel giggled.
"Me too. But, back to the matter at hand…. Or hoof."
Rachel brought Comedia to the office and opened the cabinet where student information was kept, and she found Vince's file. It looked awfully thick.
"Uh oh. Has he gotten into a lot of trouble?" Comedia said, seeing the thick file.
"I haven't looked at this file in a long time." Rachel said. "But that would be a reasonable guess."
Rachel opened the file, and from what they could see, there was a long list of girls he'd hit on, but to Comedia's surprised, there was only one complaint from each girl. Only four girls ever complained more than once about him, and all of them were rich girls who'd attended Walker Prep for at least one semester. But when they looked back to Vince's freshman year, he used to wear a football helmet all the time.
"I guess he's always liked football." Comedia shrugged.
"You know, it's weird." Rachel said. "It makes me wonder if he wore it for insecurity reasons. Call me crazy, but it's almost like he didn't want anyone seeing his face."
Comedia dug a little deeper and found Vince actually had really good grades in practically every subject, but he'd also been to the guidance counselor before, but refused to say anything. What was he hiding? But, Comedia found Vince's address, and wrote down what information she could in her notebook until she heard someone calling her name.
"Comedia, it's time to go home! Where are you?" Master Mundi's voice called.
"Coming, Dad!" Comedia called. She put her notebook away. "Thanks, Rachel. This has really been a big help."
"Let me know if you find anything out." Rachel said, placing everything away.
Comedia met her dad in the hall and went with him to head back to the Temple. She started to think. Should she tell her dad about what she saw now? Or should she wait until she knew more? This was a hard decision. If Vince was in immediate danger, she should say something, but that was the problem. She didn't know how much danger he was in, if any. So, she decided to do her homework and then sleep on it.
Meanwhile, Myra did a little digging into Vince's journal, and she found some things that really shocked her.
"Oh my gosh!" Myra gasped. "Is he out of his mind?! And to have grown up with this guy... and knowing what today really is for him... it's no wonder Vince acts like such a jerk."
And when she turned to another page, she found a photo taped to it. It looked like a picture of Vince when he was little, and he was with a woman. She had lovely strawberry blonde hair, a pearly smile, and her eyes were blue-green like Vince's. In the picture, she was hugging Vince, and he was smiling, like genuinely smiling. Not like the cocky smile Myra was used to seeing on Vince; in the picture, he was actually happy, and it all seemed because of that woman in the picture.
And underneath the picture was more writing. Mom & Me. My 6th birthday at the park.
"I don't know what to do. No one understands me." Myra read in the latest entry. "Ever since I was almost shark food, I've been getting feelings I can't explain. Maybe I am just a joke. I'm a monster, and I'm in so deep. I don't think I can go back to how I used to be. I this isn't what you would've wanted, Mom, and I can't blame you if you're disappointed in me. I have no one to turn to, I can't be myself, and now I spend all my days at home crying and feeling pathetic."
Myra started to feel bad about wanting to pummel Vince before. As mad as she was when he hit on one of her friends, maybe he did deserve a little benefit of the doubt in this scenario, or at least a chance to explain himself.
Meanwhile, Vince was breathing heavily as he'd finally managed to make his way into his bedroom and lock the door.
Tears began to form in his eyes, and he sat down on his bed, trying not to cry. He reached under his mattress and pulled out a little yellow book with white flowers embroidered on the cover. Inside, there were pictures of a woman with strawberry blonde hair and blue-green eyes. And in many of those pictures she was with Vince from when he was a baby to when he was six years old. And there was a picture of her in a wedding dress, standing beside Vince's dad, and what had to be Derek as a child: the day Vince's parents got married.
"I miss you, Mom." Vince said quietly, tears falling.
Vince reached into his backpack to write something in his journal, only to find it wasn't in there.
"Poodoo! I must've left it in my locker." Vince sighed.
So, Vince took out another notebook and decided to write his entry in that; he figured he could place it in his journal later; this really couldn't wait.
Dear, Mom,
I've had a lot of time to think about my life now. Even before that incident with the sharks, I can't help feeling like I really messed up. But now, I see I really have become a monster. There are some pretty cool new kids in school now. But, I guess I've been letting the other guys get in my head so much and I'm so scared of being alone, I just keep up this act of being a jerk to everyone to avoid it. It's no excuse though. No one in school likes me, and probably no one ever will. Maybe it's best that I just disappear.
Sincerely, Me.
Vince placed the book into his backpack and crawled into bed. He looked at his phone one more time to look at a picture of his mom from her baby shower when she was expecting Vince.
"Don't worry, Mom. Tomorrow, I'm going to do the right thing for everyone." He said to the picture.
