Chapter Text
“Rey, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I know you look like you’re twelve, but are you really sure ?” Poe is asking after she tells them about her new assignment for work. She glares at him, mustering as much anger and hatred for her brother's boyfriend as she can.
“You’re such an ass, Poe,” she growls back at him. He just shrugs and grins his stupid charming, blinding grin at her. Sometimes she hates that the universe deemed it fit to put her and Finn together in the same foster home and had them grow so close. Close enough that she lives with him and his stupid boyfriend. Now is one of those times.
“I mean, yeah, I am,” he shrugs, “but that’s beside the point. Do you even remember high school, Rey?” He’s looking at her like she’s stupid and Rey is anything but stupid. She’s the youngest copy editor that has ever worked at the New York Times and she busted her ass all throughout high school and college to get to where she is now. She worked two jobs throughout college to be able to afford her tuition and not have to take out a horrifying amount of student loans.
Rey is far from stupid.
If it’s possible, her glare gets even more severe and murderous.
“It’s been like seven years since I was in high school, Poe. And I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”
Finn just looks at her with a raised eyebrow from where he's sitting on the edge of her bed with Poe, skepticism written all over his face. Rey shakes her head and makes a little harrumphing noise as she looks down at the menu of the diner they frequent every Friday.
“This is my shot, Finn. I can finally actually write something of my own and get it published. This is what I’ve wanted to do my entire life.”
She can feel Finn’s gaze on her, but she refuses to look up at him.
“Peanut. I love you and you know I’m proud of you,” he starts. “But this is the single-most idiotic thing I think you’ve ever done.” Finn's voice is kind and soft, like he doesn't want to give the bad news to her. Like he's trying to let her down gently.
But fuck that, Rey decides. She just rolls her eyes and ignores them until Poe changes the subject and talks about something going on at his work. Rey paid half attention to the conversation between Finn and Poe, piping in here and there where it was necessary for her. But she was distracted by her new assignment.
Going undercover wasn't something that she'd ever really expected to do, especially after she'd had the conversation with Kaydel that as a copy editor, her place wasn't reporting stories. Which was fine, sure, but it wasn't what she wanted out of her life, not really.
Granted, she'd never imagined that she would be sent back to high school to go undercover as a student to find out what kids cared about these days. She still wasn't entirely sure as to what Amilyn Holdo's motivation for the story was, but whatever. Rey had been chosen to do so out of everyone else on the staff.
Who was she to complain about where her big break came from?
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Monday morning dawns bright and early. Rey isn't entirely sure what the fuck high school still starts off at eight in the morning, but whatever. It's not much different than her normal schedule at work has been. She wakes up at six, though, prepared to get ready for the day.
Luckily, she still has some of her clothes from when she was in high school, so it means she didn't have to borrow anything from any of her friends or even go shopping. Sure, she makes plenty enough now to be able to buy a few new outfits, but she’d rather not have to if she can help it.
Rey can't complain when she pulls on her ragged jeans from ten years ago and they still fit. Or when she pulls on the 'Millenium Falcon' band t-shirt over her torso. It swallows her form and pretty much covers anything that labels her as feminine, but it's not like she's trying to advertise herself to high school boys...
Plus, Rey wants to be comfortable. That's got to be the most important thing, right?
She takes the Subway to school on Monday. She could take Finn's Corolla, sure, but she doesn't know how the parking at the school is, and she's also pretty sure that it would stick out like a sore thumb, as new and shiny as it is.
When she gets to the school, there are students everywhere . And they all look like baby-faced adults, dressed and fully made up in a way that confuses her. When did high school kids get so good at making themselves look older? She’s not entirely convinced they’re all between fourteen and eighteen. Sure, it’s been seven years since Rey was surrounded by this many kids of that age range, but surely none of the people she went to school with every looked like...well... this .
They’re all wearing clothing that looks expensive and name-brand. Great. She looks like a scrub compared to all of them, which...okay. Not much different from when she was in high school, but at least then it hadn’t just been her who dressed in baggy clothing.
Great. Alienating herself on her first day of school. Just what she needed to do.
