Chapter Text
Rey is not--and never will be--a morning person.
Her best friend, Rose, knows this, and Rey guesses that’s why Rose made a point to tell her to set at least five alarms to make sure she wakes up on time to leave for the annual Coruscant Academy senior ski trip.
“Check-in starts at five-thirty AM,” Rose reminded her as they headed out of the information session at school the day before. It was Thursday, but since the senior trip is such a long-standing school tradition, campus closes on Friday to give the future graduates a long weekend to blow off steam. “We’re pulling out by six. You know since Deputy Headmistress Holdo takes the lead on these trips, she will make us leave on time whether you’re there or not.”
“I’ll be there,” Rey insisted, but knew Rose’s concern was genuine. Rey barely makes it to school on time as it is. Between hours of AP homework, endless extracurriculars, and her part time job at the local library, Rey usually doesn’t end up in bed until midnight at the earliest. And it’s not like she can cut back on anything--Rey has an academic scholarship to maintain and bills to help her foster mom, Maz, out with now that she’s eighteen. Plus, she’s counting on her grades and after school activities to win her a scholarship to a good university, preferably in the Ivy League (more specifically--Harvard. And her top choice has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he goes there, thank you very much).
Still, Rey knows this trip is a big deal. She and Rose have practically been dreaming about it since freshman year. So Rey reassuringly put her hands on her friend’s shoulders, looked her in the eye, and promised she would make it there on time.
So, you see, Rey really didn’t intend to stay up until one AM getting a head start on chemistry homework. She also swears she just didn’t hear the first four alarms going off and claims to have no memory of snoozing the fifth one twice. Truly, she had no idea what time it was until Maz burst into her room, shaking Rey awake and telling her she needed to turn the alarms off. So Rey, groggy on four hours of sleep, silences her blaring phone, and finally takes note of the time--5:35 AM.
Honestly, she puts the speed of lightning to shame with how quickly she gets out of bed. She throws on the first things she can find that remotely resembles clothing, pulls her shoulder-length brown waves back into a bun, grabs her duffle bag (thanking every god in existence that she’d actually had the decency to pack everything last night), and heads out the door.
She breaks about a dozen traffic laws as she makes her way to the school. Rey doesn’t live in the affluent part of town the academy is in, so it usually takes her just over twenty minutes to get there. Thankfully, traffic is light since it’s so early, but Rey drives a steady ten miles over the speed limit just in case. Her phone is blowing up with texts next to her in the passenger seat (most likely from Rose), but Rey is too busy rolling through stop signs to even bother answering.
By some miracle, Rey doesn’t get pulled over and she turns into the parking lot at exactly 5:55 AM. There’s a giant luxury travel bus parked in front of the school entrance, ready to take the Coruscant senior class on a three hour drive to a luxury resort in the mountains of Vermont. She can see Deputy Headmistress Holdo standing near it, clipboard in hand and looking the epitome of perfection even in jeans and a puffy jacket. A man who Rey assumes is the driver is busy shoving the last of the luggage into the undercarriage. There isn’t a student in sight. They must already be on board the bus.
“Shit.” Rey pulls into the closest parking spot she can find and shuts the car off. She practically trips over her own feet trying to get out, pulling her duffle bag with her as she starts sprinting towards the bus.
“Wait!” Rey calls. “Please!”
Holdo’s head turns in her direction, disapproving glare already plastered all over her face. “Five minutes until departure,” she says once Rey grinds to a halt in front of her. “Cutting it close, don’t you think Miss Johnson?”
“I’m sorry,” Rey pants, trying to catch her breath. “My alarms. I didn’t--”
“Miss Johnson, I am very familiar with your attendance record.” Holdo’s look is pure steel and lacking any and all empathy. “I have half a mind to turn you away to teach you that showing up in the knick of time doesn’t always cut it.”
Rey’s eyes shift to the ground. She can’t see them, but Rey knows her classmates are staring at her through the black windows of the bus. Her face burns with embarrassment.
I should have just stayed asleep .
“Cut the girl some slack, Amilyn.” Rey lifts her gaze to see Headmistress Organa stepping down from the bus. Unlike Holdo, the headmistress looks like she’s prepared to spend hours sitting uncomfortably on a bus with a bunch of teenagers. She’s wearing a pair of joggers, a loose sweater, and tennis shoes. Her graying hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she’s holding a very large Starbucks cup in her hands.
