One.
"I already told you, I'm not doing it," Clarke said firmly, trying to write her final Art History essay for the semester while Raven fluttered around her, playing with everything she found in Clarke's dorm room, keeping her distracted.
"Come on Clarke, it'll be fun!" Raven urged. "You haven't dated anyone since Lexa and really, what harm can it do? You can cause some drama and hit on all of the girls without even the intention of getting with the Bachelor."
Clarke rolled her eyes. She'd already had this conversation plenty of times and there was no way she was going to humiliate herself on national television. "Raven, I really need to get this essay done," she replied, knowing Raven wasn't going to give up that easily.
"You might not even get on the show, it's just an application," Raven continued. She picked up a picture of the man who had been dubbed "the Bachelor" this year and held it in front of her face. "Hey, I'm Bellamy. What's your name?" she said in a deep, seductive voice.
"Stop it, you're not helping," Clarke laughed. Raven sighed and popped her head up over the photo.
"Look at this face," she practically begged. "You could marry this guy, and all it takes is one tiny application."
Clarke had to admit, the guy was hot. He was well built, dark-skinned with an incredible smile. She sighed.
"Why do you want me to apply so bad when you want him for yourself? What if I end up liking him?" Clarke pointed out. Raven scoffed.
"Please, like that's going to happen," she said, rolling her eyes. "I just want you to help me suss the other girls out, maybe knock out the competish. Plus I don't really want to do this alone."
Clarke smirked. "You're scared he won't like you!"
"Shut up!" Raven snapped. "I am not! I just have a very hard time trusting people after what happened with Finn and that makes it difficult to get close to anyone so…" she trailed off. Clarke looked at her sympathetically.
"Okay," she agreed. "I'm not doing this because I want to marry him, I'm doing it because it'll be fun to stir up some drama with the girls who take this too seriously. And because apparently you need a wingman on a reality TV show."
Raven's eyes lit up. "Yay!" she squealed. "Okay, first we have to make an audition video." She rummaged through her duffel bag and pulled out a video camera.
"Right now?" Clarke groaned. "I'm not even dressed! They aren't going to cast someone who looks like trash."
"It's you in your natural habitat! Besides, I thought you didn't care if you got on the show or not," Raven reminded her with a smirk. Clarke rolled her eyes.
"What am I even supposed to say in this? Can I look at yours?" she begged.
"Nope!" Raven laughed. "Just say something interesting about yourself then tell them why you want to be on the show. Except not the real reason because I don't think they'd go for that. Make up something mushy about finding true love."
"I don't really expect to find true love when there's, what, twenty girls fighting for the same guy? Who came up with this show?" Clarke wondered sceptically.
"Hey," Raven said, giving her a mock meaningful look. "One lucky girl always finds true love."
Clarke had to admit that the application process was actually pretty fun. It was basically just filling out a bunch of questions about herself and her experiences, although not nearly as boring as the questions she'd had to answer in her college applications. For some questions she had made things up (such as: "What's the craziest thing you've ever done?", since Clarke has always been someone who played by the rules) but for the most part it was like going through the getting to know you stage of a relationship with a computer, which Clarke thought was much easier than doing it with an actual human being.
She felt like some of her answers were way too boring, and if the show was going to pick one out of her and Raven, they'd definitely go with Raven. She was always so carefree and a real party animal. It didn't bother Clarke, Raven was the one who wanted to be on the show and she was only applying to humour Raven.
"Okay, I'm all done," Clarke announced when she'd finished all of the questions. She hovered her fingers over her laptop mouse, quickly reading back over some of her answers before clicking submit. "It's done. I've sent it. No taking it back now."
"Hell yeah! I'm so proud!" Raven called enthusiastically from her position on the floor. She had her legs straight up in the air and was playing with a pair of 1kg weights she'd found in Clarke's cupboard.
"Now what?" Clarke asked, looking at her laptop expectantly, as if they were going to immediately email her telling her whether or not she was in.
"Now we wait," Raven replied. "Don't tell me after all of that complaining you're actually excited about this?"
"What? No!" Clarke scoffed. But the truth was she was kind of excited. It's not like she was expecting to get on the show when so many women who actually wanted to be there were applying. So when she got a call weeks later saying that she'd made it into the top one hundred applicants who would be interviewed, it was fair to say she was surprised.
