Pilot Pride (A Poe Dameron fanfiction -- Star Wars)

(5) Day 2. Dinner

Rizee and I located Opi and ShanHa. We all sat together and began eating our first dinner as students of the Resistance academy.

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"So, how were your guys' first days? Mine was so awesome, honestly. All of the recruiters are just so smart and we literally have the most successful Resistance recruiter teaching our class. He's basically famous." Opi explained earnestly. I respected how passionately she spoke of recruiting.

"We have Poe Dameron as a professor." Rizee claimed in an arrogant way. Opi's mouth dropped. ShanHa even looked up for a moment and then continued to eat her food.

"Are you serious? Poe freaking Dameron? And I thought my professor was successful." Opi reveled, clearly impressed by Poe.

I was just confused.

"Why's Poe so famous? I'd never heard of him before this." I commented. Rizee and Opi slowly looked at me with their mouths gaping open.

"You're being serious?" Rizee asked, and I was starting to feel dumb.

"Yeah," I blushed, "I'm taking this about as seriously as a Hutt would take a failed mission!"

"A Hutt?" Opi asked, and I was pleased that someone else was in the unknown with me.

"You know! Jabba? The Hutt?" I asked, explaining my comparison.

"Oh." Opi started, "Well, Poe Dameron is just -- awesome. A lot of people say he's the best pilot that the Resistance has. He was a huge part in getting the missing map piece for Luke Skywalker and he was the pilot who blew up the oscillator on the First Order's base. He's done a lot of other things as well but those are his most major accomplishments."

My eyebrows pressed towards my eyes in disbelief. "No way. He's that good? How have I never heard of him before?" Rizee and Opi shrugged and they forgot the topic.

I, on the other hand, did not forget the topic. However small and erasable my initial attraction to Poe was was now irrelevant. Now that my suspicions of Poe being a successful, intelligent pilot were confirmed, the man got a lot more interesting.

I secretly searched the dining hall with only my eyes until I located him. The lighting in the dining hall was dimmer at night than it was at lunchtime so seeing him was a bit more difficult, but I could still make him out.

Now his sheer, serious confidence in the way he held himself, talked of piloting, and spoke made a lot more sense. Based on the information Opi and Rizee told me I could figure out easily enough that Poe was a living legend. He was the pilot who had destroyed the First Order's thermal oscillator and somehow, miraculously survived.

I was really, genuinely impressed.

All while I thought this I was staring at Poe and . . . Just my luck. Of course, he looked over to me moments before I was about to draw my eyes away from him.

I didn't even bother concealing my eye roll to myself as I looked away from him. I didn't care if Poe saw me roll my eyes. He could interpret it as he wanted. I was really that annoyed with myself.

I need to stop staring at him, and I need to stop being attracted to him. I just need to ignore how I feel. Poe is my teacher! Akai, Poe is your teacher. Stop being so . . . attracted to him!, I mentally exclaimed, shaking my head as if that would release some of my humiliation. I was glad that the hall was darker so, if he was still looking, Poe wouldn't be able to see the redness in my cheeks.

I heard Opi gently gasp and Rizee fell quiet. I looked up to see what caused their silence, and both of them were looking at me with wide eyes.

"What?" I asked slightly aggressively, frowning, still feeling embarrassed from being caught -- for the third time -- in the act of staring at Poe. I didn't mean to take my angry embarrassment out on my new friends but it just happened.