Full Summary: Lexa Woods has everything she wanted in life. Friends, family, and working towards the major of her dreams. She thought life was perfect until she met Clarke Griffin, a blonde haired, blue eyed beauty who just happens to sit next to her in class. But Clarke holds a dangerous secret. Determined to figure out what Clarke is hiding Lexa will go to any length to discover her secret. Can she help Clarke out of the darkness or allow herself to be pulled in with her?
The sound of a plate dropping. Shattering across the tile floor with a deafening crash.
Angered footsteps growing closer. The sting of a hand connecting with flesh.
"You stupid bitch! Can't you do anything right?"
A body fell to the floor, holding a reddened cheek in the process,"I'm sorry! It's won't happen again!"
Calloused hands gripped blonde hair and picked the young girl off the floor at brought her close to his face.
"Clean this up, now. If I find so much as one shard of glass on the floor you'll be wishing you'd never been born."
With a hard shove the girl was once again sprawled out on the floor, head bashing against the kitchen cabinet. With the man now gone, she allowed her hushed sobs to fill the silent kitchen, careful not to let him hear in fear of him returning.
Life seemed bleak and meaningless now.
She was bleak and meaningless.
Brunette hair fluttered in the window as a petite yet strong woman ran across the college campus, desperately trying to make it to her first class of the semester on time. Lexa Woods, young, fearless, and compassionate, was never one to be late, but this morning couldn't be helped. Her alarm clock hadn't gone off, her roommate didn't bother to wake her up, and she couldn't find her favorite pair of shorts that somehow found themselves stuffed in a box under her bed. Lexa spurred herself faster as she glanced down at the watch that adorned her wrist.
Two minutes.
Lexa was a social work major, working her way to becoming a Consultant for abused women and children. It had always been a passion of her's after one day seeing one of her friends in elementary school being beaten by her father. After telling her own father of what she witnessed he had told her that she did the right thing and possibly saved that girl's life and that filled her chest with pride. Pride that she could help someone and know that they were going to be okay in the end.
Going through middle and high school she had always known that she wanted to help anyone who was being abused and had even gone so far as to start, with the help of some school counselors, a group therapy session every morning before school. Every time someone who was being abused finally found the courage to come out and report the violence that surrounded them she felt that she was a little closer to achieving the peace she so desperately wanted for everyone.
Now, here she was, in her third year at the University of Central Florida running late for her first Psychology class of the semester. Way to start off the new school year. Her legs carried her faster, brushing past a few girls gawking at a few shirtless male students playing football. Lexa rolled her eyes, only feeling slightly sorry when she accidentally bumped into one of them.
Less than one minute.
Lexa could finally see the doors to the building that she should have been in ten minutes ago. If even possible, she pushed herself faster and barreled through the doors and ran down the hallway to her left and slowed down once she saw the entrance to her classroom. Opening the door she was met with a slightly dark room, the professor taking a quick glance at her before going back to the power point that displayed over the projector. Blushing madly at the curious stares she received from the students Lexa made her way up the stairs and began searching for an empty seat.
As her eyes scanned over the rising rows of seats she could only see one available spot all the way in the back and the very edge. Sighing quietly Lexa made her way up the rest of the stairs before placing her bag on the floor next to her and sitting down. After pulling out her computer and starting it up, she took a few moments to glance around, the sound of the professor introducing the course syllabus slightly filling her ears. Only the stairs were to her right so she decided to take a short glance to her left to access the person she would be sitting by for the remainder of the semester.
Wavy blonde hair suddenly caught her attention and caused her to do a quick double take. The woman next to her probably had the softest and most gorgeous looking blonde hair she had ever seen. She could just make out the hint of pale smooth cheeks that peaked out from the blonde locks. She couldn't see the woman's face but Lexa knew that she had to be a vision of beauty, but there was something off. Lexa instantly noticed then that the blonde wore jeans and a grey long sleeve shirt.
Lexa furrowed her eyebrows as she slowly turned her head to look down at her computer. It was a good 82 degrees outside, and compared to everyones apparel of shorts and tank tops, Lexa knew the girl had to be hot. Throwing a side glance at the girl one more time, seeing the fabric of her sleeve clenched tightly in her hand, Lexa decided not to dwell on it. The woman had her rights to wear what she wanted and it was no place for Lexa to judge.
Pushing the blonde from her mind, Lexa put her mind to focusing on the professor carry on about what they would be learning over the course. The three hour class dragged on for what seemed like forever. As Lexa typed down a few important notes she kept finding herself stealing glances at the blonde, who only seemed to curl into herself with each passing second. It wasn't until the professor finally announced their dismissal that the young woman next to her shot out of her seat and hurried out the back door of the classroom. Lexa sat there for a moment before shaking her head and began packing away her computer into her bag.
Something was clearly off about the blonde.
