Chapter 9
If Clarke had to name her favorite week out of the school year, it was homecoming week. Seeing how everyone in the school came together to participate in events and friendly competition between the classes put a smile on her face every year. What made this year a little better was that she actually had a reason to be in the parade, and that was drama. For the past three years she had volunteered to hand out candy with the football players, which allowed her to walk alongside Bellamy and the other football players while the rest of her friends walked with the robotics team (or in Octavia’s case, the drama club- which Clarke was surprised that her friend had managed to get away with it for three years).
“Clarke, stop dozing off, we’ve got a float to design!”
Clarke sighed and sat up a little straighter, looking over Octavia’s shoulder at what the brunette was sketching out. Anya had suggested that the cast got together to help design the float and they’d all get together throughout the week to work on it, but only around half the cast had actually showed up to the first meeting held the Sunday before Homecoming Week. The only reason why Clarke really showed up to it was because it was being held at Octavia’s house and she didn’t have a legitimate excuse as to why she wouldn’t show up, and even if she did Octavia would probably drag her out of her own house to the place next door.
From what Clarke could see, Octavia had done a basic sketch of what the float would look like. It wasn’t something super big; just a lot of decorations that could probably fit in the back of a truck. Octavia was talking a mile a minute about how everything would go (Clarke was actually worried about where her broody friend had gone- Octavia was really, really into drama club), but from what Clarke understood was that the float would be on the back of a truck, Lexa and Murphy would be standing on a platform in makeshift costumes, Nathan, Octavia, Maya and John would be sitting on the hub of the truck, and the rest of the cast would be walking alongside the truck while handing out candy.
“Do you really think that Anya will let us use the old costumes in the drama room?” Gustus asked, leaning against the table. “How are we even going to make it look like we’re from the 1300’s without doing major altercations?”
Octavia huffed as she scribbled a few things out on her sketch. “Okay- maybe we won’t be able to do that. But we gotta do something- it’d look weird if we just wore the purple show shirts- there wouldn’t be any differentiation or anything- it’d be a mess.”
Clarke arched an eyebrow as she looked over at Lexa, then back to Octavia. “O, we don’t all have to look different. Most of the other clubs and teams are going to be looking similar because of uniforms.”
“But Clarke- we’re supposed to be different. We’re the drama club. We’re supposed to be dramatic- we’re not like other clubs!”
“Uh, guys.. I think I might have an idea.” Six pairs of eyes turned to the tall blonde that was standing at the other end of the table- Kyle Wick, who was playing Mercutio. The boy cleared his throat and continued to speak.
“Well.. My dad is the one who did the shirts. Well, kind of. His company did it, I mean. He does the shirts for all the clubs here. I could talk to him about our dilemma, maybe I can get him to do a set specifically for the parade. We could have the traditional colors for the main cast- the Capulet side be red, the Montague side be blue, and the neutrals- myself, Gustus, Jackson and Cage- we could keep the purple shirts.”
Kyle watched as the small group- consisting of Lexa, Clarke, Octavia, Gustus, Jackson, and Nathan- thought about it, but without a doubt turned to Octavia on the matter. Nobody wanted to cross the small brunette’s path when it came to this float- especially since Octavia was already worked up about it and they hadn’t even started spirit week yet. It was funny- everywhere but the drama room Octavia was a small ball of fire, but throw her in the middle of a production and she flips 180 degrees of crazy.
“...It seems reasonable. How much would it cost?” Octavia asked, tapping her pen against her bottom lip.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t cost us for it. I mean, his company does the t-shirts for everything we do with the school. I don’t think it’d be too big of a problem.” Kyle explained, moving to lean against the table.
The room fell silent for a moment until Octavia spoke up again. “Then I think we’ve got our costumes for the parade.”
She didn’t notice the way everyone else seemed to let out a heavy, synchronized breath.
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Clarke felt the best that she had in months when she woke up Monday morning, knowing that she had spirit week ahead of her. It was weird, finding comfort in something that so many students participated in and was really a social week, but it was something that made her feel normal for once. When she was dressed up in the ridiculous getups that they usually had for spirit week, she felt like she could blend in the crowd. She wasn’t Clarke Griffin, captain of the female lacrosse team- she was just another member of the Arkadia High student body.
Monday was Black and White day, and Clarke knew she wasn’t going to be the kid that stood out the most, but she felt like she had a decent amount of gear to really feel like she was in the spirit of Homecoming week. She had a pair of black jeans with a white belt, a white shirt and a black snapback with her original-style converse. By the time she had finished getting ready, she had felt like she belonged in an old movie. Chuckling to herself, she headed downstairs to meet her friends, but was surprised when the only person standing in her kitchen was Bellamy.
