Chapter Text
Rey Niima was no one. A child who grew up in the system and had never had more than two cents to her name. But here she was, at Alderaan Community College in Washington State. It wasn’t much, but it was hers. She would be working at the local garage to make ends meet in between classes, but she could do this. She was here.
Rey was working towards her engineering degree, but one of her compulsory classes was biology. She wasn’t overly keen on the subject, but if it helped her on her ten-year plan for getting into the tech industry and developing her own engines for hybrid and electric cars, she would do whatever it took.
Arriving at the class, Rey sat down at the only spare seat. It had taken her longer than she would have liked to find the small classroom, but it seemed like their professor still wasn’t present. Taking her notebook out, she sat, alone at her table, when the professor, Dr. Ben Solo, came in.
He was tall and intimidating, but there was a roguish charm about his features that seemed to draw her in. His eyes were dark, almost black, and his long hair was brushed back neatly from his face. They contrasted wonderfully against his pale skin. And he was broad, his chest the size of a tree trunk. The shirt he was wearing looked like it could barely contain him, the buttons straining.
Dr. Solo didn’t seem to acknowledge the way all the women were staring at him, placing his bag down on his desk and pulling up the slides.
“Good afternoon, class. I am Dr. Ben Solo, your biology professor for this semester. I know most of you are only here since it is a requirement for module points towards your degree, but that doesn't mean you can’t learn something valuable here. Today, I will be covering some basic biology you should have covered in high school, but I need to check how much you remember and your skills with the microscope and other equipment.”
His voice was rich as honey, and Rey (as well as the rest of the class) fell silent as he spoke, captivated by his every word.
“We’re going to start by viewing cells at various stages of mitosis. Pair up around the microscopes and work together. I’ll come around and review your notes and conversations.”
There was a sound of scraping lab stools as everyone paired up on their benches to begin going through the small microscope slides in front of them as Dr. Solo put the sample pictures on the screen. Rey sighed, going to her microscope alone. Looked like she would be partner-less for this class, and she hoped it wouldn’t impact her grade.
She started observing slides and quickly categorized them since she had covered the topic right before leaving high school. Others in the class looked older and as though high school was long behind them, so were taking longer. Rey could then observe Dr. Solo as he went around and gently encouraged her classmates. He kept a distance from them all, though, she noticed. Staying a step or two away, hands stiff at his sides as he looked over their notes, suggesting they look at the screen or their books instead as they struggled to identify the cells.
He noticed her sitting with her book closed and slides categorised, so he came over to check her work. But as he approached, he seemed to suddenly stiffen, his back and shoulders tightening and his fists clenching. After his momentary pause, he continued to walk towards her, and Rey felt a strange pit of fear coiling in her stomach.
He stood to the side of her bench, looking at her work from a distance.
“Are you so sure of yourself, Miss…?”
“Niima. Rey,” she replied politely, holding out her hand. Dr. Solo glanced at it with a look of disgust and Rey slowly picked up her pen again. “And yes, I’m sure it’s correct.” She added curtly. If he was going to be rude, she wasn’t going to worry about playing up to him. The class was only about getting the credits, after all.
“All by yourself? No partner to help you?”
“Do you want to check my work or not? Then you can see if I’m right and carry on stalking the room.”
Dr. Solo’s nostrils flared ever so slightly, and he bared his surprisingly sharp teeth. She even thought she heard a growl escape his lips, but she must have been mistaken.
“Fine. Show me your work, then.”
Rey slid the paper and numbered slides over to him, slouching on her stool and crossing her arms in front of her.
Dr. Solo hummed as he looked down over her work, a look of disgust on his face and one of his fists still clenched. Rey wondered what she could have done so early into the year to offend him so much. Maybe he just didn’t like the way she was dressed, or hated teaching in such a small community college. Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to happily take it. When class was over, she would go to the administration and try to figure something out.
“Well done, Miss Niima. I suspect by your age that you have only recently finished high school, which will have given you an advantage in this class, but do not rely solely on that knowledge. I want to see just how much aptitude you have for this class. In the meantime, I want you to start your reading for the next few lectures, and write me a paper on your findings.”
Rey gasped, sitting bolt upright on her stool. “But, Dr. Solo, I don’t have any of the books yet…”
“Then I suggest you go get them. Now!” He barked at her.
