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Chapter Text

Rose

It was the first week of her last year at Takodona High School; finally senior year. Rose didn’t feel embarrassed that she was one of the few students who were cheering and chanting during the pep rally. Sure, most of her fellow seniors didn’t care but when her best friend, Rey, was standing next to her she felt brave enough. Rose grinned up at Rey, who gave a smile back before wincing. “Hey, are you alright?” Concerned, Rose leaned close so Rey could hear her.

“Yeah just… my headache is killing me…” Rey quietly responded. Rose grabbed her hand and led her quickly down the bleachers. The sounds of the pep rally may be making Rey’s headache worse, so Rose told Mr. Ackbar that they were going to stand just outside the gym. “Wait, Rose… this is the first pep rally of senior year… weren’t you excited about it?”

“Friendship comes first,” Rose declared before pulling Rey out into the hallway outside the gym where they could still hear the student body, but the sounds were muffled. “Better?” Rose asked. Rey nodded and sat down against the wall; she put her head in her hands and massaged her temples. “Should we go to the nurse?” Rey shook her head. Rose noticed that Rey’s hair was tied in a tight ponytail. “Hey, this won’t make it go away but you should try letting your hair out of that ponytail. All that tension is probably making your headache worse.”

Rey stilled. Then she quietly spoke up. “… I need to keep my hair out of my face.”

Rose took a moment to consider it. Rey wasn’t usually the type to be so strict with hair in her face. “Okay, what if I braid it gently? It’ll be less tension in one spot so it doesn’t hurt so much, but still hold your hair back?”

“No no you don’t have to go through the trouble…”

“It wouldn’t be any trouble – I’ll even throw in a head massage. You’ll just have to pay me back later,” Rose said and elbowed Rey gently.

Rey looked up at Rose, her cheeks were blotchy and red, and her eyes started watering. Rose pulled Rey into a hug. Whatever was going on, her friend was hurting. Rey started mumbling.

“… haven’t… in a month…” Rey hiccupped and gasped through her words.

“Hold on, breathe first.”

Rey took shuddering breaths with Rose. When Rey settled a bit, she finally said, “My faster dad said the water bill was too high… So… I’m not allowed to use the shower more than once a month…”

Rose, aghast, said, “Have you told your social worker?”

Rey shook her head. “It’s senior year… I don’t want to get moved again… I could be moved somewhere far away…” Rose pulled Rey back into a hug as she felt her heart break with Rey’s. “… and please please please don’t tell anyone – they might make me leave.”

“Alright, I promise. How about I still braid your hair for now? We’ll come up with a solution together.”

Rey

This was embarrassing. Everybody at the high school already knew she was poor just by looking at her. All her clothes were thrifted (and not in the cute influencer way), she gets free school lunches, and she relies on charity to get her school supplies. But this. This. This was worse than all that. Rey does not want to become known as the kid who doesn’t shower because they’re too poor. That’s why she makes Rose swear not to tell anyone. “Not even Finn or Poe,” she asks while Rose is braiding her hair. Rose pauses briefly.

“It’s a good thing those dolts aren’t very observant,” Rose quips and Rey laughs shakily. “We still need to figure something out… what if you showered at my house?”

“No, please. What would you tell them? Please – they can’t know,” Rey pleads.

“Ugh fine. What about the school showers?”

“I looked into it already. Only school athletes have access to them. Even then, with most team practices after school, most teams can’t use them.”

“Well,” Rose tugs one of Rey’s finished braids. “I’m going to come up with something, don’t you worry.”

“Good luck,” Rey says. She doesn’t want to disbelieve Rose, but she doubts that she can come up with a solution that Rey hasn’t already thought through.

Later that night, Rey lays awake in her bed thinking about how close she’s gotten to Rose. It was a tale as old as time. The bond between Rose and Rey was forged in the crucible of junior high gym class. Rey had just moved to town, and after a few days the appeal of the new kid wore off. Rey wouldn’t be able to tell you what prompted their friendship, but it didn’t take long for the two girls to start matching hairstyles and sharing Tumblr edits.

The weekend was rough, as usual. It was hard to maintain her friendship with Rose when she didn’t have a phone and the Wi-Fi was spotty at best. Rey would have to wait until Monday to get news from Rose about anything.

Chapter Text

Hux

Hux couldn’t wait to leave. This was his final year in this mediocre school in this mediocre town. Senior year was really the culmination of his efforts to escape for a better life. He knew that he was meant for greater things – he was student council president and president of the debate club – he was meant for leadership. Solo liked to give him shit and call him a tyrant, but it wasn’t about the power. Okay, well, not entirely about the power. Hux enjoyed coordinating the different cogs in the school machine, making his organizations run smoothly to maximize student enjoyment, school pride, and academic achievement.

It was too early to be on campus, but here he was. The morning fog still scattered the light from the sunrise, the August heat hasn’t yet made its appearance. If Hux was willing to settle for… inferior conditions, he would not be here this early. But alas, he was. Unfortunately, Hux did not have a car and he despised riding the bus. Too much noise and smells and misbehavior. Fortunately, Hux did have a Ben Solo who did have a car. Early in the morning, Hux would take a brisk walk to the Organa-Solo residence, text Solo to get his ass in gear, and ride in his junkyard card. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, Hux avoided the bus and Solo avoided sleeping through a series of alarms for football practice.

Hux liked to take advantage of the quiet of the morning. College applications were due in December, but they had to be perfect. This was also a good time for him to talk to the debate coach about upcoming tournaments, meet with teachers he needed assistance from, and organize for student council.

This morning, Hux needed to focus on homecoming. It was too early for the rest of the student body to think about it but it was necessary to start as soon as possible. He wanted to leave a legacy on the school, for students for generations to come to talk about how awesome Armitage Hux made his class’s senior year. And to do that, he needed to start with a perfect homecoming which required planning three major components: the dance, the game, and spirit week. Hux could acknowledge that it was unreasonable to ask one man to do everything. He would have to form alliances with other organizations (although if you asked him, ‘organization’ was a bit of a stretch). During the summer, he talked with some of his contacts to gauge interest in different themes so he could begin brainstorming.

Homecoming Brainstorming

• DANCE → THEMES
  • Masquerade Ball too much risk for shenanigans
  • Hollywood Night
  • Casino Night we shouldn’t approve gambling!!
  • Beach Party
  • Retro Night
  • Carnival Night
  • Starry Night overdone, BORING
  • Movie Night redundant, basically Hollywood night
  • Talk to theater kids – they’ll probably love it
• SPIRIT WEEK make cheerleaders' problem
  • Talk to Jannah Kaydel
  • Announcements: intercom, school website, help cheerleaders make posters??
• GAME → elections
  • Court announcements at half-time
  • Paper ballots? Electronic ballots? Voter fraud????

Hux tried not to completely dismiss others’ ideas, after all, if he didn’t hear them out, they wouldn’t cooperate. So he tried to at least look like he considered their ideas no matter how dull they were. He also knew he needed to start talking to Kaydel. While Hux would have preferred to talk to Jannah, the head cheerleader (which was the most similar to his own position), Kaydel was the cheer squad social chair. Hux hated talking to Kaydel. She was… too much and did not appreciate his methods of organization.

Hux sighed and slumped his forehead on the cafeteria table. At this point, some other students had started trickling into the cafeteria. Nobody he cared to talk to yet. Honestly, he did not have the social battery to achieve most of this. He would instead use his work energy but when dealing with fellow high school students, the batteries were not compatible. He couldn’t make Solo do it either. The lumbering jock wasn’t a close enough friend. Maybe. He didn’t know.

Their friendship started because Brendon Hux hated him, and the Organa-Solos were always busy. Since they lived close together and knew each other, they were often paired together to be put out of the way. It was an odd alliance – his father and Mrs. Organa-Solo were on opposing political sides. They would act civil but often throw passive-aggressive darts at each other. Hux and Solo picked up on it and at the beginning, they were… less than civil with each other. After nearly being kicked out of daycare, Hux decided to be the bigger man and accept Solo’s apology. They were uneasy associates. Suspicious of each other when they shared toys. But eventually, their roughhousing became less violent, and they became friends.

