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The rumour mill at Chandrilla High had always been vicious. A small school in a sleepy town without much going on, gossip was one of the only forms of entertainment for students and faculty alike. It was almost impossible to keep a secret, and just as futile to try.
So when whispers went around the school that Mr Solo and Ms Niima had been seen kissing in the school parking lot that morning, everyone knew about it by lunch.
Mr Solo was a known entity. The tall, handsome, extremely grumpy English teacher had been teaching at Chandrilla High for five years. Everyone knew he had only gotten the job because his mother, Ms Organa, was on the school board of trustees. Before then he'd been some kind of lawyer, possibly for the mob? Or maybe a mobster himself. The student body was divided. One thing everyone knew for sure was that Mr Solo was married. He’d taken time off last year for a honeymoon and everyone had noticed the improvement in his mood since then. He was less brutal marking assignments. The books he assigned were less gloomy. He even smiled some times.
Ms Niima was less well known. She’d only started at the school that September. The pretty, petite brunette taught shop and woodworking. She had a big smile and an easy demeanour. She was an easy marker. She loved tinkering with the box of junk in her classroom and encouraged students to dig through her collection of odds and ends of broken electronic devices and kitchen gadgets for their own projects. And now, they all knew something else about her - she was a homewrecker.
It started innocently enough. Bazine Netal had been headed into the school early to serve her in-school suspension for smoking on school property when she saw them out of the corner of her eye.
“Are you sure it was them?” Jessika Pava whispered to her when Bazine told her the story during first period algebra.
Bazine rolled her eyes.
“Like Mr Solo is easy to miss. The man’s a tree.”
“A tree you’d like to climb”
“Shut up and listen,” Bazine snapped. “I’m telling you, it was definitely him. They were getting out of the car. I stopped to look because, honestly, a man that big getting out a little car is pretty funny. He went to open her door for her, then he leaned over the door and kissed her.”
“Doesn’t Mr Solo usually drive his bike to school?” Jessika asked skeptically. Mr Solo was well known, especially to the female population of the school, for driving a motorbike to school most days.
“I don't know,” Bazine shrugged. “All I know is what I saw. And what I saw is him cheating on his new wife with that skank, Ms Niima.”
“Care to share with the whole class?” Ms Erso’s sharp voice interrupted their whispered conversation, and the two girls went back to their textbooks.
By lunch, most of the student body knew that Mr. Solo and Ms Niima were having an affair.
Ms Niima didn’t realize something was amiss until her third period shop class. Instead of getting straight into their design projects, worth half their grade, students clumped in groups of two and three, whispering together and casting furtive looks in her direction. It was strange, but the teenage years were a strange time and who knows what goes on in their yet-to-be-finished- forming brains. Ms Niima shrugged it off and got back to marking their quizzes.
---
“Were the kids being extra weird today, or was it just me?” Rey asked Ben as she leaned in the doorway of his classroom.
“Full moon. Not that I believe those kinds of things,” Ben answered without looking up. He made a few more notes on his laptop and then snapped it shut, gathering his things and neatly placing them into his bag. “But Rose swears it affects student behavior. Ready to go, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, she’s not wrong, though, is she?” Rey said, as they headed out his door, locking it behind them. “You know, this driving to and from school together is kind of nice. Maybe after your bike is out of the shop, we could still do it.”
“If you want to,” Ben agreed easily, taking her hand as they walked together towards the staff parking lot.
It wasn’t until they arrived the next morning (“They were definitely holding hands, Kay. I saw it with my own two eyes!”) and sat down at a table in the staff room that things began to be clearer.
“You know,” said Poe Dameron, the PE teacher, “I heard the strangest rumour about you two”
“Oh yeah?” Rey replied, with mild interest as she sipped her lukewarm coffee. Ben didn’t look up from his book. He had fifteen minutes before he had to be in his classroom and he’d be damned if Dameron was going to ruin it for him.
“Yeah,” said Poe, with a twinkle in his eye. “I heard it from Snap Wexley who heard it from Jess Pava.”
“You gotta stop listening to student gossip, babe,” his husband Finn, the math teacher said, leaning over Poe’s shoulder.
“Nah. It’s the only thing those miscreants are good for. Anyhow. Apparently Bazine Netal saw you two in the parking lot having a makeout sesh.”
That was enough to bring Ben out of his book.
“What? When? We do not make out in parking lots.”
“Uhm, that’s not strictly accurate, honey,” Rey said, a wicked sparkle in her eye.
“Oh yeah?? Now I want to hear about that. Imagine Mr. Tweed Jackets having a makeout spot.”
“Rey!” Ben groaned. “You know better than to bring up anything in front of Dameron. He’s probably going to bring it up at Thanksgiving dinner in front of my mom or something.”
“Hazards of being a family friend,” Poe said, unphased.
“The point is,” said Ben, glaring at his best friend since childhood. “We have not, and never were, making out in a school parking lot. Even if we were, is that against the rules?”
