I'm fine.
The lie slipped so effortlessly through her lips. After all, she was used to it. But it never failed to surprise her how easily people believed it.
Until Octavia and Bellamy.
When she met him a year ago at one of Octavia's parties in their apartments, she would have never thought he'd see right through her after only a few months of them knowing each other.
They didn't get along at the beginning.
He was too much of an asshole. Way too arrogant.
She still remembers their first fight, forty minutes after he arrived at O's party.
He was getting himself another beer when she fell over his feet.
"Hey, I'm so so-"
"Didn't you see me?" Clarke asked annoyed, "It's not like I'm invisible."
The apologetically face he had disappeared immediately.
"Excuse me, did you just call me an asshole? I apologized when I saw you fell," he replied, angry but his face turned to a smirk quickly. "Normally I need to talk to the girls first before they fall for me."
She couldn't believe he just said that. "Are you even for real?" she asked while standing up. "You come into my apartment and drink my beer," she was right in front of him now, "and act like an arrogant man who has women waiting for him everywhere."
He raised one of his eyebrows and grinned. "I do."
She just looked at him like he was crazy and shook her head. "I don't understand how Octavia could have you as her brother. You're so arrogant. I bet a woman broke your heart. Huh, tell me. Why do you have to act like a jerk to people if you can be a really lovely and overprotective brother like your sister always tells me. Who broke your heart, Bellamy?"
She saw him stiffen. So she was right.
He recovered quickly. "Why should I tell you out of all people in the world, the stuck up princess?"
She didn't want him to show that his comment hurt a little. Her family had money and therefore her mother did spoil her in her childhood but nowadays her relationship with her mother was a sore subject.
"Because I asked you!" She said, raising her voice a little.
"That's not a reason, princess. I don't need to answer your questions if I don't want to."
She didn't like the nickname. At all.
"Did you just call me princess?"
"Hell yeah. I can say to you whatever the hell I want. You're not my mother. Princess fits very, very well from what I know about you."
"Oh yeah, and what do you know?"
"I know your family is richer than a lot of people. I know your grades are pretty damn perfect. Octavia told me a lot about you, even very great things. I would say thank you for helping my sister the last few months, if not years, if you were the nice person she described you as. But you know what I think?"
She only raised her eyebrows at him. Neither of them saw Octavia enter the room.
"I think you're spoiled. You don't have to pay for anything. Not your rent and I bet not your furniture, either. All the money you earn you spend on food and alcohol when you and my sister go out. And-
Octavia cuts him off. "Bell, that's enough. What's going on here?"
Bellamy ignored her and stepped closer to Clarke.
"You got your perfect little life here and nothing is going wrong for you. I bet your boyfriend is perfect and you got a lot more of those really nice dresses and that's a compliment, in your closet. You even are the perfect best friend."
Clarke's anger was rising the whole time but she didn't get a chance to say anything because although he was throwing some really inappropriate comments in her face, she didn't want to say anything because she was nice and let people say whatever they want. And she really liked to look at his freckles, even if she hated him at the moment.
"And let's not forget the role of the perfect daughter. I bet your mom is proud of—."
She punched him in the mouth before he could finish his sentence.
"You don't know anything about me, Bellamy. Nothing," she says, slowly and whispering. "If you knew half of the things O knows, you would see I'm nothing like the person you just described."
He looked at her after her punch. She looked fragile and he was shocked and confused but his annoyance was overwhelming him and he couldn't think straight.
"That's enough, Bell." That was the first time he saw that his sister was in the kitchen with them.
"O— You don't kn—" he started but she cut him off.
He saw Clarke walking out of the kitchen a second later.
"I don't care. You are wrong. Go back to your friends. You shouldn't listen to them the whole time," she told him calmly.
He started to turn but stopped when she spoke again. "Don't think this is over. We'll talk later, big brother. It's gonna be one hell of a ride."
He nodded and they parted ways. He was sure she was going to talk to Clarke.
Maybe he shouldn't have been so cruel, but he had had a bad day and she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He didn't even remember what the reason of the fight was when he sat down on the couch with his beer.
Octavia was so mad at her brother. He was back in the city for good and the first thing he did was fight with her best friend. He didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. And he really had no reason to talk to Clarke like he did.
She was a good person. Most likely the best person ever.
She was there for Octavia for everything. When her mother died, when she got into the college she wanted, and when she broke up with her boyfriends. She was there for everything.
Bellamy would see it, too.
Someday, somehow, he would realize what a great person she was.
Maybe he would even try to break down that walls to get her know her even better.
O always thought Clarke would fit into the family. Maybe there was hope when they got to know each other. They could be good for one another.
She entered Clarke's bedroom after knocking.
"Hi best friend."
She heard Clarke laughing.
"Hi. Your brother is really nice. Definitely what I expected. He definitely knew a lot about me."
"Oh Clarke," she said lovingly, and sat down. "He's wrong. He doesn't know you. I told him about you. But I don't know why he acted like he did! And I definitely didn't tell him about your mother or anything about your family. It was probably Murphy. He somehow knows everything about anyone. I'm gonna kick his ass later."
She saw Clarke nodding.
"Thanks, O. I don't know why I'm hurt. It's not like some things aren't true. My mum did spoil me and—"
"But he doesn't know the rest of the story. Only your best friend does and that's me," she said, chuckling and hugging Clarke.
"That you are," Clarke said and hugged her back.
"Let's get back to the living room. The party can't go on without you and me. Come on, best friend."
Octavia smiled and followed Clarke outside.
"You're good, right?"
Clarke turned around and smiled. "I really am." And she really was.
When they entered the living room, Octavia didn't miss Bellamy and Clarke searching for one another. And she didn't miss them locking eyes, either.
Maybe hope wasn't lost after all.