A Rose is a Rose

Anaya

          When I wake up, I have a massive headache and my ears are ringing. The med-droids are all lying on the floor, broken beyond repair. Probably one of my friends. I stand up and, clutching my head, stagger out of the reconditioning center and back to my cell, where I change into an official First Order uniform. The second I'm done, I ignore my dizziness and headache and head out to do my job. I wander around for a bit, following my sense more than anything else, until I round a corner and see Ren talking to the General, who had asked me multiple times by now to call him Hux, but I'd refused him every time, much to his chagrin and Ren's delight; they hated each other. I stood there for a minute, listening to them bicker, then circled around to stand by Ren's right shoulder, my usual position. Nobody even notices me when I get there, as per usual, so I zone out until-- "What do you think?" I snap back to reality to see not just the General, but Ren looking at me as well, and I'm already starting to feel nervous; I hate these kinds of professional interactions. "Um... wh-what was the question?" I swallow the lump in my throat as General Hux asks, "Which are better, Word Searches or crosswords?" "Um... I-in my opinion..." My eyes keep flickering between the two and my face is starting to feel flushed. "Crosswords. I mean, uh, in my opinion," Which doesn't matter at all, I thought, "Crosswords are better. But Sudoku is the best." Ren turns to Hux, simply saying, "I told you so." And, just like that, I'm tuned out again. I know there's nothing I can do about it, so I don't try.

          And that's how I ended up standing there silently, my hands behind my back, for half an hour.

          That is, until my notifier beeped.

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Whoops forgot that this was a regular book and not a fanfic. My bad. I'll put that POV in the next chapter.