Chapter 6
Clarke woke up Friday morning with a pounding headache that she knew was only brought on by nerves. For someone who didn’t claim to care about drama at all, she was both excited and nervous to find out about the cast list. It was a new experience, something she had never done before and the fact that she was actually looking forward to seeing if she got the part or not was both scaring her and exciting her. After getting everything ready for the day she headed downstairs, not surprised to see her friends already gathering in the kitchen while her mother made breakfast.
“There she is- you ready for tonight?” Bellamy asked, an apple in his hand. Clarke furrowed her brow but took in his appearance, then her eyes widened.
“Shit- your game is tonight, isn’t it?” Clarke asked, already knowing the answer. In her midst of nerves for the audition she had completely forgot about Bellamy’s game. It wasn’t the first game of the year, but it was the last game that Bellamy would be starting in before homecoming and it meant a lot to him.
Bellamy wasn’t the best football player in the world- he was better at lacrosse or basketball or soccer because it was something that both he and Clarke played; something that they could help each other get better at. Football was the one sport that Clarke couldn’t play with him and it always took a toll on him, but she tried her best to always cheer him on at the games she could attend.
“Did you really forget?” He asked.
“Sorry Bell- my mind is all over the place lately.” Clarke explained, her voice soft. She walked over to the cabinet above the sink and pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen, popping a few into her mouth before she made a plate of her mother’s pancakes. “Starts at seven, right?”
“You know it. Gina said she’d meet up with you guys at the gate. Hurry up- you woke up late and we gotta get going. O and Raven are already in the truck.”
Clarke sighed and quickly finished her breakfast and placed her plate in the sink before she gave her mom a hug goodbye and followed Bellamy out to the truck. To no surprise, Octavia and Raven were in the backseat, but luckily they weren’t engaged in a heated liplock this time. She slid into the front seat next to her friend and placed her backpack on the floor between her legs, and instead of engaging in conversation with the other three, she found herself looking outside as the trees past. She hadn’t slept well the past night, and she was unsure if it was nerves or nightmares or what.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when Bellamy nudged her arm, giving her a look of concern. “Everything okay, C?”
Clarke nodded and gave him a half smile. “Didn’t sleep very well last night.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure- maybe it’s just nerves or something.” Clarke explained, running a hand through her hair. In her haste to get ready she had apparently forgotten to comb her hair, so she rifled through Bellamy’s glove department for the spare snapback she always found in there specifically for this reason. He was always prepared for his girls- as he liked to say.
“What are you nervous about? The game?”
“No, you idiot. The cast list goes up today. Although- I am a little surprised as to why she’s nervous about that.. I thought you hated drama, C.” Octavia suggested, leaning between the seats. She wasn’t afraid of being open about drama with Bellamy anymore- she had told her brother the day she told Raven.
“I think she’s more nervous about the amount of time she’ll potentially get to spend with Lexa if she gets the part. Drama kids always spend a lot of time together.” Raven stated from the backseat and Clarke’s cheeks went red.
“That is not why I’m nervous.”
“Your blush and the way you were in drama yesterday says otherwise. I know you got her numbers, C.” Octavia smirked, patting Clarke’s shoulder before leaning back in the seat.
Clarke found herself shaking her head. “You’re incredulous.”
“Incredible? Yeah, I know.”
The blonde glared at Octavia over her shoulder.
“Look- all I’m saying is that I see the way you get around her and you’re more nervous than Bell at a free throw.”
“Hey!”
“Well it’s true. You get this stupid little smile on your face after you talk to her and you barely talk to her. It’s sickening. And it’s about damn time you do something about it so I’m glad you finally got the balls to do so.”
Clarke’s glare turned into a smile. “...Thanks Octavia.”
“No problem. Just remember to mention me in your wedding vows.”