Rey grabbed her bag and fled the room immediately. She would not let herself be treated this way. Brushing away the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes at being treated so dismally in public, she hurried to the library to complete the readings for the next class. She couldn’t afford the books yet, and hoped that she could find them there.
After spending the rest of the biology lecture registering at the library and checking out the book she needed, Rey finally went to the administration office. If she could get out of the class, she would be able to return the book immediately and start worrying about some other class instead. When she got there, however, she was shocked to see the large back of Dr. Solo ranting at the poor woman behind the desk.
“I need her out of my class. What about that don’t you understand??” He raved, hands clenched on the side of the desk.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Solo, but…”
Rey noticed his back suddenly stiffen as she entered the room, as if he had eyes in the back of his head and had noticed her presence immediately.
“Never mind. Forget it. Just get cover for me for the next week.” He spat, turning on his heel and fleeing the office. “I’ll email you my lesson plans to pass on to them!”
Rey watched him leave, and the poor woman behind the desk gave a large sigh of relief. Noticing Rey, she beckoned her over.
“I’m sorry you saw that, hon. Dr. Solo can be a right dick. A hot dick, but still a dick. What can I do for you?”
“Er, I’d like to transfer out of his class to another one for the same amount of credits.”
The woman stiffened. “You’re not Rey Niima, are you?”
Rey nodded.
“I’m sorry, but as I was telling Dr. Solo there is nothing else we can offer you, not that we’d transfer you without consulting you of course, but that is the only class with the right number of credits without changing any of the other classes. I’m assuming you don’t want to do that?”
Rey shook her head. “No, I can’t. The others are all classes I need for my degree.” Math, Physics, Engineering, she needed them all if she wanted to get into the tech industry.
“Then there’s really nothing I can do. If he becomes a problem, though, you could always report him.”
“No… I’ll be ok.”
Rey clutched her bag closer, heavy now from the book they had been assigned reading from, and headed out. She had to get to her shift at Maz’s garage, or she’d not have the money to pay for the classes anyway.
The next couple of days passed smoothly. Dr. Solo hadn’t given her a deadline for the work, and she wasn’t going to remind him about her by emailing. They had a substitute for the next class, a nice, gentle grad student from a nearby university called Mitaka. A girl called Rose, Rey had come to learn and be quite friendly with in some of her other classes, asked Mitaka where Dr. Solo was.
“Dr. Solo had to take some emergency leave.” Rey shifted in her seat, suspecting she was the cause of the leave, although not entirely sure why. “He will be back next week. Now, back to the readings and assignments for the term.”
Mitaka continued to cover the material Dr. Solo had left for him while Rey pondered where Dr. Solo could be. Had she really driven him away? Was he so upset by her presence, he had to immediately leave? Had she offended him in some former life or something else she wasn’t aware of?
Rey pushed the thoughts away and focused instead on the note taking she should be doing.
After class, she caught up with Rose on the way off campus.
“Weird about Dr. Solo taking off suddenly like that, huh?” Rey asked.
“A little. I’ve heard he does that sometimes, though. It’s not normally this early into the term, though. My sister, Paige, took this class last year and said he often disappeared on hunting trips when it’s sunny, but the weather’s not been that great recently.” Rose shrugged. “Maybe something just came into season.”
“Hmm, maybe.” Rey replied non-committedly.
“Everything ok? I know he’s hot, but he’s really not worth pining over. Not with his attitude.”
“Oh, fine. Just that assignment he set me. He never told me when it was due.”
Rose laughed, “Just hand it in before next class. If he didn’t give you a date, he can’t exactly get mad at you. I know he was weird with you last week, but he probably just needed the fresh air he’s getting now. Paige said he was always more relaxed after one of his trips.”
Rey nodded, and Rose arrived at her car and jumped in and set off. Rey waved goodbye as she walked towards the garage she worked at.
“You alright, Rey?” Maz asked as she changed into her overalls in the office.
“Everything’s fine. Just looking forward to getting stuck in,” she replied. The old woman moved away to let Rey continue, but she called out, “Hey, Maz, if there’s time and there’s not much in, can I work on my truck?”
“Just make sure you finish your other work first.”
