I have committed a sin by posting another story while working on others. I tried to resist but the lack of inspiration for them and the plot bunnies for this one were too strong.

Enjoy this new fic!

The first years are hard years. Much more than you know.

"No! No! No! No! No!"

Of all the days to sleep in, it had to be on the first day at Zootopia Law University. The night before, Judy Hopps had prepared accordingly so that she could arrive early for class. Packing her bag, laying out her clothes, and even setting an alarm clock, despite her habit of waking up early daily back at home.

Judy had gone to bed excited for the first day. The only thing she didn't count on was that for some unknown reason, her alarm failed to go off. As the rabbit opened her eyes, she squeaked in terror when seeing the time and jumped out of bed in a panic.

Twenty minutes before class! That can't be right!

Thankful for last night's preparation, she had enough time to brush her teeth, wash her head, and eat a carrot for breakfast. Throwing on her clothes and backpack, she ran to her bicycle outside, only to hear that blasted alarm ring while leaving.

Oh now you decide to go off!

The doe furiously pedaled from her dorm, avoiding other students and obstacles, until the building was in sight. There, Judy secured her bike to the rack and ran for her life, not even bothering to check the time without losing precious seconds.

While running through the halls and down the stairs to the classroom, she remembered the critical advice from former students about the professor that she never had to consider until today.

Be. On. Time.

Judy finally arrived at the classroom and halted in front of the door. She opened the knob for small mammals such as herself and poked her head inside. Larger mammals blocked her view, forcing her to enter. Judging by the ongoing conversations, it appeared that the professor has yet to arrive. To confirm her hopes, Judy moved to the aisle where she saw the front of the room and then felt overwhelming relief. The area had a podium, a desk, a chalkboard, and a drawer. All were separated from the rest of the classroom by a wooden wall. Most importantly, no one was there.

Judy happily descended the aisle to her designated seat. She spotted the empty high chair down in the front row for small mammals that gave her a clear view of the chalkboard. Her ears picked up the sound of a door opening to her right, and the doe turned to see a male Cape Buffalo entering the room. He wore a black suit, pants, bowtie, and a white shirt while carrying books in his hooves. Recognizing him as the professor, she panicked and rushed to her seat. The panic also caused her to stumble while sitting down and hastily unpack her belongings.

Her actions did not go unnoticed by the professor, but he chose to ignore it. The Cape Buffalo walked behind the wooden wall and placed his books on the podium. He removed a folded sheet from between them and moved to the drawer, placing the sheet down on top. He unfolded it to reveal the seating chart for the class, listing the names of the students and their pictures. The professor glanced at the disorganized Judy before putting on his reading glasses. He looked down at the seating chart and placed his hoof on the picture of a smiling, gray bunny.

"Miss Hopps," A deep booming voice sounded.

Judy snapped her head to the front of the classroom and found the Cape Buffalo looking at her. Still in her panicked state, the gesture made her feel uneasy. "Yes, Professor Bogo?"

Why did he have to call on me?

He removed his glasses and leaned forward with his hooves on the wooden wall. "Will you recite the facts of the case Hogkins v. McGrizzly?"

Judy froze at the question. She had reviewed the material but never expected to go into the specifics on the first day. All that confidence the doe came in with this morning had vanished instantly. She wanted to answer, but she risked embarrassing herself before the professor and the entire class.

"You are Miss Hopps. Am I correct?" Bogo asked again after getting no reply from her.

"Yes, my name is Hopps." Judy quickly replied, not noticing the other students raising the arms to answer the question.

"Miss Hopps, I cannot hear you properly from where you are sitting. Please speak up."

"Yes, my name is Hopps." She answered louder.

"Good. Will you stand so that the class can understand you more clearly?"

Judy quietly and slowly stood on the chair. The display of the small rabbit among the larger mammals appeared comical, but the professor's presence kept the students silent.

"Now," Bogo continued "Please give us the facts of the case. Fill the classroom with your intelligence."

Judy bit her lip as she desperately tried thinking of ways to avoid the inevitable. But there was nothing she could do. The rabbit was simply unprepared for class. "I haven't read the case."

Bogo raised an eyebrow at the answer. "You must have known that the class assignments for the first day were posted online."

It would be posted...

It hadn't crossed her mind to check for assignments when preparing for the first day. She vowed to do so for the other classes later on to avoid the same mistake. "No, sir."

"So you assume that the first class would be an introduction to the course."

The bunny reluctantly nodded, pushing herself through the consequences. "Yes, sir."

"Then I will make this point clear not just to you, but to everyone else here also." Bogo looked around the room to make sure he had their attention. "You never assume anything in my classroom. That goes for assignments, discussions, and exams."

Defeated, Judy went to sit back down when Bogo called her name again.

"Now Miss Hopps, I will be lenient this one time since it is the first day. I will give you the facts of the case," Bogo walked to the podium. "Hogkins v. McGrizzly is a case in Contract Law, the subject of this course. A bear cub burned his paw from touching an electric wire. A pig doctor offered to perform a skin graft while also guaranteeing that he would fully restore it."

Judy listened intently to Bogo while the rest of the students began taking notes.

"He removed a piece of skin from the cub's chest and grafted it onto his paw. Instead of producing a healthy paw, the operation failed to restore it properly and worsened the injury. Now Miss Hopps, what damages should the doctor pay the boy?"

Judy opened her mouth to speak, but in the short amount she was given, no words came out. The other students raised their paws once again to answer the question.

Bogo sighed deeply. "Alright, let's try again. What did the doctor promise?"

Judy cleared her throat, ready to answer this time. "The doctor promised to restore the cub's paw."

"And what was the result?"

"The paw was much worse than before the operation."

"So, the doctor failed to fulfill the promise, and the boy suffered as a result. How should the court measure the damages?"

Judy nervously gulped as she quickly formed an answer in her head. "The doctor should pay the difference between the promise and the result." She knew it was an inadequate answer. She just hoped it was satisfactory.

"You may sit down now, Miss Hopps."

Feeling humiliated, Judy sat back into her seat, ears falling behind her head and mouth hanging open. She spent the remainder of the class staring vacantly at the front as Bogo continued to ask other students about various cases. Her mind mulled over the lack of preparation and coherence, and she felt sick to her stomach. She was unaware of the looks of pity from her classmates.

When Bogo ended the class, Judy waited until everyone else left to avoid being trampled. Once alone, the doe immediately ran out in search of the nearest bathroom, ignoring the mammals in the halls. When she finally found one, the bunny busted through the door and into the nearest stall, proceeding to drop her backpack on the floor and empty her stomach of her breakfast. A few agonizing minutes later, she finally calmed down enough to gather her thoughts.

Good job, Judy. You managed to make a fool of yourself on the first day of class. And on your first year of law school no less. A new record.

Judy flushed her breakfast down the toilet, trying to not let the morning class flush down her dreams of becoming a lawyer. The doe sighed deeply as she gathered her bag and washed her paws and face at the sink.

This is going to be a long year.

First and foremost, do not expect frequent updates with this. Mainly because I'm an engineering student and I'm doing this out of curiosity. Updates will come only when I hit roadblocks with the other two.

Now for the background. The fic is inspired from The Paper Chase, a novel that came out in 1971 that was later adapted into a movie in 1973 and a tv series that ran from 1978-1979 and 1983-1986. Both explore a law student's adventures and endeavors in Harvard Law School. Even though it's about law school, it still has some relevant things to the college experience. At least from my viewings.

Here's to Judy's success in contract law!