I have committed a sin by posting another story while working on others. I tried to resist but the lack of inspiration for them and the plot bunnies for this one were too strong.
Enjoy this new fic!
The first years are hard years. Much more than you know.
"No! No! No! No! No!"
Of all the days to sleep in, it had to be on the first day of Zootopia Law University. The night before, Judy Hopps had prepared accordingly, so she could arrive early for class. Packing her bag, laying out her clothes, and even setting an alarm clock, despite her normally waking up early daily back at home.
Judy had gone to bed excited for the first day. The only thing she didn't count on, was that for some unknown reason, her alarm failed to go off.
As the rabbit opened her eyes and they fell on her clock, she squeaked and jumped out of bed in a panic.
Twenty minutes before class! That can't be!
Thankful for last night's preparation, she had enough time to brush her teeth, wash her head, and eat a carrot for breakfast. Throwing on her clothes and backpack, she ran out of her room to her bicycle outside, only to hear that blasted alarm ringing while leaving.
Oh now you decide to go off!
The doe furiously pedaled from her dorm, avoiding other students, until the destination was in sight. She rode up to the building, secured the bike to the rack, and ran for her life. At this point, she refused to check the time, not wanting to waste precious seconds.
Inside, she ran through the halls and down the stairs to the floor where the classroom was. One thing she learned about this particular professor from former students was to always be on time, something she knew would not be an issue...until today.
Judy finally arrived at the door to the classroom, halting in front of it. She opened the knob for small mammals such as herself and peeked inside. Larger mammals blocked her view, so she was forced to go inside. Judging by the ongoing conversations, it appeared that the professor has yet to arrive. To confirm her hopes, Judy moved to the aisle where, she saw, past the various students engaged in conversations, the front of the room and then felt overwhelming relief. No one was there.
Judy made her way down the aisle to her designated seat. She spotted the empty high chair down in the front row for small mammals that gave her a clear view of the teaching post. Her ears picked up the sound of a door opening from the front of the room. The doe looked to see a Cape Buffalo, dressed in a black suit, pants, bowtie, and a white shirt while carrying books in his hooves, enter the room. Recognizing him as the professor, she rushed to her seat and to struggled to sit down. It continued as she hastily unpacked her belongings.
Her actions did not go unnoticed by the professor, but he chose to ignore it. The professor walked behind the wooden wall that spanned the distance of the chalkboard behind it. The wall separated him, the podium, desk, and drawer from the rest of the class. The buffalo placed his books on the podium and removed a folded sheet from between them. He moved to the drawer to his right, placing the sheet down on top. He unfolded it to reveal the seating chart for the class, listing the students' names and their pictures. The professor glanced at Judy who was organizing her desk, before putting on his reading glasses on. He looked down at the seating chart and placed his hoof on the picture of a smiling, gray bunny.
"Miss Hopps," A deep booming voice sounded.
Judy snapped her head to the front of the classroom from hearing her name just as she finished organizing. The Cape Buffalo was staring right at her, and it made her feel uneasy. "Yes, Professor Bogo?"
Why did he have to call on me first?
He removed his glasses and leaned forward with his hooves on the wooden wall. "Will you please recite the facts of the case Hogkins v. McGrizzly?"
Judy froze at the question. She had reviewed the material, but she didn't expect to go into the specifics on the first day. All that confidence the doe came in with this morning had vanished. She wanted to answer, but she risked embarrassing herself in front of the entire class.
"You are Miss Hopps. Am I correct?" Bogo asked again after getting no reply from her.
"Yes, my name is Hopps." Judy quickly replied, not noticing the other students in the room raising the arms to answer the question.
"Miss Hopps, I cannot hear you properly from where you are sitting. Please speak up."
"Yes, my name is Hopps." She answered louder.
"Good. Will you stand so that the class will be able to understand you more clearly?"
Judy quietly and slowly rose up until standing on the chair. The display of the small rabbit among the larger mammals appeared comical, but the professor's presence kept the students silent.
"Now," Bogo continued "Please give us the facts of the case. Fill the classroom with your intelligence."
There was nothing she could do. Judy was simply unprepared for class. "I haven't read the case."
"You must have known that the class assignments for the first day were posted online."
It would be posted.
It hadn't crossed her mind to check for assignments when preparing for the first day. She vowed to do so for the other classes later on to avoid the same mistake. "No, sir."
"So you assume that the first class would be an introduction to the course."
The bunny reluctantly nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Then I will make this point clear not just to you, but to everyone else here also." Bogo looked around the room to make sure he had their attention. "You never assume anything in my classroom. That goes for assignments, discussions, and exams."
Defeated, Judy went to sit back down when Bogo called her name again.
"Now Miss Hopps, I will myself give you the facts of the case," Bogo said as he walked to the podium. "Hogkins v. McGrizzly is a case in Contract Law, the subject of this course. A bear cub burned his paw from touching an electric wire. The pig doctor, involved in the case, offered to perform a skin graft while also guaranteeing that he would fully restore it."
Judy listened intently to Bogo as the rest of the students began writing down the facts.
"He removed a piece of skin from the cub's chest and grafted it onto his paw. Instead of producing a healthy paw, the operation failed to restore the paw properly and worsened it. Now Miss Hopps, what damages should the doctor pay the boy?"
Judy opened her mouth to speak, but in the short amount she was given, no words came out. Other students around her raised their paws once again to answer the question.
Bogo sighed deeply. "Alright, let's try again. What did the doctor promise?"
Judy cleared her throat, ready to answer this time. "The doctor promised to restore the cub's paw to before it was burned."
"And what was the result?"
"The paw was much worse than before the operation."
"So, the doctor failed to fulfill the promise, and the boy suffered as a result. How should the court measure the damages?"
Judy nervously gulped as she quickly formed an answer in her head. "The doctor should pay the difference between the promise and the result." She knew the answer was inadequate. She just hoped it was satisfactory.
"You may sit down now, Miss Hopps."
Feeling humiliated, Judy stepped down and slunk back into her seat, her ears falling behind her head and her mouth hanging open. She spent the remainder of the class staring vacantly at the front as Bogo continued to call on other students on various cases. Her mind mulled over her lack of preparation and coherence, and she felt sick to her stomach. She was unaware of the looks of pity she received from her fellow classmates.
When Bogo ended the class, Judy waited until everyone else left to avoid being trampled. Once alone, the doe immediately ran out of the classroom in search of the nearest bathroom, ignoring the mammals in the halls. When she finally found one, the bunny busted through the door and into the nearest stall, proceeding to drop her backpack on the floor and empty her stomach of her breakfast. A few agonizing minutes later, she finally calmed down enough to gather her thoughts.
Good job, Judy. You managed to make a fool of yourself on the first day of class. And on your first year of law school no less. Must be a new record.
Judy flushed her breakfast down the toilet, trying to not let the morning class flush down her dreams of becoming a lawyer. The doe sighed deeply as she gathered her bag and washed her paws and mouth at the sink.
This is going to be a long year.
First and foremost, do not expect frequent updates with this. Mainly because I'm an engineering student and I'm doing this out of curiosity. Updates will come only when I hit roadblocks with the other two.
Now for the background. The fic is inspired from The Paper Chase, a novel that came out in 1971 that was later adapted into a movie in 1973 and a tv series that ran from 1978-1979 and 1983-1986. Both explore a law student's adventures and endeavors in Harvard Law School. Even though it's about law school, it still has some relevant things to the college experience. At least from my viewings.
Here's to Judy's success in contract law!