Clarke's mom had been remarried for close to four years now, but it was still the first time that her dad didn't drop her off at the front of the school on her first day back. That alone was enough to ruin Clarke's day, but it was her dread of seeing the one responsible that was already beginning to make her blood boil.

"Clarke." Jasper waving his hand outside her window drew her out of her head. His voice was muffled by the glass between them. "Are you going to get out of the car or are you going to sit in there all day?"

Sit in here all day, she thought. Anything to keep her from facing Wells. She was afraid that she might punch him too hard if they crossed paths, and it wasn't out of pity for him either— she didn't want to be held accountable if she did any damage to his head from the impact.

Still, Clarke knew that holing herself away from the world wasn't going to get her into med-school, so she opened the door against her better judgement. "Jasper?" Her stepbrother was sitting crisscrossed on the parking-lot pavement, leaning with his back to the car and his messenger bag in his lap. "Why are you on the ground?"

He scrambled to his feet, taking care to wipe gravel from the back of his jeans. "I wasn't sure when, or if, you were going to come out."

"You didn't have to wait for me, you know." Clarke pressed a button on her keychain and the vehicle locked behind her.

Jasper shrugged. "Maybe not, but it didn't feel right to leave you behind."

Clarke tried for a smile, even though it was clear to both of them that it was slightly forced. Jasper knew just as well that the first day of school had always been a sacred ritual for Clarke and her father, and now she was going into her last year without it. Jasper didn't comment on it, though.

She had walked through the front building of West Ark High over a million times in the last three years, but this time it was different. But if she had to have anyone else by her side, Clarke was grateful that it was Jasper.

They had barely gotten through the front doors before Jasper was rammed in the side from out of nowhere. There was a blur of black hair and a grey hoody, and then Clarke saw Monty and Jasper bro-ing it out in the middle of the hallway.

"Now that," she admitted, "is hard not to smile at."

Monty grinned, shoving Jasper out of the way ("Hey!") and made a move to hug Clarke, who received him with open arms. "You doing okay?"

Clarke inhaled sharply, then sighed into Monty's shoulder. "Yeah. I'll be fine."

"This entire situation is just shitty," Jasper muttered off to the side.

"Nothing that I can't handle," Clarke assured them, trying for another weak smile. Just from the tight smiles that Jasper and Monty returned to her, Clarke could tell that they weren't buying it for a minute.

"Do you want us to walk you to class?" Jasper gripped her shoulder.

"No, it's really fine guys. It's really not that big a deal—I'm just being a little hyper-sensitive about this I guess."

Monty and Jasper traded concerned frowns. "Okay," Monty said slowly. "We'll meet up with you later, alright?"

Clarke nodded stoically, accepted Jasper's side-hug, then watched the two boys as they disappeared down the the east hallway. They both turned around to check on Clarke only to whip back around when they realized she hadn't moved and was still watching them.

A rush of warm air washed over Clarke's back as a new wave of students wandered into the building, and for a minute, she considered doubling back to her car and camping out near the bay all day. Anything to keep her from facing Wells. But then she decided she owed it to herself to get to class on time.

After all, she didn't spend the last three years keeping a perfect record for nothing.

…

"Octavia, will you stop and sit down?" Bellamy grabbed a hold on the back of his sister's shirt with one hand to pull her down while simultaneously keeping his eyes on the road and his left hand on the steering wheel. "What if I have to hit the breaks and you go flying through the windshield?"

"I'm just grabbing my hairbrush, God." Her voice came from a low point in the backseat, her rear end in the air and knees on the passenger seat as she fumbled around in the back. "Oh my God, this hurts my neck."

Bellamy refrained from rolling his eyes. "No shit. Now grab your damn hairbrush and sit your ass back down in the seat."

"If mom heard you say that sentence," Octavia quipped, sliding back into her seat, hairbrush in hand, "she would wash your mouth out with soap. She wouldn't care that you're eighteen."

Bellamy scoffed, but didn't say anything. He wasn't really in the mood to talk anyway, seeing as how this time yesterday he was still sleeping and would have remained that way until two in the afternoon. In retrospect, it was kind of a lousy way to spend the rest of his summer but at least he didn't regret it.

