"Alright child, spill the beans," Maz demanded, raising a brow that extended beyond the rims of her glasses.

Rey paused mid-bite of her General Tsao's chicken, which Maz so kindly brought home after her 12-hour shift at the hospital. The piece of food was long past the state of turning into mush inside her mouth, not realizing she had drifted into a daydream.

Minding her manners, Rey swallowed her food and gave her aunt a nonchalant shrug. "About school? It wasn't too bad. Other than almost being late to one of my classes because a trombone player thought it would be funny to conk a clarinet player in the back of her head with his tuning slide. The director apparently found it fitting to punish the entire class for those few that found it funny."

"Is that why you've gone away to la-la land?" Maz inquired with amusement in her tone. "Because some brass player boned a woodwind?"

"Maz!"

"I'm not talking with my head in the gutter like you kids do nowadays," Maz corrected, shoveling a mixture of fried rice and beef onto her fork. "It was simply another name that we used to say whenever a trombone player would hit someone on accident. We used to call them 'boners.'"

"You can't just go around saying 'boners' and think that people are going to assume you're talking about instrumental terms," Rey countered, motioning her hands over the table to prove the significance of her point.

Maz snorted, eliciting a harsh pfft with her lips. "We hippies practically invented the term back in my day. Anyhow, that's not what I meant when I asked you to spill the beans."

Rey scoffed and shoved a larger piece of chicken into her mouth, hindering her ability to speak. It was something that Rey discovered to have its uses, especially when it came to the topic of discussing boys, considering moments in the past where Maz's unfiltered mouth rendered her face to turn a sunburnt shade of red.

"You may have to be a bit more specific," Rey muttered from the corner of her mouth, feigning ignorance. "Cause I really have no idea what you're talking about."

Maz's gaze sharpened as she swallowed a more modest portion of food, her eyes resembling the Mariana Trench through the thick lenses with bifocals.

"Oh, Rey. I was your age once, too, you know. I see your eyes and I know when there's a boy lingering at the back of a girl's thoughts."

Rey frowned, chewing her food slower. "There isn't anyone," she lied. "Well, there are a couple guys who are fairly attractive at school, but they're just friends."

Maz hummed and raised her brows suggestively. "So, you're saying that there's no reason why you've taken no more than five bites of your food?"

"I'm just tired is all," Rey sighed, dropping her fork onto her plate. "I'm still trying to get used to these six o'clock schedules."

"I thought you said that classes started later today?"

"I did," Rey replied frankly. "I went in early though."

Maz looked surprised. "The Rey that I know and raised would have never passed up the opportunity to sleep in an extra hour," she countered eloquently. "There have been times where I highly considered giving you the ice bucket challenge in bed, just to get you out of bed at ten in the morning."

With her lips drawn askew, Rey carefully considered her next choice of words.

"I just really like this school," she mused, her eyes appearing timid. "The people are nice. And the teachers aren't so bad either."

The statement wasn't necessarily a complete lie, in theory. Rey really did like all of her teachers. It's just that there was one she liked a little – more.

"You're a terrible liar, Rey," Maz reassured, regarding her niece with a softer expression. "You inherited that from your father."

Rey took a breath and swallowed heavily. Discussing her parents never came as easily as it did for Maz, who liked to bring up her baby brother in discussions at times. Especially now that Rey was leading into her young adult years and held similar traits as her father.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I do happen to like it here, too," Maz assured, ushering more food onto her fork. "I think we'll stay."

Rey smiled in accord and fell into similar motion, adhering to the growl in her stomach. "By the way, did we get the internet hooked up today?"

Maz nodded and swallowed her food before addressing the subject. "Yes, as a matter of fact. But I should expect that you'll use your net time sparingly before your homework is done," she concluded with an accusatory gleam in her eyes.

"Yes, my dear auntie dearest," Rey goaded, her lips forming a Cheshire grin.

"I hate it when you call me that."

Rey continued to share more details about her day at school, declaring she joined a 'book club' that started before the day's normal hours and meant for it to be an excuse during those days in which she left home early. Maz was leery at first but accepted the little white lie. But that was after Rey insisted she wasn't sick or pregnant or coming down with some ridiculous unknown disease that prompted one to take a sudden liking to timeless classic literature.