The glare returned quite quickly after that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Idle hands fumbled with the combination on her locker and she was getting so frustrated that when it finally opened, she huffed in exasperation. Her books felt like they weighed fifty pounds each and she couldn’t wait to be rid of them for the day. She blamed it on her restlessness the night before, which probably was the actual reason why. She couldn’t stop her excitement for the cast list.
“Juliet, oh Juliet. For what do I owe this pleasure of such a fair maiden?”
Lexa looked up to see none other than John Murphy, one of the Romeo’s that she had met the night before while doing chemistry reads. She had thought that he seemed quite self-centered the day before; only doing things to further his own success and it was almost annoying if she had to admit it.
“The list hasn’t been posted, John. We don’t know who’s Romeo or Juliet.” Lexa countered, rolling her eyes as she placed her books into her locker, and pulled out the ones she’d need for her first few classes.
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. You see, I happen to be close with fellow auditionee Wells Jaha, and he claims that he’s gotten his hands on the list a few hours early. Perks of being TA for third hour drama, I guess. Anyway,” he glanced around to make sure people weren’t eavesdropping before he stepped closer, tilting his head down. “He told me that it’s highly likely that you and I will be Arkadia High’s Romeo and Juliet.”
“You’re full of yourself, John.”
“I prefer Murphy, actually.”
“Whatever. You’re still full of yourself. I’m not trusting any word you say until I see the list or hear it firsthand from Anya herself.” Lexa stated, shutting her locker. She turned to walk away, but Murphy had grabbed the look on her backpack and tugged her back towards him.
“Let’s make a deal, yeah? If I’m right, which I’m sure I am, and you’re the Juliet to my Romeo, you’ll come to my game tonight. Maybe even wear my jersey if I can see you beforehand.”
Lexa certainly didn’t like the way that Murphy was looking at her. It sent chills down her spine. She took a step away from him and wrapped her arms around herself. “And if Octavia is Juliet?”
“Then you’ll never have to talk to me again. If I’m not Romeo, I’m dropping the play.”
“No wonder people call you overdramatic..” Lexa mumbled under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing. Fine, you’ve got a deal. But I won’t wear your jersey. I’ll go to the game to show my support for the school as a whole, not you in particular. If you’re right, and we are the leads, the only reason why I’ll kiss you is for that reason. So you can stop trying to pick me up, John Murphy, because I am certainly not interested.”
With that, Lexa turned and walked away without looking back at him, but if she had she would of seen Murphy standing there with an expression on his face that could only be described as a mix of impressed and intrigued.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lexa hated it when other people were right. Her hands wrapped around around her backpack straps as she stood at the front of the drama room, only staring at the list on the board. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed on it, almost attempting to memorize the list. She didn’t even hear other people coming up behind her until she heard one of them talking.
“Congratulations, Lexa. See you at rehearsals.” She turned her head to see someone she didn’t recognize, but she assumed that his name was on the list. She nodded in return and offered them a smile, but her eyes moved to the door that opened.
Octavia was moving in a blur it seemed, but soon enough the feisty brunette was at her side, her eyes quickly scanning the list before Clarke even came up behind her. She watched as green eyes fluttered down the names and saw as her breath hitched- assuming she had reached the end where Lexa’s name was there before her own was. Octavia turned to Lexa, a look of defeat in her eyes but she offered her hand to the girl nonetheless.
“I’m sure if Anya picked you for Juliet, she really believes in you. Congrats.”
Lexa nodded with a small smile and shook the girl's hand before Octavia walked away, finding a seat in the circle. Clarke stepped up behind her, but she noticed that the blonde hadn’t looked at the list yet.
“I think you should look at it, Clarke.”
Clarke looked up at her and nodded, before her eyes turned to the list.
Romeo and Juliet Cast List:
Lady Montague: Maya Vie
Montague: John Mbege
Lady Capulet: Octavia Blake
Capulet: Nathan Miller
Prince Escalus: Jackson James
Count Paris: Cage Wallace
Nurse: Clarke Griffin
Friar Laurence: Gustus Treid
Benvolio: Wells Jaha
Tybalt: Finn Collins
Mercutio: Kyle Wick
Juliet: Lexa Woods
Romeo: John Murphy
Rehearsals begin on Monday. We will be going over the script as well as discussing requirements for this performing season. Congratulations to all, and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.
