Scribble, scribble.



Dorssk Eteto pressed his tattered piece of notebook paper hard against the concrete wall he was sitting on. His shaky handwriting was made even worse by the incessant jumping of his pencil upon course bumps and cracks. Dorssk was writing especially hard, to emphasize the next word. He wanted to make sure his point was nice and clear.

Scribble.



Quickly, he wrote his parent’s address on a small envelope.



And made to stuff his plea for help into the nearest over-night post office box when a dark haired, older girl, named Kirana snatched up his salvation in one deft move of her hand.

Kirana tightened her lips around a Lady Slim cigarette. Her sharp eyes breezed back and forth across Dorrsk’s personal correspondence, gradually narrowing with growing disgust. “What is this-? LOSER!” She slapped the letter, ceremoniously upon the ground. “You were gonna bail out on us!?” Dorrsk flinched noticeably as if this display of fear would prevent the older girl from inflicting physical pain upon his small, delicate body. Further behind Kirana, sweet Tionne piped up, setting her acoustic guitar aside for the moment. Tionne, “Dorrsk! But we need you.” He flattened his brow, “What for??” Suddenly, Kirana leapt upon Dorssk, taking the male roughly by the neck, “For noogies!”

Tionne chose to continue a speech, despite the two squirming figures beside her. Gingerly, she lifted up her guitar, staring at the strings in concentration, though plucking them quite absently. “Something strange is going on at the Academy. I just can’t shake the feeling. Maybe I’m crazy and it all is triggered by Gant’s mysterious death, but… I mean, I felt it when I first got here, too. I can even smell it…” Dorssk squeaked up from his place on the ground where he was lying flat on his stomach, “Yeah, it’s the smell of singed FLESH!!!” Kirana had her booted heel ground deep into Dorrsk’s spinal cord as she inflicted a doubly painful looking ‘Indian rug burn’. Kirana wrinkled up her nose in sudden distaste, “Which reminds me, I wonder if Dormatory B still smells like a giant luau...” Tionne made a face marked with disgust, “Oh, Kirana! How can you say that?” She then paused, “Mr. Skywalker said it smelt like chicken.” Kirana arched an eye, suspiciously. Tionne stared distantly up at the friendly blue sky, while wrapping strands of golden hair around her finger, “At least that’s what Mr. Skywalker said the hall smelt like when he found Gantoris, a week ago. I don’t think who’s been back there, since then. Just Keiran, looking for evidence…” Kirana snorted and kicked Dorssk, once more, in the back of the head, before releasing him to the dusty ground, “You mean snooping. Like he has any business being back there.” Tionne made a piteous face, “Oh, don’t be like that, Kirana.” Kirana stepped over the wounded Dorrsk in a saunter towards Tionne, “Sooo..” She sat herself next to Tionne, along the concrete wall bearing the school name, “JEDI Academy”. The acronym, “JEDI” stood for “Just Extraordinarily Different Individuals Academy” and was graciously flanked by petunias and daisies, ill planted by the advanced herbology class and just recently trampled by one, Kirana Ti. Despite the groundskeepers heavy-duty pruning.

Kirana leaned in with her chin on her hand, innocently, “So, did Mr. Skywalker share any other information with you?” Tionne pouted, looking offended, “Kirana, you know that I cannot release that data to you, as I am an official intern for teacher’s assistant-“ Kirana interrupted with an annoyed grunt before Tionne could finish her sentence. She turned away, just as Tionne crossed her arms along her guitar and stuck her prim nose straight into the air.

Tionne, “I swear, Kirana, you have no sense of morality- picking apart Gantoris’s death as if it were an article for the National Enquirer.“

Kirana flipped through her pocket for another cigarette, and successful, lit up, taking the first long drag. After a moment, she took the time to speak coolly to Tionne. “Well, at least I have a sense of common sense. I swear, you and Mr. Skywalker, like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. You’re so naive, you wouldn’t know reality if it started doing the Full Monty right in front of you to the tune of Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’. Wake up and smell the bloodlust, Tionne. Gantoris was murdered.” At this moment, Dorssk (still on the floor) covered his ears in abject terror, “That’s enough, Kirana! No more talking! No more talking about death- la, la, la, la! I’m not listening! Gantoris isn’t dead and stuff! La, la!” Despite the tumultuous rantings surrounding her, Tionne pretended to look thoroughly confused. Twasn’t much of a stretch. Kirana stared at her viciously, “Murdered. Axed. Bumped off… homicid-ed! Our darling (grim) schoolmate, Gantoris, did not DIE by accident!” Dorrsk (despite humming ‘London Bridge Is Falling Down’ at full vocal volume) let out a high pitched squeal of fear. Grinning, maliciously, Kirana flicked ashes off the end of her cigarette, looking quite pleased with her achievement. Until.