“Where’s O and Raven?” Clarke asked, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket on the island.
“O said something about wanting to get to the school early to meet with Kyle- they decided to walk. I offered them a ride, but well, you know how O is.” Bellamy explained, stepping away from the counter. Something was off, Clarke could tell.
“She’s stubborn,” Clarke shrugged and walked to grab her bag. “What else is new?”
“Maybe the fact that Raven stayed the night last night but when I got up this morning, she was on the couch?”
Clarke hummed, letting her friend know she was listening as they headed out the door. Hearing that Raven had slept on the couch was definitely news- she could only imagine the reasoning behind it. Maybe they had fought or something. The blonde shrugged and hopped into the passenger’s side of Bellamy’s truck, tossing her backpack into the backseat. As she buckled her seatbelt she took in what Bellamy was wearing, and she had to fight from rolling her eyes.
“You look like a mime.” She commented, watching as he looked down at the black and white striped shirt he was wearing.
“Hey- I don’t have any plain black or white shirts. I had to borrow this from Marcus.”
“Mhm. Are you going to be in a box for most of the day?” She teased, earning a middle finger from her best friend. She laughed as they drove off to the school.
When they arrived there, they met up with Raven, but Octavia was nowhere to be seen. It was odd but neither Clarke nor Bellamy questioned it, knowing that if they did they’d bring up drama that neither of them wanted to deal with so early in the morning.
The unanswered question went until after school, where Clarke knew she was going to be spending hours with her friends one-on-one. She had rehearsal right after school, and right after rehearsal was the practice for the powderpuff game. The game was on Wednesday and the seniors had first practice on Monday- the fun part was that they were all underprepared and the profits from the game went to a local charity (not to mention the fact that the guys were the cheerleaders for the game and did a halftime show). She’d be at rehearsal with Octavia, then practice with Raven. Why Raven had decided to play in the powderpuff game that year, she didn’t know. But she was glad that she was going to be able to spend a little more time with her friend doing something other than watching movies, doing schoolwork or watching Raven put together a mini-robot in her garage.
Clarke wanted to try and talk with Octavia before the practice even began, but Octavia was still nowhere to be seen until it was too late. They had been broken up into pairs that week to work on one-on-one scenes, and Octavia was quick to sweep Lexa away to work on the scenes they had together. Clarke could tell that Octavia was ignoring her. The blonde sighed and picked up her script, flipping through it to her lines to see who else she had lines against, but she came up short when she realized that a few members of the cast were skipping. Shaking her head she grabbed a chair and plopped into it, deciding to do her lines on her own.
It wasn’t until she heard the clearing of a throat that she looked up, rolling her eyes at who she saw in front of her. “What do you want, Cage?”
“Is that such a way to talk to your homecoming royalty?” Cage smirked, crossing his arms.
It was true- Cage had been announced as one of the contenders to be Homecoming King. There were three other guys- Finn, Bellamy, and Murphy- as well as four girls - herself, Gina, Octavia, and another girl that Clarke didn’t know the name of. Clarke didn’t even care if she had gotten Queen or not; the only person she’d want to willingly dance with was Bellamy and it’d be weird if she had to dance with Finn, Cage, or Murphy. Finn was her ex, Murphy was a dick, and Clarke couldn’t be within fifty feet of Cage without wanting to punch him in the jaw.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re talking to me or are you just going to keep expecting me to know what you’re thinking?”
Cage raised an eyebrow. “I only assumed that we could be scene partners for the day, seeing as that we are the only ones without a partner.”
“We don’t have any scenes together. There isn’t a reason for us to work together.”
“Ah, Cage- I see you don’t have a partner. Why don’t you work with Clarke? You can work on her scenes, then yours. It seems due to some delinquents we’re short a few members.” Anya exclaimed, looking up from the paperwork she was doing.
Clarke huffed. Why did Anya hate her so much? She looked back at Cage to find him smirking at her and she shook her head, stood up from her chair, and led him to the hallway behind the stage where it would be quiet.
“Listen to me. You’re going to stay here, and be quiet, and I’m going to leave so I can get ready for practice tonight.” Clarke stated, knowing that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“I’d hate for my father to hear about your incompetence in this production.” Cage sneered, a devilish smirk on his face.
“What are you, Draco Malfoy?” Clarke asked over her shoulder as she started to walk away. She hated Cage with a burning passion, and while it sucked majorly that his father was the Principal, she knew her way around some things.