Clarke looked to Lexa with a look that the brunette couldn’t read. “What’s wrong?”
Clarke swallowed and looked between the list to Lexa. “I got a part. I actually.. Got a part.”
“Aren’t you happy about that?”
Clarke thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I mean… I guess I am. I’ve never acted before, this is all new and I guess I’m kind of.. Indifferent, about it? I don’t think that’s the right word..” She shook her head and cleared her throat. “Uh.. I’m sorry you have to go against Murphy. He’s kind of a dick.”
“You’re telling me- I made a deal with him over this stupid list!”
Clarke’s eyes widened. “You did? What was the deal?”
“Someone told him that we’d get the leads and he said that if he was right I’d have to go to his game tonight. He tried to get me to wear his jersey but-”
“You said no, right? About his jersey, I mean.”
“Well-”
“Clarke! Stop distracting our Juliet and take a seat.” Anya stated as she walked into the circle.
“But we were-”
“I don’t want to hear it. One more word out of you and you’ll have to sit next to me in the circle.”
“But-”
Anya gave her a look and pointed to two empty seats, and with a huff Clarke walked over to it. Lexa was muffling her laughs behind her hand as she walked over to a different empty seat, across from Clarke. She watched as the blonde seemed to actually be pouting, with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes staring right at the ground in front of her.
“Don’t pout, Clarke. You look like a child.” Anya stated, a smirk playing at her lips as she turned to address the rest of the class. “Now- who’s turn is it to lead today?”
A young man stood up and gave her a smile as he handed her the clipboard. “Attendance has already been taken, Anya.” Anya nodded at him and went to take a seat next to Clarke, who was trying her hardest to sit as far away from Anya as possible. Anya wasn’t having it and wrapped her hand around the leg of Clarke’s chair, pulling her back to the seats original location.
“What song have you picked for us to stretch to, Nathan?”
Nathan smiled at her and turned towards the class, walking in a small circle. “The song I chose is called Anna Sun, by the band Walk the Moon. I chose it because it was the song that was playing in the background when my boyfriend asked to be his boyfriend last year, and it holds a lot of memories.”
Clarke begrudgingly went through the motions of the stretches, then the game that Nathan had picked for them. By the time it was all over Clarke was ready to just take a nap, but Anya had other plans for them.
“We’re going to be going over the project that we’ll be working on for the next week. One on one scenes are in almost every play, musical, or television show that there is. They’re inevitable to avoid and work best when you and your partner are on the same page. A few of you experienced this last night at the callbacks. For this project I will be picking your partners at random via names in a hat. When I call you and your partner’s name please get together and wait until everyone has a partner, then we will decide at random whether you will be given a comedy, a drama, or a tragedy piece.” Anya explained, bringing out a hat of names.
Clarke groaned and pretended to fall asleep in her chair until someone walked over to her. She hadn’t noticed until it was too late, and the person had slowly pushed Clarke’s chair back until the blonde was falling backwards, her chair and back hitting the ground with a thud.
“Ow- what the hell Octavia?!”
“I don’t mess around with partner projects. Get up, C. We’ve got chemistry to prepare.”
Clarke sighed. Of course she’d get picked to be with her drama-crazy best friend. She really wasn’t looking forward to the next week.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Clarke was able to get a few hour nap in before Bellamy’s game and she couldn’t of been more happy about it. Now that she didn’t have the nerves from finding out about the cast list, she was able to finally relax. Once she was rested and able to comprehend more than a few words at a time she started to get ready, opting for her lacrosse hoodie from the previous season with skinny jeans and a black and grey snapback going atop her head. The weather was getting colder each day and she had a feeling that she was really going to need her sweatshirt that night.
