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“You might wanna close your mouth, buddy. You okay?”
Finn Stormbreaker blinked his eyes very hard and did as directed, his mouth shutting with an audible snap. He saw the woman smirk at him somewhat pityingly and he thought he ought to say something.
“Sorry. I guess I just wasn’t expecting ...”
He trailed off and glanced from her to the triangular sign on the roof of the trim orange-and-white car that read: “Skywalker Defensive Driving Academy” in cheery sky blue letters. Underneath was a phone number in sober black, and beneath that, the words “VEHICLE MAY MAKE SUDDEN STOPS” in block letters that seemed to mean business. The sentence was repeated in much larger block letters in the rear window of the car.
She was looking at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence, giving up after another few seconds of silence.
“You weren’t expecting ... what? A woman teacher?”
Finn gave a sickly little grin and tried hard not to feel like a jerk about it. He wasn’t sure why he felt so nervous. Sure, he wasn’t expecting a woman, and yes, said woman was fine as hell, but it wasn’t as if he –
“It’s just ... ah ... your name. I’ve never known a woman to spell it R-E-Y,” he said, stumbling a little. “... I mean, I know that it’s, ah, a unisex name and all ...”
“Yeah, how about that,” she deadpanned.
Finn clearly felt the signals his brain was sending to his mouth to shut up already, but he still felt he needed to explain himself.
“My ex’s mom spelled her name R-A-E,” he said, trying for another smile and promising himself silently that he would drop it after this. “But she actually preferred to be called The Admiral. It was ... different. Definitely different.”
The girl’s face changed. Finn found himself feeling self-conscious as she looked him up and down with new interest.
He took the time to study her again, too. It wasn’t a hardship. She had golden eyes and a delicate face that was dotted with freckles. Her dark hair in three messy buns at the back of her head. She was almost as tall as he, and slender, but he could sense rather than see strength in her arms and legs. She looked like she could be a skater or long-distance runner. She was dressed in a drapey beige top and pants that looked like pajama bottoms, but he could tell they weren’t. She looked very comfortable, as well as being the aforementioned fine as frog hair.
“Wait ... Admiral Rae Sloane? You dated Mauren Sloane?” Her eyes traveled again. “And you’re still in one piece? The Admiral must’ve liked you.”
Finn was a little shaken. “Yeah, well, I guess? Mauren and I went to school together. You know the Admiral?”
“Family friend,” said Rey Skywalker offhandedly. “Well, more like a family frenemy, really. I've met Mauren a few times. I remember once when we were kids, we were at this barbecue and Mauren sat on the grass and refused to eat anything other than Spaghetti-Os. She got them, too!”
Finn half-smiled. That sounded about right.
“So, since you’ve already had your fair share of drama and adventure, you’ll definitely have no problem surviving my driving course,” said Rey with a gentle leer. “Just making sure you know this will be $95, payable at the conclusion of the course. We accept checks, Cashapp and Venmo. By the way, this is court-mandated, right?”
“Yeah.” Finn sighed. He hated to even think about the stupid stunt that had landed him in such trouble. “No points on my license and my ticket dismissed in exchange for a six-hour defensive driving course.”
“Just one ticket?” Her eyebrows arched. “Usually by the time my dad or I get a client, the tickets have piled up. Yours must have been a doozy.’
“Kinda.” He shrugged. “Well, okay ... yeah, I guess. I actually never got a ticket in my life before now, which is why the traffic judge probably went easy on me, because I did something really stupid.”
She looked at him quizzically. “And that was ...?”
“Drag racing some jerk on Mustafar Road,” said Finn grimly, the incident flashing before his eyes.
“Drag racing?” Her forehead wrinkled. “Are you serious? And on Mustafar Road of all places? It’s called ‘Mustavoid Road' for a reason, you know."
“So I was told,” said Finn dryly. “It was really late, and I’d had a rough day, and I guess I wasn’t in the best of moods. I was about to make the turn to pick up the access road to the highway, and this goth-looking asshole boxed me out! I had my blinkers on and everything. All he needed to do was give me a little space to make the turn. He didn’t, and I missed it. I could have just gone around the block and picked it up there, but I was so mad ... I gunned it and went after the guy.”
Rey was staring at him as if he had a naked mole rat on his head. Finn wondered at that, but continued.
“I was just going to give him dude the finger and get back to the road, but when I pulled up, he rolled his window down and was all, ‘Nice driving, guy. What about a race? Or don’t you have the balls?’ It was corny and stupid, and the guy seriously looked like an overgrown Skillrex, but I was pissed and the street was pretty empty so I just was like ‘Bring it, fucker.’ And ... so we raced down the roadway. It was okay for a little while, but dude got cocky and tried to make the move and he skidded. Luckily, he just went over a curb and scratched one of his fenders. Unluckily, a cop saw us and yanked us both. We got a lecture and got a traffic court summons. It could’ve been worse, I guess, but –”
Finn stopped abruptly. Rey’s eyes had gotten bigger and bigger as he’d told his story. Now her mouth dropped open and her lips trembled.
She pointed at him, her eyes springing open almost impossibly wide.
“You! You’re the one who made my cousin scratch his G-Wagon!”
Finn was momentarily confused, but then her message hit him like a traffic cone.
“Wait ... that dumbass is your cousin?”
“Yes!” She was laughing now. “He was so pissed about getting his paintjob chipped. He loves to race, because our granddad was a street racer, and so was my Uncle Han – his dad – but Ben has been shit at it forever. He loves to challenge people and usually gets the best of them, but not this time. My dad was telling me about it. Ben was so mad and it gave me life, I have to tell you!”
“That’s right ... I heard him say to the cop that his name was Ben ... Ben Solo, I think.” Finn stared at her. “Wow ... it’s a really small world. First you know my ex and her mom, and now I find out I'm the one who ran your cousin damn near off the road. I guess you’re not expecting me to apologize?”
“Hell no! In fact, let’s waive the fee for the course.” Rey was grinning ear-to-ear. “And I’ll make you a deal – you tell me every single detail about it, including the whining I know Ben did when the cop pulled you over, and I’ll tell you how his left bumper got that nasty dent in it that he refuses to have fixed.”
Finn blinked again. “Wait ... during the course? Don’t I have to, you know, be paying attention and all?”
“True, but I was thinking about afterward. I thought maybe we could get a cup of coffee or a sandwich.” There was a light wash of red on her cheeks as she gestured toward her car. “We are going to be together for six hours. Might as well have fun getting to know each other, right?”
Finn felt a corresponding heat on his own cheeks and smiled back at her as he climbed into the vehicle on the passenger’s side. He thought gloatingly of his friend Slip, who’d said he’d bitterly regret his momentary lawbreaking and the boring day of instruction ahead.
Rey got herself situated in the driver’s seat and gave him a slightly sultry wink and smile before beginning to fill out a form on her iPad.
Finn smothered a chuckle. Slip was such an idiot sometimes.