She still had a few hours before powderpuff practice, but she couldn’t stay in the theater for much longer. Cage was pissing her off and there was still that nagging feeling in the back of her head that she had to talk to Raven. Octavia was out of the question- there wasn’t anything she could do about her anymore. It was like Octavia knew that Clarke was trying to get her alone and was doing everything that she could to get out of it and avoid Clarke altogether.
The blonde ended up finding herself on the bleachers, staring at the field as the helpers for the game started to get everything set up for the practices that evening. She was thinking about all the things that could have happened to her friends that would make them seem so.. Distant from each other, but she kept coming up short. A creaking on the bleachers made her look to the steps leading up to them and her bottom lip became tucked between her teeth when she saw Lincoln walking up the bleachers. She averted her eyes back to the field, but still felt him sit down next to her. They sat in silence once again, the only sounds around them being the occasional words spoken from the helpers on the field and the light chirping of birds coming from somewhere around them.
After what felt like hours, Clarke took a deep breath. “Do you know what happened between Octavia and Raven?” She asked, her voice quiet. She looked over at him, her eyes soft as she tried to get something out of him. There had to be something that she didn’t know.
She watched as he nodded.
“What is it, then?”
“Octavia kissed me at that party at Murphy’s a few weeks ago.”
Clarke’s eyes widened. Raven’s nightmare was coming true.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Clarke may have not gotten the chance to talk to Octavia, but she definitely got the chance to talk to Raven before, during, and after the powderpuff game. She had learned that Octavia had started to become distant around her over the past few weeks and that Raven had tried to talk to her about it, then Octavia confessed to kissing Lincoln. Raven was mad and slept on the couch that night. They had left early that morning so Octavia could do stuff regarding the production, but they also tried to talk about what had happened.
Octavia had confessed to liking it, and liking Lincoln.
Raven demanded they took a break on their relationship so Octavia could figure out what- or who- she wanted.
Clarke held her friend as Raven cried herself to sleep that night.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tuesday was country club day and Clarke was able to find something not only for herself, but for Raven as well. They ended up matching, to which Clarke didn’t mind at all. She knew that Raven would need a laugh, among other things.
Bellamy continued to look like an idiot, but that didn’t stop them from laughing with him and not at him.
As they all piled into his truck, Clarke realized that Octavia wasn’t with them again. Apparently she had left early again. Clarke could tell by the broken look in Raven’s eyes that she was starting to regret the decision she had made.
The only thing that seemed to brighten Raven’s day was when she told Clarke to “wipe her drool” at the sight of Lexa in a pantsuit. According to Lexa, she was “the owner of the country club and had to dress accordingly”.
Clarke couldn’t keep her eyes to herself.
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Wednesday was color day- freshman wore blue, sophomores wore white, juniors wore orange and seniors wore black. The day had started off similarly to the day before, with Raven joining Clarke and Bellamy in the truck. Octavia had walked to school, again. Upon reaching the school, Clarke learned that Lexa (who she was very surprised to see in orange, not black) had to get a ride from her foster mom that morning because Lincoln hadn’t come home the night before.
She asked Bellamy if anyone had come over that night, once she was able to talk to him alone.
Bellamy had told her that he had heard something on the side of the house, but he thought it was a stray cat.
Clarke didn’t tell Raven what she had found out.
The blonde wasn’t able to talk to Octavia until right before the powderpuff game, where the seniors were set to go against the sophomores. Octavia had pulled her aside before she went into the locker room, and Clarke almost wanted to punch her in the face.
“How is she?” Octavia asked, her voice quiet. She glanced around, unsure if people were listening in on them.
“She’s spent the last three nights at my house crying her eyes out. How the hell do you think she is? And you have the nerve to sneak Lincoln into your house? Are you freaking kidding me, O?!” Clarke exclaimed, her face growing red. She was mad that Octavia had the audacity to treat Raven so poorly.
“Clarke I didn’t know what was going to happen, okay? I’m confused- I love Raven with all my heart,” She paused at the glare that Clarke gave her, “Don’t give me that look. I love her, I do. But Lincoln.. He makes me feel something too. I don’t know what to do. I’m confused, I don’t want to hurt her but I know I already have.”
“Yeah, you definitely have.”
“Can you ask her to talk to me? Please?”
Clarke licked her lips and glanced up at the door to the locker room, then back to Octavia. “You can talk to her yourself.”
She let them be after that, but not before telling Raven where she’d be.
