For precisely 6 years Ben Solo had been teaching sophomores, juniors and seniors alike at Mishawaka High School.

He came to know a majority of the students after having them year after year. Most newcomers he recognized simply by looking at their last name on his roster; whether he knew them by their active participation in school sports or had taught a sibling of theirs in the past.

It seemed like a lot of names and faces to remember (only 500), but for Ben it came to be as easy as memorizing the numbers of his social security and driver's license. He was good at remembering faces and even better at pinpointing those that would give him problems in class intentionally, segregating them from the students that cared enough to learn about Agricultural Science.

His personal favorites were the jocks and cheerleaders, the ones who always believed that they could pass the class just by showing up, thinking it to be a subject that involved discussions merely about corn and wheat.

Candidly they weren't that far off, but there was so much more to the topic than just differentiating seeds and showing how they were planted. There were also opportunities to participate in 4-H shows at the local county fair.

Ben knew that based on first-hand experience that the class also revolved around equestrians and livestock. His parents raised Morgan thoroughbreds as show horses for years on their 14-acre ranch, roughly 10 miles from Notre Dame's campus. That was until his father had been forced into early retirement.

Anyhow, that topic was a bit of a sore spot. He never cared to enlighten his students about that right off the bat; most of them typically requested to transfer to another subject, like Study Hall, after suffering his lectures about crops and dirt for a few weeks.

Those who were brave enough to stay always assumed that bribing him was the next best route to take when attempting to earn their A in class. Generally they were the ones who fell asleep during lectures – no, 'accidentally fell asleep' is what they would say. Not that he could blame them, really, but it was an excuse that he very rarely allowed to slide by.

If having girls shove their tits in his face wasn't enough to earn their way out of detention, they begrudgingly would revert to saying something like, 'I'm sorry, Professor. I'd hate to be punished for my mistake.'

He would pause and consider them momentarily as they batted their eyelashes excessively, and lavish in watching their faces fall when they'd still earn a trip to after-school detention. Generally he had them needlessly clean the farming tools and equipment in the Ag's storage shed.

He anticipated the current school year to be no different than those in the past. He took a quick glance over the fourth period roster before the hour and recognized several of the names from the year prior while a few were newer. Out of a class of 15 he knew a majority of them wouldn't be an issue. That was until he came upon one name that stuck out from the rest.

Rey Kanata.

The moment Ben saw her walk into his classroom, appearing to be lost in a daze, he considered himself doomed on the spot. He was happy for the t-shirt underneath his plaid button-up to hide the fact that he was sweating anxiously and his palms were embarrassingly clammy.

There was an aura around her that made him instantly want to know everything about her that he didn't know already; things that went beyond the subtle trail of freckles dabbling her subtly bronzed cheeks and over her nose when she took the seat next to him, and that her eyes were a beautiful shade of hazel.

When she told him her name, it rolled off his muted tongue pleasantly, sweet like honey. Her British accent played like music to his ears.

That feisty gleam in her eye when she inadvertently insulted him was already enough to win his heart. Nobody ever dared to be up front with him to his face – intentionally or not. Her indirect slur should've been more than enough cause to send her directly to detention. With anyone else, he most assuredly would've.

He did consider having her stay after school just so he could have the chance to talk to her, but that only made the reality of the situation that much worse. Rey was his student and, unfortunately, he was her teacher for the longest period of the day: just enough to make him suffer and pine over how badly he wanted to be one of the students sitting next to her that she initially portrayed him to be.

Christ, how old is she even? 17? 18? He hoped for the latter of the two, though it wasn't likely to help him out of his significant momentary crisis.

Still, it wasn't enough to deter him from his mission of getting her to talk within the remaining 10 minutes before class dismissed for lunch, and she would be gone afterwards for the remainder of the day.

It was harmless – right? Because that's what students typically did when teachers stared at them imploringly for minutes on end.

It was definitely wrong for him to be jealous of Rey's seat when she would slink further into it...

What in the hell is wrong with you?

