The Student Teacher

Chapter 11: The Past Reveals Itself

Rey thought the date was going well. She was comfortable being at The Cantina. She was surprised when Ben pulled in, but also thrilled to see Maz again. And she had 9,000,000 questions about Ben's past.

"Ben, I am having a great time. Can we continue this by going somewhere we might be able to talk? I have so many questions about your past and would like to share some information about mine too, if you're interested," Rey asked.

"Yeah, we can either go to the beach or maybe to your house?" Ben added.

"Finn and Poe are there right now, let's go park at the water and talk," Rey said, she loved the water. Growing up in the desert made her appreciate the ocean so much more.

They got back into Ben's car and he drove them to the water, he parked the car and they sat for a second.

"Ben, tell me about your past with Maz, I have more questions than I can even fathom voicing," she said, smiling up at him.

"Ok, well she was a great friend of my mothers when I was growing up. She helped raise me, essentially," Ben said.

She looked at him, eyeing him, encouraging him to divulge more.

"Well, my parents, growing up, they were," he paused, trying to fund the right words, "absent a lot," he settled on. "My mother, always the sophophile. She was away, learning, lecturing, traveling, she did a book tour when I was 10? 11? And wasn't around for 2 years. My father, Han Solo, he was a pilot. Gone for weeks, months, on end. Flying. When I started acting out, they didn't know what to do with me. I was eager for their attention, and they were eager for their careers. They sent me to my Uncle's house. It was close by, but it wasn't the same. They came around, every so often, but they actively chose their careers over me. It was a tough pill to swallow. So, as soon as I got the chance, I took off. Moved across the country. Went to law school as far away from them as I could. I got into a law firm run by an atrocious man who took me under his wing. He preyed on my vulnerability and turned me into something I didn't want to be. One day, I got sick of it and left. I had been secretly taking classes, so it was a quick cross country trip to finish my practicum," he said. All in one breath. He finally exhaled. "Wow, I'm sorry," Ben finished.

"No no, please don't be," Rey said, "thank you for feeling safe enough to tell me all that," she said.

"Tell me about your past," he encouraged.

"Ok, well I already told you, I grew up in foster care. I was bounced around, foster family to foster family, some were ok, some were not ok," she paused here and took a deep breath. "My last and longest placement was with a man, named Unkar Plutt, he was awful. I was with him from 14-18. I kept my head down and worked my ass off, I was granted a full scholarship at the local university here, so the moment I turned 18, I moved out, couch surfed the rest of my senior year, and moved out here," she said.

"How did you end up in the foster care system," Ben asked her.

"Ummm, my parents, they didn't want me. They were addicts, they left me a firehouse when I was 4, no explanation. I read in the local paper they both died a few years later," she said. She was nervous to look up and make eye contact. It was a heavy piece of information. She knew it, that was why she shared it with so few people. Rose, Finn, and Poe were really the only three who knew about her tumultuous past. And now Ben.

"Rey," he said, nothing more intelligent coming to his lips, "I'm so sorry," he added.

"Don't be, that's why I don't tell people, I don't need pity," she said, kind of aggravated.

"I don't pity you," he said, "I just wish you never had to endure such awfulness, and I'm impressed, by how far you've come, all on your own," he said.

"Ben, I have to tell you, I understand you felt abandoned by your parents, and I;m glad you are taking this second chance with them, but it really does infuriate me that you had them all along and chose not to communicate with them, it's hard for me to understand," she said, knowing she was putting herself in dangerous territory.

"I'm not asking you to understand," he told her flatly. "You asked for my story and I gave it to you. I'm not asking that you have the same emotional response to it that I did," he said, in a low voice.

"Ok," she responded, "You're right. You didn't ask me to feel empathy and I didn't mean to make you feel bad," she said.

"Maybe we should cool it for the night," he said, putting the car in reverse to take her home, "I think we both have a lot of big emotions to process," he said.

"Yeah, sure," she replied, she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. This was all anyone ever did, was abandon her. She knew she was not worth sticking around for, but she had hoped Ben might be different. She was going to stuff those tears down, she couldn't let Finn win this one.