When she finally cleared the last speck of food from her plate, Rey helped her aunt clear the table and took out the trash before retiring to her bedroom for homework. Luckily she only had a dozen problems to work for Trig and a few questions to answer for History, allowing Rey extra time to get comfortable and enjoy the night stalking through her feed on Facebook and change her profile picture to something less revealing.

She exchanged her jean shorts and t-shirt for a black hoodie, one that was a size too big, with Billabong written in pink letters across the front. She pulled on a raggedy grey tee and a pair of plaid sleep shorts. Not because they reminded her of a certain teacher's preference in attire or anything, but because they were extremely comfortable thank you very much!

Bee-Bee appeared to be antsy after being caged all day, resembling an incarcerated criminal with his tiny paws pressed against the cage. Rey made certain that the bedroom door was closed before placing the rodent inside his exercise ball, allowing him to burn off the pent-up energy after sleeping all day. It was an absolute necessity as Maz nearly mistook the tiny ball of fur to be a mouse once after Bee-Bee made a daring escape through the hatch of his ball.

It was a horrible fate for Rey to think what might've happened to her little friend had she not been there to stop the petrified woman from swinging the broom once or twice, even though it was more than obvious that the long-haired critter with a stumpy tail wasn't what Maz portrayed him to be.

Rey proceeded to settle onto the cream-colored coverlet on her full-size bed with her backpack and laptop, propping herself on her stomach with one of many furry grey pillows to get comfortable and crossed her ankles, indulging herself in a few minutes worth of social media.

Notifications displayed the number of friend requests that were pending for approval, anticipating them to be from Finn, Rose, and Poe. She discovered earlier in the day that any source of online social media gave Mitaka extreme anxiety, so Rey wasn't surprised that she didn't see a request from him.

As per what normally followed the acceptance of new friends on Facebook, she glanced over the list of her 'suggested friends'. She recognized a few of the names and faces of classmates who shared second and fifth-period classes with her and Rose. She sent a few requests to those she knew to be decent and ignored the dozens believed to be snobs, particularly a wretch named 'Anne' and a few jocks.

After a few more minutes of scrolling through the list of peers, she was ready to call it quits for the night before one name, in particular, brought her scrolling to a sudden stop. Her attention was centered on a profile, belonging to a person who she last expected to see on the screen.

There was no picture or profile header on the designated account that was set to 'private' in its settings, and she wondered if the account was even still active. But what if he denied her? What if this was her pushing this – thing – between them too far?

Chewing on the short tip of her thumbnail, she held her gaze on the name that was center of attention on the screen of her laptop, contemplating the consequences of her actions.

What the hell...

Her hand hovered over the touchpad of the device, allowing herself a moment to reconsider the thought of adding Ben Solo as a friend.

**

"Are you sure it's Kylo?" Ben asked, who was struggling to maintain a grip on his phone, pressed between an ear and the shower-dampened skin of a bare shoulder.

"His stall smells like he had a field day rolling in the biggest pile of shit that he could find," Leia assured, her tone projecting the scowl that was likely on her face.

"I can't even get there until Friday anyway," Ben affirmed. "You're telling me that there's no way you can hose him down until then?"

"You know what that horse is like when anybody gives him a bath that's not you," Leia replied exasperatedly. "That stall would be in shambles by the time we could get him remotely clean."

Ben heaved a sigh, attempting to dry his legs and feet before he secured the towel around his waist. Taking the iPhone in hand with a tight grip, he padded with dampened bare feet over the carpet that led from the bathroom into his living room. At least he managed to get his hair towel dried before Leia called, baring news that Kylo's antics had once again earned him another shot at wearing the dunce cap for badly behaved horses.

"I don't know what the hell you're expecting me to do about it right now," Ben seethed. He furiously parked himself on the sofa across from the coffee table, supporting his laptop. He maneuvered the fingers of his free hand over the touchpad, awakening the device from rest mode, revealing the dozens of unread e-mails from the day. "If you guys can just get him reasonably hygienic, then I'll take care of the rest when I get there this weekend."

"Kylo isn't exactly one of our typical thoroughbreds, Ben."

"So he's an inconvenience is what you're trying to say."

"That's not what I'm saying and you know damn well that I care about that horse as much as you do."

"Didn't stop you from wanting to sell him before, did it," Ben sneered.

Leia sighed heavily, eliciting defeat through the phone. "Circumstances were a bit different then, Ben," she replied with a more composed tone. "We've all had to sacrifice in order to get him this far. You of all people should know that."

