After school on the second day, Ronald reached into his locker. Eegan was there too, and Ammon joined them soon. Bill joined them as well.

"Did you get this semester's textbooks yet?" he asked. "They weigh a ton!"

"Yes," said Eegan, "but I got the softcover versions. They're easier to carry."

"I got these digest copies," said Ronald. "They fit in your pocket! They're hard to read, though."

"What about you, Ammon?" Bill asked.

"I got this holocron that has all of our textbooks," Ammon replied, "plus it tells time, plays music, and gives advice."

"Ooh!" Eegan commented.

***

It felt nice to finally catch up to Annabeth and Ammon throughout the first two weeks. He felt it was not seeing them for so long is what truly made the summer seem so long. He'd been looking forward to pilot training his entire life, only to realize he still had to wait to do any flying! The only thing they would be doing for the first month was reading through the Galactic Pilot General Instruction Flight Training Manual And Workbook (or G.P.G.I.F.T.M.A.W. for short), a textbook that had 4,596 pages in total and weighed more than their class pet, Squeaker.

Mr. Maulpres said they had to learn everything backward and forward before they could step into a flight simulator. Ronald thought that was ridiculous that they couldn't fly an actual ship, but was glad the class wasn't especially boring or difficult. He had to spend so much time reading it that he hadn't come up with any new ideas for the school paper yet. A couple of people had already asked if he'd made any new ones, so he finally got to work.

***

Later, Ronald decided he wanted to spend some more time with Annabeth. So he hid behind a corner and, when Annabeth came around, pretended he was just barely headed around the bend. She said she was going to the biology lab to feed Squeaker, and Ronald offered to come.

When they arrived, Annabeth opened the top of the cage and greeted Squeaker. Then she turned to Ronald and said, "When we went to Naboo, we saw a lot of Voorpaks...can you get the food container?"

"Sure!" said Ronald. He reached into the box. "So what do they eat? Veggies? Fruit?" He peered inside to take a closer look, and saw a bug so close in view that its eyes and skin texture were visible. "Eek!" said Ronald.

"Bugs," Annabeth said.

The grasshopper leaped onto Ronald, who began running about like a madman being hunted down. "AHHG! Get it off! Get it off!"

"Oh, Ron," said Annabeth. She reached over and plucked the insect of Ronald. Then she fed it to Squeaker, who munched happily.

***

Later, during a Force class with Yoda, the students were taking turns meditating and showing that they knew how. Ronald was up first.

"Through his dreams, the future, a Jedi may see!" said Yoda as Ronald meditated. "Focus on the Force...see the paths of the future, you can!"

Yoda was right. In his head, Ronald saw himself in a cockpit. Annabeth's desperate voice was calling to him: "Don't try that maneuver! Ron, you're going to crash!"

And then his subconscious form replied, "It's worth the risk!"

"I...I think I see it!" Ronald mumbled, and raised his hands slightly. "Stay on target...stay on target..."

And in verbatim, the book lifted and drifted into the air, headed for the Padawans. The book plowed into Vernon's face.

"Hey!" said Vernon.

"Hmm, more practice, Vernon needs," said Yoda. "See that coming, he did not! Heh heh!"

Vernon sulked.