Hux put away the paper his brainstorming was written on. He wouldn’t ask Solo for help. He slung his backpack on his back and headed over to the part of the cafeteria he knew the cheerleaders would hang out before class.

Rose

Rose had been thinking about this problem all weekend and she thinks she came up with the perfect solution. Not only would it help Rey, but it would give Rose the courage to do something she had been wanting to do. Monday morning, Rose arrived early; she wanted to talk to Kaydel before Rey got to school.

“- to give it a rest,” Kaydel was arguing with a tall redhead. Rose thinks his name is Armitage – he was in debate, but Rose didn’t really pay him much attention. “Oh, Rose, right? What’s up?”

“Yeah, so… I wanted to ask about tryouts…?”

“Oh, awesome! Jannah come here,” Kaydel waves over the girl in question.

“Oh haha well I was thinking about trying out with Rey, but you see… money is a little bit of an issue for her and…”

Jannah and Kaydel look at each other briefly before Jannah hooks an arm around Rose’s. “I think we can figure something out – let’s go talk to Coach Holdo?”

“Right now? Okay okay.”

School here in Takodona High wasn’t like the Breakfast Club, that’s for sure. Takodona High was fairly large and diverse and cliques didn’t really form. There were social groups, but it wasn’t unusual for a nerd to befriend a jock. Kaydel was a pretty good example of that. She was quiet and unassuming but welcoming of most people that were friendly to her. Because of that, she knew about everybody’s business. As she walked ahead of Rose, her blonde space buns bobbed on her head.

Coach Holdo’s office was highly decorated. In addition to the pink decorations, it had motivational girl boss posters, pictures with old students, and of course all the awards and trophies her team has brought home. “What can I do for you girls?”

“Well, I wanted to know-” Rose awkwardly started. How could she put this delicately?

“Rey wants to try out, but she doesn’t have the money,” Kaydel said bluntly. Not unkindly.

“Kayyy,” Jannah gently scolds Kaydel

“Ah. Thanks for coming to me Rey,” Holdo said.

“Oh, no I’m Rose. I wanted to ask about it so Rey wouldn’t get embarrassed.”

Holdo smiled kindly. “I totally understand.” She sighed and leaned back in her office chair. “I don’t think students should ever get held back from an opportunity, it’s not what cheerleading stands for.” Rose was briefly bewildered; what cheerleading stands for? “There is fundraising that we do, but I’ll have to get back to you in a bit. This is a little different than something we normally deal with.”

Rose smiles awkwardly. “Well thanks- “

“Here, write down your email and I’ll tell you when I think of something.”

“Oh ok…” Rose writes her email on the pastel purple sticky note Holdo hands to her. “Thanks, Coach Holdo, bye!”

Holdo smiles warmly at her “I hope to see you at tryouts! Speaking of which, Kaydel, Jannah, do you two have a chance to talk?”

Rose left Holdo’s office a little nervous and excited. When she sees Rey, she greets her with a grin on her face. “Okay, so I have a solution! The cheerleading team! Tryouts are soon and they have access to the showers and it’s perfect!”

Rey stares at Rose deadpan. “Cheerleading?”

“Yeah! You’re already athletic and we can practice before tryouts, and I think we can make it!”

“Okay putting that all aside – you know that I don’t have cheerleader money, right? For the fees and the uniform and stuff?”

“Well… I talked to Mẹ – I promise I didn’t tell her – aaannnnnd she said she can help pay for some of the expenses,” Rose begins to ramble. “And it’s free to try out, so what’s the harm? And I talked to Coach Holdo and she thinks money won’t be an issue and, and-”

“I don’t want charity,” Rey says.

“I promise it’s not like that, just… I kind of wanted to for a while and I’m not exactly the cheerleader stereotype,” Rose gestures towards her body “and I don’t want to do this alone and this will be doing both of us a favor”

“I’ll try out – no promises after that. You’re lucky I love you” and Rose punches Rey’s arm.

Chapter Text

Rey

That Friday afternoon, Rose gets an email from Coach Holdo and excitedly showed it to Rey. The email said that Holdo was able to guarantee that Rey wouldn’t have to worry about money and to try out. There were some logistics still being worked out, but Holdo said not to worry about it.

“Okay, so let’s do this! We’ll need to practice,” Rose says, grinning at her. “We can start today!”

Rey takes the bus with Rose back to her house. On the bus ride, they talked about what tryouts would probably include and what they each know. Rose is looking up YouTube videos when they get to the Ticos’ home.

“Hi girls!” Mrs. Tico greets the two when they walk in.

“Hey Mẹ,” Rose hugs her mother and kisses her cheek. “Rey and I are going to be in the backyard!” Rose goes out the back door as Rey accepts a hug from Mrs. Tico.

“Make sure to use sunblock and bug spray! Rey – are you staying for dinner?” 

“Um yeah. I can,” Rey responds.

“Perfect! You and Rose have fun!”

When Rey makes it out to the backyard, she sees Rose setting up a laptop on a lawn chair that’s right next to the fence.

“So let’s start with cartwheels!” Rose claps her hands. “And I looked up some beginner pom-pom routines, but cartwheels are more fun, and I feel like cheerleaders should be able to do those.”

With only a small amount of reluctance, Rey follows Rose’s lead. The two of them spend the rest of the afternoon and some of the evening practicing. Both girls have grass stains on their hands and knees. By the time crickets were singing in the late summer air, Rose and Rey were exhausted. They tripped over each other and collapsed on the grass in the Tico backyard as they attempted to do a synchronized stunt. Rose grinned at Rey and when the two made eye contact they began laughing.

“We’re not going to make the team,” Rey giggled, “especially if we’re going to hurt everyone during tryouts!”

“Pfft don’t be so pessimistic! I think we really had it for a moment there!”

Ben

There was only one thing that got Ben out of bed at the ass-crack of dawn: football. And Hux spamming his phone to take him to school. Okay, two things. Ben didn’t care for school, and his mom’s insistent nagging about his grades made him even less enthused about it. But football. Man, he was willing to do just about anything for football. Even do his homework on time to get the minimum grade required to play. This was their senior year, and the coaches and the rest of the team voted him for team captain. This year they were going to win and win and win. They were going to go all the way to state.

Sure, as center, Ben felt that people unfamiliar with the sport underestimated his intelligence. The quarterback was often considered the “smart” position. But he knew and the team knew that his position was essential to the Knights’ offense. They had already been meeting early in the morning for practice, running drills, and trying out different combinations of players. The skilled seniors from last year had graduated, some continuing their football careers, taking their experience with them. And this year was a new crop of freshmen who thought they were hot shit from middle school. Well, some scrimmages straightened them up.

Hux was already waiting for him by the Falcon when he ran out the door. He unlocked the trunk and the two tossed their backpacks in. Ben was the only one in a rush, but Hux was quick too. Hux was cool like that.

“Honestly, I’m not sure how you survive without me.” Ben glared at Hux as he backed out of the driveway. His hands were occupied with the wheel and his mouth had a protein bar so he couldn’t jab (physically or verbally) Hux, but he hoped he got the point across. “How are the freshmen?” Hux asked when Ben had finished his breakfast.

“Eh. They’re ok. I don’t know if I can run some of the plays I wanted to early in the season. They’re too easily distracted.” Hux raised a ginger eyebrow at him. “Yeah, the cheerleaders have started practicing and I think they’re having tryouts today. They’re going to be a pain in the ass today.”

“Unfortunately, these commoners don’t have the same appreciation for success like you and me do, Solo” Ben barked out a laugh.

The two split up in the parking lot. Hux off to do his school stuff, and Ben off to the locker room to get ready for practice.

The team was split into groups, cycling through the equipment and corresponding drills. Ben divided his time between going through the drills himself and talking with the coaches and observing the players. That was when the cheerleaders joined the adjacent field. Ben didn’t really understand their purpose. Or, well he did. But less their appeal, you know? He appreciated coordinated hype of the crowd to uplift their team and intimidate the opposing team, so he could tolerate their presence as well as the marching band’s. He didn’t understand why all these knuckleheads lost their minds over them. They were just girls and there was something way more important: football. Girls would still be there when the game was over.