The next day, Omega almost didn't wake up on time to get ready for school…. Until Padme came and kissed her cheek.
"Good morning, Sunshine." Padme sang.
Omega was reluctant to get up though; she was still depressed about Echo leaving. Padme saw that her daughter was sad.
"Come on, Baby. Breakfast will get cold if you don't get up."
So, Omega got up and got ready for breakfast.
"Buenos dias, Omega." Estrella greeted when she saw her rider.
Strawberry danishes were among the pastries served for breakfast this morning; Omega loved strawberry danishes. At first, she didn't really want to eat anything, but one little bite of a sweet danish did seem to work… a little bit. Seeing that empty chair where Echo usually sat, it didn't feel the same.
Pinto and Maybelle looked at Omega. They both missed Banjo as much as Omega missed Echo.
"Omega sure looks sad, doesn't she?" Pinto said.
"Yeah. Maybe we oughta try and cheer her up." Maybelle said.
In the days since Echo left, the family saw that Omega was feeling sad. Anakin hugged her the whole ride home the night Echo left. Padme hugged her too. Everyone hugged her, but Omega just responded with more crying each time. Even Estrella couldn't cheer Omega up.
It was time for the kids to head to school, and Maybelle and Pinto came up as Anakin was about to take them.
"Hey, Anakin!" Maybelle said. "I know it's kinda last minute, but Pinto and I were wonderin' if you wouldn't mind us takin' the twins to school."
"Really?" Anakin said. Usually, the horses went about their own things. Usually only the kids' horses, and occasionally Sapphire, offered themselves as a ride to school.
"Sure thing." Pinto said. "We can handle it."
So, Pinto took Boba and Maybelle took Omega, and they apparated to Coruscant a couple of blocks away from the school so they'd have time to talk with the twins as they walked.
"So…. Omega… we couldn't help noticin' yer kinda down in the dumps." Maybelle said.
"Echo left! How am I supposed to feel?" Omega snapped.
"We ain't dismissin' your feelings, Omega." Pinto said. "We just wanna help."
"I'm not sure you can."
Maybelle sighed; it appeared Omega's mood was worse than the Cabello siblings thought.
"You got every right to feel the way you do, Omega. And you ain't the only one. Our brother left too."
Omega's eyes seemed to widen a little at that realization. She'd almost completely forgotten that Banjo went along with Echo when he left with Rex. So, now the Batch was down not just one soldier/brother, but down one steed as well.
"It's true. It's been hard on us too. It's always been us three," said Pinto. "And now Banjo's gone off on his own."
With Banjo being the youngest in his family, it seemed only natural that his older brother and sister would be protective of him. They'd been the ones to teach him things and look after him while their parents were busy tending to the farm work. And when they'd all learned to make music, they became a family band that always stuck together in harmony, bringing joy to so many people through their beautiful music.
Sure, the three siblings had their arguments and disagreements, but somehow they always found a way to resolve it and remain a band, because they were part of one kind of band you could never break up forever: family.
But, Banjo was out on his own, putting his life at risk to help save the galaxy.
Tears welled up in Maybelle's eyes as she thought of her baby brother again.
"My baby brother's out there tryin' to help people!" Maybelle cried. "It feels like only yesterday he was learnin' to spread his little wings."
"Yeah, and we kept losin' him in the trees 'cause we don't have any to catch up with him." Pinto said. "Remember when we tried climbin' into them trees and we got stuck up there?"
Maybelle laughed a little as she recalled that day; Banjo was surely a handful, being the only child in his family's branch with wings. Even with Maybelle and Pinto watching him together, it was a workout.
"What was it like growing up on a farm?" Boba asked.
"I think you'd sure love it if ya tried it," said Maybelle. "Fresh air, wide open space, all the crops ready for the pickin'. It's paradise."
"Isn't it hard work, though?" Omega asked. "We learned about farms in school, and farmers have a lot of chores to do."
"Well, that all depends how well you bond with the animals and how you look at the tending of the crops." Pinto said. "In a way, carin' for a farm is like takin' care of yer family."
"And sometimes, you have to let family members go." Maybelle said. "They stay for a while, but eventually they leave to serve a new purpose."
And Maybelle knew that new purpose wasn't always a good one when it came to farm animals.
Omega started to think more about what Pinto and Maybelle were saying; it made sense what they were saying to some extent. They missed their brother too, and always wanted what was best for him and each other.
"What we're really tryin' to say, Omega…" Maybelle continued. "Is that it's always gonna be hard when a family member leaves, even when it's for a good cause. But the difference between you and what happens with some of the animals on a farm, is that there's a good chance your traveling family will come back."
