Author's Note: So like here's the thing. I told myself I was not going to write more fan-fiction. I dabbled in it briefly back in March as I completed a story I started when I was fourteen and I figured that would be the end of that. However, I am a sucker for a good pairing and Kylo Ren and Rey are basically everything I look for in a ship. Therefore I found myself here, in the Star Wars fandom for the first time. Prior to this I primarily wrote for Jimmy Neutron, Austin and Ally, and House of Anubis. There are a few pieces from The Walking Dead and Victorious on my page as well.
I've been doing a lot of reading of the AU variety in this fandom, and typically authors prefer to make Kylo this angst filled quiet teen who sits in the corner and writes poetry. However, I decided to go a different route with his character this time because let's be real, The Knights of Ren definitely sounds like a sports team.
To those who are new to my work, hello! My name is Angie and if you are going to read any of my older pieces please organize them in order of update because that way you will hopefully be able to avoid most of my poorly written teen angst.
Do people still do disclaimers? Is that a thing? Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own plot lines.
High school is rough. People always lie and tell you that it's the "best four years of your life" but Rey can state with absolute certainty that that's a load of horse shit. High school -she supposes- is easier for those who are able to fly under the radar, those who are popular, and those who are absolutely sure of the next steps they will be taking in life after graduation. Unfortunately for Ray, she was none of the above.
The daughter of Principal Kenobi himself, Rey was destined to be the target of merciless bullying from the day she walked into Skywalker Memorial High. Small in stature, yet big in heart, Rey had not anticipated such a negative reaction from her peers when they discovered the identity of her father. However, as the years passed Rey became used to the teasing that she endured faithfully every day.
Her only solace was her friend Finn and the lunches they spent with Ms. Organa their English teacher. A transfer student as well as a foster child, Finn had quickly become Rey's best friend when he arrived during her sophomore year of high school. The two outcasts had built a safe space for themselves within the walls of Ms. Organa's classroom.
Solace can only last for so long and Rey and Finn often found themselves being tormented as soon as they left the safety of the classroom. Among their tormentors, perhaps the most prevalent, was senior student Ren. Ren -a shortened version of his preferred title Kylo Ren- was the epitome of the perfect high-schooler. Or rather, he would be if he could get his head out of his ass for once. Tall and stocky, with a long and angular face, Ren was basically what every girl dreamed of when they thought about dating the quarterback (which he was). A direct descendant of Anakin Skywalker, the mayor the school was named after, Ren was a physical manifestation of school spirit. Destined to one day attend Harvard Law, Ren was everything the high school handbook wanted students to be.
Rey hated him.
She would have been able to avoid him entirely had it not been her father insisting she take upper level courses. As a junior, Rey logically should have been in the junior level courses, yet true to perfectionist form her father had her placed in the senior courses. Due to his preferred name and the faithfulness of an alphabetical seating chart, Rey had spent the last month and a half seated next to Ren in all of her courses including the Calculus course she was currently walking into.
"Hey Rey of Sunshine! How are you today!" Ren smirked as his posse of cretins chuckled at his nickname for her.
"Fine, thank you for asking." Rey answered civilly, placing her books down on the desk and stooping to tie the laces of one of her undone converse.
"Whoops!" Hux -one of Ren's right hand men- knocked Rey's books onto the ground, narrowly avoiding hitting her in the head with one of the heavy volumes.
With a deep sigh Rey picked up several of her books as Ren and his friends slid into their seats still laughing at her discomfort.
"Good afternoon class!" Luke -the "I'm super chill call me by my first name"- Calculus teacher greeted the room of students as he set his satchel down on the front desk.
"Good afternoon Luke" The class mumbled in response.
"Good afternoon Douche." Ren whispered under his breath to Rey who rolled her eyes at his immaturity.
Luke actually was one of the coolest teachers at Skywalker Memorial. Despite his never ending optimism and his need to relate to his students, he was an effective teacher mainly due to his unconventional methods of teaching. While other teachers would spend weeks on a concept Luke would say "three lessons" and have his students doing the work backwards and in their sleep. He was just that good.
