Dramatis personæ: Latin, "persons of the drama", i.e. (id est, or "in other words") the main characters of the dramatic work. (Or overdramatic people. Whichever suits your fancy.)
Rey reorganized her notepad and pens on her small desk for the third time, filled with a nervous excitement. Finn gave her hand a quick squeeze and a reassuring smile.
"We'll be okay, Rey."
She gave him a nod and tried to look more confident than she felt, spinning the small, cheap ring Finn had gotten her last Christmas back and forth on her middle finger.
"Would you two relax?" Poe shook his head. "It's the first day of law school, not an interrogation. There's nothing to be…"
Rey turned to see why her talkative friend had suddenly trailed off. He, along with most of the class, was staring at a young man dressed in black who had just walked in.
The whispers started the second he sat down.
"Is that Ben Solo?"
"Who?"
"His mom's the majority leader of the Senate!"
"His dad is a famous pilot!"
"Word is, his dad's got like, shady business connections."
"Like mob connections?"
"I heard he got disowned or something."
"One of the TAs saw him slam a door so hard it smashed into splinters!"
"His uncle's the Dean over at the Skywalker School of Law." Poe told them in a low tone.
Rey blinked. "Why didn't he go there?"
"He did! He got kicked out!"
Finn's jaw dropped. "What?! How?"
"No one knows, but he was almost done with his first year, then boom! They had a giant argument or something, and he's out! Now he has to start all over!"
Rey looked over at the dark-haired young man, noting how his jaw tensed every time someone mentioned 'Solo' or 'Skywalker'.
"If I could have everyone's attention please." Professor Holdo announced, more of a command than a question.
"Welcome to Legal Research and Writing. This course is designed to help you acquire fundamental skills in legal research, analysis, and writing. I will also be assigning mock trial cases, where you will examine the interplay of law, fact, goals, and the context of the case."
Rey scribbled furiously as everyone around her typed away on their laptops.
"Working in pairs, you will identify fundamental questions, develop a plan, execute that plan, and participate in critique. Are there any questions before we go over the syllabus?"
As the professor answered inquiries, Poe leaned over to whisper to Finn, "That's Professor Holdo? The terror of first years everywhere?"
"I guess so." Finn shrugged as Rey shushed them both.
Poe regarded the woman with the purple curls with growing interest. "Not what I expected."
Rey rolled her eyes and tried to follow along in the syllabus. She had only met Poe a month ago, after he advertised for one roommate online, and had agreed to both Finn and Rey sharing the tiny apartment with him and his exuberant corgi BB-8 after some copious begging and seeing how much his dog loved Rey. She was quickly starting to understand why her new roommate elicited exasperated fondness in almost everyone he knew.
"Alright, if no one has any more questions, I will let you go early. I do need to speak to the following students: Finn, Rey, and… Kylo. The rest of you are free to go."
Exchanging looks, Finn grabbed Rey's hand as they made their way up front.
"Alright... Finn?" Holdo asked as she pulled out a folder.
"Yes?"
"Please tell me if this is a mistake, but my roster lists your last name as twenty-one?"
Laughing in relief until Rey elbowed him, Finn snapped back to attention. "Sorry, ma'am, they must have heard me wrong at the registrar's office. It's Tuwon, pronounced like 'two, one'. That would be weird, just going through life as a number. Like, 'that'll be all, 2187'. Like we're robots."
Holdo smiled indulgently as she corrected the paper. "Indeed. That'll be all."
Unsure whether or not that was a joke (and too afraid to ask), Rey stepped up. "I'm Rey, ma'am."
"Ah, yes. The roster has you down as Rey Rey. Do you have identical first and last names, or is that an error?"
Blushing, she hastened to explain, "Oh, I… don't actually have a last name."
Holdo raised a curious eyebrow.
"It's a long story. I usually use Smith, but the online form wasn't clear, and I couldn't figure out how to go back, so-"
The professor held up her hand. "Nevermind. I'll simply call you Rey, if that's alright."
Nodding rapidly, relieved there wasn't an issue with her scholarship or GPA or any of the other things that she imagined, she spun around without looking and smacked face-first into the chest of the boy behind her.
Looking up, (and up. And up. Damn he was tall.) Rey started to apologize. "Oh my God, I am so sorr-"
The boy spared her a glance, then waved two fingers at her to signal silence.