Lexa's emerald eyes dropped down to look at the class schedule in her hands as she walked out down on of the many sidewalks in the middle of campus. She still had another two hours before her second and last class of the day. Since she had skipped breakfast, Lexa decided it would be the perfect time to get some lunch. As she made her way towards the cafeteria Lexa heard her name being called out into the sunny day.
"Lexa! Wait up!"
Lexa smirked as she watched Anya, a friend she had met during her first year of college, run towards her slightly out of breath. As the dirty blonde female finally reached her she let her hands rest against her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"God, for someone shorter than me you walk pretty fast."
"Maybe you're just slow," Lexa said as she turned around and continued towards the cafeteria.
Anya scoffed as she found her place next to Lexa,"As if. I could beat your ass in a 5k run any day. Just not this early in the morning."
"It's twelve in the afternoon, Anya. Some people actually like to wake up at a decent hour."
"Whatever," Anya said as she waved her off,"So where we heading?"
"I'm heading to the cafeteria to get some food since I missed breakfast this morning,"At Anya's confused look Lexa quickly began to explain,"My alarm didn't go off this morning and my roommate didn't think to wake me up, and then I could barely find my favorite shorts. I almost gave up until I found them stuffed in a box under my bed. Then I had to run the ten minute walk to class. I made it there just as my professor was introducing the course. Everyone stared at me when I walked in and I had to sit all the way in the back."
Anya laughed loudly, causing a few people walking by to look at her strangely,"Finally! Lexa Woods was late to something! God I would have paid to see you walking in all out of breath and looking lost!"
Lexa rolled her eyes and gave Anya a good shove,"I wasn't late. I had three seconds to spare. So technically I was on time."
"Sure, whatever you say."
Lexa shoved her friend once more before picking up her pace and leaving her behind. Anya's laugh could be heard across the courtyard they were walking trough. As they made their way inside of the cafeteria Lexa was unaware of the blue eyes that glanced in her direction as she disappeared through the doors.
Lexa happily munched on her turkey club after finding an empty table a small ways away from the large cafeteria windows. Across from her Anya sipped languidly on her drink as she scrolled through something on her phone. Even with the buzz of everyone talking around them there was a peaceful silence that settled between the two friends. At least until the sound of Lexa's name rung out through the cafeteria. Anya and Lexa's eyes shifted up and watched as two females made their way towards their table.
"What's up, bitches?" A tall Latina said as she took the seat next to Anya while the other brunette sat to Lexa's right.
Lexa shook her head at the girl's words. She had become friends with the two girls during her second year of college. Raven, the spitfire Latina, she had met after getting pulled by Anya to a frat party. The brunette was casually sipping her drink when the woman had strutted up to her, clearly a little tipsy, and began flirting with her. Anya had quickly gotten Raven off her, saying that she wouldn't be able to handle her, and moved on to flirt with the Latina herself. After that night Raven and Anya had become close friends and a short while after, started dating.
As for the other brunette, Octavia, she had met through her childhood friend, Lincoln. The teddy bear of a man had introduced them during a night out at a bar and they had hit it off easily. Both loving to tease Anya and Raven, Lexa a bit surprised to find out that the Latina and brunette were close friends, as much as possible while also bonding over their love for taekwondo. Both women had become fast friends with her, as well as Anya, and Lexa knew that without them in her life she would probably be sulking somewhere in a corner, bored to death.
"I thought you had class right now?" Anya said as she glared at Raven who grabbed a fry from her plate and popped it into her mouth.
Raven shrugged her shoulders as she swallowed the food,"Some idiot blew up the lab. Didn't know what the hell he was doing."
"It's the first day. How does someone blow something up on the first day?" Octavia asked.
Raven, being the engineering major she was, began explaining in detail about where the boy had gone wrong. As her friends chatted away, Lexa's eyes wondered out the window to stare out into the open courtyard ahead of the large building. Her jade eyes roamed over the trees, swaying in the light Florida breeze, the birds soaring above them, before they landed on a lone figure sitting on a bench a small distance from the cafeteria entrance. The blonde from her first class sat quietly on the metal bench, head bowed down as she scribbled on what looked to be a notebook. Lexa could barely make out the light sheen of sweat that covered the girl's temple as she sat in the bright sun, still wearing the long sleeve shirt and jeans from earlier.
"Hey, guys. Do you know who that girl is?" Lexa said as she pointed discreetly towards the blonde.
Her three friends quickly dropped their conversation as they turned to look at who she had been pointing at. They stared at her for a moment before Raven and Octavia looked at each other and let out a small sigh.
"That's Clarke," Octavia all but whispered.
"You know her?" Lexa asked.
Raven was the one to nod her head as she folded her arms across the table,"Yeah, O and I used to be friends with her back in high school."
"Used to? What happened?" Anya pipped up from her spot.
"Don't really know. During our senior year she just suddenly pushed us away and kept to herself. We tried to talk to her but every time she just got defensive and said she just didn't want to be friends with us anymore," Octavia said as she glanced back out at the blonde.