“Focus y’all!” He shouted as he saw a freshman stumble over an orange cone. He could hear the cheerleaders starting to stretch. He could also appreciate athleticism. It wasn’t football, but any sport had his respect as an athlete. Ben thinks that was a large reason why he was chosen as captain, of all his teammates he had a unique sense of focus and dedication to the sport.

Chapter Text

Rose

Monday morning was tryouts, but they wouldn’t know if they made the team or not until later that week.

Friday morning, Rose waits for Rey by the bus stop. Her stomach is churning from the anxiety: did she and Rey make the team? It’s been hard to keep the hope up for the entire week. Right when Rose thinks she’s calmed her nerves, she remembers another mistake in their tryouts. When Rey steps out of the bus, Rose darts forward and grabs her hand. “C’mon! I think Coach Holdo posted who made the team!” Rey groans, giving a little resistance to Rose, so Rose hooks her arm around Rey’s “We totally made the team!”

“I don’t know,” Rey grumbles.

“No. You gotta believe! Even if you don’t think we made the team, believe we made the team!” Rose declares. “Plus, we’re not trying out for the competitive team so the bar is lower.”

“That makes no sense,” Rey starts giggling, causing Rose to giggle as well.

Several of the cheerleaders and some freshmen are standing in the hallway outside Coach Holdo’s office. One of the cheerleaders, Jessika, spots Rose and Rey and says “Congrats! Y’all made the team!” Rose tackles Rey in a hug.

“Yes Rose! Keep that enthusiasm up for the games! Since y’all are first timers and seniors, y’all are going to be mostly on the wings. You know, shaking pom poms and doing the dances.” Rose’s cheeks hurt from the smiling. She saw Rey’s eyes tear up a little and she hugged her closer. Jannah must have seen the tears too because then she said. “Which is still important! Good job, y’all!” Rey lets out a watery laugh. They spend the next few minutes meeting their new teammates.

Right before the first bell rings, Coach Holdo steps out of her office. “Congratulations girls! There’s an optional practice tomorrow morning – I highly recommend newcomers show up – and then practices officially start Monday morning. You don’t need to worry about getting all your gear right now. In fact, each of you should email me so we can make sure everybody is situated. Now get to class, girls,” Holdo shoos everyone away when the bell rings. Rose and Rey linger for a moment, unsure if they should bring up Rey’s circumstances. “I’ll make sure to keep you updated about getting all your things taken care of, Rey.”

Rose affectionately nudges Rey and the two head off to class.

Rey

Even after several practices, Rose is still full of adrenaline and excitement. At the end of one practice, Rose has so much energy she hefts Rey on her back. The two run a little bit, Rey trying to do the cheers while being jostled by Rose. Some of the other cheerleaders are laughing and cheering them on. “You go Tico!” one calls out.

When the two make it back to their bags, Jannah jogs up to them. “Hey! How do you two feel about trying stunts next practice? Rose, I think you’d make a great base and I think Rey should try being a flyer.”

“That sounds great!” Rose says as Rey good-naturedly shrugs.

“We won’t have either of you do anything for the first game, but I think we should see where this goes,” Jannah says as the three of them head towards the girls’ locker room. “Especially since our best base left us!” She shouts this last part in the direction of the football players.

“Hey! Don’t be mad that Finn decided to join the better team!” one of the football players shouts back.

“C’mon Dameron, practice isn’t over yet!” another football player calls out.

Jannah laughs and slings her arms around Rose and Rey. “I hope Solo is making Finn regret leaving us for Poe and the football team.”

“Oh we haven’t heard anything yet,” Rey laughs.

When they make it to the locker room, they part ways to shower. Rey had mixed feelings. On the one hand, she finally got to take regular showers. The water at the school was too hard, the pressure too low, but she was able to keep clean. Morning practices meant that it wasn’t unusual that she showered at school, because everyone else did too. But Rey wasn’t sure that she fit in with the cheerleaders. They dressed nicely and wore makeup, went to the mall on the weekends and talked about boy bands. If Rose wasn’t there with her she would feel more uncomfortable. She and Rose would wear slouchy hoodies and jeans.

After showering, Rey was washing her face with hand soap when she heard Bazine make a loud sniff. “Ugh. Cheerleaders shouldn’t have acne, wash your face better.” She slammed something next to her. Rey startled. Holy shit. She didn’t think anyone was going to be mean to her. Bazine sneered at Rey before leaving the bathroom. On the counter was an unopened bottle of La Roche Posay face wash? What the heck? Rey dried her face with a paper towel and hurried out of the bathroom and to the locker room.

“Hey um Bazine? You left this…” Rey held up the face wash awkwardly. This was much more expensive than the Dial soap Rey had been using.

“Baz – nobody calls me Bazine. And yeah – didn’t you hear me? Wash your face better. Use this moisturizer when you’re done.” Bazine left the locker room with a flip of her hair.

Rey used the face wash and moisturizer Bazine left for her. Her skin felt softer than usual, and she was hyperaware of the layer of product on her face. As she was leaving the locker room Coach Holdo intercepted her. “Rey – do you mind stepping into my office? I wanted some things I wanted to talk to her.”

Rey sits tentatively on one of the chairs in Holdo’s office. “Did I do anything wrong?”

“Oh no, oh no – don’t worry sweetie. I wanted to talk to you about what you needed. We have some uniforms from graduated seniors that we’ll still be using this year and a couple pair of old shoes. Of course, if those don’t fit then we can figure something else out.”

There’s a lump in Rey’s throat. “What about dues?” she croaks out.

“We got that covered – some of the cheer moms are pitching in,” Holdo says as she smiles warmly at her. Rey rubs her face with her hands, feeling tears start up behind her eyes. She couldn’t believe it. There were all these strangers willing to help her out, some random kid. They didn’t even know her. While Rey is processing, Holdo sits next to her and sets a warm hand on her shoulder. Squeezing gently, she says, “whatever you’re going through sweetie, I promise that you can come to me, okay? I’m not going to push you. I want you to know that you have people who care about you.”

Chapter Text

Hux

As student council president, Hux felt obligated to go to every football game. He normally doesn’t care about the sport, so while he believed it was his duty to show up he often did homework or read instead of watching the game. This week there was very little homework to do, so Hux absentmindedly watches the game. It starts just like any other game: there are whistles, coin tosses, and overly large high schoolers ramming into each other.

Dominate and devastate,

We’ll blow you away!

We are the Convorees

Of T-H-S!

The cheer squad performs one of their chants, and an unfamiliar voice catches his attention. Loud and bright like a bell. He scans the cheerleaders for the source. It’s one of the new cheerleaders, so probably a freshman. She looks so animated and exuberant, and Hux can’t stop himself from watching her during the routine. Her smile lit up her whole face, her dark hair are in braided pigtails with bright orange braids on their ends, her ches- no. Fuck. Hux doesn’t want to be one of those creepy seniors that prey on freshmen.

Hux decides he’ll need to gather intel. What if she wasn’t a freshman? Not that Hux would think he had a chance, but it would make him feel less weird. During a lull, he heads down the bleachers and leans over the fence to try to talk.

“What do you want Hux?” Kaydel notices him first. Hux realizes that Kaydel could ruin any possible chance he could get with mystery girl.

“I was just curious about the new cheer squad that’s all. Since we’re going to have to collaborate for spirit week. You know, small talk.” Good job, Hux thinks to himself. She’s not going to catch on to me.

“Ugghhh as if you do small talk… Well since you asked, they’re pretty good this year – we have a few new freshmen and a couple new seniors.”

“Seniors?”

“Oh yeah, Rey and Rose,” Kaydel gestures over to two girls avidly watching the marching band. One of them was the enthusiastic cheerleader he noticed earlier. She was a senior. Rey or Rose. Hux was brought out of his admiration. “But don’t mess with them Hux – I don’t need you being a douche to them.”

Hux’s face turned bright red. He glared at Kaydel, Kaydel glared back. He went back to his seat on the bleachers. Hux watched Kaydel go and talk to Rey and Rose. His cheerleader – Rey or Rose – looked back at him and narrowed her eyes. Dammit Kaydel.