As he pulled into the school parking lot, he caught sight of a familiar wisp of dark curls and Bellamy's neutral expression cemented into a frown. "Woah," Octavia commented dryly, "I take it that you don't plan on patching things up with Roma any time soon, then, huh?"

Bellamy shot his sister a look, hinting to her that the subject was touchy and not to be mentioned. Roma had been Bellamy's on-again/off-again girlfriend throughout the previous school year, but they had called it quits for good halfway through the summer.

And it wasn't that he even hated her or anything, he just didn't like the reminder that things didn't work out. It seemed like a wasted amount of his time to have put energy into a relationship that was mostly one sided-his side, specifically.

Bellamy glanced over at Octavia. "You excited for soccer to start up?"

"Yep," she replied. She pulled her bag into her lap as Bellamy parked the car. "What about you, big brother? Ready to whoop student council into shape this year as president?" She smiled widely.

"You bet," was his answer, but he wasn't planning on being president.

Wells Jaha, the son of the superintendent, had been stu-co president since freshman year, beating out even the seniors for three years in a row. As much as Bellamy despised him for it, Wells was a shoe-in for president, especially with his golden haired princess by his side all of the time.

If there was anything that Bellamy was dreading in the upcoming school year was the amount of PDA that Clarke and Wells would be forcing the rest of the student body to watch. Sure, they had finally gotten together after being friends since the eighth grade, but they could really lay off in Bellamy's opinion.

Besides, they're both so arrogant. Especially Clarke.

"Bellamy?"

"What?" He replied automatically, barely shifting his eyes to his sister.

"You're entire face just, like, tensed. What's up?"

And now you've worked yourself up over something stupid, he scolded himself. Only it wasn't stupid. He needed more recognition around this shit school which was hard enough without the princess and mini-superintendent ruining things for him. "I'm fine," he grumbled, climbing out of the car and slamming the door behind him.

Octavia shook her head, walking at a slower pace behind him. "You forgot to lock the car again, you dipshit." Bellamy held his keys up over his head, and then the car beeped behind them. "At least you didn't throw them over your shoulder this time!"

Bellamy ignored her comment as he entered the main doors, pulling his hood up as he did so. Finding Miller or Murphy was the first task at hand in Bellamy's mind, but he was quickly pulled away from his mission when a hand clamped around his upper arm. He turned around hoping it was Miller, but was faced with the last person he expected. "What do you want, Wells?"

Wells must have picked up on Bellamy's animosity because his mouth thinned out into a frown. "Have you seen Clarke around at all?"

Bellamy almost scoffed. "Uh, no. Why would I know where the princess is?" His eyes narrowed slightly. "Besides, aren't you guys, like, always together?"

Pain seemed to slap Wells across the face, but Bellamy tried to ignore it. "If you see her, can you tell her that I was looking for her? Please?"

Bellamy was tempted to say no—and why not? Wells had never gone out of his way to help Bellamy out when he was in a jam. And yet, Bellamy still found himself nodding, "Yeah. Sure, whatever." The slight smile that Wells had at first returned. "But get out of my face before I change my mind."

Wells held his gaze, the smile returning to it's frown. Bellamy suspected the boy was holding back choice language in fear of being offensive and missing out on his help. Satisfied, Bellamy spun on his heel. "See ya, Jaha."

…

Clarke was relieved when she had successfully managed to dodge a bullet in three of her classes— that bullet being her ex-boyfriend Wells.

He had tried approaching her in third hour, even sat in the desk beside her, but she gave him the silent treatment without making eye contact until right after the bell rang and she quickly moved her stuff to an empty desk at the front of the room before Wells could even process what had happened.

He didn't try sitting by her at all in fourth hour, but she had ignored him when he attempted at small talk. By fifth hour, he didn't try engaging with her at all, which she gave herself a pat on the back for. She had hoped he had finally taken the hint and that, no, she did not want to get back together.

Or associate with him ever again for that matter.

But the determined bastard didn't give up so easily and was waiting directly in front of the door to their last class of the day, AP European History.