With a sigh, Rey heads through the front doors and is immediately stopped by...security? Since when do high schools have their own security checkpoint to enter?
It makes sense, though, the more she thinks about it. Considering the state of the world, she can't say she's all that surprised. But still. She wasn't expecting it, just like she hasn't expected most of the things that have happened since she walked into the New York Times office on Friday morning.
Rey makes her way through security without much issue, even if the security officer goes through everything she brought in her bag and confiscated her fucking nail clippers, of all things. Since when were nail clippers something that was banned in school? Whatever. That’s the least of her problems, she decides, as she finds herself in the overcrowded hallways.
Fuck.
What kind of evil mastermind designed this school? There were so many students everywhere, Rey felt like she could barely breathe for the lack of space. Sure, New York was like this in general, but there was at least fresh air and there was generally a way she could escape the crushing press of bodies. That really wasn’t possible now. This was like walking on the sidewalks condensed, with kids trying to get into their lockers along the sides and others congregating in social groups.
She’s gonna kill Amilyn for deciding that Rey could do this. And for Kaydel for insisting that high school in New York was just like high school in the middle of nowhere Nevada. There had never been this many kids in any of the schools she’d attended. Ever.
She finds her way to the office, gives her information to the older woman behind the desk, and is given a schedule. The bell for classes to start off rings and Rey flinches slightly at the jarring noise. The woman gives her a sympathetic look before shooing her away, back into the madness of the hallways.
Luckily, the madness has died down with the bell, all the students flitting into their classes with the warning bell.
With no idea where the fuck she’s going, Rey wanders the hallways for a bit longer than she feels like is necessary. She’s about to get frustrated and go back to the office to ask where the classroom is when she finally finds it. It’s almost as if it jumps out at her right as she’s about to give up hope, thank fuck for whatever stroke of fate worked out for her.
Rey pushes her way into the classroom, interrupting the droning sound of her new history teacher’s voice. The man turns to her, a scowl on his pinched face.
“To what do I owe the displeasure of this interruption?” He asks her in a haughty British voice. Her cheeks warm with a blush and she sighs, handing him her schedule.
“Um...sorry… I uh...I’m new and didn’t know where anything was,” she says softly. She can feel the eyes of the other students on her, crawling over her skin in curiosity over this new creature that has stumbled her way into their midst. She feels like a deer who found itself in a den of lions.
She mentally reminds herself to tuck that comparison away for when she writes her article about this entire experience.
The teacher, who has fiery red hair and apparently a permanent scowl on his face, hands her schedule back to her and dismisses her with a wave of his hand. “Just take a seat. And don’t be late for my class again, Miss Niima.”
Rey nods her head, mumbles a ‘yes sir,’ and takes a seat at the empty desk in the second row, closest to the door. The teacher, apparently named Armitage Hux from what her schedule says, goes back to his droning about the Renaissance and Rey tries her hardest not to think about the feeling of the other students staring at her like she has a second head.
At least he didn’t ask for her to say something about herself. She’s still not quite sure what to say about herself, beyond the fact that her name is Rey Niima, that she was seventeen, and she’d just moved to New York City. From where? Shit. She hadn’t thought that far ahead yet, but if anyone asked, she could just go with Nevada. The best stories were those that held a kernel of truth in them, right?
Right.
History and the other class that Rey had before lunch went by pretty well. She wasn’t asked to speak up or introduce herself, thank fuck . Rey had never been good at public speaking when she actually was seventeen, she didn’t want to have to think of how bad seven years of social awkwardness would feel compounded with her dislike for public speaking.
But thankfully, she didn’t have to worry too much about that.
But then lunch came and she was awkwardly finding her way through the lunch line. She didn’t know if she was comforted by the fact that it was the same kind of lunch that was offered seven years ago or not. Probably not. That had to say something about the state of the country and how much they valued education, didn’t it? She tapped out that reminder in the notes app of her phone after paying for her lunch and searching for a place to sit.