Rose

Rose recognized Armitage Hux when Kaydel pointed him out during the football game on Friday. Armitage was in her speech and debate class. He never talked much to her, and probably didn’t know her name, but she knew who he was. Rose tried to see the good in everyone, but Armitage really tried her patience. The last couple of years she had seen him bossing around his classmates and acting superior; luckily, she did prose not policy debate, so she didn’t have to suffer his authoritarian control over the debate team. She’s not entirely sure what he said to Kaydel, who only said to ignore him, but he must have been upset at her or something because he was acting weird during class on Monday.

As Rose was flipping through the books in Mr. Yoda’s library, she felt him watching her. When she looked up at him, he turned back to his work. After a couple of these instances, surprisingly, Armitage walks over. He stiffly stands next to her, mouth opening and closing, apparently unsure what he wants to say to her.

“Hey Armitage,” Rose decides to get this over with.

“Ah yes, that’s me,” Armitage finally sputters, he awkwardly extends a hand. “Armitage Hux.”

Rose snorts. “I know. If you didn’t know, I’m Rose.”

Armitage’s face turns bright red, almost matching his hair. He coughs, “Well. You’re in cheer, correct? Will you be working on homecoming?”

“Yeah, Kaydel talked to me about it.” Rose could see his face sneer for a moment.

“Good, good… So Shakespeare?”

“Yeah, just looking for more material to work with,”

“Aren’t you worried that it’ll be too derivative?” Armitage gets a little bit too much into her personal bubble and then has the gall to reach toward the book she’s holding. Rose acts instinctually: she bites his finger.

“Ow shit! Fuck!” That catches Mr. Yoda’s attention.

“Hm? To the nurse, go, young man,” he says to Armitage. Then he turns towards Rose in disappointment and sighs. “Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they.” Mr. Yoda fills out a detention slip.

“But Mr. Yoda –”

“Once you start down the dark path forever will it dominate your destiny.” Rose takes the slip grumpily. If Mr. Yoda wasn't so cool overall, his weird philosophical phrases would be more annoying. As it stood, Rose accepted her detention with a groan.

Chapter Text

Rey

"Ugh, Rose why?” Rey groaned. She wished she misheard Rose – the lunch crowd in the cafeteria was loud enough – but she also knew Rose. “Coach Holdo is going to kill you. If Jannah doesn’t get to you first, that is.”

Rose grimaced at Rey before taking a bite of her salad, the fork made a clink as she stabbed the glass Tupperware with frustration. “I know. It was stupid. Kaydel even told us not to let him get us.”

“Have you told Coach Holdo yet?” Rey asked.

“Not yet, I will before next class though.” Rose slumped in her seat.

“Do you want me to come with you? We can go before lunch break ends.”

Rose shakes her head and says, “It’s alright. I don’t want anybody to think you’re somehow part of it too.”

“If you say so,” Rey says before digging into her mystery pasta. It probably wasn’t as good as the mini pizzas the cafeteria sold, but it’s not as if she could afford that let alone bring her lunch like Rose. After some time, Rey actually started to prefer the mystery pasta even though nobody else seemed to order it. Plus, there was some excitement each day since the sauce always looked the same but tasted different.

When Rose stood up to leave, Rey gave a mock salute, “May the Force be with you.” Rose snorted and shook her head. Then she was off to Coach Holdo’s office.

Rey threw away her trash and decided to head to English class early. She was the first one in the classroom, so she worked on homework from another class while Mr. Ackbar wrote the lesson objectives and announcements on the board. A couple other students entered the classroom over the next few minutes, then when the bell rang the rest of her classmates came to fill the seats.

Right before the tardy bell rang, somebody sat in the desk in front of her. Rey griped in her head; of course, it was Ben that sat there. The guy was basically a fridge, in fact the only reason people didn’t call him that was because there already was someone nicknamed “Fridge” at the school. Never mind that Ben was bigger than Fridge. Rey was sure that he was out to get her because this giant sat in front of her most of the school year and made it difficult to see the board. Fortunately, Mr. Ackbar had the class doing worksheets, so Rey didn’t need to see. Still didn’t make it sting less.

“Hey,” a deep voice rumbled. Rey looked up to see Ben twisted in his seat, his eyebrows furrowed and glaring at the paper. “What did you get for number 3?”

Rey checked and replied, “B.”

“Cool, thanks,” Ben said. He turned to his left. “Cardo – what’d you get for number 3?”

“B,” Cardo replied.

“Thanks, bro.”

Rey glared at the back of Ben’s head. Did he just do that? Did Ben just ask her what she got before just ignoring her answer? Wow. Rey already had low opinions of the guy, but this was a new low. It’s one thing to be obtrusive, but sexist too? Rey shook her head. She didn’t want to get in trouble like Rose. She’d just try to ignore the asshole. It’s not like she has to interact with him that much.

Ben

With afternoons still hot, Ben almost wished for winter to come around. Almost. The late autumn chill came with the looming specter of state championship. As it was, Ben found comfort in the sun’s beating rays. The slight breeze felt incredible on his neck when he took his helmet off. Ben surveyed the field as he took a water break, his mind wandering from his teammates running through drills.

The cheerleaders often practiced at the same time as the football team, which Ben found only mildly annoying. It looked like while there were some new girls, but no guys to replace Finn. Ben felt no guilt for Dameron poaching the former cheerleader. They probably wouldn’t be able to perform the same stunts.  

Ben wiped the sweat from his eyes. As he was about to put his helmet back on, he noticed one of their cheerleaders get lifted. Something about the form of the girl was striking. Her lithe body held a pose for a moment before she fell back into the arms of her teammates. Ben only had a glance, but her figure in tight athletic clothes, her messy hair tied into three stacked buns, and her glowing smile burned into his retinas.

“Hey, Solo!” Finn ran up next to him, grabbing his own water bottle. “Admiring the cheerleaders huh?”

Ben startled out of his stupor and turned to see Finn smirking at him. He rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder against Finn’s. He said, “Don’t be a dumbass, Akinyemi.” Ben put on his helmet and started walking back toward the rest of the team. “And don’t take too long!”

Finn replied, “You know you can call me Finn – it’s easier to say.”

“I don’t call Dameron ‘Poe’ on the field,” Ben pointed at Finn. “So I’m not calling you ‘Finn’ on the field either.

It was Finn’s turn to laugh. He held his water bottle out in a mock toast before Ben turned around to continue football practice. Ben’s face was burning, and he hoped that Finn hadn’t noticed. He’s never had an interest in anyone before and he didn’t want to imagine the hell the team would put him through if he started today.

Chapter Text

Rose

Rose practically flew out of the classroom, quickly saying goodbye to Mr. Yoda over her shoulder. The last hour she and Mr. Yoda sat in dreadful silence for her detention. She supposed it technically could be worse. Poe once had to write the same sentence over and over and over again: I will not bring non-service animals into the school. He got inspired by a post online and let loose three of his chickens and labeled them “1,” “2,” and “4.” Administration was less amused, but since nobody got hurt and Poe was important to the football team, he got away with only a few detentions.

Mr. Yoda thought that writing lines didn’t do anything, so he let Rose do her homework. She had heard that he sometimes assigned essays, but perhaps he knew that staying silent for so long was punishment enough. When the minute hand passed the top of the clock, indicating a full hour had passed, Mr. Yoda told her she could go. Rose scrambled out of her desk with a goodbye and Mr. Yoda chuckled in response.

Rose was in a rush, head bent and texting Rey when she collided with a body and lost her balance. She could feel her body falling back when hands gripped her shoulders, straightening her up. Feeling a bit guilty for not paying attention, she began to apologize. “Oh my Force, I am so sorr- wait what are you doing here?” Rose had looked up to see Armitage’s face.

“I always stay this late.”

“How come I’ve never seen you?”

“Well, you’re not normally inside and you’re not normally serving detention.” She narrowed her eyes at him, mildly offended. Armitage's eyes widened and he panicked slightly. “Not that- I didn’t want- I mean I wasn’t trying to say anything… bad about your detention.”

