I am NOT and Never Will Be A Jedi

Wheeze and Floppy

   "What happened to you?" Anakin asked, eyes wide, as I exited class. My ginger hair was dark brown ad slicked down. "I don't want to talk about it..." I mumbled.

   Anakin led me to the cleansing room and I washed out the greasy filth from my head. "I'm done with this school!" I grunted. Anakin patted my back, "Aww don't say that, Grease. You're just having a bad day." I stuck my head under the automatic hand dryer to tune out his voice. "One bad day is an understatement! One horrible day is an understatement! I'm having the worst day of my life!"

   Anakin smiled joyfully, "And it's not to late to turn this day around!"

   Without another word, I stomped back into the hall. Anakin followed and wrapped an arm around me, "Come on, I can help you!" I pushed him away, "Oh you've helped me plenty today, Mr. Welcome Buddy!" I spat.

   Anakin stopped me outside of my next class, Meditation Practice, "Look kid, this class is easy. It'll give you some time to think and cool down. I'm really sorry about all this but I promise I'll help you. Got it?"

   I turned to go into class, "Fine," I muttered. As I left him in the hallway, Anakin smiled with satisfaction, "Good luck, Grease!" He called.

   Thankfully, Anakin was again correct about class; Meditation Practice was simple and laid back. I finally met our Dean of Students, Mace Windu. He was actually a pretty cool guy. Scary... but cool.

    "Alright students, take your seats." We sat cross-legged in a large circle on small mats. Master Windu nodded toward me, "Ah, Young Groundcrawler. I'm glad you're joining us. You may have a seat right here," he waved a hand over to a spot between a brown haired human boy, and a green Twi'lek with an unusually long Lekku head tail.

    I sat down and followed Master Windu's lead, "Just close your eyes and concentrate on tapping into the Force. Every Jedi must have the Force with them at all times."

   Closing my eyes, I tried my hardest to "use" the Force. Let me tell you, I don't think I did it right! Maybe it wouldn't have been so ineffective if I hadn't been stuck listening to the scratchy breathing of the kid next to me. All I heard was wheeeeeeeeeeeeeze... wheeeeeeeeeeeeeze...

     Finally, I could no longer take it. After making sure Master Windu wasn't looking, I tapped the brown haired kid's shoulder, "Uh, could you maybe be a little more quiet?" The boy's nose scrunched up, "I didn't say anything. I'm just breathing."

    I tried not to sound rude, "That's kinda the problem..." He frowned, "Sorry. I have a condition. I'm allergic to Coruscant oxygen levels. That's why my friends call me Wheeze," he added sadly.

    I smiled sympathetically, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I'm Kevin by the way."

   Wheeze nodded, "I already know that." I raised my eyebrows, "Wow, you can use the Force to read minds?" I asked in amazement. Wheeze shook his head, "No," he pointed to the big yellow sticker on my chest, "Name tag."

    I grinned, "Oh, right." Wheeze smiled back but that's when the Twi'lek boy turned toward us, "Wheeze, be quiet!" He hissed. Wheeze shrugged, "Just making the new guy welcome. You know, after the whole lightsaber through the beard incident..."

    My face reddened, "You guys know about that?" The Twi'lek nodded, "Everyone knows about it. Don't worry though, beards grow back and it is your first day." I smiled at him, "Thanks."

    He nodded, "I'm Geo by the way. But you can call me Floppy." He flipped his long head tails around to show me the origin of his name. "Nice to meet you Floppy," I whispered.

    "Groundcrawler, I don't suppose you've heard, but Meditation is a quiet time," Master Windu chastised. I nodded and closed my eyes.

    But while everyone else returned to their concentration, I smiled to myself.

    I had just met my two best friends.