Unexpectedly
Chapter 1
It was quite possibly, the most beautiful day ever seen in Washington DC. The birds chirping, blue sky, sun beaming, the wind, tame and cool. Clouds forming. She peered out the window, wishing she could just go outside and sketch this beautiful day.
"...and that's how planets were most likely formed." Mr. Kane droned. "Any questions?" As usual. No hands shot up.
Clarke rolled her eyes. School was the absolute last place she wanted to be. Especially being in her second year. She knew of the school's antics, politics and routines. She loathed them.
"Alright then." Mr. Kane turned around to write more gibberish on the board. Clarke looked down to sketch some more doodles in her notebook. Suddenly she felt something hit her head. She peered down at the object to find a scrunched up paper ball. She looked across the room in the direction of who the culprit was.
A giggle came from the back corner. There, a brown wavy haired girl smiled and waved at Clarke. Echo. Of course she thought spitefully, while picking up the paper ball. Who else could this culprit have been?
"Clarke is a loser" it read, with her face crudely drawn with grotesque bodily fluids exiting her. How creative. She peered back at the group that, yes, had some extremely attractive people in it, but were also the biggest dicks in school.
They laughed a bit louder once more watching her read the note.
She sneered, crumpled up the paper, and threw it back on the ground.
"No littering Ms. Griffin. Please pick that up and put it in the trash can." Scolded Mr. Kane. The group only laughed harder and louder. Oh of course. No please, this is completely warranted. She gets harassed by the group on a daily basis, but the minute she litters? God, please have mercy on my soul for I have sinned. She sneered internally, not wanting to get in trouble again.
Clarke can barely believe that at one point, she wanted to even be friends with one of them. The main one. The so dubbed "hottest" one. Lexa.
Clarke looked at Lexa as she walked back to her desk. Lexa was a bit different. Although she never laughed directly at Clarke, she would at the very most, smile at her friends' (at least that's what Lexa calls them) antics, and Lexa had never tried to stop them.
That makes her almost as bad as the rest of them.
Clarke sat back in her desk and resumed day dreaming. What happened? Since when did they become like this? Clarke still remembered when she and Lexa used to be good friends in their younger years.
Back in kindergarten, Lexa had been teased by the boys for her braid, as well as other girls for not being in style at the time. Clarke, who has always been taught to stand up for what was right, vehemently defended Lexa. They had been inseparable for quite some time after, all the way up to the end of 6th grade. Clarke unfortunately had to move due to her fathers' work. Seattle. That was the other side of the world to Clarke. She and Lexa had promised to write to each other every single day. And they both kept their promise.
For a couple months.
Then one day, the letters stopped. It just faded. Things became busy for both Clarke and Lexa. Both had made new friends in their new schools, and both were busy trying to fit in. They both ended up not writing any letters to each other.
Clarke would think to write one every 3 months or so, but just scrapped them every time she tried. She was just unsure what to say to Lexa anymore. She knew they were no longer friends, but didn't want to completely sever off her first friendship. As it became more and more difficult to write something to Lexa, she eventually stopped trying at all.
Clarke didn't think she would ever see Lexa again.
But, life never goes the way Clarke expected. Life had decided to take Clarke back to Washington DC, and back to her old neighborhood.
On Clarke's first day at the new high school, she didn't know what to expect. She was excited to make new friends, but dearly missed her old ones.
When she saw Lexa in her homeroom, she was ecstatic as she thought they could rekindle their friendship. Once the teacher was done talking, students were free to do as they please. Clarke had decided to go up to Lexa and greet her, but was met with cold eyes, and a laugh from her new friends. They had told Clarke to keep dreaming , as Lexa would never hang out with " a loser like Clarke".
Clarke had dejectedly gone back to her seat in that class. The rest of homeroom had then avoided her like the plague, not wanting to talk to her at all for fear of also being labeled a loser. She hoped in at least one class, soon, she would make a good friend. Otherwise the school would be insufferable.
The bell rang, breaking Clarke's memories. She gathered up her books and made her way to her locker.
"Kane is such a blowtard. He didn't see them throw the paper at you, but you got in trouble for just dropping it on the ground. What the fuck!" Her best friend Octavia vented beside her.