Ben stared blankly at the screen, swallowing down the lump in his throat. He knew Leia's words were true but, still, there was a bitterness inside him that liked to reveal its ugly face on occasion.

"Make sure he has a pail of grain and carrots in front of him," Ben uttered serenely, breaking the tension. "Carrots make him less edgy for some reason. It'll keep him somewhat entertained for you to get some of the shit off until I can."

"We'll try," Leia replied in a tone that wasn't as confident. "Just – come home as soon as you can. He misses you more than usual this week."

Ben nodded as if his mother were there to see his reaction, and Leia ended the call without adding another word. Grimacing at the guilt rising in his chest, he tossed the phone onto the table without so much as expressing a wince when it landed with a hard smack onto the hard surface.

His elbows dug into his thighs, massaging the strain from his eyes with his palms. He supposed that's what he deserved for blindly glaring at a screen for a lengthy period of time.

When he finally moved to place the glasses that'd been left on the laptop's keyboard earlier that evening on his nose, he realized that he'd been staring at an email notification from Facebook:

You have received (1) pending new friend request

Ben blinked once, then twice, his brows furrowed in confusion. Facebook. Did he even have a Facebook?

He remembered making the page once, back when he was still showed horses with his father. But he was more than certain that he had deleted the account, along with hundreds of photos and memories, shortly after Han's accident. It had to be a mistake or a glitch in the system.

Allowing curiosity to take over, he followed the embedded link to the website. His fingers danced over the keys, providing the assigned e-mail and password he'd given to the account. It was a miracle of its own that he remembered what they were; more so that he still existed on the accounts of long-forgotten friendships made during shows.

Moving the cursor to the bell-shaped icon at the bottom of the screen, his heart made a violent jolt against his chest when Rey Kanata's friend request appeared, accompanied by hundreds of missed notifications. Balling his hands into fists, Ben pressed the ridges of his knuckles from one hand over pursed lips, wondering if it were best that he simply ignore the request.

Taking an unsteady breath, Ben unclenched his hands to accept Rey's request. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets had it not been for the glasses when he clicked on Rey's profile, exposing the profile photo that was of her wearing a presumptuous bikini top with board shorts at the beach, the header of her profile being an acoustic guitar aesthetic.

Jesus, Solo, it's not like you've never seen a half naked woman before!

But this was Rey – his student. And he still didn't know how old she was precisely.

Feeling more like a creep after realizing that he was still half naked, Ben forced himself to look away. His eyes drifted to a safer section, fancying his attention on the 'About' tab of her profile. What he found only seceded to drive the dagger further into his chest after discovering the month, day and year that officially declared Rey as being 10 years younger than him.

He was 27. Rey was 17. At least, she would be until a few more weeks on the 21st of September.

"Goddamnit," Ben growled, raising a hand to massage the ache behind his forehead.

What the hell was he expecting? That if Rey were the legal age it would make it easier to accept his attraction toward her?

He considered deleting the account (again) and pretend that none of the events that evening ever happened, but then remembered that the sender was always notified whenever their request had been accepted by the receiver. And he certainly didn't want Rey to think of him in ways the other students perceived him as.

What if she was online? Should he message her? At least he could just say hello.

Ben opened the message tab to send one to Rey in private, pondering the variety of salutations. How could such a simple notion be a chore of its own? And why was he acting like he was back in fucking 6th grade again?

He meant to send Rey a simple hello, but nothing sounded right. The text was deleted the moment it was typed, claiming it either sounded 'too old' or 'too dignified' or just being 'not good enough'. But it wasn't until after Ben had accidentally sent the message, deemed to be the worst he had ever sent to anyone and realizing he'd finally sealed that last nail into his coffin.

– Ben Solo –
I barely recognized you, Miss Kanata.

"Oh my god, you're a dumbass, Solo." He chided, staring wide-eyed and helpless at the message in front him.

He nervously skimmed his fingers through his hair, unfathomed by the sting when his fingers tugged the knotted ends. He slammed the laptop shut, certain that Rey couldn't possibly want to talk to him after reading that poor excuse of a message. He began to prepare himself for when he would see that he was one student short in class. He scowled in disgust and ambled to his bedroom in shame, swapping the towel for a pair of knitted grey slacks and a white t-shirt.