She found an empty table, only to be met by a group of girls who looked more like her actual age than they did seventeen. Or maybe she’d just always looked seventeen...or twelve, as Poe had put it so eloquently last Friday…
The girls sat across from her, sharp smiles across their faces as they took her in. “New...girl, right?” One of them asked, a sly hint to her voice. There was venom there in the way she spoke and Rey fought the urge to narrow her eyes and bare her teeth at the other girl. These were wolves and she was definitely a deer right now. She was their meal, walked right into their territory without even a second thought.
God. Why had she thought this was a good idea? What the fuck was she thinking? Why hadn’t she just listened to Poe and Finn and backed out before it was too late?
Because this was her break. This was it for her. This was what would take her from the perfectionist little copy editor to actual real life reporter. This was what she wanted and the best way to get there.
So she took a deep breath and tried out a smile that she hoped didn’t look too much like a grimace.
“Um...yeah, hi. We have history together, right?” Rey tries, hoping that the girls won’t immediately go for the throat if she tries to show her belly. “I’m Rey,”
The girls look her over, unimpressed as ever. They give each other a look, smirks spreading across their faces that make Rey’s stomach clench in nervousness. She needs to run, needs to get the fuck out of here and never look back. Screw the story that Amilyn wants, screw pretending to be seventeen again and putting herself through this stupid societal pressure. She’ll do anything to protect herself from these wolves in girls clothing.
“Mmm...yeah. You know, we usually sit here. You really should find somewhere else to sit,” the middle one, the one that Rey recognizes as the Head Bitch In Charge, tells her. Rey’s stomach drops and she distinctly gets the feeling that she is not welcome here. That she will never be welcome here.
The idea of running away is looking more and more appealing by the second.
Rey swallows her nervous and keeps her smile on her face, leaning forward before saying in a conspiratorial manner, “actually, I was hoping that you girls would be nice enough to show me around? I’m really nervous and after being late for Hux’s class this morning, I just don’t want to be late again. What’s your next class?”
Okay. That was easier than she thought it would be. She knows that Kaydel would have had no issue worming her way in with these girls, using her smiles and natural charm to her advantage and immediately finding common ground with them. Maybe it won’t be so hard?
The girls exchange another look and whatever hope that Rey had about fitting in with them goes out the window as they turn to her as one with a frown on her face. “Yeah… We’ll pass. No offense but you’re a little too... alternative for us,” HBIC tells her.
There’s a tightness in Rey’s throat that she swallows and nods, as if the rejection doesn’t sting. She’s used to rejection, has been feeling it her entire life ever since she was a child and certainly when she was seventeen.
But this is a fresh kind of hell and makes her feel like she really is seventeen all over again, struggling to fit in and find people who were like-minded enough to be friends with her.
Thank fuck she’d had Finn in her life by that point.
Rey nods again and stutters out an apology, going to stand and grab her tray of food as she goes. The girls have a self-satisfied look on their faces.
“Alright, well, I’ll see you around I guess,” she says awkwardly before turning to leave. Only before she can do that, she runs tray-first into one of the boys from her history class. An attractive boy. One that seventeen year old Rey would have drooled over and dreamed about when she was in high school herself.
Her food goes all over both of them and Rey feels her entire face flare with heat as she turns as red as the cheap tomato sauce used in the pasta.
At least most of the food gets shoved onto the boy, but the fact that she’s the cause of it is humiliating enough on its own.
“I am so sorry, oh my god,” Rey stammers, stepping back as quickly as she can. She hears the girls laughing behind her and they aren’t wolves, oh no, they’re hyenas. She feels her face heat even more as the boy in front her growls out something angrily at her. Rey can’t really tell what he says because before she can even think of something to say, she’s darting away as fast as her legs will carry her.
This was definitely not how she had planned her first day to go. And the fact that she still has three more classes is only adding to her existential dread and the feeling that this was an extremely bad idea from the get-go and she really should have done the smart thing and listened to her stupid brother and his stupid boyfriend.
It doesn’t even matter that Rey didn’t eat anything - she’d rather be anywhere but here right now, in this crowded cafeteria with the students laughing at her and the boy and his friends grumbling at her in anger.