She didn’t hear what happened until after the entire game, where the seniors took both the entire game and the halftime competition. Apparently Bellamy doing the splits was enough to get everyone yelling in surprise and joy.
Octavia had convinced Raven to spend some time with Lincoln and herself. Raven had agreed, as long as she didn’t end up feeling even more like a third wheel. Clarke wasn’t sure about that, but she had reassured Raven that she was there for her no matter what.
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Thursday was Raven’s favorite day: Flannel day. The girl had gone a little overboard, with a flannel not only around her torso, but also tied around her waist, as well as having an extra one in her bag. Clarke didn’t question it- whatever made Raven happy in that moment. She was even happier to see the look on Raven’s face when Lexa showed up without a flannel, and Raven proceeded to pull the extra one out of her bag and placing it on Lexa’s shoulders.
She was hoping for the best for her friends- all of them.
When drama rolled around- the last meeting for the week because Anya was giving them Friday off for the sake of homecoming- Clarke had managed to get there before everyone else. She was glad about that, mostly because it’d mean that she’d get to pick Lexa first for her one-on-one practices. She hadn’t been able to rehearse with the girl all week because someone else was always dragging her away, and Clarke hated to admit it, but she was a little jealous. She waited by the door, even greeted Anya when she walked in, and when Lexa came in she immediately took the girl’s hand and led her towards the girl’s dressing room. They had some lines together, but Clarke was mostly looking forward to getting to spend at least some time with Lexa before the game on Friday.
They stood on opposites ends of the small dressing room; close enough to where they could hear each other but far away to where they wouldn’t bump into each other while trying to do small stage movements that were written into the script. Clarke was about to start their first scene together, but Lexa held up a hand, asking her to wait.
Clarke looked at Lexa, a confused look on her face. The brunette had her lip tucked between her teeth and her eyes were focused; her brow furrowed. She was thinking hard about something.
“What's up?” She asked, dropping her hand that held her script.
“I know we both have these lines memorized.. Or most of them, anyways. I was.. Wondering if you would maybe want to run a scene with me?”
Clarke hummed and looked at her script, contemplating it. “What scene?”
“Act one, scene five..”
Clarke flipped her script until she found the act, then continued to flip until she found the scene. She scanned it until she found the lines Lexa would say, and her eyes widened. “Uh.. Why this scene?”
“The day I was working with John on that scene, he left early before we even got to it.”
“Why couldn’t you work on it with Lincoln at home?”
Lexa gave her a look.
“Point taken.”
“Just please? I know we need to practice the balcony lines but I want to at least get one run-through before we take act one to the stage…”
Clarke sighed. Lexa was really putting her in a difficult space. She had read the lines that Romeo was to say, and it was rather.. Romantic. It was the scene where they kissed for the first time. And really, Clarke was nervous to even read the lines aloud. It was a scene that she never would've thought that she'd be doing. But Lexa wanted her to.
“Okay.. Let's do it.”
Lexa’s smile grew and she clapped her hands a few times before she moved to get into position. Clarke felt her nerves coming up again and she shook her head, mentally cursing herself for being so smitten about Lexa.
“Uh.. The part after Tybalt leaves?”
Lexa nodded. Clarke cleared her throat, but begun reading from the script.
“If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this, my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”
Lexa smiled at her and continued on where she left off, never missing a beat. “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this: For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.”
“Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?”
“Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in pray’r.”
Clarke hesitantly took a step forward, trying her hardest to not chew on her lip. “O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do, they pray—grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”
“Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.”
Clarke took a deep breath, letting her eyes close for a brief moment. She didn’t want to look at Lexa before she did this, in case that Lexa was only being professional about this- that maybe she really did just need a scene partner. She moved a few steps forward as her eyes fell down to her script, one hand moving from the book.
“Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take. Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purg’d.”
The blonde looked up at Lexa for the slightest of moments before she surged forward, cupping Lexa’s cheek with her hand and pressing her lips to the brunette’s. She meant for it to be short, sweet, and to the point, just in case Lexa was against it, but Clarke was surprised to hear a script (or was it two?) fall to the ground, then feel a hand tangle in her hair. Lexa had pulled her closer and her free hand that had dropped her script fell to Lexa’s hip.
Everything was clicking into place.
She didn’t have to worry about anything because Lexa was kissing her back.
The play was long forgotten about as their lips moved together gently, then harshly, then gently again. They had fallen into their own little world where everything they had built up to over the past few weeks had come crashing down, and it scared the hell out of Clarke.
But as she felt a hand tug at her hair and her bottom lip be nipped at- she wouldn’t have it any other way.