Then a week after her interview, she was even more surprised to hear that she was one of the nineteen girls who would be competing for Bellamy Blake's affections on national television. She was less surprised to hear that Raven was too.
"Isn't this so exciting?" Raven said, squeezing Clarke's hand as they were driven to the mansion where they were going to be living until the Bachelor told them they didn't receive a rose and had to leave. They'd spent two hours in hair and make-up being poked and prodded until they looked almost unrecognisable. Clarke thought it was kind of pointless when she never wore this much make up and it wasn't a very realistic first impression.
"I'm nervous," she told Raven as they pulled up at the door where they had been instructed to walk through the front garden and meet Bellamy at the door. Clarke let Raven go first, since she'd already planned exactly what she was going to say to Bellamy, and Clarke was just going to wing it.
"Wish me luck!" Raven said in a sing-song voice. She didn't wait for Clarke's reply before floating off down the brick path. She disappeared behind some tall hedges and Clarke waited for what seemed like forever before being told it was her turn to meet the Bachelor.
She took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. She could hardly walk in the six inch designer heels that had been loaned to her for the night and she wondered if this was really the best way to meet Raven's potential future husband. Maybe her complete clumsiness would be enough to steer him in the right direction.
Clarke finally saw Bellamy at the door of the mansion and she breathed a sigh of relief knowing the nightmare of walking in heels was almost over and she could sit down again. He smiled politely as he saw her approaching and she smiled nervously in return. Unfortunately the quick exchange was too much of a distraction for Clarke and just as she reached him her heel got caught in the cracks between the bricks and she tripped. She would have fallen flat on her face had Bellamy not quickly reached out his arms to catch her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling her up and holding her tightly, a little too close for Clarke's comfort seeing as they'd only just met.
"I'm great, thanks," Clarke laughed, pulling her heel out of the crack and brushing herself off. "That was an accident by the way, not some weird way of getting you to hold me the first time we met. I'm not that desperate. I mean I did come on this show so I guess by definition that makes me a little desperate…" Her eyes widened as she realised that might be offensive. "Not that you're desperate, I just mean… I'm babbling, sorry. I'm Clarke by the way." She held out her hand and Bellamy shook it, chuckling at her.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Bellamy," he told her.
"I know," Clarke said. "I'm going to go now before I embarrass myself further. So, see you later I guess." She gave him a dorky wave before limping off into the mansion, shaking her head in embarrassment.
When she got inside Clarke found that there were twelve girls already sitting around drinking and talking. They greeted her warmly when they noticed her entering and Clarke knew it was going to be hard to be the ultimate wing woman to Raven when they were all so gorgeous.
"How did it go?" Raven asked eagerly, while the other girls listened intently.
"My heel got caught in the bricks and I tripped," she replied, trying to sound excited so that they would think she actually wanted to be there. "So he had to catch me and it was just like, an instant connection." The rest of the girls seemed to believe her since they immediately started gossiping loudly about how they'd all shared a moment with Bellamy. Clarke limped over to Raven and took a seat on the couch next to her.
"You do realise you're going to have to spin that crap for the rest of the time you're here, right?" Raven muttered in the hopes that the microphones wouldn't pick up what she was saying. Clarke figure they'd be focused on the overly boisterous girls anyway, so they didn't really have to worry.
"Good thing I'm a great liar," Clarke whispered back. "But you'd better make a move quick, I don't know how long I'll be able to handle it."
"The first night's always the worst," Raven informed her. "After that I'm sure you'll really get along with the other girls."
When the final girl had made her entrance, the host of the show, Cage Wallace, walked into the room and asked for silence.
"Welcome ladies to your first Bachelor cocktail party!" he announced. The girls cheered excitedly and Clarke joined in as if she cared. "In a few moments, your Bachelor, Bellamy will walk through these doors and the party will really begin. But before that happens, let me remind you of what tonight is about." Cage continued on about how one lucky lady would find true love and what the roses represented. Clarke zoned out while he made his usual first-episode speech, until finally Bellamy walked in.
"Good luck tonight, ladies," Cage finished. The girls applauded and Cage left them alone with Bellamy.