Clarke rolled her eyes again "I know. I swear at this point he's just picking on me." She smiled at Octavia though. Clarke was grateful she met Octavia at this school. If there was one good thing to come out of her time here, it was definitely "O".
On Clarke's second day of high school, she had first period science. She had to pair up with someone for the rest of the semester as a lab partner. When she looked around the class, she noticed most people knew each other from middle school. She tried to find someone alone when she noticed Octavia.
Octavia was by herself, but absolutely gorgeous wither her flowing brown hair, and piercing green eyes.
She was alone too.
Clarke was wary though. She had seen Octavia hanging out with Lexa's group the day prior.
Octavia looked up though and caught Clarke staring. Clarke quickly looked away to pretend she wasn't. She didn't want to be harassed in this class either. When she looked back at Octavia though, Clarke was given a welcoming smile. Clarke decided to take a chance, and go over. They introduced themselves, and quickly bonded over Octavia's badass jacket.
"I swear I was about to punch Echo in the fucking face." Octavia growled. Clarke closed her locker door, and laughed at Octavia's threat.
Octavia had always been very strong, and like Clarke, stood up for what she believed in. Ever since day one. Shortly after they had introduced themselves for the first time, Octavia and Clarke were on their way to the cafeteria to eat Lunch. They had sat down together and started to have a passionate discussion about art.
Their lunch however, was interrupted briefly by a wavy brunette, the girl now known as "Echo".
What kind of name is 'Echo'? What a dumb fucking name. Clarke still remembers thinking (and quite frankly, still thinks.)
"Why are you eating with this loser, Oct?" Clarke remembered Echo sneer. "I hope it's just out of pity."
"Ok Echo, one, don't ever call me 'Oct' or I will rip your tongue out. Two, she's not a loser, and you can go fuck yourself." Octavia had retorted. Clarke remembered how her jaw dropped, and then being dragged away by Octavia to get somewhere far away from "those fucking retards" (as Octavia had so elegantly put it.)
Since that incident, Octavia has been quite possibly the most amazing friend Clarke had ever encountered.
"Don't worry about it O, it doesn't bother me. Life does not end after high school." Clarke confidently assured her good friend.
"Damn right. It better not." Octavia and Clarke said their quick goodbyes and parted ways to their last class of the day.
Once Clarke got home, she immediately crashed on her bed and peered up at her phone. Octavia did not yet respond to her request to grab something to eat. Her mom, Abigail Griffin, wasn't home, as usual. So she wanted to eat out.
Her mother had left a note on the fridge saying she'd be late as there was an emergency in the ER. Although Clarke could no blame it, after all she was a doctor, she still felt incredibly selfish as she just wanted more time to see her mother.
Clarke sighed and opened up her Facebook on her phone. A message popped up from her messenger. It was from Echo. Clarke was about to ignore it, but curiosity got the better of her as she saw a preview of a link. She knew she shouldn't have opened it, but before she knew it, it was open and she was staring at it. It was too late anyways. Echo knew she had read it.
Thanks, Facebook.
Her mouth dropped a little and she sat up from her bed. It was a link to a group on Facebook. The "I Hate Clarke Griffin" group. Newly made today.
Great. Finally. Glad we have an official roster now. Only took them like, a year.
She clenched her jaw and skimmed over the culprits.
She rolled her eyes at the typical comments on how Clarke "thinks she's better than everyone else" and how she was "fucking annoying", "thinks she's cute and quirky" and so on. Even a drawing and video of the paper ball thrown at her in class was uploaded. She scrolled further.
She stopped when she saw a comment from Lexa.
"Her dad probably killed himself because of her."
That one stung.
Tears immediately sprung to her eyes. Clarke felt vulnerable, and weak. Her father's death still fresh in her mind like it was yesterday.
Although it was one of the shorter comments, it was the one that hurt the most.
Clarke turned off her phone and covered the blanket over her head and started to sob.
You are OK. You are strong. They're just stupid. They don't know anything. She tried to repeat over and over again until she drifted off to slumber.
Author's Note: Cyber bullying is very serious. If someone you know is being bullied, please put a stop to it. Standing by and watching is just as bad as doing it. Life does not end after high school. Please make sure if you know a victim of bullying, you reach out and help someone see that too.