His flustered self-correction seemed genuine, so Rose decided to overlook his trip up. She looked at her shoulder: his hands were still holding her. When he noticed her gaze, he quickly drew back his hands and interlaced them behind his back. He took a long blink before speaking again, “I believe we got off on the wrong foot.”

“Oh really?” Rose said as she raised her eyebrow.

“We… are going to need to work together for homecoming. We should have a truce.” Armitage stuck out his hand. This was a side of Armitage that Rose hadn’t seen before, but she supposed that it made sense. In debate and student council, he was ‘in charge’ and now, in this conversation, he wasn’t. Rose giggled and his ears turned pink. He was a little bit of a dweeb. She firmly shook his hand, not wanting to keep him waiting.

“So have you come up with any plans yet? Have you talked to Jannah or Kaydel about it?” Rose asked.

At Rose’s questions, Armitage grimaced. “… Unfortunately, our discussions have been… unfruitful.”

“I wonder why,” Rose groaned and said sarcastically.

Armitage began rummaging in his messenger bag. He thrust a sheet of paper at her. “Here. This is what I have narrowed down for potential themes.”

Rose scanned the page, taking in the ideas and his disparaging comments about some of the ideas. “Okay…” Since he was too tall to pat his shoulder, she gave him a firm pat on his bicep. “I’ll reach out to Jannah and Kaydel – I think I handle you better than them.”

Armitage sputtered. “Pardon!? Handle?!”

Rose smiled cheekily at Armitage and laughed. “Yeah.” She turned to leave and paused briefly to wave at him. “See you!”

Rey

The seniors in the cheer squad stayed in the locker after everybody showered off the sweat from morning practice. Rey was still filled with so much adrenaline; performing stunts as a flyer was incredibly thrilling. Even though she wasn’t that high up, she felt like she was on top of the world. Her legs and abs were sore from maintaining her balance and then striking a pose, but the pain felt good.  

In the locker room, Rose had a notebook and pen on her lap; she had called an unofficial meeting for homecoming planning. Assuring Jannah and Kaydel that she could handle doing a lot of the planning work with Armitage, she still wanted feedback from all the seniors.

“So, retro: what do y’all think about that?” It seemed that Rose was going down a list of themes.

“I love that. There are so many cute outfit ideas we could do,” Jessika said. “There’s so much fun with decades and old movies.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of ideas,” Rose said as she was furiously scribbling in her notebook. “Text them to me and I can pass them on.”

“We should match for one of the spirit days,” Baz said. “Or coordinate or whatever.”

Rey was glad she sat against the wall. She ducked her head and stared at her hands, wanting to sink into the ground. Her nails were jagged, and her cuticles were ripped up. She began to pick at the skin. Rey’s clothes were half comfort and half necessity. Finding properly fitting clothes at a thrift store was a challenge, so it was simpler to just… wear baggier clothes. On top of that, she rarely found cute clothes. But beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Jannah sat down next to Rey and leaned over. “By the way, I have a dress that didn’t fit me, but I already took off the tag – you should wear it.”

“Oh, no I couldn’t – I don’t have –” Rey stared at Jannah in disbelief.

“It’s not like I can return it and my boobs are too big. Try it on, please.”

Rey relented and Jannah put a folded, cotton, floral dress in her arms. Jannah then hauled Rey up and pushed her to the bathroom.

“Wait now??” Rey asked in confusion.

“Sure, why not!”

“But I don’t have- but my shoes don’t go with a dress.”

“That’s fine! It’ll look casual cute annnnd,” Jannah said, holding out the last word and gesticulating with a hand as she tried to find the right word.

“Grungy-indie-hipster?” Kaydel piped in.

“Is that even a thing?” Rey asked.

“Just put on the dress.” Then Jannah and Kaydel pushed Rey into the bathroom.

Rey shed her clothes and slipped on the dress. Even though the cheer uniforms were skin-tight and had short skirts, Rey mentally separated them from actual dresses. She never really looked at herself before. Rey looked at herself wearing the dress in the mirror and thought that she actually looked kind of cute in it. The neckline was lower than a crew neck t-shirt and the ruching at the top emphasized her chest a little, however even though Rey felt self-conscious about having small boobs, she thought she didn’t look bad it in. She turned around and looked over her shoulder at the back of the dress. Wearing baggy clothes covered her ass, but the drape of the dress emphasized the small of her back and suggested the shape of her ass. Feeling a little better, Rey stepped out of the bathroom.

Rose exclaimed when she looked up from her brainstorming and saw Rey. “Oh. My. Force. Rey, you look so cute!”

“I knew it would be perfect for her!” Jannah added, slightly smug.

“You should just wear that today,” Rose said.

“I don’t know…” Rey looked down and gripped the hemline of the dress. It was one thing to wear it in the privacy of the bathroom, and it was even okay to wear it in the locker room, but it was a completely different thing to dress like this in front of the school.

Baz turned around from where she was applying makeup. Her eyes scanned Rey up and down. “Wear it. With your bun things. It looks good.” She gave Rey a smile that looked more like a smirk. Crumbling under peer pressure, Rey sighed and agreed to wear it.

At first, Rey felt exposed and vulnerable. As if everybody was staring at her, judging her. Slowly that anxiety faded as she got a couple of compliments from the girls in her classes. Phasma, the only girl on the football team, even winked at her. By the time lunch rolled around, Rey was feeling pretty confident.

Rey got to Mr. Ackbar’s class only a little early and sat in her preferred spot again. The first bell rang, and students started filtering into the classroom. She incidentally glanced up to see Ben pausing in the doorway, looking at her. They made eye contact, and Rey could see his eyes widen slightly and his ears turn red. The moment was interrupted by Cardo pushing Ben into the room saying, “c’mon man.”

Rey tensed as he walked by the desk in front of her. Whatever happened was awkward, but mostly Rey didn’t want him blocking the board. He barely slowed down before choosing a desk that was behind her at a diagonal. It was a little odd, as he normally sat closer to the front, but Rey told herself to stop overthinking things.

Throughout class, when Rey would glance around the room, she would notice Ben looking at her. They would make eye contact for a moment before Ben quickly looked down at his desk. Rey bit at her thumb. She wondered what that was about.

Chapter Text

Hux

Autumn has slowly crept in and the wind blows chilled air in the otherwise moderate weather. The sky is mostly clear and Hux decided to sit on the bleachers and do schoolwork in the afternoons while waiting for Solo to give him a ride home. It was a beautiful day, Hux told himself as a particularly frigid breeze made him shiver and bury himself further into his coat. And he was supporting the football team. Sort of. If it just happened that he had a good view of the cheerleaders practicing, then that was just a coincidence.

It's after a couple of practices that Solo says anything. On one drive home he asks, “Why are you sitting outside during practice? You never watch football unless you have to.”

“Sooo,” Hux drawled, trying to think of a convincing lie. “I was just thinking… that it may help boost school spirit…?”

Hux gave a wide grin. Ben narrowed his eyes at Hux.

“It’s because of the cheerleaders, isn’t it?”

“Whaaaaat? Nooooo…”

“Ha! I knew it. And I get it. When there’s a hot cheerleader…” Ben trailed off and coughed. “Just… I get it.”

“Wait,” Hux said as he swiveled in the passenger seat to fully face Ben. “Wait wait wait. Do you think one of them is hot? Benjamin Chewbacca Organa-Solo, do you have a crush?”

“… not my middle name.”

“Didn’t answer the question.”

Ben sighed and tipped his head back against the headrest. “Maybe? It’s one of the new cheerleaders and I just noticed she’s in one of my classes and… I don’t really know her.”

“She’s a new cheerleader and she’s a senior,” Hux said, narrowing his eyes and deepening his voice. “What does she look like?”

“Uhhh… Pretty, brown hair, tall–”

“Ah okay. Rey. Good. If you had a crush on Rose, then we’d have a problem.”

“Well, I still have a problem. What do I even do? I’m not even sure I should do anything.”

Hux gave Ben a deadpan look. “Are you serious? No. No way are you choosing football over a hot cheerleader. Plus, it’s not like she won’t be busy at the same time as you.”