"Yeah. Doesn't your Uncle Carmine leave for Count Crescendo concerts all the time?" Pinto said. "And you miss him?"
"Yes, but I usually know when he's coming back." Omega said.
"Not necessarily. A tour can get extended at the last second, or maybe his ride back will be delayed."
Omega hadn't thought of that. Even with thorough planning, no one in her family could predict everything that would happen that might prevent them from getting to the others again. So, even if Echo did have a scheduled return time, Omega couldn't predict when he would return.
"Well, here we are. Our final destination." Maybelle said.
That was when the twins saw they'd arrived at school. The horses let them down so they could go in.
"Oh, wait a minute!" Banjo said, reaching into his saddle bag with his magic and pulling out two lunch boxes. "Don't forget your lunches."
"Thanks, Pinto." Omega said.
"And thanks for the ride, both of you." Boba said.
Then, the twins entered the building to start yet another day at school.
All was peaceful at Windy Falls, but it seemed kinda strange. At lunch, Boba and Omega walked to a table together and were quick to notice the football players were short one player. Normally, they wouldn't really think much of it, but with how off Vince was behaving yesterday, they couldn't help worrying a little bit.
"Maybe Vince called in sick today." Omega said.
That was when Omega and Boba both got a text on their phones. It was from Myra.
Meet me and Comedia in the library during free period
The twins weren't sure what that could be about, but they decided to go along with it.
The adopted twins met with Myra and Comedia in the library for a meeting only half the group knew what it was about.
"You guys aren't gonna believe what we found out!" Comedia said, amid the shushing she got. "Sorry."
"What's this meeting about?" Boba whispered.
Myra took out Vince's journal, and turned to some pages she'd read.
"We think we may know why Vince acts like such a jerk."
Myra read a few journal entries Vince had written over the years. It appeared Vince kept this journal since he was a child.
The first entry Myra read was from just a couple semesters ago.
Dear Mom,
I won the game for my team yesterday, but Dad wasn't even there to see it. Nothing's been the same since you left this life. I still remember when Dad was showing me how to throw and catch, and you would always pick me up when I fell down. Football's okay, but I really like soccer better. Except, Dad won't let me try for that. He keeps saying I need to think about my future and stick to this path so I don't end up like Derek. But, it's backfired because I'm starting to become like him just so I can avoid what he's trying to turn me into. You always knew what to say and do to reason with him when he got too controlling. I wish you were here.
Sincerely, Me
The next entry Myra read was written sometime around her and Vince's freshman year.
Dear Mom,
Tonight was yet another dinner where Dad tried to set me up with a rich girl. Luckily for me, all I had to do was have bad manners and act like Derek to scare her off. It's pretty much become a habit for me in school too. Ever since freshman year, he's invited every girl from school to be set up with me. I guess he's hoping I'll marry one of them and give him the daughter-in-law and grandkids Derek never can. But, acting like him has basically made me appear unapproachable in a really bad way to the girl at school. At least Dad hasn't been setting me up lately. But, now I don't think I even have a chance with this one girl I actually do have a huge crush on. She hates my guts, and I guess I can't really blame her.
I remember how much you and Dad loved each other. You made each other laugh, you balanced each other out, you even loved Derek as your own even when he wouldn't stop pushing you away, saying you weren't his real mom. You're the best mom ever, and I wish you were still here so I could say it to your face.
Sincerely, Me
And perhaps the most shocking one was back from when Vince was seven years old.
Dear, Mom,
Today is probably the worst day of my life! Dad came home with a woman who's really mean, and announced that they're getting married! I don't like this woman one bit. Tatiana is a gold digger, and doesn't even try to hide it, but Dad doesn't see it. And it's not what Dad will do with his money when he's gone that I'm worried about. From what the rest of the family's saying, Tatiana is young enough to be my big sister, but Dad says age is just a number. I don't know much about grownups and marriage yet, but I'm starting to think the others might be right. And when I told Tatiana I wasn't going to let her marry my dad, she said, "Your father's money is going to be mine, and there is nothing you can do about it." I really wish you were still alive so this wouldn't be happening, Mom! I tried to tell Dad that Tatiana is bad, but he didn't listen, and then he said he has to marry her because it turns out I'm going to be a big brother, and Tatiana is having the baby.
I always wanted to have a little brother or sister, and I'd be nicer to them than Derek is to me, but I didn't want it to happen like this! I don't know what to do! I really wish that you were here. Unlike Tatiana, you loved me, took care of me, and I love you too. You were everything I could want in a mom, and I know Dad could never find anyone to replace you, but if he really had to marry someone else, I wish he could've found someone even half as amazing as you were.