“It is if you’re married,” said Poe gleefully.
“Poe…. we are married,” Rey replied, confused. “You were there, remember?”
“Well, I mean, Ben is. The whole student body knows about that. He took a week off for his honeymoon last year. He wears a wedding ring. But you ,” and here Poe pointed a finger at Rey. “You don't’ wear a ring.”
“It’s a safety hazard in the workshop,” Rey reminded him. “Of course I don’t.”
“And you don’t have the same last name as Ben,” Finn added in.
“...So? It’s the 21st century. I thought you were a feminist.”
“So,” continued Poe, far too gleefully. “ We know the two of you are married. But the student body doesn’t. All they know is that Ben here is married, and that you appear not to be.”
“The students think I’m cheating on my wife … with Rey?” Ben asked, the expression on his face warring between being amused and horrified.
“Hole in one,” jeered Poe. “I heard it straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth, Ms. Niima is a homewrecker.”
“Oh my God,” Rey giggled, covering her smile with her hand. “That’s so funny.”
“Rey. It’s not funny. It’s intrusive. The students don’t have any right to our personal life.” Ben scowled at his wife.
“Oh come on, Benny Boy. you have to admit it’s a little bit funny,” Poe said, grinning at the larger man, who turned his glare at the PE teacher for the offensive nickname
“The real question,” said Finn, leaning on the table, “Is what are you guys going to do about it?”
“Do we have to do anything about it?” Asked Ben, running a large hand through his wavy hair. “We know what’s really going on. Why is it any of the students’ business?”
“I agree with Ben,” Rey chimed in. “I don’t think it’s necessary to say anything. They’ll catch on eventually, and in the meantime who cares what they think of me? It’s not like the opinions of a bunch of teens matters, right? It doesn't affect us at all. We’ll just keep doing our thing, and it’ll die down eventually.”
---
Unfortunately, Rey was wrong about that. It didn’t die down. And it was starting to affect her.
Starting that day, the students treated Rey differently. Girls, especially queen bee Bazine and her clique, who were well known to hang around Mr. Solo’s classroom during free period and try to slip him their phone numbers, glared at Rey in the halls. The boys, who had never been very tolerant of a female shop teacher at the best of times, were even less so now. One even made a suggestive comment, wondering aloud if she was sleeping with Mr. Solo, why not him as well? He got sent to the office and given a blistering lecture by Principal Kenobi for that one.
“He said what ?!” Ben demanded when he heard. “That’s… that’s… nobody talks to my wife like that!”
Rey rolled her eyes.
“It’s all so sexist , Ben! That’s the part that galls me. You’re the one supposedly having an affair. Not me. But I’m the one that’s vilified. You haven’t been getting any backlash, have you?”
“Well, no,” Ben admitted sheepishly. “I guess not. I hadn’t really noticed.”
Rey smiled at him fondly and leaned over the Corolla console to kiss his cheek.
“You’re so cute and clueless, honey.”
“This better blow over soon,” Ben grumbled. “There’s no way I’m letting anyone talk to you that way, Sweetheart. And anyways, my bike’ll be out of the shop soon and then we’ll be going to school separately, so maybe they’ll leave our personal lives alone after this?”
“Maybe,” said Rey skeptically. But she knew too much of teenagers to really believe it. Chandrilla High thrived off gossip, and this was the juiciest story it’d had in a while. Until something came along to replace it, her and Ben’s supposed affair was the talk of the school.
---
True to Rey’s prediction, as the days passed, the gossip didn’t die down at all. If anything, it intensified. It had been over a week since the “parking lot make out sesh incident”, as Poe insisted on calling it. And now, more fuel to the fire. They’d been ‘spotted’ around town, holding hands and whispering to each other in Maz’s diner.
“I just can’t believe how brazen they are,” Bazine murmured to Kaydel Connix at lunch the next day. “Going out like that when his poor wife is probably sitting at home crying her eyes out.”
“Do you think she knows?” Jessika asked. “They haven’t been married very long. Less than a year, and her new husband is carrying on with someone at work.”
“She’s not even very pretty,” said Tallie Lintra, wrinkling her nose. “She hardly wears any make up and she’s always got greasy coveralls over her clothes. What does Mr Solo even see in her?”
“She’s hardly torrid affair material,” Bazine agreed with a sniff.
“Who knew Ms Niima was such a slut,” Beau Kin commented nastily. “You know what they say about shop girls. They put out!”
The group laughed, unaware that their voices carried across the quad, where Ms Niima was walking to her next class. Unaware of the pain their cruel, thoughtless words were causing.
---
“It’s stupid,” Rey said, wiping her eyes before burying her nose in the shoulder of her husband’s cozy burgundy sweater. At least she had managed to wait until they were home before having her emotional breakdown. “Why should I even care what children think of me? But it brought back a lot of trauma. Of being made fun of for being dirty and skinny and having bruises. It’s just… it’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid, sweetheart,” Ben said, stroking her hair, recently released from the buns she wore it in at school. “Nobody should be talking about anyone that way, least of all their teacher. I’m not going to have you subjected to this any more.”