Yet Ren harbored a lot of contempt for the man that Rey couldn't quite understand. Every day Ren would have some new, inappropriate comment to make about the instructor. Never to Phasma (the girl seated to his left) but always to Rey, as if only she could tolerate his quips and insults.
"Okay, I hope everyone has been practicing their various techniques because today" Luke paused to remove a stack of papers from his satchel with a flourish, "-is pop quiz day!"
"Fuck.." I heard Ren mumble beside me as he frantically flipped through his Calculus book. As if he would magically absorb the content within the two minutes it took Luke to pass out the quizzes.
Every week it was the same deal. Luke would announce a pop quiz and Ren would immediately begin to stress out about whether or not he would pass this time. He would flip through his notes while aggressively running his hands through his hair, all the while avoiding eye contact with Rey. He'd turn his exam in mostly blank or sometimes scrawled with half done work, and then he would leave the room for the next half hour of class, often times returning just as the bell was about to ring. Rey didn't know why Luke allowed it, but she didn't bother saying anything as pop quiz days meant almost an hour without Ren's scathing comments in her ears.
Sighing, Rey began to take her own quiz while Ren sat next to her furiously punching numbers into his calculator. Per the norm, not even three minutes later, he stood up and left the room turning his test in on the way out. Class flew by uneventfully for Rey, who already knew the material from the chapter by heart. Ren came back into the room five minutes before lunch, disheveled and upset.
For the first time since the beginning of the term, Ren picked up his head to make direct eye contact with Rey. It began with him scanning her notes to see what he had missed, and concluded with a lingering stare between two pairs of brown eyes. Blushing furiously, Rey jumped to her feet when the bell rang signaling the end of class.
"Hey, Hey, Kenobi! Rey!" Ren called as she began to ease her way into the packed halls.
Turning around, she tilted her head up to answer him, "Yes?".
"So.." He answered reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck, "You really get this whole math thing, huh?"
"Yeah? I mean I'm only a junior but I'm in an upper level class" She replied, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Yeah...I'm really only taking it because my dad makes me, I'm clearly not very good" He answered reaching out to pull her to the side of the hallway before the flow of students ran her down, "But I bet you'd know all about your dad makng you do things you don't want to do huh?"
"Thanks" Rey mumbled looking at her shoes before snapping her head up to regain eye contact, "I'm sorry, I just- is there a point to this conversation? Because typically you and your friends just bully me into submission. What is this a more hands on approach?"
"I just- ugh you know what" He began, eyes growing considerably darker in contempt, "Just forget it!" He finished stomping off.
"Fine! I will!" She shouted at his back.
"Good considering that's what I asked!" He answered turning back around to flip her the bird.
"Ugh!" Rey exclaimed as she began to stomp towards Ms. Organa's room.
"What is it now?" Her kind teacher looked up from her stack of essays to address the angry teen in front of her.
"Have you seen Finn?" Rey replied, ignoring her question. As kind as Ms. Organa was, Rey and Finn never told her of their issues with Ren and his friends. They had come to an unspoken agreement that Ms. Organa had more important things to do than listen to them quip about their typical high school problems.
"He said something about a stomach bug and leaving early before running out the door" Ms. Organa answered peering at the girl over her horn-rimmed glasses.
"Huh?" Rey answered as she checked her phone. Sure enough, Finn has sent her a message saying he was suddenly taken ill and that he would see her the next day.
"Now, would you like to tell me what's wrong?" Her teacher asked again.
Sighing deeply, Rey began to tell her teacher about her disagreement with Ren. Leaving out the areas where he and his friends had bullied her continuously, she told her teacher all about Ren's struggles with math and his apparent dislike for Luke.
"Oh that boy," Ms. Organa said shaking her head.
"So you know of him?" Rey replied reaching for one of the carrot sticks her dad had packed into her lunch.