She walked downstairs to see Raven and Octavia already there (when weren’t they, though?) and talking with her mom about the game that night. Octavia was wearing Bellamy’s football sweatshirt with “Blake” written across the back and Raven was.. Well, Raven seemed to be wearing at least three layers of long sleeves in some way or another. She had a flannel tied around her waist and a plain black zip up hoodie on, but over that was her jacket. Clarke shook her head at her friend and leaned against the counter, listening in on the conversation they were having.
“So Lexa got the part?” Abby asked, smiling at Clarke when she noticed the blonde.
“Yeah- but I mean, she was pretty good. I don’t know where the hell she came from but man, I haven’t seen anybody act like that here.” Octavia said.
“I’m glad you don’t seem too upset about it; I’m sure if it was anyone else you probably would've bitched them out.” Raven commented, linking hands with Octavia.
“What do you expect? It’s a great part- yeah I’m bummed I didn’t get it but there’s nothing I can do about it now. At least I got a part.”
“Why is it when they swear it’s alright but when I do it I get cussed out?” Clarke asked, furrowing her brow.
“Because they’re not my kids.” Abby smirked and when Octavia went for a high five, she gave it to her. Clarke huffed and shook her head.
“Can I use the car tonight?” Clarke asked, pulling on her boots. “Bell drove to practice and I don’t want to walk home after the game.”
“What about the after party? You know Murphy always has one whether we win or lose.” Raven asked.
“Who says I’m going to be drinking?” Clarke commented.
“You better not be drinking if you’re driving my car. You know I don’t care about that stuff if you’re being safe but I don’t want you taking my car if you’re going to drink.” Abby stated, pulling her keys from her purse.
“I know, mom. But I didn’t plan on drinking. I know Bell will probably crash at John’s but if they,” she nodded towards Octavia and Raven, “start drinking I know Aurora will have my ass handed to me if I don’t get them home safe.”
“Language, please.” Abby smiled as she handed Clarke her keys.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Let’s go guys- love you mom!”
Once they all piled into her mom’s car and drove to the stadium, they met up with Bellamy’s girlfriend, Gina. They had been dating on and off for two years; the off parts usually being in the summer when Gina would travel with her parents and she and Bellamy had agreed to be off during those times just in case Gina’s heart was captured by someone else. Bellamy never minded; he knew that the relationship would probably end for good when he graduated but it was nice to have someone there during the school year.
“How was Rome?” Clarke asked once they bought their tickets and headed into the stadium. Gina was wearing a sweatshirt with Bellamy’s practice jersey over it; Gina was always happy to wear Bell’s jersey.
“It was great, all of it. The food, the people,” She sent a suggestive wink towards Clarke, “the scenery. I loved it.”
“Sounds like you had a lot of fun.” Clarke commented, nodding her head. She didn’t always agree with the agreement that Bellamy and Gina had, but as long as her friend was happy then she had to be happy for him.
They filled their pockets with candy from the concessions stand and headed up into the stands, taking a seat at the top where they could see the whole stadium. It was a nice vantage point to see everything that was happening on the stands without having to constantly turn their heads back and forth. It wasn’t long before Monty and Jasper joined them, with a girl that Clarke had recognized from callbacks following them. Upon further inspection she noticed that she was holding hands with Jasper.
“Guys, this is my girlfriend, Maya. Maya, these are my friends- Octavia, Clarke, and Gina. You already know Raven. Maya’s in robotics with us this year.” He explained, smiling as they sat down in front of Raven and Octavia, with Monty sitting in front of Clarke. He didn’t look happy, but Clarke knew better than to make a comment about it.
It was halfway through the first half when Clarke finally stood up to refill her pocket of candy. Arkadia was down, 0-18 and while it didn’t seem like much, she knew how it was probably affecting Bellamy. She got up and walked down the stands, shoving her hands into her pockets as she walked. The game was frustrating her and she knew if she didn’t take a breather that she wouldn’t be able to refrain herself from marching over to the ref every time he called a penalty.