“Thanks, Maz, you’re a star!” Rey gave her a quick hug as she headed for the car that needed an oil change. Maz had given Rey a job because of her aptitude with engines. She had given Rey her room because she couldn’t let the poor child have nowhere to stay while she pursued her dream. She had the room above the garage. It was small, but it was hers. It made maintaining her work alongside her studies easier.
The next week, Dr. Solo was back at the front of class, and Rey had, fortunately, remembered to print off her work in the campus library before arriving, so she presented it to him as she entered.
“What’s this?” he asked as she gave it to him, confusion written plainly on his face. Rey was struck by his eyes, which were now a golden brown color and not the dark orbs she remembered from a few weeks back. They were just as beautiful and compelling, and she wasn’t sure which she preferred. Why his eyes would change color, she wasn’t sure. Had he gotten contacts? Whatever it was, she thought that she preferred this demeanour on him.
“The essay you assigned me?” Rey replied, her voice tinged with annoyance. How could he set her a project and then have the audacity to look confused when she handed it in? Dr. Solo’s eyes skimmed over the pages.
“Ah. I’d forgotten. Thank you, Miss Niima. I’ll review it and get it back to you soon. And while I’ve got you here, let me apologize for my behavior in our first class together. I was not… feeling myself. I took that out on you. Please know you are very welcome in this class, and I hope you do well.”
“Um, thanks, I guess,” she said, unsure quite how to reply to his words, his change in behavior unsettling her. Despite his friendliness, she still felt extremely vulnerable under his attention.
“You may take your seat.”
He looked away from her to the rest of the class as she moved to sit at her table. Throughout the lecture, she felt his gaze come to rest on her more and more, until it felt like he was only looking at her, speaking directly to her. She focused on writing her notes, refusing to look up at him, but that only seemed to increase the pressure she felt within his voice to look up, at him. She knew the moment she did she would be lost to those golden eyes.
At the end of class, Rey hurried out, staring at the floor the whole time. Rose ran to catch up with her.
“Hey, Rey, slow down!” she huffed as she caught up. “What was with Dr. Solo staring at you through the class? What did you write on your assignment?”
“Nothing… why? He was staring at me?” she asked.
Rose nodded enthusiastically, “Uh-huh. He looked like he was ready to eat you up or something. Did you proposition him in the middle of your essay or something?”
Rey felt her cheeks flush. She had done no such thing. But, he really had been staring at her, like she had thought, and others were noticing. This was not good. However hot he might be, and however much she wanted to get into his pants, she could not get into a situation with her professor. She had to focus on her school work and get her degree so she could move on with her life.
“I wrote no such thing, Rose. That would be way out of line. And the way he treated me that first day? I would never, never, want to be with someone who acted like that for no damn reason.”
“Whoa, sorry.” Rose took a step to the side as they walked to give Rey a little more space. “Forgive a girl for asking. Anyway, are you going to come to the party in a couple of weeks that Finn and Poe are throwing?”
“What party?” Rey asked.
“The party they’ve been talking about since term started? To celebrate the beginning of our degrees?” Rey just gave her a blank expression. Rose shook her head. “You need to spend more time out of the garage, Rey. You really should come.”
“But I’ll have nothing to wear,” Rey protested. She really did not want to go to a party. That involved having money to shop for clothes, money to get beer to bring, and potentially missing work or study time. She did not have the time. It was okay for people like Rose who were only at Community College increasing their credits to get into the proper university they wanted. As long as they took and passed the classes, they would be able to pursue their true academic dreams.
“Then come shopping with me! I’m sure Maz will give you a shift off. We can go to the next town and find something really nice.”
Rey was silent for a moment. “I’m not sure I can afford…”
“Rey, you have to know when to treat yourself! Come on! We’ll get Kaydel to tag along and make a real girls night of it! Tomorrow? I’ll pick you up at five. I’ll call Maz as well so you have to come!!” Rose jumped in her car and sped off.
Rey sighed and walked to the garage. Even as she walked in, Maz was hanging up the phone.
“Yes Rose, I understand. I’ll make sure she’s ready.”
“Shit. I’ve really got to go, then?” Rey asked her.
Maz stood up behind her desk, placing her hands firmly on it. “Yes, child. You do. You work too much. Take some of your tip money and get something nice. I’m not giving you another shift until you look after yourself. Now get changed and started on the service in bay three.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Rey joked. She may not have chosen to go out tomorrow evening, but if she was being forced, she figured she could at least try and enjoy herself.