**

Rey finished packing up her homework for the evening and rescued Bee-Bee after he'd gotten his ball stuck between two unpacked boxes to be put in his cage before she realized there was a message waiting for her on Facebook.

Eyes brightening from their earlier fatigue, a smile tugged at the corners of her lips when she saw the unexpected message from Ben. She held her breath in anticipation as she brought the message up on the screen.

– Ben Solo –
I barely recognized you, Miss Kanata.

The initial gleam of excitement in her eyes was immediately replaced with horror, realizing she forgot to change the profile photo.

Shit! Oh, shit! Fuck!

Embarrassment scourged her cheeks as her fingers frantically swept over the keyboard.

– Rey Kanata –
Oh. My. God.
I'm so sorry XD
I was going to change that before I got distracted!
I'll go do that now

Remaining true to her word Rey went to grab her phone, consumed by more panic when she realized it wasn't there after having been next to her on the coverlet. She found it moments later, seeing she had tossed it into her backpack along with textbooks and other supplies on accident.

Ignoring the fact that she was wearing no bronzer, her hair thrown into a messy bun and wearing pajamas, she gave the iPhone camera her best toothy smile. She cocked her head and tapped the screen to capture the photo. Satisfied with its results, she quickly uploaded the image to Facebook, replacing the former nightmare with the most recent.

– Rey Kanata –

There. Done.

Biting her bottom lip, Rey held her breath as she watched the minutes tick by at the bottom of her screen. 5 minutes later. 7 minutes later since his last message.

Was Ben ignoring her? Maybe he was offline? Or maybe the pic scared him off? Dread promptly swelled at the pit of her stomach, fretting over every possible reason for why he hadn't responded to her messages. And, oh god, what would he say to her tomorrow in class?

10 minutes bitterly passed by with no answer on his end. With a frown on her face, she was almost ready to give up and go to bed before finally – finally she saw the three little dots waver at the bottom of her screen, indicating that Ben was writing her back.

– Ben Solo –
You look lovely.

A smile broke across her tired features as Rey settled into her pillows, bringing her laptop upon her folded legs.

– Rey Kanata –
Thank you :)
I was hoping that I didn't scare you off
Haha!

– Ben Solo –
Not at all
I apologize for taking so long to reply
It's been...an eventful evening

It wasn't completely false if Ben was talking terms of being candid. But he wasn't about to tell Rey that he had spent the last 20 minutes chiding himself for looking at the original profile photo out of initial instinct; then, proceeding to send her a message that could've been taken in the worst of ways. Having to throw in the conversation with his mother moments prior to discovering Rey's friend request, saying that his nerves were a little on edge was an understatement.

If only the carrot trick worked on him as it did for his horse.

Seeing Rey's reply, and knowing she wasn't the least bit upset over his messy greeting, was enough for him to comfortably sink into the sofa's microsuede upholstery with the electronic notebook on his lap.

– Rey Kanata –
I'm sorry to hear that...

– Ben Solo –
It was nothing.
I got it worked it.

– Rey Kanata –
Good to hear! :)

– Ben Solo –
Yeah
How was your evening?

– Rey Kanata –
Homework wise?
It sucked :P

– Ben Solo –
So I guess this is a bad time to bring up the pop quiz for tomorrow?
I hope you studied

– Rey Kanata –
God you suck, too

Ben chuckled, realizing how easy and light it was to carry on a conversation with her beyond the walls of the classroom. For the time being it didn't feel like he was talking to one of his students. It was simply him and Rey, conversing like normal friends that weren't regarded as teacher and student.

– Ben Solo –
I'm kidding

– Rey Kanata –
I'll take my chances either way
Besides
Creeping your boring profile is a lot more interesting than studying at the moment

What surprised Rey most of all was her failure to find a single photo that had been relevant to Ben's life on his parents' ranch. The blank album that was titled Solo-Skywalker Morgan Horses was the only leading source of evidence that the photos must've existed online at some point and had been deleted, but why?

She did manage to find a few pictures of Ben during his college years. He was definitely lankier and less broad in the chest than he was now with shorter hair and ears that still succeeded in making her smile. She also discovered his birthday was in November, nearly ten years apart from hers.

"That's not so bad," Rey muttered, shrugging her shoulders with indifference to the fact.

She continued on her stroll to finding out what else was lying behind the 'About' tab on his profile. That was when she came across his favorite movies.