As she stood in line for the concession stand she found herself scrolling idly on her phone until she smelled something faint, but familiar and turned in place to see the source of it. She grinned up at Lincoln and refrained from going to hug him, knowing it was probably strange, but she had found comfort in his smell on the days that she had skipped lunch to smoke with him under the bleachers.
“I didn’t think Lexa was actually going to follow up on that deal of hers with Murphy.” Clarke commented, looking over her shoulder to look at the line.
“I didn’t think she would either.” Lincoln replied simply, shrugging his shoulders. His sweatshirt seemed to slide down one of his shoulders but he didn’t make any move to pull it back up. Clarke felt a small annoyance towards it, but didn’t voice her opinion.
“So she is here?”
“Do you really think I’d show up to one of these by myself?”
“Not a sports fan, eh?” Clarke asked, fumbling with her wallet in the pocket of her hoodie.
“Not really, no. I’m only here because of Lex.”
Clarke took the time to buy as much candy as she could and a few cans of soda before she was done at the concessions stand, but she waited for Lincoln. He had gotten himself nachos and a few candy bars that he assumed was for Lexa, as well as a few drinks before he was done as well.
“Where are you guys sitting?” Clarke asked as they rounded the stairs to the bleachers. Lincoln nodded towards a few steps up, where Lexa was sitting in what seemed to be a slightly oversized flannel and ripped skinny jeans. It wasn’t something that she would wear to class and Clarke immediately felt flustered. “I uh.. You guys could join us, if you want. The gang and I, I mean. We’re up there.” She stated, pointing towards the corner where her friends sat.
She could hear Lincoln hum before he started up the bleachers, and Clarke couldn’t help but follow him. He stopped next to Lexa and handed her her candy and soda, before telling her that Clarke had offered them to move. She noticed Lexa look over at her and smile before she nodded, then the three of them made their way back to the rest of the group. Clarke sat down against the chained fence and Lexa sat beside her; and everyone else moved down so Lincoln could sit in between Lexa and Octavia.
Clarke felt her heartbeat speed up a little every time that she and Lexa touched in some way, whether it be a brush of knees or an accidental bumping or something similar. She was so caught up in how she was feeling towards Lexa that she wasn’t paying attention to the game. It wasn’t until she heard Gina cheering from a few people down that she realized that they had scored, and by Bellamy no less.
Despite being a few seconds late to the cheering she stood up and yelled as loud as she could, making as much noise as possible. When she caught Bellamy’s eyes from the field she gave him a thumbs up and smiled brightly at him, earning a smile in return. She was really, really proud of her friend, even if they were still down by twelve points. It was only the second quarter; they still had time to bring themselves back and win the game. Clarke only hoped that that was the case.
When she sat down she looked over at her friends and frowned when she saw Monty not engaging in conversation. It seemed like Jasper had all his attention on Maya, leaving Monty in the dust. She frowned and nudged him with her boot to get his attention, and when he looked at her she smiled and offered him a few Starbursts.
“How’s your robot going this year?” She asked him as he picked out a few pink ones.
“It’s going great, actually. I managed to work out a few kinks from our bot from last year- we might be able to have moving arms this year. Like, actual working arms. I know last year it didn’t work at the competition but I think if I keep working at this we’ll be able to get them to move by the competition this year.” He explained as he slowly opened the Starbursts wrappers, making sure not to rip them. Clarke noticed that once he managed to get the wrapper open he’d put the candy in his mouth then fold up the paper, placing it in the chest pocket of his shirt.
“Really? Dude- that’s sweet! I wish I could do stuff like that. The most I’ve been able to do with a robot is break one.” Clarke teased, gently nudging his arm.
“Monty- did you just say you might be able to get the robot’s arms to move this time?” Raven asked, and then pulled him into a conversation of her own. Clarke smiled at her trying to include him as well.