"So what have you all been talking about?" Bellamy asked. Clarke rolled her eyes at the forced conversation.
"You of course!" a girl named Roma giggled. Clarke could already tell she was the girl they'd cast for all of their drama needs, and no doubt the producers were going to force Bellamy to keep her in until it got down to the girls he actually really liked.
"Do you want me to leave so you can continue?" he wondered jokingly. The other girls laughed and started to disperse so it was easier for him to take them away for one on one conversation. He started with a girl Clarke hadn't introduced herself to yet, so Clarke decided to get up and get herself another drink. That was until she collapsed back into her seat from the pain of putting her weight on what she realised was a sprained ankle.
"Are you okay?" Raven asked in concern. Clarke nodded but the pain on her face didn't have Raven convinced. "Stay here, I'll see if I can get you some ice."
"Here, you should keep it elevated," one of the other girls said, lifting Clarke's ankle onto the coffee table and putting a cushion under it. "I'm Maya by the way."
"Clarke," Clarke introduced. "Thanks, that's a bit better."
"That's rotten luck getting injured on the first night!" Harper said, not sounding like it was that rotten at all.
"If you ask me it'll make for a great talking point," Anya countered. "It'll bring up other injuries and he'll be sympathetic which will only bring you closer together. You got lucky."
Clarke furrowed her brow. "Gee… thanks," she said sarcastically. "It wasn't really my plan to fall over and sprain my ankle, but when you put it like that."
"Anya's right," Maya agreed. "It may have been an accident, but you'll definitely get a rose tonight even if it's just out of sympathy."
Clarke was thankful when Raven returned with a bag of frozen peas. "This is all they had," she told her apologetically, putting the bag over Clarke's ankle.
"That's okay, it works just fine," Clarke said thankfully.
"I really need to think of something that will grab his attention," Roma announced, entering the room again. Clarke and Raven shared a look of agony. "Do you think he would be interested if I started doing gymnastics on the grass outside?"
"In that dress?" Anya asked dubiously.
"I'm not really concerned about showing my underwear. It's practically the same as wearing a leotard," Roma said. "So do you think I should do it?"
"Do what you want, Roma," Harper told her, leaving the room. The other girls minus Roma followed her outside and Bellamy came in, looking around.
"Just the person I was looking for!" he said to Clarke. Clarke looked up at him in surprise. He'd only spoken to about three of the others and she didn't think she'd made that much of an impression on him, since their conversation was so short. Roma seemed just as shocked as she was, though probably for different reasons. "Would you want to come have a conversation with me?"
"That depends, are you willing to carry me?" Clarke asked. Bellamy looked down at her ankle propped up on the coffee table.
"Oh," he said. "I'm sure these lovely ladies wouldn't mind giving us some alone time?"
"Sure thi-," Raven started.
"You know, it's such a nice night outside," Roma interrupted. "It's a much nicer setting for your first conversation. I can help you carry her if you'd like?"
Clarke smirked. "You know what? She's right," she said. "But I'm sure I can manage a hobble if I can lean on you?" Clarke batted her eyes flirtatiously.
"Yeah, sure," Bellamy agreed. He grabbed Clarke around the waist and she put her arms around his neck as he helped her off the couch. Clarke winked at Roma whose mouth was open in pure horror. Raven gave Roma a smug smile as Clarke hopped outside with Bellamy, her arm around his shoulders and his around her waist.
"I can't help but feel partially responsible for your injury," Bellamy said apologetically as they sat on a fancy bench that was placed under a lattice with fairy lights and roses woven through it. It was quite romantic, Clarke had to admit.
"Partially? I think you mean wholly," Clarke joked, looking down at her bruised and swollen ankle. "If I'd been looking where I was going instead of looking at you, this would never have happened."
"So my incredible good looks are to blame?" he teased.
"Incredible good looks? Your modesty is inspiring," Clarke said. Bellamy chuckled.
"So is it safe to say you don't often wear heels?" he asked.
"I was studying medicine, I didn't really have time to go to fancy parties or go shopping to buy the shoes I would wear there," Clarke replied.
"You study medicine? I feel like clumsiness isn't really a desired trait for a doctor," Bellamy said, and Clarke wasn't quite sure if he was still teasing.