– Ben Solo –
I find that very hard to believe
Wait
You're creeping me?

Rey giggled at one of the titles listed under his favorite films, scrunching her nose in the process.

– Rey Kanata –
Okay. What is this madness, Ben?
Frozen is one of your favorite movies?
How can you watch that garbage?

– Ben Solo –
What???
I mean
That's fine, I'm more than happy to explain why Frozen is my favorite film.

– Rey Kanata –
Please do
But may I suggest Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin or The Lion King?

– Ben Solo –
I've seen them all. And they are great classics.
But what other movies have a talking snowman that prefers warm beaches over snow?
And hugs, come on, you've never lived until you've gotten to build and hug a snowman.

– Rey Kanata –
You do have some valid points there
I suppose the garbage will do
Do you think I'll get to build a snowman here this year?
I've never seen snow

– Ben Solo –
Never seen snow?
Hell, you have been sheltered.
If we get enough
The past few years have been pretty stingy with the snowfall

Rey smiled at a thought that suddenly struck her attention.

– Rey Kanata –
Since you seem to be an expert with snowmen
Would you want to build one with me if we do get enough snow this year?

Ben scoffed, considering a suitable response to her question. Building a snowman with Rey was harmless – right?

– Ben Solo –
I would love to, sure.
I think that could be arranged.

– Rey Kanata –
Good :)
Then I hope that we do get some snow.

Me too. It's what Ben wanted to say. Instead, he was cursing his decision to become a teacher. Why did life always appear to throw him the short end of the stick? It felt like he was born doomed to be forever stuck in a vicious cycle of rinse, lather, and repeat.

Ben's hesitated to respond. Was it so bad that he wanted to tell her that he hoped for the same snow as she? But the wavering dots proved that Rey had beat him to the notion.

– Rey Kanata –
I just realized something
We're definitely breaking our '2 question rule' right now

– Ben Solo –
Indeed
I think we can let it slide

Rey chewed her bottom lip, mulling over the question that she had asked him earlier that day. It was obvious now, more than ever, that Ben wanted to keep the topic of his horses and family ranch at an arm's length. Would she be overstepping if she did ask?

She took a breath to risk the chance of asking him, again. However, Ben must've had the same thoughts as she and saved her from being the first to broach the subject.

– Ben Solo –
I suppose since the topic has been brought up...
About the question that you asked me this morning

– Rey Kanata –
You don't have to tell me if you don't want to

But Ben did – truly. He wanted to tell Rey of whom possessed the large portion of his heart.

– Ben Solo –
Kylo.
That's my horse's name

"Kylo," Rey repeated the animal's name out loud, allowing the corners of her lips to curve upright into a smile. It was different. Unique. But she loved it.

– Rey Kanata –
It's a beautiful name.
I'm sure your horse is just as equally beautiful as well.

– Ben Solo –
He is.

– Rey Kanata –
I would love to see him sometime.

Ben took a breath, suppressing a yawn. Of course, Rey would ask to see Kylo. His mother even said just as much. But how would Kylo act with her? Was he willing to risk that chance?

– Ben Solo –
We'll see.

It was an answer that Rey allowed to suffice, considering this was the most that Ben ever allowed her to know about that hidden part of his life. Plus, her eyes were growing heavier by the minute as the evening was abruptly approaching midnight.

– Rey Kanata –
I'm glad that we got to talk
:)

– Ben Solo –
Me too, Rey
But I have to admit...
If it's not too bold for me to say
I much rather enjoy hearing you talk in person

Rey was glad that Ben couldn't see the redness taking over her cheeks. Smiling, briefly taking her bottom lip between her teeth, she proceeded to do what neither of them wanted to do at that moment.

– Rey Kanata –
Well, luckily 4th period isn't too far away
Good night, Ben

– Ben Solo –
Good night, Rey

She powered down the laptop and settled it on the nearby nightstand. She crawled under the warmth of her covers, imagining the sound of Ben's voice in her head.

Notes:

Thoughts on Ben and Leia's conversation? And, Ben officially knows how old Rey is, though Rey didn't seem to care about their difference in age. No surprise though, right?

I love hearing from my readers! Your comments and kudos mean everything to me.
If you love "Parallel Lines" please do share with your friends! <3

Prompts used:
"How can you watch that garbage?"
"That's fine. I am more than happy to explain why Frozen is my favorite film," Ben said.