“Fair... How do I ask her out though? How are you going to ask out… Rose?”

“Yeah, Rose. I’m not sure if she would take me asking for her number in a good way.”

The two boys sat in the car in silence. They had been parked outside Hux’s house for several minutes already.

“Okay,” Ben finally said. “What if we take an indirect approach? Two birds one stone thing.”

“I’m listening,” Hux leaned and placed his elbow on the center console, resting his face in his hand. While Ben wasn’t as book-smart as Hux, the latter could appreciate the former’s strategic thinking – otherwise, they wouldn’t be friends.

Rose

Afternoon cheerleading practice was finished, and Rose hung around on the field with Jannah while Rey had gone ahead to shower. When it appeared that football practice was done, Jannah called out, “Finn! You gonna come back to cheer? It’s not too late in the semester.”

Poe slung his arm around Finn’s shoulders as the two sweaty boys walked up to them. “No way – we’re keeping Finn.”

“That’s fine. We didn’t need him anyways – we have a new base and she is awesome,” Jannah slung her arm around Rose’s shoulders, mirroring Poe and Finn. “We just… wanted to give you an escape from Ben.”

“Hey, Calrissian!” Number 29 himself jogged up to them. “No poaching my players.”

“Whatever Solo,” Jannah stuck out her tongue.

“Hey, uh, Rose, right?” Ben turned towards her, flipping his sweaty hair back. Kind of gross.

“Yeah,” she responded.

“Can I, uh, ask you something?” Ben eyed the others with them. “Privately?”

Both Poe and Finn had narrowed their eyes at Ben, looking between him, Rose, and the cheerleaders’ locker room. Jannah raised an eyebrow, and Rose shrugged in response. At her shrug, they left.

“Uhm… I’m Ben. Ben Solo… You’re Rey’s friend, right?” It was odd for a giant guy like Ben to sound so nervous. But at hearing Rey’s name, Rose immediately perked up. Was he… interested in her best friend? He finally got out his question, “I wanted to know if I could get her number from you?”

“Oh my Force holy shit… yeah I’ll give you her number… Rey is going to lose her marbles…” Rose mutters, unable to keep the shock out of her face.

Ben’s face lit up and he clumsily handed her his phone. Rose wiped off the sweat and entered Rey’s number. “By the way, she doesn’t have unlimited so don’t send a bunch of texts,” Rose said as she handed him back the phone.

Rose gives Ben two thumbs up as she leaves him staring at his phone with a goofy smile on his face. When she got to the locker room, she could hear a couple of the football whooping. As soon as she stepped in, she was bombarded by Jannah and Rey. “What did he ask?” Jannah asked.

“He asked for Rey’s number! Holy shit!” Rose squealed, triggering a couple of happy shrieks from the girls still in the locker room.

“Oh my Force that is crazy! Rey, tell her what just happened!” Jannah exclaimed.

“So, some guy, Armitage, was waiting outside the locker room and he asked me for your number,” Rey said, obviously still in shock from receiving the news that a boy asked for her number.

“Oh my Force, what is this? A rom-com?” Rose slapped her cheeks gently.

“Obviously!” Jannah laughed. “Wow, I’ve known Ben since diapers and I can’t believe he asked for a girl's number...” She gave Rey a side hug, giving her a quick squeeze.

Rose felt her cheeks getting sore as she got ready to go home for the day. She caught Rey smiling and biting her lip, and when they made eye contact they giggled.   

Chapter Text

Rey

Rey wasn’t sure how to feel about Ben getting her number. On the one hand, she didn’t really know the guy and on the other… the team captain of the football team asked Rose for her number. This sort of stuff only happened on Disney Channel Original Movies. She also didn’t expect to get a text from him so quickly.

Unknown Number: Hi. This is Ben, I got your number from Rose. Do you want to hang out sometime?

Was he asking her on a date? Or just to hang out?

Rey: 🤷 maybe?

Ben: LOL

Ben: We can do whatever

Ben: I think our schedules are pretty much the same

Ben: With like practices

Ben: Shit sorry forgot I’m not supposed to send multiple messages

Rey: 😂 it’s fine – everybody does it at least once. What were you thinking about for hanging out? Like to study or??

Ben: How dare. You think I’m a nerd or something?? SMH… TBH I was thinking maybe we could go roller skating or something? You know… hang out. Unless that’s weird. 

Rey looks at her phone in confusion and frustration. She texts Rose what Ben just asked her.

Rose: just say yes! he’s probably too shy to ask you out directly!

Rey: Really? Ben is shy? 🙄 That’s ridiculous

There was a long pause. Then she gets a text.

Jannah: ISTF YOU BETTER SAY YES REYLYNN ASHLEIGH JOHNSON!! [waiting_12_years_in_azkaban.jpeg]

Rey: That’s not even my name?????

Rey finally responds to Ben.

Rey: What time do you want to go? I’m free after 3 on the weekends

Ben: How about 4? We can grab some food before too

Ben

Ben grips the steering wheel of the Falcon; he was parked near Rey’s house. She didn’t want to tell him where she lived, only to meet him at this park. He didn’t question it. He didn’t even think he’d get this far.

Ben drums his fingers to the beat of the song playing on the radio. Some Top 40s song that he probably knows, but he wasn’t paying attention. Movement in his periphery caught his eye. He turned to see Rey walking towards his car, waving.

“Hey,” she says as she slid into the passenger seat. She was wearing a baggy shirt and jean shorts, and her hair was tied up in triple buns. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be as hot as her cheerleader uniform, but still, his mouth went dry at the sight of her. He must have been taking too long to respond because she raises an eyebrow and repeats herself.

“Oh, uh, hi,” he turns forward again quickly. “You look… good.”

Ben glances over towards Rey, she was fidgeting with her fingers, and he could see a soft blush on her cheeks. She thanked him quietly.

 “So… uh, do you like chili cheese dogs? I was thinking about maybe Sonic?”

“I think so? I’ve never been.”

“Huh… You like hot dogs?”

“Of course.”

“You like chili?”

“Yeah.”

“… You like cheese?”

“Who doesn’t”

“I think you’ll like it,” he finds himself grinning at Rey’s widening smile.

Ben pushes the clutch, shifts to first gear, and begins to drive toward Sonic. He was glad Rey was okay with it because it was on the way to the roller rink, and it felt… on theme. Hux thought Ben should’ve taken Rey to Olive Garden or the Cheesecake Factory, but that didn’t feel like someplace Ben would want to go. And he didn’t want to make Rey think he was someone he wasn’t.

After a few minutes, as he made a turn onto the highway, he heard a squeak from Rey. Ben looked over; Rey had a tight grip on the ‘oh shit’ handle.

“Shit,” Ben mutters to himself. Hux was used to his driving (and the only person he ever drove regularly) so Ben never really had complaints. He lifted his foot off the gas, less intent to pass the guy in front of him. He spoke louder to Rey, “Sorry – I’m not used to driving other people. Hux is used to it…”

Rey giggles and Ben looks over at her again. She had a tight grip on the ‘oh shit’ handle, yes, but she has a massive grin on her face. “No, I’m fine. This car is awesome! It’s a Corellian YT-1300, right?”

“Oh! Yeah – Dad calls it the Millennium Falcon and he’s had the Falcon for-ev-er.” As if the Falcon was listening, it made a hissing noise.

“Uhhh don’t worry about that,” he grimaces. “So you like cars?”

“Kind of. My foster dad owns a junkyard and lets me mess around with the old cars there,” Rey says with a shrug.

Ben considers this. He doesn’t really like hanging out with Han but maybe it would impress Rey. “Maybe you can talk with Dad about the Falcon… I know he’s done some modifications.”

That seemed to excite Rey and she turns towards him. She begins asking questions about the car and Ben tries to answer as best he can, but to be honest he’s never really been interested in cars. He wished he paid more attention to Han and Uncle Chewie. Luckily, they park at Sonic before she starts asking questions he definitely can’t answer.

“So – whatd’ya want?”

Rey pulls out a duct tape wallet and quickly counts the bills in it. She then leans over and squints at the menu. She’s so close to him, Ben briefly forgets to breathe. And when he does, he notices the sweet flowery smell of her hair. Wow.