Rey raised her head to peer into his face.
“What are you going to do?” she asked. “Not something that will get either of us fired, I hope? I like this job, and I like working with you.”
“Of course not,” Ben grumbled. “My days of beating people up because they insult you have come to an end. No, I'm going to do something much worse. I’m going to bring in the big guns.” He pulled out his phone, comically small in his large hands, and pressed a few buttons.
“Hey, Mom. Listen, could you do us a favor?”
---
Operation “De-Homewreck-afy” (Another patented Poe title ), came into effect the very next day. Instead of the usual lecture, followed by working on their senior project for the rest of the class, Rey told the class they were doing something different.
“I know you’re all eager to get working on your senior project, but this is an opportunity we can’t pass,” Rey announced, standing in front of her classroom. She’d put special care into her appearance today, wearing more makeup than usual, leaving her hair down to curl over her shoulders instead of its typical three bun configuration, and opting for a skirt instead of jeans and a sweater. She waved an arm to the adjoining shop, where a beautifully restored vintage Ford Falcon was sat in place of pride. “Today we have Mr Han Solo with us to show us his Falcon. Mr Solo used to be a Formula One driver, isn’t that right?”
“Amongst other things,” said Han, with a smirk. “I thought you guys would like a look at the old girl. She’s my pride and joy that car, and Ms Niima here’s done a bunch of work on restoring her. Only right she gets to show off her work.”
“Before we head into the shop, anyone have any questions?”
Snap Wexley raised his hand.
“Are you related to Mr. Solo, our English teacher?”
“As a matter of fact, I’m his dad,” Han replied.
A murmur rose amongst the students.
“Anyone have any shop related questions?” Rey reiterated. “Good. I just wanted to say thank you to Mr. Solo before we head in there, for letting us take a look, and maybe he can talk a little about driving a racecar.”
Han smiled widely.
“Anything for my favorite girl,” he said with a wide grin. “So, whaddya wanna know about Formula One, kiddos?”
---
Phase two commenced after third period. It was Rey’s prep period, so she made sure to situate herself in the quad, where students hung out, enjoying their free period and generally goofing around.
She watched from afar as Leia walked in, deep in conversation with her old friend Mr Kenobi, her giant, furry Newfoundland on a leash at her side.
“I’m so sorry, Obi Wan,” Leia was saying, “I know Chewie isn’t strictly allowed on school property, but I need to pass him off to Han before he goes to the vet, and this was the best time-”
“It’s no problem, Leia,” Obi Wan assured her. “It’s been a while since i’ve seen the hairy beast anyways.”
“Mom,” said Ben as he walked up, making sure to let his deep voice carry. “Nice to see you.”
“You too,” said Leia, offering her cheek to her son to kiss.
“Hey buddy,” Ben said fondly to the dog, kneeling down to give the giant animal a scratch, strategically shifting him so that Chewie caught sight of his second favorite person in the world, sitting across the quad, who so happened to have his favorite dog biscuits in her bag with her.
“Oh! Oops!” The dog’s leash slipped through Leia’s fingers, and Chewie, sensing his opportunity, bounded away, towards his favorite cookies and the person whose bag they were in, Rey.
Students turned to watch as Chewie, surprisingly fast for a dog of his size and girth, hurtled towards her. He leaped up, just about knocking Rey off the stone wall where she had been perched. She laughed, scratching behind his ears while fending off his sloppy wet kisses.
“Get off her you idiot,” Ben said affectionately, catching up to them.
“It’s ok,” Rey said, slipping the dog the biscuits she had been concealing. “He knows he’s my favorite.”
“Sorry, honey, sorry,” Leia said, walking up to them and retrieving the end of the leash. “You know how he is.”
“He just loves me is all. Don’t you, you sweet puppy? Don’t you??” Rey asked in a baby voice, scratching him vigorously.
“Well he’s not alone there,” Leia asked. “I’ve got to take off, once I pass Chewie off to Han, but listen, we’ll see you at Sunday dinner?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Rey laughed, accepting a hug from her mother-in-law. “Thanks, Mom” she whispered in her ear.
“Anything for my favorite daughter-in-law,” Leia said out loud.
“Your only daughter-in-law,” Ben replied for her, rolling his eyes as he slipped an arm around Rey’s waist.
“That too,” Leia agreed, with a twinkle in her eyes. “See you kids later!”
From across the quad, Jess, Kaydel, and Tallie watched the scene unfolding with wide eyes.
“Oh my God,” Tallie whispered. “Wow. We had it all wrong.”
“Oh man,” Jess giggled. “Bazine is going to be furious.”
---
And that was the end of the rumours about Mr. Solo and Ms Niima.
At least, until later that year when Ms Niima started showing.