"Well I would hope so," Ms. Organa said snagging the carrot from her student's hand, "He's my son."
"Hmm yeah" Rey answered before her eyes went wide with understanding, "He's your what!"
"My son." She said with a soft smile. "Ben Solo. I'm not sure when this whole Kylo Ren thing began but evidently he's convinced everyone to call him that."
"Ben.." Rey mumbled, "Your son? Wow. But you're so..."
"Different?" She answered with a laugh, "Well he does have his father's temper."
"He mentioned something about his father today actually" Rey said forehead creased in thought, "That his dad is making him take Calc?"
"Well yes, that's Han for you" Ms. Organa answered thoughtfully, "He thought that maybe if Luke was the one teaching he'd be able to get through to our boy. He really just wants what's best for him but I often think he needs to work on communicating with Ben".
"Why Luke?" Rey questioned, "Why not a personal tutor?"
"Luke is actually my brother" Ms. Organa said with a nervous chuckle, "Evidently the whole family has ties to this school. But we had assumed that Ben needed a teacher who knew him on a personal level. I think it goes a bit further than that though, Ben needs a teacher who bends specifically to his needs. So yes, a tutor would be ideal. If I know my son at all, I'd bet he was trying to ask you to tutor him today after class."
"Wow." Rey said when her teacher was done, "I'm sorry, I never knew the depth of the situation."
"It's quite all right dear" Ms. Organa replied, "However, if we could keep the dynamics of my family tree between us that would be ideal."
"Absolutely!" Rey said as the warning bell for lunch rang, "Thank you for listening to me complain about your son." She finished with a laugh.
"It's not a problem." Ms. Organa said, laughng along with her before quickly growing serious. "Rey, between you and me, my son is more bark than bite. He's really not that bad once you give him a chance."
"Duly noted." Rey replied with a nod before walking out the room.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully for Rey, as did the night. Typically she'd hang out with Finn after school, but she didn't want to run the risk of catching his bug so she stayed home to do her extra credit homework for history class. The next morning, Rey walked into Luke's classroom early to find Ren sitting in his seat, frantically looking at the textbook.
"What's up with you?" She blurted as she sat down beside him, carefully setting up her books.
"Heard there might be a second part to the quiz from yesterday" He mumbled without looking up.
"I'm sure it's just a rumor and even if it's not I'm sure you'll do fine" Rey said attempting to sound reassuring.
"Easy for you to say, nerd" He snapped before sighing deeply. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for I'm just-"
"-stressed" She finished, reaching over to gently close his books, "I know."
"I just feel like I can't get a grasp on any of the material" He answered, looking up at her with big eyes. "I really need to pass these next few quizzes or I won't graduate on time."
"I um..I spoke to-" Rey began.
"-my mother. I know" He answered placing a hand on hers. "It's okay, I'm not like mad that you found out Leia's my mom."
"Leia?" She replied, brows wrinkling in confusion.
"Yeah, I haven't called either of my parents by anything but their first names since I was fifteen." His hand unknowingly squeezed her own, "Especially not my father."
"Well.." She began, "I spoke to your mother and she suggested that a tutor might help you to grasp the material better."
"I've been trying to find one" He said running his free hand through his bangs, "But I'm not exactly popular with the smart kids, especially not while Hux is running around tormenting you guys."
"Hmm," She said pretending to ponder her thoughts, "If only there was someone who was willing to look past your behavior. Someone good at Calculus. Someone who sits to your right every day in four of your five classes."
"You'd tutor me?" He asked, eyes lighting up.
"Not for free!" She replied quickly, "If I do tutor you, you can't let Hux or your band of morons bully me anymore!"
"Deal!" He answered.
"Or my friend Finn!" She added while she still could.
"You got it!" He replied, pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Yeah, yeah!" She answered squirming in his grasp. "Just let go of me before someone sees and thinks we're friends."
A/N There you have it folks! I might come back to this little universe someday, but for now this fic is complete!