Chapter 2
Clarke wasn’t sure if she could fight off the impending headache. Octavia seemed to have rage in her eyes (which didn’t really surprise her), but what was really getting her was the fact that Octavia seemed to be almost upset that Clarke was there. She tried to peek around her friend to look at the girl on the stage, but Octavia was trying everything she could to get Clarke to meet her eyes.
“Clarke.”
The blonde looked to Octavia; despite them being the same height she was really intimidating when she wanted to be. “Wallace said I needed another elective to graduate.”
“Why couldn’t you of just taken drawing again?”
“Tried that- he spewed some bs about how they want their students to ‘broaden their horizons’ and all that jazz. It was either this, culinary, or woodshop.” Clarke explained, crossing her arms.
“And why didn’t you take either of those?”
“Octavia, I can barely make mac and cheese without messing something up.”
“So? Why did you have to pick drama of all things?!”
Clarke adjusted her bag and turned her attention away from Octavia. She was looking for that girl from earlier, Lexa, but she wasn’t on the stage. Her eyes shot around the room, looking for the girl, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Hello? Earth to Clarke!”
She looked back at Octavia.
“What is the big deal with me being here?” She asked, noticing the way that Octavia’s eyes went from accusing to worried. Her friend was hiding something.
“Nothing, just forget it. Don’t try and screw this up, Clarke.” Octavia huffed, walking away from the blonde. When she thought that she could finally find the girl from earlier the bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch. Maybe now she could actually find her.
She was one of the last people to leave the classroom, not really having anyone to meet up with because she was almost certain she had lunch with her friends. She made a mental note to talk to Octavia about their little encounter in the drama room earlier, preferably when they weren’t around Bellamy and Raven. If Clarke didn’t know about the girl taking drama, she was almost certain that Bellamy and Raven didn’t know either. She put her headphones in and walked alone in the hallway, taking her time as she made her way to the lunch room. The sounds of Halsey and Maroon 5 filled her ears as she walked, her eyes focusing on everything but what was in front of her. She didn’t care to stop and talk with other people; she just wanted to move through the day with ease (and hopefully find that girl from earlier).
She couldn’t describe it. The girl- Lexa- was new, and that wasn’t even the thing that intrigued her. It wasn’t the fact that Lexa seemed to pay attention better than she ever could in class, it wasn’t that Lexa didn’t seem to have a lot of friends. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Clarke was drawn to her; something that had never happened before.
As she was lost in her thoughts she wasn’t looking where she was going, and in result she ended up walking face-first into an open locker. She shouted profanities and her hands shot to her face, cupping her injured nose in her hands. Yanking her headphones from her ears she looked up at the perpetrator and her eyes widened at who the locker belonged to.
“Are you okay?” Lexa asked, an eyebrow raised. She had a book in her hand and her backpack in the other- obviously switching out her books from the day. Her hair was pushed over one shoulder but that wasn’t what Clarke was focusing on- instead it was the very tall, intimidating male next to her.
“Uh.. Uh yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Clarke stammered, her eyes flicking between Lexa and the guy.
“I’ll see you after lunch, Lex.” The guy stated stiffly, then proceeded to walk away from the two of them.
Clake removed her hand from her face and bit her lip- her nose was bleeding.
“You don’t look okay.”
Blue eyes glanced up to see concerned green ones looking at her and she bit her lip just a little bit harder. Whoever this person really was.. She seemed like someone Clarke wanted to get to know.
“Just a little bit of bruising.. I’ll be alright. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”
Lexa nodded and shut her locker, not believing what Clarke was saying. She grabbed the blonde’s arm and dragged her to the nearest bathroom, then grabbed a bunch of tissues to help stop the bleeding coming from Clarke’s nose. Clarke couldn’t help but notice how careful the girl was being.
“You know you really don’t have to do this- I’ve handled worse before. Like.. a lot worse. You should've seen the size of the bruise I got when I got a basketball to the face last year.” Clarke began to ramble as Lexa moved closer. “Like.. woah. I couldn’t look out of my right eye for weeks. The girls from Blue Cliff are really.. Really brutal.” She trailed off, swallowing thickly as Lexa gently pushed her head back, making her look at the brunette at an angle. Clarke couldn’t concentrate- she blamed it on the fact that the girl was touching her. What was happening? She never let a girl get to her head like this.