Usually Headmistress Organa doesn’t join the seniors on their trip, preferring to leave the responsibility to the deputy and a few other chaperones. However, she made an exception last year because her son was going and decided to come this year because, well, she’s the reason Rey can even afford to go.
The headmistress has always taken a special interest in the scholarship students, going to great lengths to make them feel included amongst the affluent student body. This year, she was able to receive funding from a few of the academy’s donors to cover the cost of any senior that couldn’t pay their own way. After Rey found out how much it was going to cost her, she had started accepting that she’d never be able to go on the trip. She knew Maz couldn’t afford it and everything Rey made at the library went towards bills, groceries, or her meager college fund. So, after Headmistress Organa informed the scholarship seniors their costs had been covered, Rey nearly burst into tears.
Remembering this makes Rey want to crawl into a hole and stay there forever. Here she is, disrespecting the headmistress’s hard work and generosity by barely showing up on time--and looking like crap no less. On the way over, Rey realized in her haste she’d thrown on the largest hoodie she owned and a pair of leggings with a small hole in the thigh. The baby hairs around her face are probably sticking out in every direction and she can feel the tiredness gathered in bags under her eyes. She doesn’t even have a coat on since she stupidly packed it last night and didn’t have time to fish it out before she ran out the door.
And yet, for reasons Rey can’t pinpoint, the headmistress is still defending her.
“She’s already come all this way at such an ungodly hour. Just let the girl on the bus.”
The deputy huffs, knowing deep down even though she’s the lead that she doesn’t stand a chance against the headmistress. “Well, she’s already been paid for.” She lifts her clipboard and makes a checkmark next to what Rey assumes is her name on a list. She gives Rey one last look and mutters, “Don’t make it a habit this weekend, Miss Johnson,” before boarding the bus.
Rey waits until Holdo is out of earshot before sighing in relief. “Thank you, headmistress.”
Headmistress Organa winks at Rey. “Give your bag to the driver and let’s get you on the bus.”
Rey does just that, but not before unpacking her coat. It’s colder than hell outside right now and upstate Vermont is definitely going to be worse. She keeps her phone and her headphones with her too, planning to drown out any noise with music and doze off for an hour or two. As she follows Headmistress Organa onboard the bus, Rey finally checks her messages. There are thirteen new ones from Rose.
ROSE: Are u up?
ROSE: Rey?
ROSE: It’s 5:30. Are u on ur way?
ROSE: Pls tell me ur awake
ROSE: I stg Rey if ur still asleep…
ROSE: REY IT IS 5:40 U BETTER BE DRIVING HERE RIGHT NOW
ROSE: ANSWER ME DAMMIT OR WE’RE GOING TO LEAVE U HERE
ROSE: We’re boarding, if ur coming I’ll try and save u a seat
ROSE: It got taken. Now I’m stuck sitting next to that kid whose nose whistles
ROSE: Have I mentioned I’m going to kill u
ROSE: REY
ROSE: REY OMG
ROSE: U NEED TO GET HERE NOW UR NEVER GOING TO BELIEVE WHO IS COMING ON THE TRIP
Rey’s eyebrows knit in confusion at Rose’s last text. Only the seniors and chaperones are allowed on this trip, so they should know everyone that’s going. She types a reply:
REY: I just got here. I’m boarding now. Who r u talking about?
“Just a heads up dear, there’s only a couple of seats left,” Headmistress Organa explains as they climb the stairs, “and I’m sitting in the one next to the deputy, so you’ll have to take the one next to my son.”
Rey stops dead in her tracks, sure she misheard the headmistress, because there’s no way she just said her son is sitting on this bus right now and that Rey would be sitting next to him.
Her son that Rey has had a creepy crush on since her freshman year.
Her son that Rey has tried (and failed) to forget about since he graduated.
Her son that goes to Rey’s top choice school.
But just then, Rey’s phone buzzes in her hand. She lifts it and sees another text from Rose confirming she did not, in fact, hear the headmistress wrong.
ROSE: UMM BEN FREAKING SOLO. THE GUY YOU’VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH FOR FOUR YEARS. AND GUESS WHAT??? THERE’S AN OPEN SEAT NEXT TO HIM!!!!
Yeah, Rey is really wishing she would have just stayed asleep.