Blast from the past (1950's Star Wars AU)

[un_handed]

Summer 1952, it was just starting and shaping up to be a beauty. Most kids were getting that antsy feeling of the nearness of vacation and the want of freedom. But there were still three more week of school before that bell rang and let the kids free for the next three months.

Idyllic towns like Havencrest were almost too perfect this time of year. With their well-manicured lawns and pretty picket-fenced houses. The same could not be said of Bleakburn, just one set of train tracks over but a whole different world. The houses were not so quaint and the colors not so cheery.

Mara lived in Bleakburn, her family had for three generations now. She went to Bleakburn High School, or BBHigh as they called it, home of the Imperials. They had a reputation, as many towns that were not as well off as their neighbors, of being rough. That suited Mara just fine, she wasn't the sort of girl who felt like she needed any particular favor with the people of Havencrest and certainly never did anything to seek it out.

There were scuffles often enough between the rival schools but nothing, as yet, had been too bad. Street races, pranks, the occasional party was crashed but things remained a fairly constant level of general dislike between the towns. Both of whom claimed the one place that was any sort of fun, Moe Isleys. A diner that used the wide white back wall of the joint as a screen after dark and doubled as a local drive-in and hang-out. Sometimes they'd clear the parking lot and hold mixers there but more often than not it was used to watch the newest (that Moe could get his hands on) schlock film making rounds.

Mara had been there enough times to be recognizable, not just for her flame-red hair but also because she rode a motorcycle. Something she always grinned about when the 'Cresters looked at her with gaping mouths and dropped jaws. Keep staring, squares. In three more weeks she'd graduate and then she'd hit the road and leave both these towns behind her. She wasn't sure where exactly she'd go but the hell out of dodge sounded good to her.

That's why she was out here tonight, making some early goodbyes to friends she wouldn't be seeing again before she left because of this or that. So, like most bored kids in both towns, she headed to Moe's. Jeans rolled up over engineer boots, a black leather jacket and a black t-shirt beneath she could have been mistaken for a boy riding up. But when she parked and took off her helmet it was very clear she was anything but. She straddled her bike and hooked her helmet to the back and waved to a few people she recognized.

Comments

[un_handed]

Mara grinned, snapped her teeth at his nose, and eased away from him to do as she'd spoken. Her bike was walked into the garage and parked neatly out of the way.

She waited for Luke to get his car pulled out, and she slid herself into the front seat. "I was thinking I'd let you take me to the drive-in. I heard House of Wax is playing."

[from_twin_suns]

"Let me, huh?" he replied, liking approximately all of this. From the confidence, to the plan itself - to the way she climbed into a car.

"I think I can get behind that plan," he finished, putting the car into gear. And then, because he was in a particularly good mood, he switched into a passable impression of Vincent Price.

"Do hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

[un_handed]

Mara laughed, there was no reserve on it. A deep, true laugh that somehow had just a hint of that same sparkle that lit up her eyes.

She slid over and wove her arm through his, holding on as suggested. "I'm ready if you are." She nosed along the outer shell of his ear.

"Now that you have my interest, it'll take more than a few bumps to shake me."

[from_twin_suns]

This is officially the best day ever. He grins, loving her closeness, the contact, and almost wanting to just forget about driving at all, but - hoo, ok.

"Definitely ready," he replied. "For whatever adventure this brings."

[un_handed]

They were off, a new adventure, as he said. And there was no doubt they would raise eyebrows and set some tongues to wagging. Let them wag till they get a sprain, she was having a lot more fun with this Havencrester than she'd thought possible.

"What movies do you like?" She used the car noise as an excuse to speak and lean more closely to his ear than technically necessary.

[from_twin_suns]

Making it a bit harder to drive, that much was for sure - "huh? Oh."

He smiled.

"Anything science fiction, anything with Bogart or Bacall. Horror movies. You?"