Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit: "Proof lies on him who asserts." - The concept that one is innocent until proven guilty.
"So, to review, these are the four conceptual dimensions of any legal problem: goals, facts, rules, and context. The last ten minutes will be spent with your partner going over the mock trial case that was handed out earlier. You may begin."
Rey screeched towards the front as Rose, who Finn had invited to sit with them, waved and called out, "It was so nice to meet you!"
She waved behind her in acknowledgement (because it was really nice to meet Rose. She was incredibly sweet and almost as nice as Finn. A tiny part of her muttered that it wasn't fair that everyone else got amazing partners and she was stuck with a brooding douchebag.) as she ran down the stairs to Holdo's desk.
"Professor Holdo!" The older woman looked up from her papers with a raised eyebrow. "I need a new partner."
Holdo's eyes flicked up to where Kylo was slouched in his seat, arms crossed, watching them both with a baleful look. "Did something happen to your old one?" She asked wryly, noticing the black bandaid on Kylo's cheekbone.
Rey tried not to blush. "No. I just… need to work with someone else. Anyone else."
"And why would that be?"
After a few seconds of trying to come up with an appropriate answer, Rey finally blurted out, "Because he's a pretentious ass!"
Holdo looked over at Kylo again with an inquisitive head tilt. Rey turned around in time to see Kylo shrug half-heartedly in a way that indicated he did not disagree.
Sighing, Holdo gave Rey a small, sympathetic smile. "Unfortunately, Ms. Rey, the legal profession is brimming with… how did you put it? Pretentious asses. Learning to work with them is an essential part of any lawyer's career. I wish it weren't so, but there it is."
Sputtering, Rey cast around for some kind of protest. "But, I…"
"Unless there is something we need to report to the school, such as harassment or assault, there's very little I can do. Now, has there been any harassment or assault?" She asked, glancing at Kylo's injury once more.
Rey colored, then shook her head.
"Very well. If someone else comes looking for a new partner, I will let you know. But until then, you'll have to make do."
Rey clenched her jaw, nodded in acknowledgement, then stormed over to where Kylo was sitting.
"I assume your tantrum did not have its desired effect?" He asked with a hint of smug amusement.
"Where the hell did you find a black band-aid?" Rey snapped back. "Did you color it in with a sharpie because you thought it'd look cooler?"
After a few moments of glaring at each other, they both sat back and sorted through the papers in a uneasy truce.
"We need to plan a time to practice our arguments." Kylo stated reluctantly, skimming through the case.
"Okay. What about tonight, at the library?"
He gave her a look like she had asked if the sky was purple. "Have you reserved a study room?"
"... no. I thought they were free to use?"
"Yes, for the whole school to use. Fourth years get priority, everyone else fights it out."
"What about Starbucks?"
"Somewhere we can argue, not support hipsters and overpriced coffee." He sneered.
Rey grit her teeth. "Fine. I guess we can practice at my place."
"Will it be quiet?"
"I mean, I've got two roommates and a dog, but we can make it work. It's not that loud."
He frowned in distaste. "No."
Clenching her jaw, Rey forced her shoulders to relax. "Fine. Do you have a better option?"
Kylo pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was feeling considerably put upon, then scrawled on a piece of paper and shoved it at her.
"6 pm. Be prepared and punctual."
With that, he swirled away as the bell rang, giving her overdramatic deja vu.
"Ughhhhh." Rey groaned as Poe and Finn came up. "I give up. Turns out the impossible part of law school is not the school, or the laws, it's the other wannabe lawyers. Student loans have take-backs, right?"
Poe laughed and bumped her shoulder as they walked out. "Tall, dark, and douchey still giving you trouble?"
"Do you know if there are any study rooms available in the library?"
Finn shook his head. "I checked yesterday and got the last one. I'm sure Rose and I can share it with you! Or you can practice at home-"
"Whoa, hey, I call dibs on the apartment. Me and Miss Kaydel are having a study session tonight, and I'm working on laying serious groundwork." He winked at both of them as they rolled their eyes.