“How much does it say a hot dog cost…?”

“Get whatever you want – I’ve got it,” Ben hopes he said that kind of smoothly. He doesn’t know if he inherited the Solo charm, but sniffing girls’ hair? Not very promising.

 “Can I also get a milkshake?” Rey bites her lip and looks up at him. His heart nearly stops.

They end up ordering a couple of footlong chili cheese dogs, tater tots, and a couple of milkshakes. As they eat in the car, Ben is distracted by Rey absolutely going to town on her food. She licks the chili cheese topping on her fingers and Ben has to shift in his seat. That was weird, right? Finding that attractive? Force, he can’t ever tell anybody he thought that.

While Rey is happily slurping the rest of her milkshake, Ben drives them to the roller rink. Ben would’ve preferred to go to an ice-skating rink but there weren’t any nearby. Roller skating was similar, though. Ben thinks that Rocky is the epitome of romance. Ever since he heard Sylvester Stallone say, ‘I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps,’ he knew that was what he was looking for. So, when Ben was thinking of places to take Rey on a date, he can’t help but think of Rocky and Adrian skating on an empty ice rink. The roller rink is not empty like in the movie scene and Ben doubts he’ll be allowed on the rink in his regular shoes, but he thinks he’ll get to hold her hand.

They rent skates and sit on one of the benches around the rink. After tying his skates, he notices Rey struggling to tighten her laces. He kneels and unties her attempt so that he can re-do them. When he’s done, he looks up at her. “Comfortable?”

Rey nods and her face is red. She looks adorable. Ben smiles, stands, and extends a hand. Slowly, they make their way to the rink. She’s shaky on the skates, like a foal on new legs, and grips his hand tightly. He tries to be steady; he’s not the best skater, but he does have a little experience.

“So,” Rey says after a couple of turns around the rink. She’s gained confidence and is skating on her own. “What are Armitage’s intentions with Rose?”

Ben snorts. “Intentions?”

Rey jabs Ben with her elbow. This briefly makes her lose her balance. Rey swings her arms in a circle to regain it, making Ben laugh. Rey playfully glares at him before also laughing. She pulls herself closer and grabs his hand again.

“Seriously! What’s up with Armitage and Rose?”

“I think Hux likes her?” Ben shrugs.

Rey hums. “Well, he better treat her right.”

“Well,” Ben briefly looks down at her small hand in his. He’s pretty sure he’s holding the hand of the prettiest girl in the world. “I’m just hoping you think I treat you right.”

That makes her blush and bite her lip. Maybe he does have the Solo charm after all.

Chapter Text

Rose

The PDF schedule that Armitage had sent Rose was open on her cell phone. He had obviously put a lot of effort into it and she giggled when she received it. Mẹ passes Rose sitting on the couch and peeks through the living room blinds.

“Cục cưng, that boy is still sitting outside…” she calls out to Rose.

“Yes Mẹ, it’s not 5:30 yet.”

“Hmm…” Mẹ checks her wristwatch. “It’s 5:27.”

Rose bites her lip, holding back a smile. In the schedule, Armitage said that he would arrive promptly at 5:30 pm to pick her up and take her to the movie. The schedule was detailed, giving her a choice of three places to go after the movie. He even indicated which parts of the date he would insist on paying for and which he would be open to negotiation.

Right on time, there is a knock at the door. Rose rushes to open it to Armitage standing there, smartly dressed in a button-down and khakis. He straightens up. Rose smiles at him and he shyly returns with a smile of his own before he notices Mẹ standing behind her.

“Mrs. Tico, hello there,” Armitage says as he wipes his hand on his pant leg. He thrusts it forward, past Rose. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Armitage Hux.”

“Nice to meet you, Armitage,” Mẹ responds. She gives Rose a look, indicating her approval.

“Yes, um…” he pulls out a folded sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolds it, and hands it to Mẹ. “Here’s our itinerary and with your permission, I will bring her back by 10 o’clock.”

 Mẹ scans the paper and raises an eyebrow. She looks over at Rose who shrugs.

“You can bring her back at 11 – you two have fun,” Mẹ says with a chuckle.

Rose grabs Armitage by the elbow and pulls him towards the car. “Bye Mẹ!”

“Goodbye Mrs. Tico!” he calls out over his shoulder. As he settles in the driver’s seat, he glances at his watch and mutters, “That was quicker than I expected…”

At first, Armitage sat stiffly, moving his head almost mechanically as he drove. After they had been driving for a few minutes, however, his shoulders loosened, and he looked more comfortable. They made it to the theater early enough that they got snacks and a soda to share, found their seats, and the previews had barely begun.

“So, Spirited Away?” Rose asks. “I’m kind of surprised – doesn’t seem to be your type of movie.”

Armitage turns towards her, a look of disgust and offense on his face.

“Did you not want to watch…? Not my type…? How could you not want to watch the best-animated film of all time, if not the best film period of all time?”

Rose laughs and grabs his shoulder.

“No, oh my Force, I definitely want to see it!”

“Good. I don’t know if I could abide by you not wanting to watch Miyazaki’s magnum opus – the only Japanese anime to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature you know!”

The theater slowly fills up as Rose reassures Armitage that of course, she wants to watch the movie with him. She wasn’t expecting it, but his enthusiasm makes her more excited to re-watch the classic Studio Ghibli film. The lights dim and the movie starts playing. As Rose grabs a piece of popcorn, she glances over and notices Armitage’s mouth moving along with the character’s dialogue. It makes her smile. Between the animation and the soundtrack, Rose is also swept up in the beautiful movie.

Towards the end of the movie, Rose looks over and sees Armitage’s cheeks are wet. She wraps an arm around his, leans over, and rests her head on his shoulder. He stiffens before relaxing into her, leaning his cheek on the top of her head.

As they walk out of the theater, Armitage tries to discretely wipe away the tears on his cheeks. Rose doesn’t say anything, but she slips one of her hands into one of his.

“Frozen yogurt, right?” he coughs out, his voice sounding slightly hoarse.

“Yup,” Rose squeezes his hand and begins swinging it.

He brings his other hand up to check the time and nods. Armitage leads Rose to the frozen yogurt place, which is only a short walk away from the theater. He reminds her that he’s paying for their yogurt and encourages her to get more toppings. She realizes that he has a much sweeter tooth than she does.

As they’re eating, Rose brings up Spirited Away again. Armitage perks up and begins to talk about his admiration of Miyazaki and his movies. He begins waxing poetic about the art, the animation. He gesticulates wildly with his hands and leans forward, punctuating his points with a wave of his spoon. Armitage talks about the themes in Studio Ghibli films and this transitions into talking about human impacts on nature and Rose can see the passion in his eyes.

“So do you want to go into… environmental policy?” she asks.

“Maybe,” Armitage says as he looks down at his mostly melted yogurt. “I’m aware that… politics requires social skills that I… lack.”

 “You’re not that bad,” Rose says as she gives Armitage a sheepish grin.

He gives her a blank stare and sighs. “I just… have these ideas. And I want to do things that matter and leave an impact.”

“Like with homecoming? Because you’re kinda driving everybody crazy,” Rose giggles.

Armitage shrugs. “Last year nobody cared, I’m not letting our senior year be just as lackluster.”

That makes Rose lean forward and ask what Armitage thought could have been better. This leads to a back-and-forth of criticizing last year’s homecoming and brainstorming ideas to make this one better. An alarm goes off on Armitage’s phone. He checks his watch and tells her it’s time they headed back. They had spent a while talking over frozen yogurt.

When they arrive, Armitage insists on walking Rose to her front door. Before she unlocks her door, she tugs on Armitage’s arm.

“Is it alright if I call you Armie?” she asks him. He nods, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. Rose pulls Armie down by the arm and kisses him on the cheek. He freezes. “Goodnight Armie!”

Rose closes the door to Armitage holding a hand to his cheek, a dumb grin on his face, and staring off into space.

