Daylight

2. Competition

It had been a few days since I learned of my parents' deaths. By now, the whole temple had learned of it from the other teachers and the students spreading the rumors about it. It had also been a few days since Ben and I had talked for the first time since he became curious about me, and apparently, our newly formed "Force Bond." But with our talk came more rumors. Bad ones that were beyond false, but when you have a temple filled with teenagers and young adults, it's going to get messy. 

Luke and a few other teachers had left for some mission to discover artifacts, leaving the less educated Jedi Masters to wrangle all of us and keep us in line. For the past two days, Ben had become more distant with me but probably for a good reason. I recently noticed the bitchiest of girls I train with had been smothering him with affection and attention as his friends drooled over them. I was able to keep myself composed at the very sight in the dining hall as I ate my breakfast in silence and alone, as always. But with Ben's full attention on me, it didn't help as I got death glares from all the girls around him, making the boys around him just as angry.

I didn't understand their jealousy towards me. There was nothing I found attractive about myself. I did what I could to make sure I didn't take much credit. I kept to myself most of the time because Luke told me to, and I didn't have friends I trusted to keep around me. I kept my eyes away from the death glares from a few tables away as I started to lose my appetite. So what if Ben gave me some attention? I was someone who just lost her parents a few days ago. There was nothing to be negative about, but in the end, there was. 

Shaking my head at their immaturity, I heard a dozen sounds of chairs moving and felt a huge wave of anger and jealousy coming towards me as I practically threw my utensil onto the plate below me as I shoved the food away from my body. Well, this is going to be interesting. Looking up, the small group of raging hormonal teenagers that seethed with hatred propped their hands on my table as I smiled not so sweetly at their ugly faces.

"Stop gazing over at Ben. He's never going after you. He's not interested in ugly things like you. So stay away from him, or you'll regret it, Djinn." With one swift motion, my plate of food was thrown back at my body as the food smeared all over my robe, causing the room to break up in laughter and hollers.

As they walked away, a sudden pull to the dark side made me stand, but the second I saw Ben's face, it was like he was taunting me not to start something. I watched his head shake from side to side slowly as he closed his eyes at the same time. That was right, Jedi don't let their emotions get the best of them. They keep them in control, and I could feel him telling me this without a single word or thought as I shoved the empty plate off the table and walked out, refusing to look back at him. 

Heading towards the large common bathroom that all students shared, I untied my outer robe from my body and pulled it off. Pulling my long hair up in a ponytail with an elastic material, I filled up one of the large tubs with warm water and placed a soap tab inside. Watching the bubbles fizz up, I placed the outer robe into the water to rub away the food and the stains on the fabric. As I kept rubbing away the morning stains, I could feel Ben's presence again as I avoided any way of acknowledging him further. I was already in heaps of trouble with a competition I was never apart of, with the attention I never wanted either.

"You're going to make this worse for me, so I suggest you just leave me alone, Solo." I wanted to try and sound intimidating as I possibly could without needing to look back at him. My suggestion earned a deep chuckle from him as it made a shiver crawl up my arms. Well, that sounds attractive.

"They'll know better sooner or later not to mess with you, Amara. I've seen you fight and win against all of them. There's no competition when it comes to you. As for leaving you alone, that I will not do." With his last words, I turned on my heel as I was still in a squatted position as he towered over me, like a giant ready to crush me. Slowly standing, I noticed the top part of my head came up to his large nose.