“You talk a lot- is that why Anya hates you?” Lexa asked, dabbing at Clarke’s nose. The white tissue turned quickly to red and Clarke wondered just how bad the nosebleed really was.
“I didn’t even know who Anya was before today.” Clarke stated, closing her eyes for a moment. “Let’s just say I’ve got kind of the reputation around here- I blame Bellamy.”
“Bellamy?”
“He’s an idiot, but my best friend. His sister, Octavia, is in our drama class.”
“So.. Octavia is your friend? She seemed rather upset that you were in that class.”
Clarke sighed and opened her eyes. She had noticed that Octavia was upset, but once again, she didn’t know why. She didn’t even know that Octavia was interested in drama- or maybe that wasn’t even the case at all.
“Yeah.. I know. Don’t know why.”
Lexa hummed and Clarke had a feeling that conversation wasn’t going to last much longer than that. When her nose was cleaned up and had stopped bleeding Lexa let Clarke stand up straight, despite Clarke feeling a little dizzy from the impact of hitting the locker.
“I’m uh.. Sorry that I made you late for class.” Clarke apologized, adjusting her bag strap as her eyes fell on the tiled ground of the bathroom floor.
“You didn’t. I’ve got A lunch.” Lexa explained and pulled on her own backpack, then began to walk out of the room.
“Wait! Uh- do you maybe want to sit with me at lunch, then? I know you’re new and all, and you probably don’t have that many friends so like- yeah. Octavia will be there?” Clarke tried, but from the way Lexa chuckled at her she had a feeling that she was about to be turned down.
“We’ll see, Clarke.” With that, Lexa sent her a wink (a freaking wink) and left the bathroom, leaving Clarke in a small pile of damp, red tissues and her emotions that seemed to have lost all control of themselves.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After what happened in the bathroom, all confidence Clarke had was gone. She went through the motions of getting lunch from the line and sat down at her usual table with Bellamy, Octavia, and Raven, but this year they were joined by a few of their other friends, Jasper, Monty, and Bellamy’s girlfriend, Gina. She slumped down into the empty seat between Monty and Bellamy, focusing on nothing and everything in particular. Her eyes scanned the lunchroom, through various people that she didn’t care about, hoping to see where Lexa was sitting. Maybe she could get a reaction out of the girl or something. But she didn’t see her anywhere.
“So- what did Wallace want this morning?” Bellamy asked, nudging her arm to get her attention.
“Oh- what? Uh, nothing. Need another elective, can’t take drawing, yadda yadda yadda.” Clarke mumbled, taking small bites of her food. She didn’t really have an appetite.
“Wait- you can’t take drawing this year? That sucks, C. I know you wanted to take it again.” Monty chimed in, shaking his head. His mother was the drawing teacher, so despite what classes he took he was always allowed in the drawing classroom.
Monty, although not as close to her as the main three, was a close friend of Clarke’s since their freshman year of high school. He and Clarke had been project partners in biology and she helped Monty get his first A of the year because she knew everything about the class before the class even began. Monty was on the robotics team with Raven and Jasper, but when it came down to it Monty was like the brother she never had. They had a lot of interests, and it was Monty that she confided in her freshman year when her father passed. He had sat with her at lunch in his mother’s classroom, allowing her to cry without being seen by anyone else, and they had spent the entire half hour just painting various things that they were feeling. They had become closer ever since, even if they didn’t hang out a lot outside of school.
“It’s whatever. I got put in drama.”
“Drama? Really? Geez.. What a stupid class.” Clarke furrowed her brow when it was Octavia who said that. She sent the girl a questioning look, but earned nothing in response.
“Yeah- it really is. But it’s whatever- I just gotta deal with it so I can graduate.” The blonde shrugged and finished what she could of her food before she stood up to throw it away. She wanted to go and wander the hallways just to be able to think, but she chose against it and went to sit with her friends.
“Are you gonna be able to drive us home later or do you have practice?” Raven asked Bellamy from her spot across from him.
“I’ve got practice but I’ll give you my keys- I wasn’t thinking this morning.”
