Be With Me

Chapter Twelve

"So," Mr. Ackbar said clapping his hands together. "I have a little confession to make." The whole class looked around the room, meeting each other's eyes before turning back to their teacher. "The test we took a few weeks ago wasn't an ordinary test. It will obviously be a large part of your grade as I told you but it was also an evaluation issued by the government to examine the performance levels of all students across the state."

Phasma raised her hand to which Mr. Ackbar called on right away. "Mr. Ackbar why didn't you tell us that before? That way we could've studied even harder and raised our chances of beating other schools."

"Well, that's not the objective here. It's not about being better than other schools it's just to analyze the everyday, non-enhanced performances of our students. Knowing what kind of strings are attached would've influenced everyone's performance. However, there is a monetary prize for the student that scored the highest which I will deliver shortly. The results came in and our school achieved 6th best performance out of all schools statewide and that's damn good. Definitely better than we anticipated," he added teasingly. The class gave him a few moans and 'heys' to which he started chuckling. "I'm kidding, I'm only kidding. Of course you were gunna shine. I never doubted you." As their history teacher continued showing and explaining the different results of the evaluation which nobody found to be interesting, Rey looked over to Ben Solo who was leaned back in his chair, arms crossed with his silver rings glistening in the light. When he noticed her, he slightly cocked his chin and she smiled and winked at him. He bit his lip and smiled before returning his attention back to Mr. Ackbar. "Alright," their teacher said, "now to the prize."

"How much is it? Double or triple digits?" Armitage Hux asked unimpressed leaning back in his chair with one finger resting on his temple.

"Well, Mr. Hux that would be a total of $150." The classroom gasped and everyone's attention was glued to the envelope in their teacher's hand. He walked through the aisles and stopped in front of Ben's desk. He held it up and then gently set it on the desk top. "Congratulations, Mr. Solo. Outstanding job," he patted his shoulder and returned to the front of the classroom. Everyone, especially Finn, stared at Ben. Rey was ecstatic for him and was filled with pride. When he modestly looked over to her with a blank face she grinned from ear to ear and began clapping. The rest of the class joined her except for Hux, Phasma and Finn. Finn mostly because he was stunned and still had his mouth open in shock. Rey reached over to him and gently closed it with her freshly manicured nails.

"Oh, peanut," Rey smiled shaking her head in amusement at Finn, calling him by their shared nickname for each other. Ben was very uncomfortable with the praise he was getting from his classmates and seemed relieved when their teacher resumed the lesson. Rey took out her phone when Mr. Ackbar wasn't looking and texted Ben.

'Meet me in the library after lunch.'

'😎👍' he responded.

For lunch the gang met up in the park near their school where they often took their meals to eat outdoors as opposed to the dark school cantina. Especially in the spring and summer, Rey and her friends would have picnics there and enjoy the beautiful greenery layout. The gurgling and splashing sounds of the center fountain had a calming effect which made for a peaceful lunch break. Although it was October, the sun was shining and a warm breeze swept over the grounds, so the friends decided to eat outside. While they chewed they discussed their costume plans for the Halloween party.

"Should we do a group costume thing or surprise each other like last year?" Kaydell asked.

"Surprise!" Poe didn't hesitate.

"Oh, wow. OK," Kaydell laughed. "I'm fine with that. You guys?" She asked the others and they all agreed. "I got something pretty cool in the making."

"Can't wait to see it," Rey said and finished her sandwich. When they were all finished everyone except Rey went back to the school grounds as they had work to catch up on. Rey decided to stay outside a while longer and finish her book before returning to class. Finn had packed up the blankets so she decided to sit on one of the benches facing the fountain. The lady sitting next to her was drinking out of a large coffee mug and reading a book with a cover full of green leaves and purple blossoms.