Rey

Nobody should have been surprised that the other girls on the cheer squad were so invested in how Rey’s and Rose’s dates went. Most were astonished that Ben and Armitage would go out with anyone, as neither of them had seemed to show an interest in dating. Both Rey and Rose were thoroughly interrogated; every detail of the date was extracted, analyzed, and giggled over. Coach Holdo had to remind the squad that they were supposed to practice. Of course, she left with a wink at the girls, telling them that she was happy for them. That made the group giggle even more.

After that first practice, the excitement died down quickly. Swept away by the latest dating gossip and newest couple. Bazine was apparently flirting with one of the football players, Ap’lek.

Later that week, after an afternoon practice, Rey found Rose waiting for her in the locker room, leaning against the lockers with a smirk on her face.

“You won’t believe what Jannah told me yesterday,” Rose says, a devious sparkle in her eye.

“Ohh do tell,” eager for some juicy gossip, Rey replies.

“Jannah said that Poe caught Ben staring at your ass.”

Rey chokes out a “What?”

Jessika was pulling things out of her locker that was next to the two girls and, at Rey’s reaction, cackles good-naturedly.

“Y’all are talking about how Ben was checking Rey out, right? Poor guy can’t hide anything from his team,” she says.

Rey’s face feels hot, and Rose coos and hugs Rey, giving Rey’s head a few good pats.

“There, there,” Rose comforts facetiously. “No need to be embarrassed – it’s great that Ben likes your ass so much.”

“And if it makes you feel better,” Jessika leans in conspiratorially, “Hux was definitely taking a peek at Rose’s boobs during homecoming planning the other day.”

Rose lets go and shrieks, giving a weak slap at Jessika; Rey giggles with Jessika, however, still feeling the warmth on her cheeks.

Chapter Text

Hux

Hux didn’t want anyone to believe that he was turning soft, but… after Rose gave him the sweetest kiss on their date it was harder to get as annoyed by the incompetency of his classmates. In fact, the rest of the planning for homecoming started happening more smoothly. Coordinating decorations and theme days didn’t feel like pulling teeth. Hux wasn’t sure what to attribute the change to, however. Was he letting others get away with sub-par standards? Did his reputation for perfection lessen? Were others less intimidated since he now had a vicious cheerleader keeping his nastier manners in check?

Either way, when Hux looked at all that they had managed to accomplish, he felt proud.

Unfortunately, it was starting to get to the point where Hux could ignore it no longer. He needed to make moves to get Rose to be his homecoming date and whatnot. He wasn’t sure how he would ask her, but he felt pretty sure she would say yes. It helped that Kaydel glared and him and Solo at lunch and threatened them if they broke Rose and Rey’s hearts or didn’t ask them to homecoming. It was a good sign.

What Hux really dreaded was mum and garter day. It was his least favorite spirit week day - and every year there were some pretty tough contenders. It was loud and left feathers and glitter all over the hallways. But Hux respected cultural traditions for the sake of peace. Unfortunately, after the last three years of not participating he found himself in a… situation. The lovely, bubbly Rose deserved a mum that fit her personality. He needed to not only make a mum but also contact Rose’s mother to make sure to coordinate their efforts. As Hux scrolled online he was generally disgusted by the majority of them. Garish. His mum was going to be elegant. Fortunately, as seniors they have earned the right to wear white and silver. Orange was difficult to not make gaudy.

As he sat in Solo’s car on the way home, he decided that he needed to ask him for help. Hux was reluctant to ask his friend this favor, but honestly, his father was unlikely to be cooperative and helpful. There were only so many times Hux could borrow the car and he would prefer to use it for the actual homecoming dance.

“Hey Solo, you willing to go to Michael’s this weekend?”

“What? You doing arts and crafts now?” Solo turned around with a raised eyebrow.

Hux had to roll his eyes. “No, you dumbass. For homecoming.”

“Homecoming?”

“Yes, Solo, remember? The mums?” The car jerks to a stop. Solo makes a sharp turn. “What the fuck!?”

“We gotta get the mums,” he said as if it were obvious.

“Okay first of all: we make them and second we still have a while-“

“Yeah, but if I’m going to be making the best mum, then I need to get started now.”

“Woah, woah the best? As if.” Hux scoffed.

While glaring at the feather boas and braided ribbons, Hux was approached by an older woman wearing the Michaels uniform. With her assistance, he and Solo were able to acquire a substantial - and expensive - amount of supplies to make their mums. They split the price and agreed that they would only work on it together so that, all things equal, they could see who made a better mum. They shook on it and made plans for Hux to come over on Saturday morning to start constructing it.

Before they left, Hux wandered to a different section of the store. He scrutinized the posterboards and foam letters. Solo wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion.

“That’s not for the mums, right…?”

Hux shook his head. “No, I’m planning to ask Rose to homecoming.”

“Oh. Are you doing one of those elaborate ‘homecoming proposals’,” Solo said while doing his best to make air quotes while carrying plastic bags full of craft supplies.

“Were you not?” Hux asked, nearly offended. Wasn’t this what girls wanted? Especially cheerleaders?

Solo shrugged. “I mean, our girls seem pretty down to earth.”

Hux considered that and immediately nixed the more complicated ideas floating in his head. He was still going to make a poster though; appearances mattered and he didn’t want to seem like a schlump to Rose because he wouldn’t take any effort into asking her.

“Well, you better not just ask Rey,” Hux said as they finally walked out of the store.

“Nah - I have a pretty good idea,” Solo replied vaguely.

Hux decided not to push the subject. If Solo wanted to get a personal smackdown from Kaydel that wasn’t Hux’s responsibility.

Rose

Rose sat back and admired her handiwork. All of the cheer squad’s handiwork. Hux was willing to let others take the charge on this task, so they got to come up with puns and posters. Coming up with fun ways to describe each Spirit Day was the hardest part of the endeavor. The results were amazing, if she did say so herself. The paint markers that Jannah bought made the handwriting and artwork look practically professional.

The approved final spirit days were:

Posters for Monday read ‘Movie Slumber Party,’ with instructions to wear pajamas on that day. Jessika wanted it to say ‘Netflix and Chill’ but Coach Holdo quickly shut that down.

Tuesday and Thursday were decade days, ‘That 70’s Spirit Day’ and ‘Party Like Its 1980.’ Admittedly the puns were subpar, but its not like Hux could come up with anything better.

Wednesday was ‘Choose Your Character Day,’ with instructions to dress up like a movie or TV show character.

Finally, as tradition dictated, Friday was the day everybody had their mums or garters, and/or dressed like a senior citizen for ‘Oldies but Goodies.’ Every year, there were at least a few seniors who would start crying because it was their last mum and their last homecoming so it became a sort of ‘senior’ day.

Rose watched as Rey walked towards her, flip-flops shuffling on the wooden floor. With dripping wet hair, it was clear that she had just stepped out of the shower. Even on days they didn’t practice and work up a sweat, Rey still showered. At this point it was probably obvious that Rey had some situation going on at home, but Rose was glad that nobody on the team had said anything unkind to her best friend or started acting weird about it.

“Hey,” Rey said as she joined Rose on the floor. “These look great!”

“I know! Everybody did such a good job!”

“Ugh, seeing all of this,” Rey gestured to the posters, “makes it feel all the more real.”

“No. Nope. Nuh-uh,” Rose slapped her hand on Rey’s mouth. “You are not going to make me cry. We still have time, we still need to get dates, get dresses.”

“Now that’s going to make me cry - I don’t have a date or a dress.”

“Oh - Ben didn’t ask you to homecoming?”

Rey shook her head and then asked, “Did Armitage ask you?”

“No,” Rose sighed. “Y’know, if he takes any more time I’m going to ask him myself.”

“You go girl,” Rey said with a shoulder bump.

“So…”

“So?”

“So what about you and Ben? Are you going to ask him? I’ll help.”

Rey slumped and started picking at her cuticles. “I don’t think I’m going to homecoming.”

“What?” Rose squawked. “Why?”

“Well, I don’t have money for a dress.”

Oh yeah.

As Rose and Rey put the posters away, Rose started plotting. She had vague impressions of a plot forming in her mind and she was confident that it would all work out. After all, the last plot was a major success. Now they were on the cheer team and Rey had regular access to showers. Rose would need help from the boys, though.