Rey's jaw dropped at his blatant rudeness. "Well excuse me." she muttered, rejoining Finn slowly so she could hear what Holdo had to say to him.
"Now, Ben. It says here your name is Kylo Ren?" Holdo gave him an incredulous look. "... Really?"
"That is my name." He told her in a low tone.
"Ben…" Rey watched curiously as the professor rubbed her forehead, then sighed as Kylo set his jaw stubbornly. "I know it's not my place, but your mother is-"
"I don't have a mother." He interrupted with a scowl. "And it's not your place."
Holdo shook her head after a few moments. "Fine. Kylo Ren it is."
Giving her a curt nod, he turned on his heel and stalked out.
"Well he's weird." Finn announced definitively as Rey nodded in agreement.
Rude, weird, whatever. One random guy was not going to ruin the first step towards achieving her dream.
…
"Pay attention, boys and girls. Today is the day you've all been waiting for: partner assignments. You will work with your partner for the entire course on a variety of mock trial cases. To be fair, you will be paired up alphabetically."
The class murmured as everyone looked around, Finn wishing out loud he had learned more people's names, and Poe hoping there was an odd number and he'd have to work with Holdo for assignments.
"Kaydel Connix and Poe Dameron."
All three turned in their seats to see a brunette with her hair done in petite side buns waving at Poe, who immediately flashed her a charming grin.
"Even numbers are good too." He commented as Rey and Finn rolled their eyes.
"Kylo Ren and Rey."
Rey suddenly dropped her book, causing everyone except Kylo to stare at her. He completely ignored her, which felt worse, somehow.
A few more names passed, then Finn gripped her hand as Holdo called out, "Rose Tico and Finn Tuwon."
After realizing his partner was in the front row, Finn gave a weak smile and wave at the blushing Asian girl.
Poe elbowed him with a smirk, "Dude, she's cute! Good for you!"
Finn shoved his elbow away with a blush of his own.
Once she finished reading names, Holdo continued, "Now that everyone is paired up, please go meet your partner. Be sure to exchange contact information, as this will be a class with copious extracurricular demands."
She fixed the class with an imposing glare. "I wish I didn't have to say this, but any abuse of a person's contact information, such as stalking or harassment, will earn you a one-way ticket to the dean's office. Am I clear?"
There was a chorus of murmured assent.
"Good. You may begin."
Poe eyed Rey's partner. "Well, good luck with Count Dorkula."
That made Rey smile, at least. "Thanks," she told him as he slid across the last desk to greet the attractive brunette.
Taking a moment to close her eyes and center herself, Rey tried to be positive as she made her way to Kylo Ren's desk.
"Hi! I'm Rey." She offered her hand brightly.
"Obviously." He muttered, barely deigning to give her a glance.
Biting back a sigh, she sat down in the seat next to him, twisting her ring in an attempt to calm her anxiety.
"I heard your dad's a pilot. What does he fly?"
"Nothing. I don't have a father."
Rey frowned. "Oh. I guess I heard wrong." Glancing around enviously at the other pairs chatting away, (Poe was doing his best roguish smirk and Finn and Rose were both nodding so hard she was afraid their heads might roll off), she cast around for a new topic. "So, what practice are you thinking of going into?"
Kylo stared sullenly at his desk instead of giving a response.
After several moments of silence, Rey tried, "I'm going into family law. It's more than just catty divorces, there are a lot of complex issues and actual court dates, rather than just paperwork. And I think that's where I can really make a difference. What about you?"
"Corporate law." He muttered shortly.
Rey wrinkled her nose in distaste. "What? Why?"
He apparently didn't feel like answering, so eventually Rey rolled her eyes and dug around her bag for her phone.
"Well, I guess we should exchange numbers?"
"Look, I don't need-" He stopped his rant suddenly.
"What." He pointed at the thick rectangle gingerly, as to avoid contamination. "Is that."
Rey glanced down. "It's my phone."
"It's a relic."
"It's reliable!"
Half her screen froze as she tried to open her contacts, derailing her argument somewhat.
Kylo raised a judgemental eyebrow. "It belongs in a museum."
"I repaired this thing myself, so trust me, it works." Crowing in triumph as the address book finally opened, she opened a new screen quickly.
"Just type your number in and-."
"I know how to do it," he snapped, grabbing her phone and reluctantly handing over the newest model in exchange. Rey wondered if this version was even out yet as he flicked up the lock screen, but not before she saw the notifications.
