Walking into the dormitory for the first time, a wave of inexplicable anxiety washed over Clarke. Her mother, Abby, pushed through the door, past her daughter and into the small, dark room. Two unmade beds, a desk, a large wardrobe, and a coffee table.

"It's not too bad, is it?" Abby lied. "It sort of has a rustic feel to it."

Setting her suitcase next to one of the beds, Clarke sighed. "Are we supposed to share a desk?"

"It's okay, I can use my laptop," a voice from the doorway said. A tall, thin figure stood before them, heavy suitcases in each hand. "I'm Anya, by the way. Your roomie!"

"Oh, hey," Clarke greeted shyly. "I'm Clarke and this is my mom and she's leaving." Abby eyed her daughter, annoyed, before stepping out.

"It's nice to meet you, Anya," she said. "Take care, Clarke. And call me for whatever reason."

"Yes, mom," Clarke groaned. "Now go before you start crying again."

"You're right," Abby smiled sadly. "I love you."

"Love you too," Clarke replied as she watched her leave.

"She seems nice," Anya commented as she put her suitcase down and hopped on her bed.

"If by nice you mean over-bearing and over-protective," Clarke said. "She made me promise to sleep with a can of pepper spray under my pillow." This made Anya laugh, which made Clarke's anxiety begin to dissipate.

"Bed bugs can be tricky bastards," Anya joked.

They spent the first month of college this way - in a playful, light friendship of laughter and silly comments. Clarke, who focused wholeheartedly on her schoolwork, began to notice how Anya began to slowly lose interest in anything that didn't have to do with parties and booze and boys. She would have said something, but they weren't that close yet and Clarke wanted anything but to have a rocky relationship with her roommate.

She quickly made friends elsewhere, though. She met the smart and sassy Raven Reyes in her math class, after the girl had been kicked out for outsmarting the professor. She met Octavia and Bellamy Blake at a sorority/fraternity mixer that Anya had forced her to go to. And sitting next to her in psych class was Finn. Finn, who gave her sweet smiles during class. Finn, who pretended not to understand Freud so that Clarke would spend time tutoring him. Finn, who made Clarke's stomach flutter with every brush of the hand.

College life at Polis University was really going well for Clarke, but she still couldn't shake that feeling that something, somewhere, somehow wasn't right. She didn't mention it to anyone, because as far as she could tell there wasn't anything to complain about. But then, the night Anya never came home and left in her place a mysterious note signed by the Dean, Clarke was overwhelmed with obligation and responsibility and hope. This was her chance to figure out why she always felt like she was being watched, why the darkness in her room felt so suffocating… She had to figure out what was going on; she had to get back Anya.


"Maybe she just left," Raven suggested, swirling in Clarke's chair. "She didn't seem very into the whole idea of school."

"Hmm," Clarke replied, lying in her bed and staring intently at the ceiling as if there was something more there than just plain white. "But why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Maybe she felt embarrassed about it," Octavia suggested, standing by the doorway.

"Yeah, like she was so embarrassed when about dancing half naked on top of the Dean's car," Raven added sarcastically.

"Maybe the Dean found out about that and got her kicked out," Octavia laughed.

"Come on," groaned Clarke, sitting up. "This isn't a joke. I think something really bad happened to her."

"Listen, princess," Raven began, "You talked to the school police and they told you to chill, so chill."

"I guess I'll try," Clarke lied, letting herself fall back into her bed.

"You better," Raven said, before adding, "Octavia and I have chem in like ten minutes so we better get going." To which Octavia groaned.

Closing her eyes, Clarke listened as their footsteps left her room and the door was shut. Less than a minute later, she heard the door open back up.

"Forget something again, O?" Clarke smiled, rolling over and facing the doorway. To her surprise, it wasn't Octavia who stood at the door - nor was it Raven or anyone else she knew for that matter. "Oh, uh, hi," she said clumsily.

"Well this place is a dump," the stranger said. She was tall and brunette and beautiful, but her eyes were so black it scared the shit out of Clarke.

"Uh, who are you?" Clarke finally asked, sitting up in her bed.

"Lexa," she replied simply, her eyes scanning the room as she strolled in, before hopping on Anya's bed. She was wearing tight jeans, combat boots, a sleeveless Guns N Roses shirt, and a old and torn apart backpack. The last of these she threw on the ground, as she rolled over and rested her head on Anya's pillow.

"That's Anya's bed," Clarke said, trying to hide how offended she felt by this woman's actions.

"Is Anya here?" Lexa asked, sarcastically.

"Uh, well, no…"

"Where is she?"

"Well, I don't know…"

"When you figure it out, let me know," Lexa said coldly before shutting her eyes. "Until then, I'm your new roommate."