He was a fucking professional that was now chiding himself over wanting to be an inanimate object that she was sitting on – she being a student. He resorted to pacing across the front of seven rows of desks with his arms loosely crossed, hoping that it appeared to be less obvious that he was giving two lectures instead of one.

"Without looking at your textbook," he asked openly, "who can name me the three classifications of soil?"

He watched the hands raise like a broad ripple over the classroom, though only one made him smile inwardly and sigh that she'd relieved him of anticipation. He paused in front of the row to the right of her desk when he was finally able to say her name aloud since roll call, eyeing her expectantly.

"Rey."

It took a moment for Rey to realize that he'd called her; even if it was obvious that she was the only girl present with the name. She lowered her hand hesitantly, straightening her shoulders and clearing her throat before speaking the answer she knew to be correct.

"Loam, clay and sand."

Ben nodded, "Very good." He began to stroll casually towards her, deciding to challenge her a little further. "Now, which is the better of the three?"

Rey chewed her bottom lip in thought, scoffing at her mechanical pencil that she was twirling in three fingers with both hands.

"Loam," she replied tentatively.

"Why?"

Rey took a breath, risking a glance at Ben to see that he was staring down at her intensely, precisely in front of her desk. She could see the sleeves of his shirt clinging to his arms, enhancing the bulging muscles of his biceps. She wondered what it would be like to touch those arms.

"Because," she swallowed, "unlike clay and sand, loam is rich in air pockets and nutrients. It enables it to retain moisture without being bogged down."

Ben nodded again.

"Well done, Miss Kanata," he replied. He offered her a barely noticeable smirk prior to directing his attention to the rest of the class. "We'll be heading out to the greenhouse tomorrow to get a head start on our annual class experiment. Typically, we do this later in the semester, but I'd like to change things up a bit this year."

His brows puckered when he glanced down at the watch hugging his wrist and frowned. "You're all free to go."

The class immediately erupted with anxious chatter that had long been held confined. Rey heaved a sigh, having survived her first day in a class that she'd expected to go entirely different than she originally thought.

She gathered the newly acquired textbook along with the trapper-keeper and notebook in her arms. She intended to make a quick exit as she rose from her seat, flinching as she nearly walked straight into Ben's bulky form. Her neck arched back, giving him a wide-eyed look in surprise.

"So, not only are you the first to arrive to class, but you're also the last to leave," he teased. "Should I feel privileged, or is that reaching a bit?"

Rey snorted lightheartedly, hugging the items in her grasp flush against her chest. "The latter. Definitely."

Ben chuckled. "You actually impressed me quite a bit today, Miss Kanata. I guess you were pretty eager to learn about the beneficial types of soil."

Rey genuinely laughed at that, glancing down at her feet. "Should I feel privileged, then, that I managed to satisfy the hardest teacher to impress in school?"

He gave her a knowing look, his eyes trailing over her face like he was memorizing Rey's every feature. "Maybe."

She shouldn't have blushed, but Rey couldn't stop the shade of pink from powdering her cheeks. Her shoulders angled as she turned to move past him in the row that suddenly felt too constricting. "Well, no offense, but my grade kinda depends on it. I have no choice."

Ben shrugged, pretending to not be hurt over the remark. He folded his arms whilst slowly trailing after her. "I guess, if push comes to shove, there's always Study Hall or Home Ec. Easy A classes from what I've been told."

She paused in front of the first two rows of desks, cocking her head whilst turning to face him. "Is that you speaking from experience with past students?"

Again, he shrugged. "Maybe."

Rey found it hard to stop her eyes from meeting his imploring gaze. The way he spoke to her now, precisely when they were alone, was entirely different than his uptight demeanor in class. She shifted her weight on the soles of her shoes, licking her lips in thought.

"About that thing – you know – what I said earlier..." she said with a casual wave of her hand.

Why is it so hard to not sound like a babbling idiot with him? "I am so, so sorry for what I said."

He gave her a look that was meant to be goading. "Oh, you mean earlier when you called me a prick?"

"I didn't know it was you! Why didn't you say something?"

