The Riches (Obikin AU)

Chapter One: The Beginning

Janesville always seemed like a pleasant small town; somewhere one could go to settle down or retire. This can be said for the east side of the town, which one could describe as a rural Beverly Hills or even a small-town Madison Park. The west side, however, would be the equivalent of third world country condensed into two square miles. Anakin Skywalker was one of the unlucky residents of west side of Janesville.

Anakin hadn't been poor his whole life, only the majority of it. Up until age four, he lived in a penthouse in Nevada. His father was a successful casino owner until the police discovered that he'd been laundering money for decades. After that, Anakin and his mother moved to Janesville in hopes of a brighter future. Of course, thirteen years later, the future seemed bleaker than the Sahara Desert and Anakin's hopes and dreams had run dry. The boy, at seventeen years old, was working two jobs and would soon be juggling this with his senior year of high school, which he was not looking forward to.

The seemingly-perfect east side of Janesville was bathing in sunlight even at the ungodly hour of five-thirty AM. The warm light would soon leave as school commenced and winter began, but for now, Anakin was enjoying it while it lasted. Normally, Anakin would be sleeping at this hour or working on one of his projects, but since he had to work at the corner-store this afternoon, he had to mow Mrs. Kenobi's lawn early.

Mrs. Kenobi was nice enough, Anakin supposed. She paid him a very decent amount for a decent amount of work. He knew the retired widow had only hired him so she could observe him while he worked, but he didn't mind too much. As long as he got paid, it was worth it.

Due to his family's situation, he had to pay for simple things like rent and groceries. He and his mother had been alone since his father's scandal. Before Anakin was a thought in his parents' minds, his father had convinced his mother to drop out of college and, because of this, it was hard for her to find work, especially work that paid well. So, she was currently working as a maid for residents of the east side. It didn't pay too well but it was easy to find work, even if it wasn't every single day.

As Anakin approached Mrs. Kenobi's house, if you could even call it that, he noticed how lonely it looked. The house was comparable to a decently sized hotel, with several bedrooms and dining rooms and rooms that seemed unnecessary, like the ballroom on the second floor. Mrs. Kenobi had lived by herself up until last year when her grandson, Ben, had moved in. It was rumoured that it was due to the boy's parents passing away in a tragic accident. Anakin didn't know, he rarely spoke to Ben, even though they were the same age and consequently, shared some classes in the previous school year. Within Ben's first week in Janesville, he had already become a star athlete on the school's rugby team and as a result, he had also become extremely popular, especially among his female peers.

Anakin didn't feel particularly comfortable around Ben's crowd; he'd pissed a good number of them off and most of them were rich bigots. In Janesville, the rich were popular, and the poor were...well poor. The rich were raised on outdated prejudices and consequently, a very few students from the west side of town had made it with the popular crew.

Mrs. Kenobi kept her lawn mower and other supplies Anakin might need in her garage, which was attached to the guest house near the back of the property. This way, Anakin wouldn't have to disturb Mrs. Kenobi if he had to work early, like he did today. Regardless, Mrs. Kenobi was often around to greet Anakin when he arrived, like she was today. She was basking in the warm morning sun next to her pool, in nothing but a two-piece swimsuit and a sheer white cover-up. This was usually how Anakin was greeted by his wealthy neighbour. It's not like the woman was unattractive by any means; she seemed very young for a grandmother, probably only in her mid-fifties, and she didn't look a day past forty-two (not that Anakin was into older women, or women at all for that matter). Plus, Anakin didn't mind the attention; it was nice to be noticed, to feel wanted. He also didn't mind her making him lemonade or offering him a chocolate-chip-oatmeal cookie once and a while, especially when doing demanding yard work.