Clarke hung back, weighing her options. She could skip all together (even though deep down, she knew she wouldn't), keep her head low so he wouldn't recognize her (wishful thinking), or run right past him (if he stepped in front of her, it'd be like running into a wall of bricks.) At any rate, it wasn't going to end well.

"Clarke."

The distraction was such a relief, she didn't even care who was calling her name. Until she found herself beside Bellamy Blake. Then she had to rethink her priorities—Wells or Bellamy? Yeah, okay Bellamy was probably worse than Wells is she were being honest.

But blind hate tipped her balance, and talking to Bellamy for a quick minute seemed harmless. "What do you want, Bellamy?"

Bellamy's eyebrows shot up. "That's new."

"What?"

"Usually you're so...school girl excited on the first day of school." He cracked a cocky grin. "You know, before you stress out by the second week and become the bitchy princess we all know you as."

"You're such a dick, Bellamy." Her eyes clouded over with disgust.

"I've been called worse." Bellamy seemed to notice Wells standing near the door for the first time. "Oh, yeah. You're boyfriend was looking for you earlier."

Clarke tensed at the term boyfriend, earning a confused squint from Bellamy. "You don't say," she managed between clenched teeth.

The two stood in an awkward silence for a few seconds. "Okay," Bellamy started, "are you going to go in the classroom with me or are you going to keep standing here like a crazy person?"

Clarke scoffed slightly. "You have AP European History? Why?"

Bellamy sighed, rolling his shoulder blades in an arc. "And there you go again, Princess." He stopped and his eyes refocused on hers. "Probably the same damn reason you did, Clarke. It's an elective. For enjoyment."

She withheld another snort. "I didn't know you liked history."

"Well we can't all enjoy harvesting organs, can we, Princess?" It's a low blow, but Clarke can tell that he doesn't care if he insulted her as he slides past Wells and into the classroom.

It wasn't fair that Bellamy Blake could just walk right into the classroom like he owned the place while she was stuck hanging back for fear of confrontation. Maybe she should file for a restraining order or something. Even Wells wouldn't be able to fight a restraining order.

"Clarke?" Wells's eyes fixated on her from the door frame. She inwardly groaned; Bellamy probably told him she was there out of spite. "Can we please just talk about this?"

The warning bell rang. Great timing, she thinks to herself.

"There's nothing too talk about, Wells," she hissed, walking past him. "You got my dad fired and now he's gone! I barely got to see him when he was still living around here, but thanks to you he lives on the other side of the damn country now!"

"We have an audience," he whispered.

For the first time, Clarke became aware that people who were still making their way to class were starting to stop and eavesdrop. She was also mildly aware of how much she didn't care. "So?"

"I just thought-"

"-—yeah? Well, you thought wrong!" Clarke held his gaze, eyebrows knit together sternly. Wells's face was nothing short of miserable, but for the second time in the last minute, she didn't care. "You thought wrong," she whispered again, turning towards the door. "Do me a favor? Stop thinking."

Clarke shoved past him and slammed her bag down on the front-most desk just as the final bell rang.

…

"How do you think Clarke held up today?" Jasper asked casually, hoping his worry wasn't evident.

Monty pursed his lips before relaxing again. "As long as she didn't have to talk to Wells, she probably got through the day A-okay." He caught a grape in his mouth. "She might want takeout for dinner though. Or something quick."

Jasper nodded thoughtfully. "Good call. I know my dad has shit to do tonight and Abby has some kind of seminar until around ten. Clarke won't wanna cook tonight either since we'll get home so late."

"What time does the game start?"

Jasper slung his bag over his shoulder. "Five-thirty, but I have to be back at around four-thirty for warm ups and stuff."

Monty nodded. "That's not too bad."

"Nah, not really." Jasper didn't, however, mention that he really only had to be back by five, but being an entire hour early meant he had a better chance at catching a conversation with Octavia Blake, the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen since the ninth grade. "So we should see if Clarke's hungry now, go out and get something so you two can eat at the game, and then come back?"

"Sounds solid enough to me." He regarded Jasper with a frown. "But seriously, we're not getting Taco Bell again."

Jasper sighed. He was looking forward to Taco Bell all day.