"Maybe that's why I changed to Art History," she told him, a little offended. She figured he probably didn't mean to offend, so she brushed it off. "What about you? What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a police officer," Bellamy informed her, quite proudly.
"Do you go out on the field very often?" Clarke asked.
"I used to a lot more, but I've tried to stay in the office more recently," Bellamy said.
"Because you wanted to find love?" Clarke guessed.
"It was more to do with the fact that one of my own teammates shot me accidentally during our last drug bust," Bellamy told her. Clarke covered her mouth as she burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry, that's really terrible," she said. "Is that when you realised your life was empty and you needed someone to fill the void, so the Bachelor was the best place for that?"
"Something like that," Bellamy nodded with a smile. "Hey, can you wait here for a moment?"
"If you leave without me I can't exactly go anywhere," Clarke reminded him, pointing at her ankle.
"Right… I'll be right back." He hurried into the mansion and when he returned he was holding a rose.
"Oh my god, no," Clarke muttered under her breath. She plastered a smile on her face as Bellamy drew close.
"Clarke, will you accept this rose?" he asked, holding his breath. Clarke thought it was cute how nervous he was.
"Yes, thank you." She accepted the rose and Bellamy bent down to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He helped her hobble back inside where several girls were waiting for her, including Roma. Bellamy stole Maya away for their one on one and Roma immediately started ripping into Clarke.
"You'd better enjoy that rose for now because you won't be holding one for long when he finds out what a backstabber you are," she snapped.
"Excuse me?" Clarke demanded. She had no idea what was going on.
"You know what I'm talking about." She turned to face the rest of the girls. "I just want to draw attention to the fact that this girl stole my one on one time away from me with the sneakiest tactics I've ever seen."
"Oh please that is so not what happened!" Raven argued.
"Excuse me? I think I would know. I was there," Roma said condescendingly.
"So was I and you're exaggerating," Raven growled.
"Really? Because how I remember it is Bellamy came to talk to me and Clarke bitched and moaned about her ankle until he gave in and took her for one on one instead of me," Roma said.
"If I was really that annoying do you think I'd be holding a rose right now?" Clarke pointed out. Roma scoffed.
"Whatever, he just felt sorry for you. I was just doing everyone a favour by letting them know your true colours. I'm trying to be the bigger person here," she told Clarke. Clarke just rolled her eyes. There was no point in arguing with this girl, she was clearly insane.
"On another note, how is everyone's night going?" Raven asked, desperate to change the subject. The rest of the women were happy to oblige.
The night finally drew to a close and all nineteen women were standing in front of Bellamy and Cage, nervously waiting for their names to be called.
"Now comes the part you've all been waiting for. The first rose ceremony," Cage addressed them. "As you can see, Clarke has already been given the first rose of the season, which means sixteen of the rest of you will be joining her in the mansion and are safe for the next week. As for two of you, it will unfortunately be time to say goodbye. Bellamy, it's time to give out the rest of the roses."
"Anya," Bellamy began. Anya walked toward him with a smile on her face and accepted her rose. "Harper."
Bellamy called out the names of twelve more girls who happily accepted their roses and joined Clarke to the left of the remaining bachelorettes. Raven gave Clarke a terrified glance. There were only two more roses and there were four girls left, including Raven and Roma. Clarke prayed that even if Raven didn't get a rose, though she was sure she would, that Roma wouldn't either.
"Raven," Bellamy called. Raven breathed a sigh of relief. She accepted her rose and gave Bellamy a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you," she whispered, before taking her place in front of Clarke, who squeezed her shoulder in congratulations. Everyone waited with baited breath for the last rose to be given, and she knew that many of the other contestants wanted Roma gone as well.
"Roma," Bellamy announced. It took everything Clarke had not to groan out loud as Roma skipped up and happily accepted her rose. Clarke didn't really know the other two girls, but she was sorry they couldn't stay on when she knew they really wanted to be there and she didn't. Although she was starting to think that even if Raven didn't get what she wanted, both of them would come out of the experience with some great friends and a good story to tell.
Cage apologised to the two girls who were going home, and after they'd said their goodbyes, everyone went up to their rooms. It was late, and they had a big week ahead of them.