Ben chuckled, finding it amusing how easy she was to get riled up. "Would it have changed your opinion about me if I would've?"

Yes. "I don't know," she shrugged, eyeing him pensively. "You can be pretty intense at times, though."

Ben cocked his head at her slightly, considering her whilst nervously shoving his hands into his front pockets. Her opinion of him really shouldn't have mattered. It never did with anyone else. "Should I take that as a good or bad thing?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, toeing her shoe on the tile. "I haven't decided yet."

He should've just left it at that. It would've been the more professional and obvious thing to do. Instead, the better half of his reasoning faltered when he smiled at her crookedly, his words betraying every red flag waving in his mind. "I guess I better try a little harder, then."

The corners of her lips quirked into a smile as Rey chewed her bottom lip, fingering the ridges of her trapper-keeper's zipper. Neither had been certain as to how long they stood staring at one another: a few seconds or minutes, perhaps? She blinked when Ben knowingly cleared his throat.

"You better go," he urged gently with a hint of regret in his voice. "Will you be here early tomorrow, or should I expect you to show up with the rest of the herd?"

It was Rey's turn to give him a teasing glare.

"I'll think on it," she replied whilst turning to leave, saying her final words over her shoulder. "Good luck with the rest of your classes, Mr. Solo."

Ben. He considered correcting her, but for once his brain managed to resist the tightness in his chest. "You too, Rey."

**

By the time Rey managed to make the trek from the Ag hall to her locker, and then to the commons area where the students gathered for lunch, there was hardly enough of a lunch line to call it 'a line.' It gave her more than enough time to gather her initial thoughts about a certain agriculture teacher.

Was Mr. Solo actually flirting with her? Or was he simply being nice?

She immediately ruled out the factor that he had the ability to play nice with all of his students when his vile reputation seemed to catch up with him from time to time during class. She was rather keen on his reactions when students had the gall to speak out while he was in the middle of a lecture.

She noticed how he would pace, clenching his fists behind his back, like it was taking every ounce of his composure not to lash out at the class as a whole. Surprisingly, he kept his wits together and remained calm. Not that she blamed him, either. It was rude of them and rather annoying, to say the least, even if most of the lecture had been Mr. Solo talking dirty talk.

Literally, it was about dirt for an entire 45 minutes, but Rey also knew that her grade depended on listening to such talk. Besides, it wasn't so bad listening to him...

She surpassed the questionable entrees that resembled thrown-together piles of mush and went for the salad bar. Begrudgingly, because it was significantly more expensive and against her usual eating habits, but Rey was desperate. She was surprised that her stomach hadn't started to eat itself yet.

By the time she found Finn sitting at a rounded table in the far corner of the commons with his friends, she had approximately 15 minutes left of the original 35-minute lunch period to gag down the pile of greens in her bowl.

Finn merrily introduced her to the few friends that were with him. He started with Poe Dameron, the typical city boy who was captain of the school's football team. He was undeniably attractive to say the least and one that noticeably attempted to take advantage of every opportunity that he could to talk to her.

There was also Rose Tico: a very petite girl with longish dark hair and black-rimmed glasses. Her smile stretched from her lips all the way to her dark eyes with a laugh that could be heard in a straight shot across the school.

Finally, he introduced Dopheld Mitaka, whom they simply referred to as 'Mitaka' – for obvious reasons. Rey tried not to laugh at his name because he was nice when he actually decided to talk. He had short dark hair with a shaky voice, like he was constantly nervous, to go along with the boyish features of his face. She perceived him to be one that, unfortunately, got picked on a lot.

"So how was Solo's class today?" Finn asked, genuinely curious. "Did he make anyone cry?"

"No, actually," Rey replied, chuckling in remembrance. "But I may have accidentally called him a prick to his face."

Everyone at the table went silent, staring at her with pupils blown wide. Well, everyone except for Poe; he laughed.

"From what I've heard about the guy, it seems the asshole finally had it coming to him," Poe remarked. "Job well done, Rey."