“KIRANA TI!” An authoritative voice called out from behind. Kirana, instinctively dropped her cigarette with a look of distorted innocence. “Wha- what?! I was holding it for someone!“ JEDI professor, Mister Luke Skywalker marched up with the best authoritative air one can manage while sporting a patterned sweater with matching pastel trousers. Tionne piped up waving an arm desperately, “Hi, Mr. Skywalker!” Luke, “KT, you mustn’t smoke on the academy grounds! Don’t you remember what smoking did to Gantoris?!” Kirana narrowed her eyes and called upon her most patronizing nod of affirmation. Disciplining his beloved students seemed to pain Luke, “Honestly! Who do you expect is going to pick up your litter?” Kirana darted her eyes back and forth for a figure raking near by, “Isn’t that what we have Streen for?”

Skywalker picked lint balls of various sizes and colors from his sweater-- Kirana, “Litter!” And smoothed down his collar. Luke, “Convenient that I might find you here at the gate so youthfully…” He eyed the cigarette crushed beneath Kirana’s leather patent boot as Dorrsk trembled silently by her side, “Frolicking.” He smiled warmly, “If there’s time enough, we can get together and make a big banner with which to greet the new student!”

Kirana, “Oh boy, got my shrunken heads collection to polish, though…” Dorrsk, “And I think it’s time for me to run home now!” Kirana glared at him. Dorrsk fell silent, then murmured between chewing his fingers, “It’s a long run…”

Luke Skywalker shook his head with a sad sigh and disappeared to the edge of the campus, where crabgrass met the newly paved road, tucked away in JEDI Academy’s modest enclave within the dense Carolinian forest.

Kirana’s lip curled with disgust as she watched him trot off, “How very Skywalker. A student is found charred to death on the floor of the male dormitory and he reckons it was something a nicotine patch could have prevented…” Kirana Ti felt a rustling about her feet, and jumped in alarm. “It was no mortal hand that killed young Gantoris,” said Streen as he pinched Kirana’s expended cigarette firmly between his aged fingers. Dorrsk wrung his hands, “Of course not, because Gantoris isn’t dead!” Kirana slapped Dorrsk. Tionne exclaimed quite suddenly for a female of her nature, “It was he! The Phantom of The Schoolyard!” For a moment, the sun seemed to flicker. Tionne quickly plucked her guitar in tune to a acoustic rendition of “Music of The Night”. Streen began to shake violently, “I see dead people. All the time.” A tangible silence followed. Kirana narrowed her eyes at the consistently trampled theatrical reference, “Don’t you have family members who can put you in a home?”

Just then, a loud noise like the howl of a wounded rancor (or so they’d seen on Star Wars) approached from behind them. Collectively, they turned to investigate. Dorrsk, “But I mean… about this Gantoris guy. Was he often in a lot of trouble? Did he hang out with bad people? Someone answer me, I’ve only been here since yesterday!” Kirana murmured, “And we’re loving you already.” Everyone’s attention was already fixated on the large chunk of debris that had just deposited itself in their school’s coul de sac: this car that just vaguely resembled some creul mechanic’s hybrid between a Chevy Nova and a Pontiac Firebird. Sporting racing stripes in the shape of flames and pink fuzzy dice t’boot. Just as it was making the final round into the parking lot, the muffler fell off. The finale to the performance came as a hub cap managed to roll off and bounce helter skelter in the direction of Dorrsk Eteto who leapt off for refuge behind the school’s “Violence Free Campus” sign. The smoking vehicle let its engines roar. Painted on its side in electric-blue disco-era-font was the name: “Millennium Falcon”.

Which would have been slightly charming if the car weren’t already wearing three different shades of primer.

Kirana snorted, “Alright, looks like I won’t be bummin’ rides off the new kid. What shall we do with the rest of the afternoon, then--?”

Inside the car deemed a menace to society, young Kyp Durron was fidgeting with the buttons of his brown school jacket. He was feeling distinctly uncomfortable for numerous good reasons. After a few moments spent scaring the locals, Han Solo finally turned the keys that switched off the car’s ignition. Following a brief silence, Han interrupted Kyp’s reverie, “Are you sure you’re ready for this, kid?” Kyp didn’t delay in an answer, “Who, me?” He frowned and looked at the floor. Quietly, he reached down and picked up his empty backpack, “Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.” Han forced a grin and reached over to rough up the youth’s hair, “That’s what I wanted to hear!” Kyp’s hand reached for the rusty door latch. Han’s face suddenly adopted an expression of supreme maturity, “Just remember what Dr. Xux said. Breathe in, Breathe out. Baby steps.” Han tried so hard to hide his sour expression at the utterance of such a ‘hokey’ phrase. He couldn’t, however, mask his pained face as he watched Kyp leave him behind. Han blurted out as Kyp emerged from the car, “You know, Kyp! Leia and I always have an extra room lyin’ around somewhere if you need to stop over, sometime.” Kyp poked his head back in, Han looked suspicious and lowered his voice, “I know this Skywalker kid, and he can get irritating sometimes.” Kyp grinned widely, “Tell Leia and the kids n’ all, I said goodbye.”