Clarke sat back against the chains and unwrapped a few Starbursts of her own, but stopped with one halfway to her mouth when she felt Lexa staring at her. She furrowed her brow and looked at the girl by her side, a small smile playing at her face. “What?”
“I saw that, you know.”
“Saw what?”
“The way you tried to include him. He seemed.. Really down that his friend wasn’t including him in a conversation.” Lexa’s voice had quieted a little so that Monty wouldn’t hear them.
“Monty’s a great guy and Jasper’s his best friend.. It’s not right that Jasper isn’t talking to him just ‘cause he’s got a new girlfriend. He does this every time he gets one and it makes me want to punch his teeth in every time.” Clarke explained nonchalantly, putting the Starburst in her mouth.
“Not a lot of people would go out of their way to include others.”
“He’s my friend- why wouldn’t I?”
Lexa was silent a moment. “Your friends did it with my brother as well.”
Clarke leaned forward a little and saw how everyone was interacting with Lincoln. She smiled softly and leaned back, meeting Lexa’s eyes. “We’ve always been like that. Our group has been friends for a while; yeah most of the time it’s just Octavia, Raven, Bell and I but we’re all still a little family. Even if some of them are dating each other.” She made a face. “It’s weird. Forget I said that.”
Lexa smiled at her and bumped shoulders with her. “Your rambling is cute.” She commented, watching as the blush crawled up Clarke’s cheeks.
“Psht. No.”
Lexa laughed softly until a chill ran down her spine, causing her to wrap her arms around herself. She could feel her goosebumps under the flannel she had on- it really wasn’t enough for the cold nights that were bound to happen more frequently. She rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself up, but it wasn’t working.
“The flannel not doing a lot for you?” Clarke asked, going to open a package of Reese’s.
“Do you have a freaking Chocolate Factory in your pocket?”
“You answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.”
Lexa sighed. “No, it’s not. It’s Lincoln’s flannel; I thought it would be enough but it’s not. West Virginia is a lot colder than Washington D.C. at night.” She chuckled softly, and shook her head, looking over at Clarke. “Now answer my question.”
Clarke looked over at her and shrugged, pulling out her small pile of candy from her pocket. “Not a Chocolate Factory, just a bunch of sweets to get me through the game so I don’t go nuts. Football’s important to Bell.” She claimed, shrugging again.
She felt a small gust of wind blow through the stands and when she saw Lexa shiver again, she knew she had to do something. Since she already had the pile of candy out of her sweatshirt she slowly started to pull it up over her head, and with a small smile she placed it in Lexa’s lap.
Lexa was confused when Clarke started to pull off her top but was quickly distracted by the sliver of pale skin peeking out of the girl’s t-shirt underneath. She bit her lip and blinked a few times when the sweatshirt was placed in her lap, giving the blonde a confused look. “..Clarke?”
“Put it on- you’re really cold, I can tell. It’s only going to get colder tonight.”
“What about you?” Lexa asked, frowning at the girl.
Clarke hummed and took a starburst, throwing it over at Raven. “Gimme your flannel.”
“What happened to your sweatshirt?” Raven asked, leaning forward as she untied her flannel from around her waist. She handed it over and saw Lexa pulling Clarke’s sweatshirt over her head, and she smiled knowingly at Clarke. “Oh, I see. Just give it back later, yeah?”
Clarke nodded and pulled the flannel on, then turned so her back was against the side fence instead of the back. She looked over at Lexa and her eyes widened a little as she took in the girl in her clothes. The sweatshirt was a little big on Lexa, but Clarke assumed that was because it was big on her as well. Lexa looked good in her sweatshirt, Clarke had to admit that. She ran her tongue over her suddenly-dry lips and bit her bottom one; she couldn’t help but glance Lexa over before she met green eyes.
“Better?”
Lexa smiled and nodded her head, turning so she could lean against Clarke’s front. It was a bold move, but when she felt Clarke’s breathing hitch ever so slightly then felt the blonde relax, she knew it was a good idea.
“Much better.”