"Yeah," Rose said slowly, in momentary disbelief. "But – how are you not sitting in detention right now? From what I've heard, Solo never lets anyone bypass detention. Like – ever!"

"I didn't know it was him at first. I think he knew that also," Rey replied exasperatedly, ready to drop the subject at this point. "Besides," she shrugged whilst gathering a pile of greens on her fork, "he's not really that bad."

Poe snorted.

"Damn, Rey," Finn pouted. "I thought we were friends! That makes you the official founding member of the Solo Defense Team."

Rey rolled her eyes, shoving the leaves of lettuce into her mouth. The sound of her teeth grinding up the crispy leaves was enough to momentarily drown out the bemused chatter of her newly proclaimed friends, along with the aid of the occasional boisterous laughter from students that were still occupying the commons room.

"I promise," Poe declared sincerely, placing a comforting hand on Finn's shoulder, "pizza and beer will make everything better. My parents might be going out of town this weekend, so possible party at my place."

"Dude, the last time I partied at your place I couldn't remember shit the day after," Finn accused, shrugging his shoulder dramatically to remove Poe's hand. "The fact that I woke up sleeping in your neighbor's backyard tent with my pants wrapped around my waist still remains an unsolved mystery to this day."

Rose nodded, scrunching her nose up along with her lips in remembrance. "Sounds about average. At least for you it is."

Finn blinked, giving Rose a long, scrutinizing look with knitted brows. "Wait, what's average?"

"She's probably talking about the time where you insisted that you go streaking through the neighborhood last Thanksgiving making turkey calls," Mitaka finally remarked with a horrible attempt at keeping a straight face.

Finn and Poe burst into laughter at that, being nearly close to tears when they finally caught their breath several moments later.

Rey snorted, nearly spewing chocolate milk from her nose at her failed attempt to stifle a laugh. "You did what?" she gasped, gazing imploringly at Finn for him to enlighten her on the subject.

"Oh yeah," Poe commented, turning his attention momentarily towards Rey. "You'll have to come this weekend if you can. It's a fun time, especially when Finn is there."

Rey nodded apprehensively. "Sure. I might be able to."

Poe flashed a beaming grin in response. She smiled back nicely to hide the grimace of her gut feeling alerting her that there was something about him that seemed unsettling. She tried to shrug it off – for everyone's sake that was present.

"You know – you do throw some fun-ass parties, and I like you for that," Finn said directly to Poe. "But I also hate you for it."

Poe scoffed, leaning back in his chair with arms crossed behind his head. "I hate you, but I love you. How am I supposed to know what to do with that information?"

"I don't love you," Finn stated frankly with a goading smirk. "But I'm sure Jessika does."

Poe rolled his eyes, sighing a little more dramatically than necessary. "Let the past die, dude. Please, don't bring her up."

Rey barely managed to shove the last bite of food into her mouth when the bell rang, marking the end of fourth period. She fell in step with everyone as they stood from the table, parting to go their separate ways and saying their 'see ya laters' as they went to their designated classrooms.

Rose, on the other hand, accompanied her to the next class as they shared Trigonometry together. That was also after making a quick stop to Rey's locker to grab her necessary supplies.

"So," Rose said accusingly with a quirked brow, "care to enlighten me a little more on Mr. Solo?"

Rey scoffed, giving her a false look of confusion as she grabbed her trapper-keeper and designated notebook from the locker's bottom shelf. Rose seemed nice, but Rey wasn't about to rattle on with details that could be both troublesome to her and the teacher in question.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied.

Rose eyed her knowingly, smirking. "Uh huh, well, when you're ready I would love to know the juicy details."

Rey took a breath whilst slamming her locker's door shut. "I swear, there's absolutely nothing that's even remotely juicy to report." Again, it was a lie.

Rose snorted. "The look on your face when you talked about him at lunch was a dead giveaway, but I understand. But just so you know, it is okay to have a crush on a teacher."

Rey pondered her words. This – feeling – that Rose suggested felt like more than just the usual butterflies of a crush. It was definitely something more.