Sincerely, Me.
"Is his dad crazy?!" Boba said.
"That's what I said." Myra nodded.
"Myra showed me an entry from two days ago too." Comedia said. "Apparently yesterday was the anniversary of when his mom died."
That had to be part of why Vince acted like a jerk. He missed his mom, and he didn't know how to express his feelings, and he was mad at his father for not listening to him, trying to control so much of his life, and he didn't like the way his brothers or his stepmother treated him. He felt alone, scared, upset, and the only way he knew how to face his problems was to act like a bully, push people away, and not seek real friends or even any help because he was afraid of being seen as weak. Maybe Vince wasn't really bad, just misunderstood, lost, and confused.
"So, he flirts with girls because he doesn't want to date them? That's kinda weird, isn't it?" Omega said.
"Well, if you really think about it," said Myra. "Would you wanna date him now that he's flirted with you?"
"No. Not really. Come to think of it, he didn't even really touch me when he did. He just talked and got closer, like he enjoyed my resistance. If his dad really was forcing him to date, I guess I can't blame him for trying to push so many away."
"And I've been talking to other girls in school." Comedia said. "Vince hasn't actually gotten really physical with them, just verbal. And any time I questioned one who did go to his house for a date, he acted real disgusting, not a gentleman at all. One girl said he blew his nose into her jacket once."
"Eww!"
"Yeah, eww! I guess he reserved that for the ones that were really hard to get rid of."
"Why would any girl be desperate enough to date someone who acts like that?" Boba said.
"Did you not hear about his stepmom? You'd be surprised how many gold diggers are out there. Didn't you mention once that women were always flirting with your grandpa before his wedding?"
"Good point."
"Point being, based on everything we know so far, it sounds like Vince isn't truly a bad person, but he needs a lot of help. He may smile in front of everyone, granted cockily, but still…. He's not happy. All of us started in a dark place for one reason or another, so maybe we can help him."
"You know, I think Comedia's right. Maybe if we help him, he'll stop giving everyone else a hard time." Omega said.
Boba looked down and thought about what his friends said. He remembered how he'd believed he'd fallen in too deep when he continued on the path of bounty hunting and almost got revenge on Myra's father. But, although many might say someone is in too deep, that depends if you find someone brave enough to go in after them.
Vince lost his mom when he was Kade's age, and instead of helping him, his older brother picked on him and his dad just up and married a woman who was not only young enough to be his daughter, but treated Vince like garbage. Boba actually couldn't help feeling sorry for him; most days, he didn't think Vince could change, but when he thought back to how his own sister talked him down and helped him through his emotions, he'd changed from a cold-blooded killer to a sweet young prince with a loving family. Just maybe…. Something could be done to help Vince.
"Before we do anything though," said Comedia. "We need to tell a grownup."
After school, the twins, Myra, and Comedia all were about to head to their extracurriculars, when Comedia remembered Myra still had Vince's journal, and she asked for it so she could bring it back to him. Seeing as they hadn't seen him all day at school, they all figured he was sick and had to stay home, and since Comedia knew his address and Comedy Club was canceled today, she figured it would be a good time to return his journal.
So, Comedia went outside and was about to head out to go return Vince's journal, when she saw a familiar limo craft arriving at the school. And out came a well-dressed man who was getting off a call on his phone.
"Vince?" the man called. "Vince, it's time to go home! Where are you?"
Comedia was confused. She walked over to the man and said hello.
"Oh!" the man got startled. "Oh, a talking horse."
"My name's Comedia Mundi. I go to school here."
"You do? Well, in that case, have you seen my son Vince?" the man pulled up a picture of Vince on his phone.
"No, I haven't seen him all day today. I thought he was out sick. I was actually wanting to return something to him."
The man then looked confused, and then he looked worried, and he went into the building and went to Principal Brenden, who said that he'd received a call saying Vince was sick and couldn't come to school today.
Comedia got worried too when she saw Mr. Hall exit the principal's office.
"Mr. Hall? Excuse me?" Comedia said. "Is everything okay?"
"No! It's not okay. Apparently I allegedly called in to say Vince wasn't coming in, but I never made that call."
"Wait, you didn't?"
"No!"
This wasn't good. If Vince wasn't at school, and he hadn't been at home, where was he?
So, I've been thinking. While I'm putting more mysteries as the end for this story is coming very soon, I've actually been thinking of creating another Mini-series that involved solving mysteries. I'm not sure what I'll call it, but here are some ideas I have.
1. Jedi P.I.
2. Enchanted Jedi Mysteries
3. Young Jedi Investigators (since the kids do most of the detective work)
Let me know in the reviews what you think