"Well, you can still share with us." Finn offered, and Rey had a sudden vision of the two nicest people she knew sitting in the same room as the worst one.
"No, it's fine. I'll figure it out. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any friends, so at least his place will be quiet."
"Wait! You're going over to his place?" Finn grabbed her arm in concern. "Alone?! Rey, never go with a predator to a second location!"
"First, he's a prick, not a predator. Second, I wasn't going to go alone."
She grinned at Poe, who looked confused, then suddenly smiled back. "Oh, I like this plan. It's brilliant, sunshine."
…
Rey knocked on the shiny black door at 6:03 pm.
"Finally." Kylo snapped as he opened the door. "Do you even own a watch, or do you just look at the sun and gues-"
He stopped suddenly, then looked down.
"What." He pointed at Rey's feet. "Is that thing."
"This is BB-8. Say hello, BB!"
The orange and white corgi barked in response, tilting his head as if deciding what he thought of this tall other human.
"No, no, no. I don't do dogs." Kylo protested. "Tie it up outside or something, but it cannot come in-"
Rey reached down and unclipped the leash. "Oops!" She apologized insincerely as the dog immediately bolted inside. "He's so slippery!"
Kylo glared at her as she pushed past him.
"So you got anything to eat, or what?" She made it halfway into the townhouse before stopping suddenly, dropping her bag on the floor. "What the- is this a spaceship?"
"What? No." Kylo frowned, gingerly moving her bag from the floor to the coffee table at arm's length.
"Everything in here is shiny and black. Looks like a spaceship to me."
"Well, it's not a spaceship, it's my home. Which I like to keep clean." He added in distaste as one of BB-8's chewed up tennis balls rolled out of her messenger bag, leaving a trail of saliva behind.
"Cool! Let's get some snacks and get cracking."
"We're studying, not eating."
"You can't focus without food!" Rey called out, rifling through his cabinets. "Hey! Why do you only have spices and six tubs of… what the heck is whey protein?"
"Stay out of my stuff!" Kylo shouted, going for threatening, but actually sounding like a petulant teenager.
"Where are your good snacks?" Rey asked, ignoring him as she opened the fridge, BB-8 circling her in excitement. "You just have crap like eggs and fish. Do you have any Cheetos?"
"Since I am not five years old, no." He snapped. "If you're done violating my privacy, can we start practicing the arguments?"
"Fine. I'll order pizza. Geez." Rolling her eyes, Rey stepped over the bouncing corgi with the ease of long practice and reached into her bag for her laptop.
Kylo did not have the same skill, and nearly tripped over the dog multiple times as BB-8 darted through his legs. "Can you control your mutt?"
"First, he's a corgi, not a mutt. Educate yourself. Second, he's my roommate's, not mine. And third, what makes you think I can control him?"
"Because if you don't," He growled through his teeth, "both of you are going outside this instant."
Rey waved her hand in warning at the same time BB-8's ears perked up at the word 'outside'. He ran to grab his leash from the floor, then brought it to Kylo, bouncing and barking incessantly.
Stifling a laugh at Kylo's face as he tried to brush off the slobbery leash without touching it, Rey shook her head and called out, "B, chill."
The corgi stopped suddenly and tilted his head at her.
"Why don't you hang out for a bit, and then we'll go for a walk after."
BB-8 gave a single yip in agreement, then jumped onto the large plush couch in the living room, circled twice, then laid down with a slight huff.
Kylo looked back and forth, then started, "Not the couch-"
"For the love of- can we start or what?" Rey rolled her eyes as she opened her laptop.
He sat down at the table slowly, staring at her computer. "So, do you have something against technology from this decade?" He peered at how thick the laptop was, then added, "Or this century?"
"Hey! I built Speedy myself, okay? She may be not be as shiny or skinny as yours, but she's got it where it counts."