Further down the campus where the gang of Just Extraordinarily Different Individuals were lounging, Streen suddenly dropped his rake and started looking around, “I- I sense.. a disturbance in the force!” Kirana, now laying on the low concrete wall while Dorrsk fanned her, covered her face and groaned, “Please Streen, enough dribble from you. Things couldn’t POSSIBLY get worse in this pit.” Then there was the loud slam of a car door. Dorrsk dropped the fan, Kirana fell of the wall, Tionne missed a note and Streen, leaving his rake, ran screaming for the cafeteria. Instantly the sky filled with clouds and thunderclaps.

They all kind of hobbled from around the wall. Having spotting a small hunched figure gathered in the ghastly brown of the school uniform, the three students scraped forward at a sluggish rate.

By the time they reached Mr. Skywalker, the mechanical miracle had disappeared from sight, and this new boy was almost across the parking lot. Skywalker beamed at his pupils, “I value your support!” Kirana crossed her arms, while visually dissected the oncoming specimen as he slowly materialized into view. Kirana, “We’re here to observe our most recent candidate for lunacy.” Just then, Kyp Durron stepped foot on the crabgrass. He was short, wiry, and extraordinarely pale, though with his ragged dark hair he seemed very much like Tom Sawyer fighting an identity war with some juvenile Nickki Sixx. Anxiously, he pulled at the ill-worn jacket that clashed madly with baggy jeans. Yet, all the same- he wore a mixed expression of both innocence and completely jubilant anticipation, “Teach me, Mister Skywalker. I’m ready to learn!”

Kirana immediately buckled into a mad cackle as the rest of her body collapsed to the ground in a ball. She rolled around for a while, slapping her knees. Luke rubbed his chin while he surveyed his newest student. Soon enough, a small dot on the piney horizon came into view, and seconds later it was jogging towards Mr. Skywalker. Luke waved towards Kyp, “Keiran, meet Kyp Durron!” Keiran jogged in place for a moment, eyed Kyp with heavy suspicions and jogged on. Luke, “Wait, come back!” Keiran reluctantly jogged back to his professor’s side. Luke passed one more consumptive glance over the frail Kyp.

Luke, “Uhm… Keiran?”
Keiran, “Yes, Mr. Skywalker?”
Luke, “Get… Kyp enrolled in some extra-curricular activities.”

Keiran eyed Kyp contemptuously, “Luke- There is nothing I can do for this kid- and blood drives are not an extra-curricular activity.” Luke sighed heavily. Despite two hours of running, Keiran had yet to break a sweat. Keiran, “HUT-HUT!” Dorrsk Eteto gasped and darted his eyes back and forth, “WHERE?!?” Keiran bounced back and forth on his toes, doing reflex exercises, before bolting off towards the gymnasium. Luke tapped his index finger against his top lip, contemplative, “Well, his heart’s in the right place.” Already off, Keiran ran backwards for a moment, glaring at Kyp, before righting himself and continuing his sprint. Kyp shot him a scowl, before reverting to a smile.

Luke, “Someone should show Kyp to his room.” The rest of the congregated mass slumped off while Kirana continued to laugh away, on the ground. Fifteen minutes later, she came to her senses. Kirana, “Oh, $#@!”

Soon later, the dilapidated silence of a dusty room was interrupted by the loud slamming sound that often followed one of Kirana’s well-aimed kicks. A few chunks of plaster falling from the ceiling added tone to the dusty décor. Kyp yawned and stretched, “Home!” Kirana used an underhand toss to deposit the new student’s bag across the room. Lazily, she leaned on the door frame, “Your quarters, Mon-Sewer. I apologize if that wasn’t a very ladylike entrance, but, truthfully…” She fell into a husky whisper, “I’m no lady.” Kyp leaned the front half of his body into the room, daringly, and flicked on the light switch. He flicked it up, and down. Then, up and down. And a few times more, before giving up. He turned around to thank his new comrade, but she had already spun about on her heel and stalked out of sight.

So, Kyp was finally alone... well, again. He was very excited about his new found fortune, but also very weary from it- not that he’d EVER let anyone know that ‘weakness’ was a word he could identify, even in dictionary. The state of his quarters were too depressing to be investigated at length, and given the dusty film clinging to the soles of his Van’s, he figured he was probably better off with the light not working, anyway. Whatever the complaint, Kyp figured this was better than he’d known in, well… as long as he could remember. He picked up his bag from the corner and tossed it towards his bed, just as easily as Kirana had. This didn’t bother him, the bag was new, of no sentimental value and held none of his possessions- since he didn’t own any. Except one…

He thumped down on his new bed, kicked off his airwalks and pulled forward his bag. After a few minutes rummage, he had recovered an already tattered photograph of a scene not even a month old. It was a picture of him and Han Solo skiing in Aspen. Han’s hand was firmly upon his shoulder in that photo, and given the askew hairstyles of both men, one might easily mistake the duo for father and son. Kyp smiled, and felt an odd sort of pain that felt good- but since that didn’t really make sense to him, he resolved to forget about it. Tacking the picture under a crack in the wall, Kyp lay down on his back and thought for a while about how the Millennium Falcon’s hubcap had gone after that one kid. He grinned at the idea of this newfound place and quickly fell into a calm sleep.