"Take a deep breath." Lexa inhales, holds it, then sets it free with a long exhale. It's Lexa's first day teaching at Polis High School. She wants to make a grand entrance so she's going to let her class sit and talk for a few minutes before entering.

Lexa's long time best friend, Anya, walks past with a smirk, shaking her head. "Just go in already, Lex. Teach now, panic later. See you at lunch."

Lexa's hand rests on the cool metal of the door handle before she turns it, gives the door a push, and strides inside. The talking turns to low murmurs as Lexa heads straight for the chalk board, not even bothering to look at the class first. She writes her name on the board and rubs her hands together to rid of the excess chalk dust on her fingers.

"My name is Miss Woods." Lexa turns to her class with her head held high and her hands clasped behind her back. "I'll be your English teacher for your senior year. I would rather get straight to work but perhaps we should begin with some introductions." The majority of the class starts groaning which makes Lexa's lips twitch but she holds back her smile. "I'll start. My name is Lexa Woods. I'm from New York. I like to read. Just like that. Your turn."

"My name is John Murphy. Most people just call me Murphy. I'm from here, Washington DC, and I like video games."

Clarke can't focus entirely on what everyone else is saying. Her eyes are glued to her new teacher. Miss Woods has green eyes that seem to be burning into every student as they introduce themselves. Her black pencil skirt goes really nice with her white button up shirt and her black heels show off her tone legs.

Raven gives Clarke a nudge. "Yo, Clarke. Quit making heart eyes. It's almost your turn."

Clarke smiles at her best friend just as her other best friend, Octavia, who's sitting to her right, finishes up her introduction.

"Hey, I'm Clarke Griffin." Clarke says confidently and she's grateful her voice doesn't falter. "I'm from Australia, and I like art." Clarke notices that Miss Woods gives her a little smile and a nod of encouragement which is odd because she didn't do that with anyone else.

"Sup, my name is Raven Reyes. Reyes is fine, Rae is cool, I'm pretty chill. I'm from here. I like cars, machinery, and my two best friends are pretty okay too."

"Quite the introduction." Lexa opens her bag and pulls out a stack of papers. "A quiz." The class groans once again. "Don't worry, it's a quick one. Just to see what level you are at on an average as a class. Take it seriously because this quiz will determine my teaching methods for the year to ensure you get the most out of this class."

Lexa stops and lingers in front of Clarke's desk for a few seconds longer than the other students, though she isn't sure why.

"Hey guys!" Clarke runs up to her two best friends and they all high-five each other and begin making their way home. "So, the new English teacher is hot."

Raven laughs at her friend and pats her on the top of her head. "Yes, my little cherub, and you were not subtle about that fact at all with your heart eyes."

"They weren't heart eyes." Clarke adds emphasis to the word 'heart' to show that she knows she was staring but it wasn't like that. "I was just appreciating how someone can be so attractive."

"Clarke, you were drooling. Not literally but you were metaphorically drooling." Octavia joins in with the teasing.

Clarke gives Octavia a shove. "Shut up, O. She's hot. I'm not afraid to admit that."

The light jokes continue until they hit Clarke's street. "Bye, Lover Girl." Raven wriggles her fingers and blows Clarke a kiss.

Clarke keeps walking and raises her middle finger over her shoulder, pointing back towards her two best friends.

"Love you too, Clarkey!" She hears Octavia shout. She doesn't bother responding. They're both assholes anyway.

There's a note on the kitchen bench from her mum saying she's working late. A $20 note in attached to the piece of paper to order take out for dinner. Clarke doesn't mind her mum working late. Abby is a very high up surgeon at the hospital and she works really hard, yet she still manages to balance out her time with her daughter.

At the end of English, Clarke notices a sign up sheet for a raffle table pinned to the notice board outside of the classroom. It's a fundraiser for The Heart Foundation. She scans the list and notices the name 'Lexa Woods' written in the slot for 4pm-5pm today with no one beside her. Clarke looks around, suddenly nervous that someone will see her signing her name up next to Miss Woods and tease her or question her. Clarke sighs in relief when she sees that passerby's aren't taking any notice of her. She grabs the pen that's dangling from a bit of string and signs her name up in the second 4pm-5pm slot.

After school, Clarke catches up with Octavia and Raven. Clarke lets them know that she's heading to the grocery store.

"Why are you going there?" Raven questions. Clarke never goes to the grocery store unless her mum asks her to tag along.

Clarke looks at her feet which are shuffling slightly from side to side. "I signed up for the raffle. I felt like helping for a change."

"Whatever you say, Griff. See you tomorrow."

Clarke watches her friends head off then she turns on her heal and heads to the grocery store. Clarke starts to feel nervous as she approaches the grocery store. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe it will be really awkward. She's just about to turn and leave when she hears her name.

"Clarke!" Miss Woods is waving her down. "Over here!"

Clarke takes the seat next to her teacher. She flashes her most apologetic smile as she does. "Sorry I'm a little late. I had to walk."

Miss Woods smiles back at her and Clarke swears she's about to have a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. "No worries, Clarke. I would have given you a ride if you asked."

"Oh, thank you, Miss Woods. I don't mind walking."

Miss Woods smiles again which Clarke finds strange because she doesn't smile very much in class. "You can call me Lexa outside of school. I feel too formal if we're having conversation and you keep calling me by my last name." Lexa looks away with a slight blush, not knowing why she just allowed her student to address her by her first name. In truth, she usually had no issues with formalities outside of school, yet she couldn't stop herself from giving Clarke the privilege.

"So... Lexa..." Clarke starts awkwardly. "What brings you to Washington DC?"

"I have my reasons." Lexa chuckles. "How about you, Clarke?"