"I wonder why," Lexa said as she followed Octavia's gaze.
Raven cleared her throat before stealing another one of Anya's fries,"Who knows? But it's cool. Whatever makes princess happy."
Lexa knew the woman was hurt by her previous friend's decision to push her out but she was quick to shove that feeling away. Anya met Lexa's eyes from across the table for a moment before pulling Raven into another conversation, trying to distract her girlfriend from the painful memories. Lexa's eyes darted to Octavia as the woman continued glancing in Clarke's direction. A few quiet seconds passed before Octavia turned away and looked over at Lexa.
"What made you ask about her?"
Lexa paused for a moment,"Uh, she sits next to me in my Psychology class. I just…noticed that something seemed a bit off even though I didn't say one word to her. Wanted to know if any of you knew her."
"Oh, okay," Octavia said hesitantly before narrowing her eyes,"What do you mean by 'off'?"
"I don't know. It's kind of hard to explain. She curled in on herself almost like she was scared of anyone seeing her. And when the professor dismissed class she didn't even wait two seconds before she was out of the classroom. It just seemed…odd."
Octavia nodded slowly as she took in the information,"It is. Clarke used to have such a bubbly personality. She loved talking and being around people."
"I wonder what changed," Lexa said as she propped her chin in her hand and glanced back towards the blonde.
Octavia's eyes followed her's before letting out a deep sigh,"Yeah, me too."
Jade eyes lingered on the seemingly carefree blonde as she continued to work away on whatever she was jotting down in her notebook. As Lexa watched her golden hair flutter in the wind, she wondered just what had caused Clarke's personality to take such a drastic turn. Unbeknownst to herself, she would soon find out firsthand what had turned the woman into such a damp spirit.
Lexa smiled in relief as she walked out of Economics class, finally happy to be done with her first day back. The class had taken the remainder of her day, the blazing sun beginning to disappear past the tree line as she made her way back towards her campus apartment. Lexa's obvious relief to be out of class subsided as she thought about the amount of homework she already had as she shifted her backpack higher on her shoulder.
Knowing the walk to her apartment was a good fifteen minutes, Lexa shuffled through her bag and pulled out her phone and a pair of earbuds. Sticking the tiny speakers into her ears, Lexa scrolled through her playlist before deciding on Hayley Kiyoko's song Sleepover and slipping her phone into her back pocket. The lyrics and soft beat filled her ears as she became lost in the song.
As she rounded the corner of the corner of a building a petite body crashed into hers. Her hand reached out on instinct to grab ahold of the person's shirt sleeve to try and keep them from falling but was only met with the sound of ripping fabric. Lexa stumbled as she watched blonde hair tumble down to the ground in front of her, jade eyes catching just a hint of pale skin from the torn shirt.
Lexa looked down at the torn fabric in her hands with a small gasp before moving to help whoever it was off the ground,"I'm so sorry! I should have been paying attention to where I was going!"
As she reached to help the person off the ground they suddenly flinched away from her touch before blue eyes looked up at her.
Clarke.
Her eyes held a sense of fear, as she looked at Lexa from her position on the ground. Her lips parted open to taken in ragged breathes and her fingers scrapped against the concrete under her. Lexa stood frozen in place for a moment as she took in the blonde's behavior before slowly squatting down in front of her, hands held up to show the woman that she wasn't going to touch her.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to touch you," Lexa said quietly,"I'm sorry about your shirt. I didn't mean to rip it. I can get you a new one."
That's when Lexa's eyes shifted over to Clarke's arm where she had ripped her shirt. Pale skin peaked out, but what caught Lexa's attention the most was the deep purple bruise that marred the smooth skin. The brunette's breath caught in her throat at the obviously fresh bruise and looked back into Clarke's eyes, who had never stopped looking at Lexa.
"Did someone do this to you?" Lexa said, horrified, as she reached a cautious hand towards Clarke's arm.
Clarke's unwavering gaze broke from her's to flicker down to her arm before a strangled gasp left her lips and she quickly hauled herself from the ground, hand clasping over her bruised arm.
"It's nothing," The blonde's tight voice drifted to her ears,"I'm sorry for running into you. It was my fault. It won't happen again."
Before Lexa could react Clarke darted past her, careful to keep plenty of distance between as to not bump into her once more, and hightailed it down the sidewalk next to the building. The brunette stood there, trying to wrap her mind around what had just occurred, as she watched Clarke disappear into the distance. Lexa's heart urged her to follow the blonde. To make sure that she was indeed okay, even though that she knew that was far from the truth.
Lexa's instincts had been right. There was definitely something off about the blonde. And she had seen the proof right in front of her.
A hand-shaped bruise wrapped clear around Clarke's arm.
That's when Lexa knew that she wasn't going to just let the blonde push her away so easily. She was going to find out what was going on. No matter what.