Pilot Dreams (Star Wars)

Part 5 - No Fun Allowed

"Uncle, Aunt, uhhh...can I meet some friends today at Tosche Station?" Luke asked hopefully, crossing his fingers under the dining table.

"Friends?" Aunt asked skeptically. "You never mentioned having friends before."

"Uhh....um...well..." Luke racked his brains for an answer, then lied, "They drop by the house sometimes, like, uhh, talk through the window."

"What did I say about talking to strangers?"

"They're not bad people!...they're very nice..." Luke couldn't think of anything else to say. Then he added, "Besides, I'm 12 already. I can take care of myself."

"Who is this friend of yours?" Uncle demanded.

"Err...there's more than one friends, but I'm the closest to Biggs." Luke replied truthfully.

Aunt paused, and said, "Alright."

"Really?" Luke couldn't believe it.

"But we're coming with you."

~~~~~

"What even?!! My aunt and uncle coming with me?!!!" Luke screamed into his blanket back in his room. He could already imagine the situation: Biggs looking at him weirdly—maybe he wouldn't even like him anymore.

It was silly thing to think but all sorts of scenarios came rushing into his head, and he couldn't help but scream into the blanket again.

~~~~~~

And so he found himself strapped in securely in the back-seat of the family V-35 Courier, fervently praying that nothing would go wrong. As the Courier began to move off, Luke wasn't used to not seeing the sand rush past like in Biggs' skyhopper.

"What are you going to do with your friends?" Aunt questioned along the way.

"I'm not sure." Luke responded, knowing he wasn't supposed to have met his friends outside of home.

When Aunt did not say anything after that, he went back to praying non-stop.

~~~~~~~~

Soon, the V-35 Courier drew up at the familiar Tosche Station. Aunt looked disgustedly at the heaps of junk piled almost everywhere, while Luke hopped off the Courier immediately, hoping to get away from his aunt and uncle. He turned the corner quickly and grinned widely when he saw Biggs.

"Got permission this time?"

"Yeah, just that...uhhh..."

"So these are your friends?"A gruff voice behind him. Luke shivered a little and tried to force a smile as he watched Biggs' eyebrow raise.

"You brought your parents along?" Biggs whispered, a little irritation in his voice.

Luke shrugged. "They made me." He made a mental note to tell Biggs that he didn't have parents later on.

"Uhh...yeah." he turned to face Aunt and Uncle, who were looking up and down at his friends, obviously judging them. He sighed a little loudly and said, "Maybe you could leave us alone now?"

"What are you going to do?" Uncle bent down to ask one of his friends. Luke tried to think of the name. Was it Felix? Faresh? I need to remember those names.

"Depends." said the person. "Sometimes we just drive around. Sometimes we look in the junk heap and build stuff."

"And shooting womp rats! Can we shoot womp rats today?" Luke added excitedly, thinking about the other day.