“Are you ever thinking, Bell?” Octavia added.
“Do you ever say anything that isn’t insulting?”
“Yeah- but what’s the fun of having a big brother if I can’t tease the hell out of him?”
Clarke shook her head and drowned out her friend’s thoughts. She thought back to earlier, when she had actually had a conversation with someone that wasn’t one of her friends, and how… nice, it felt. Talking to Lexa felt almost normal, like she had known the girl almost as long as Octavia and Bellamy. Sure, she might of made a fool of herself by running into the girl's locker and stammering like an idiot but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was still intrigued by Lexa, and she couldn’t figure out why.
When lunch came to an end Clarke grabbed the loop of Octavia’s backpack, letting the girl know that she wanted to talk. She let Octavia say goodbye to Raven and allowed their friends to walk away before she started walking with Octavia, the girl remaining quiet for most of the time.
“What was that, O?” Clarke asked, furrowing her brow in concern as she looked at Octavia.
“They don’t know I’m in drama.”
“That much is obvious.”
“Cut the sarcasm. It’s.. Not cool, alright? Being in drama, I mean. Most of those guys get picked on because it’s like.. Lower than the band geeks most of the time but.. I don’t know. I like it in there. I like how it feels to be around people that are interested in the same things that I am.” Octavia explained.
“Gee, thanks O. Glad to know that our friendship means so much to you.”
“You know what I mean! You and Bellamy are into sports, Raven, Jasper and Monty are all into robotics.. But here I am, the drama nerd that’s all alone.” Octavia huffed and crossed her arms, and Clarke swore that in that moment Octavia reminded her of a small puppy that had been kicked.
“Octavia, you know that you could tell them, right? Yeah- I know they’ll probably tease you about it but hey, when have you ever really let them tease you about anything? If you like drama, then at least share it with Raven like she shares robotics with you. I’m sure it’ll make her fall even more in love with you.” Clarke explained, placing a hand on Octavia’s shoulder. She hated seeing her friend beat herself up over something that seemed so silly.
“Are you sure she won’t make fun of me?”
“Octavia. The girl finds joy in putting together circuit boards and talking to robots that aren’t even named Siri. I’m sure she’ll love the fact that you like being on stage as someone else, because it’s your passion. You don’t love her any less because she makes robots, do you?”
Octavia shook her head.
“Then who’s to say that she’ll stop loving you because you like to act?”
Octavia sighed. “I guess you’re right.” She chewed her lip and looked down at the ground, taking a deep breath. “I’ll talk to her. But.. aside that point, what’s going on with you and new girl?”
“What- Lexa?”
“Yeah. Do you know her?”
Clarke shook her head. “No, I don’t. But there’s something about her- I’m just.. I don’t know. Drawn to her. Like.. Like something about her just makes me want to know more. Like a good book, or a painting that I can’t figure out. Like.. Like how in Pretty Little Liars, how we kept watching to figure out who A is.”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “It sounds like you’ve got a crush, Clarke.”
“I don’t even know her enough to have a crush on her.”
“That didn’t stop you from dating Finn.”
Clarke shuddered and shook her head. “Please, don’t bring him up.”
“All I’m saying is that you should talk to her. Get to know her, have a decent conversation that doesn’t involve you talking about how stupid you think drama is.” Octavia suggested, making them stop at her locker.
Clarke thought about it for a moment, mostly if she should tell Octavia about the small moment that she and Lexa had in the bathroom. It would get a laugh out of her, that was for sure, but she wouldn’t doubt it if Octavia would mock her about the fact that she A.) ran into a locker, and B.) rambled on in front of the girl who's said locker she ran into.
“We actually already have. I uh.. Ran into her locker. And she helped me in the bathroom.”
“Geez, Griffin. You move fast.”
“Not like that! God- why do I think it’s a good idea to tell you these things?” Clarke asked, resting her head against the cool metal of the lockers. “Do you think I should try talking to her again?”
“Give it a while. Take things slow- I know you probably don’t know the meaning of that word but it means that you don’t go fast.”
Clarke huffed and flipped off Octavia, who only laughed as she walked away from her brooding friend. “Have fun, Clarke!”