Clarke thinks for a second about how to respond until she just says, "ditto."

"Ditto." Lexa responds with a laugh.

They sit and talk in between selling raffle tickets to other people. Clarke mostly talks about her mum being a surgeon and her art while Lexa just nods along and listens to her stories, fitting a word in here and there.

"So yeah, Raven is kind of the class clown while also being one of the smartest." Clarke finishes her story.

Lexa looks at her watch and finds that it's five to five. Someone will be here to take over their shift any minute now, yet she isn't ready to finish listening to Clarke's stories. Lexa has found that she has a fascination with Clarke's voice. Whether it be her Australian accent, her deep raspy tone, or just the stories in general. Lexa isn't sure. All she knows is that she wants to hear more.

"Do you want to do this again tomorrow?" Lexa finds herself asking, without actually realising the words are coming from her mouth.

Clarke stares at her teacher with her mouth wide open in shock. All she can think is that Miss Woods wants to spend more time with her. "I... uh..."

Lexa shakes her head and laughs at herself. "Of course, you have better things to do with your time than sit at a raffle table with your teacher."

"No, I don't actually. I'll be here. Same time as today?" Clarke gains back some of her confidence and gives her teacher a smile.

Lexa's heart melts at the smile and she wants to take back the invitation because she doesn't know why she did it but she did. Instead she tells Clarke she can go now and waves goodbye as she shouts, "same time as tomorrow! Don't forget!"

"Never!" She hears Clarke call back.

The raffle on Wednesday after school went smoothly and Lexa had to admit that she was disappointed it was the last day of the raffle table yesterday.

Lexa is sitting at her desk while her students are reading silently. She looks up from her book and lets her eyes linger on the blonde at the back of the room. That's when she notices that Clarke's attention isn't on the book but something behind the book.

Lexa gets up and wanders over to Clarke. She's so stuck into what she's doing that she doesn't even notice her teacher walking over to her until she's hovering right over her. "Clarke Griffin. Please put that away and read the chapter. I'd like to see you after school."

Clarke does as she's told and Lexa doesn't miss the murmured "shit" from under Clarke's breath but she lets it slide. Upon seeing the picture that Clarke was drawing, she almost couldn't scold the girl. That's why she got let off with a warning. Clarke had flushed bright red when she was caught which Lexa understands and doesn't want to embarrass the poor girl further in front of the class.

Clarke knocks on her English teacher's door and gets told to come in and close the door. She immediately starts apologising but Lexa interrupts her. "Can I see the drawing?"

Clarke grimaces at the idea of showing her. "Miss Woods, I don't think that's a good idea..."

"Lexa." Lexa corrects and holds out her hand. "It's okay, Clarke. I already saw what the drawing is. You don't have to be embarrassed. I just want a closer look." Clarke goes in her bag and pulls out her sketch pad, opening up to a drawing of Lexa sitting behind her desk, reading a book. You can see the concentration plastered on Lexa's face while she reads. "This is really good, Clarke."

"You're not mad that I wasn't paying attention? Or that I drew a picture of you?" Clarke asks. She's very nervous about being in trouble and because she'd gotten caught sketching her teacher.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean... I'm not mad. Please pay attention from now on but you're not in trouble. I actually want to ask you something." Lexa hands Clarke her sketchpad. "My brother owns a gym over in New York. It's a nice gym but his walls are bare. I spoke with him about you and he wants you to paint something to hang in the reception area."

"Really? Wow! Yeah totally. I'll have to talk to Miss Forrest about using the art room and then I'll get on to it." Clarke laughs in excitement.

Lexa stands and grabs her stack of paper, putting it into her briefcase. "It's already been taken care of. As long as I come along and supervise you, you can use the art room."

Lexa is set up at Anya's desk with her stack of papers, grading tests from Clarke's class today. Clarke is at an easel with a canvas, painting away already. Clarke pauses her attack on the canvas to take a quick glance at her teacher, but a quick glance gets her addicted and she can't look away.

Lexa can feel Clarke staring at her so she looks up and catches her, giving her a little smile. Clarke quickly diverts her attention back to her painting but accidentally knocks over the pottle holding her paintbrushes. "Shit." She mutters and drops to the floor to pick them up.

Lexa is over in a matter of seconds to help Clarke tidy. They both go to grab the same paintbrush and Lexa ends up wrapping her hand around Clarke's by mistake. She looks up at Clarke in shock as the touch sends shivers through her. Lexa drops Clarke's hand and laughs awkwardly, walking back to the desk.

"I need a break from painting." Clarke comes and drags a chair to sit next to Lexa. "Maybe I could help?"

"I can't let you grade your classmates tests." Lexa shakes her head. "It wouldn't be right."

"I'll be professional about it, I swear." Clarke crosses her heart, making Lexa laugh and hand her a red pen.

"Fine, seeing as your crossed your heart."

It's only been five minutes but they've been five minutes of awkward silence. Lexa reaches to grab another test at the same time as Clarke does and this time, Clarke ends up with her hand on top of Lexa's. Clarke looks up at Lexa who is already staring into her eyes. Lexa's breath is caught in her throat, her head screaming different things at her. Her heart feels like it's about to beat out of her chest. Clarke can't believe it when Lexa starts to slowly lean in. Their lips are only inches apart when Lexa draws a sharp breath in and pulls back. Clarke sees Lexa blink a few times before grabbing her things and shoving it all in her briefcase.

"It's time to go, Clarke." Clarke sits in shock, unable to move. "Clarke!" Lexa draws Clarke's attention. "It's time to go. Pack up your things."

As soon as Clarke is out the door, Lexa swings it shut and locks it, not even bothering to say goodbye before turning away and heading down the corridor.