Pulling out the case info, she read the title, "State vs. Freeman. Sam Freeman is accused of murdering his partner Kaity Frost. She had a history of gambling and embezzlement, borrowed money from a loanshark and from the business, then was found in a freezer, dead. Freeman would get half a million dollars from insurance in case of her death. You and your partner are assigned the role of the plaintiff's advocates."
She shrugged at Kylo. "Seems pretty straightforward to me. Freeman has both motive and means."
"Look, I know you're new at this, but we need to prove that he actually caused her death and-"
"That he acted intentionally, I know. I'm just saying, it makes sense." She interrupted with a frown. "I do know what I'm doing."
Kylo harrumphed, but started highlighting sections of the witness statements. "Alright. Let's say you do. Are we arguing for manslaughter or second-degree murder?"
Rey straightened at the challenge in his tone. "It depends. Can we prove that he was under extreme emotional duress?"
They were in the middle of a spirited debate when the doorbell rang an hour later.
"Finally! Pizza!" Rey shouted, scattering papers everywhere as she ran to open the door. She grabbed the box from the delivery guy, then jerked her thumb at Kylo as she stuffed a piece of Hawaiian in her mouth. "Hill fign f' it."
"Uh…" The teenager stared. "What?"
Rey shoved Kylo at the door and swallowed. "Sign and tip the guy!"
"Why me?" He asked as he took the proffered pen, then did a double take at the receipt. He scribbled on it, then slammed the door as the delivery guy wished them a good night.
"Why is my name on this?" He demanded in a dangerous tone.
"Hmm?" Rey looked up, in the middle of her third slice. "Oh, because it's your credit card."
"Where did you get my credit card?" He growled.
"You left it out!"
"No I didn't!"
She shrugged defensively. "Basically. Your wallet was on the counter."
"You stole from me!"
"No I didn't! You're going to eat some of it anyway! What's the big-"
He pointed to the door forebodingly. "Out."
Rey blinked. "What?"
"Out!"
"Fine!" She shouted back, shoving her belongings into her worn canvas bag.
"If you ever steal from me again-" He was interrupted by a low growl from the couch, where BB-8 was baring his teeth in warning.
"I didn't steal from you!" She spat out. "C'mon BB-8."
The corgi hopped off the couch and joined Rey at the door, snarling at Kylo the whole way.
"Then where's my card?"
"It's in your wallet. Ass!" She yelled, then slammed the door behind her.
As Rey marched back to her apartment, she muttered angrily to BB-8 as he kept in anxious pace.
"... met such an outrageous dick in all my life. I was going to give him money for half of it!"
BB-8 barked in response.
"Okay, fine, maybe not half, but I was going to give him the five bucks I have! That's something, anyway. But no, he thinks I'm a petty criminal who doesn't have a clue about how to argue a case. Such a douchenozzle."
Suddenly, she heard a small, tinny voice coming from her pocket. "What?" It asked in a tired, irritated voice.
Frowning, she pulled out her phone in confusion. "What?"
After a second too long of staring at Kylo's scowl framed by her screen, Rey realized that she had somehow accidentally FaceTimed the last person she wanted to talk to.
"What?!" She yelped, then stabbed at the red button repeatedly until the screen went dark.
"You are getting rewired the second we get home!" She shook her finger at her phone before putting it back in her pocket.
"Ar-roo." BB-8 whined.
"Well, this day clearly can't get any worse."
As if on cue, thunder rumbled as it started to rain.
The corgi sneezed, then glanced pitifully at Rey with his ears back.
"Yeah, okay, that one's on me." She admitted as she held up her bag for protection from the elements.
As they both jogged back to the apartment, Rey fervently hoped that this wasn't an omen for the rest of the year.
"Tomorrow will be better." She chanted to herself, as if she was still back in the system, and the power of her hope would somehow make a difference in the world.