1 missed call Mom Office
1 missed call Mom Cell
1 new voicemail from Mom Cell
Text from Mom Cell: Hello sweetheart, it's your Dad's birthday tomorr...
"Fine, Oscar." She muttered, squashing that twinge of jealousy that always reared up when watching people with their families. Especially people who pretended they didn't have families.
He actually met her gaze for the first time, brow furrowed in confusion. "Oscar?"
"The Grouch." She elaborated, wondering what kid didn't watch Sesame Street. Even most of her foster homes had the show on, so he had no excuse. "Green? Lives in a trash can?"
He frowned. "Of all the people here, I'm not the one who looks like they live in garbage."
A furious blush crawled up her neck as she fought the urge to check if there was dirt on her face. Childish voices at school shouting variations of the same insult echoed in her mind until she shouted, "At least I'm not a pretentious ass!"
He slid the phone over with a single gloved finger. "Look, I've taken this course before, and the last thing I need is some bleeding-heart girl on a naive crusade to save the world."
With that parting insult, the bell rang, and he swirled away in his wool coat in a fashion Rey thought was unnecessarily dramatic.
She scrambled to her feet and followed his tall silhouette into the hallway, ignoring Poe's shouts of her name and shoving the other students until she reached him.
"Hey!"
He turned and looked genuinely surprised to see her, as if she shouldn't exist outside of class.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" She demanded a little breathlessly. (Damn him and his ridiculously long legs.)
"What gives you the right to call me naive? You don't even know me!"
"I know your type."
"My type?!"
"Sure. You're here because you think you can fix the world." Mockery underlined his every word. "You think the system is broken and it's hurting people."
"The system is broken and it is hurting people!" Rey shouted, furious that this stranger was so cavalier about the dream that had given her hope for so long. Maybe no one had helped her, but she could do something, save someone.
And this… this… jackass was laughing at her!
He snorted derisively. "Right. And you know because you were one of them?" Taking in her second hand clothes, her worn out shoes, how angry she was, he shook his head. "Let me guess. You're a former foster kid with a sad sob story, going to law school so you can help all the good little boys and girls in the system." His lip curled into a sneer. "How predictable."
He started to walk away again, but Rey darted in front of him, shaking in anger.
"How dare you. What the hell happened to you to make you such a bastard? At least you have a family!"
"Like you'd know anything about families."
Her anger turned to cold fury. "I know enough about yours, Ben Solo."
She felt a blaze of gratification as he flinched at the name.
"I know that you couldn't hack it at a school run by your own uncle. I know that your mom's a senator and your dad is famous and you don't want anything to do with them, so you changed your name to something stupid so that people wouldn't know. Well guess what, Ben,"
His hands curled into fists at his side, but Rey was too furious to care.
"Your family is part of who you are, and you'll never escape that. And you think you have it so hard," she tried to mimic his mocking drawl on the last two words, "but let me tell you that some people dream of having a family that gives a damn."
She drew herself up to her full height (which was still half a foot shorter than him), and spat out, "I may be predictable, but you're pathetic."
Silence fell between them, tension mounting until he finally spoke in a low, cutting tone.
"At least I'm not a nothing from nowhere. With no one."
Her ears rang, and without thinking, she flung her arm out and slapped him.
It wasn't until she saw blood trickling down his cheek that she realized she had turned her ring around so the small fake gems were facing her palm, and had left a long, thin cut along the right side of his face.
Kylo reached up to touch the cut with a single finger, turning it to examine the blood, then met her eyes with frightening intensity.
"I could have you charged with assault." He threatened, taking a sizeable step towards her.
Before she could decide to stand her ground or flee, Finn and Poe swung in front of her.
"You'd have to go through me first, Hot Topic." Poe growled while Finn checked her over for injuries.
"C'mon Rey, let's go." Finn said, drawing her away gently, trying to calm her ragged breaths.
Poe brought up the rear, glaring at Kylo as if daring him to try something.
Rey looked back once, saw him still towering over everyone, watching her with an unreadable expression as the line of dark red marked his face.
Turning away, she hissed spitefully, "He's a monster and I hate him."
Poe patted her back. "If it's any comfort, sunshine, I think the feeling's mutual. What?" He asked as Finn elbowed him sharply.
As they walked back to the small apartment, there was one thought clear in Rey's mind.
Kylo Ren was the absolute worst.
And tomorrow she was going to convince Holdo to let her partner with somebody - anybody - else.