Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or themes from The CW's The 100; However, I do own my OC(s), the writing, and any and all plot line is created by me for this story. In addition, this is loosely (very loosely) based off of the movie Roman Holiday and therefore I cannot take any credit for themes taken from there, either.

Chapter 1

"I hate this nightgown! I hate all my nightgowns, and I hate my underwear, too."

Please don't be up. Please don't be up. Please don't be—

The light clicked on suddenly, catching Alessia Kane red-handed in a cat-like position on the first stair of the small, hotel-like townhouse. Her father, the notoriously strict Marcus Kane, was sitting stationary in his comfortable chair in the living room, one hand on the light switch as the other held a glass of bourbon. He wore an expression not to be messed with and observed her disheveled appearance (i.e., the slightly tousled hair, her clothes just a little skewed to the right, and the heavy burden of her heels in hand), not wanting to comprehend what she had done earlier in the evening.

"It's one in the morning, Alessia," the father chastised while his daughter sighed and lowered herself from her tip-toes. Begrudgingly, she walked from the stairs into the living room to her warden-like father. "Where have you been?"

"Out," she replied and tossed her heels to the side of the foyer so they were out of her hands.

"With…?"

"With Clarke."

"And?"

"And…Raven."

Kane looked at the brunette-haired girl disappointedly, waiting for her to admit the truth. When Alessia stood her ground, rightfully so as she was, in fact, the daughter of an extremely stubborn man, Kane was out of niceties. In an attempt to force her hand, Kane urged, "Did Calix Mercer happen to be there?"

Alessia hesitated. "He...may have dropped in..."

"Alessia, what have I constantly told you?!" Kane erupted in anger. If she hadn't been so used to him raising her voice, she'd flinch like the others, but she'd had to take it her whole life. If she weren't used to it by now, she wouldn't survive in the Kane household. He exploded, as if her discrete confession had thrown him off the edge. "I have told you countless times, you need to stop seeing him! He's one of the trainees and...and he's too old for you, anyways!"

She crossed her arms defensively. "Dad, he's two years older than I am. And I'm eighteen, it's not like it's illegal."

"He also joined the military a year ago and, once Jaha makes the call, will be sent out to war." He scowled. "Is that what you want? A life where you sit at home and wait around for someone who may never come back?"

"Well, it's what I do for you, don't I?" she retorted, but her father just stood up out of his chair and sighed heavily, tired with her witty remarks.

"The difference is, you know I'll come back. I wouldn't be too sure about him." Kane brushed past his daughter and turned for the kitchen. "You broke curfew tonight, Alessia. Add on another two days of work at the base. Go to bed."

"Dad—"

"Goodnight, Alessia." He turned around and gave her the look, the one that told her she wouldn't dare say another word unless she wanted to spend the rest of her life locked up in the house. Kane waited to make sure she would oblige him, and at last, she huffed and turned on her heel with extreme bitterness.

"Whatever you say, Lieutenant Colonel!" Alessia screamed out, disregarding their neighbors. Kane closed his eyes with extreme disdain and listened as she marched up the stairs, extremely pissed off, and slammed the door so loud, he was sure it probably broke the frame. When she had finished her tantrum, he just turned around calmly and walked back into the kitchen to get a glass of water before heading to bed, himself.

When Alessia was in her room, all she wanted to do was scream. She could've. She didn't care about it either way; in fact, anything she could do to ruin her father's stellar reputation around the military base, she would take it. Only, she was so frustrated that screaming or crying didn't work anymore. He didn't even give her a chance to explain herself or defend herself or even make a case to him—it was always about what Lieutenant Colonel Kane wanted and what Lieutenant Colonel Kane got. The other teenagers on the base had it easy. Not only did they have a mother to balance out the strict tension of the household, there wasn't another father like Marcus Kane out there, one that wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and always had to have what he deserved or thought he deserved. He always had to control her, always had to mold her into the perfect, subservient military child he always wanted.

As the frustrated, hopeless Alessia got dressed to get to bed, she heard her phone beep in her pocket. She had a few texts, most of them from Clarke and Raven in their group message.

bitchessss

Clarke Griffin

Hey u ok?

Raven Reyes

yeah did ur dad catch you for breaking curfew? he's the worst.

Clarke Griffin

Raven, that's her dad!

Raven Reyes

we all know he's a dick, clarke. it's not a secret.

And then there was another text message, this time outside of the group chat from Calix Mercer, her not-so-secret boyfriend whom her father not-so-secretly disapproved of.

Calix Mercer

Sorry we were out so late. I didn't mean to get you in trouble with your dad. I'll talk to him in the morning.

Before she replied to everyone, Alessia made sure to change and shut her light off so when her dad came upstairs, he would think that she was asleep. Once she was in bed, she looked over at the clock and realized it was 1:20. She had to get up in five hours for school, but she didn't really care. She turned the brightness down on her iPhone and texted in the dark.

bitchessss

Alessia Kane

Raven's right. He's a dick.

I'm fine, but yeah he caught me.

Two more days of work detail at the base...

As she waited for Raven and Clarke to text her back, she moved onto Calix.

Calix Mercer

You don't have to talk to him. It wasn't your fault.

Besides, it was worth it...

bitchessss

Raven Reyes

ouch. rough. good luck with that.

Alessia Kane

Thanks, Raven. So supportive.

Maybe I should tell my dad about your extracurricular activities at school with Finn. He would love to sign you two up for some work with me.

I could use the company...

Raven Reyes

YOU DO THAT AND I DISOWN YOU

Alessia Kane

I would never.

Work detail is physical hell. I would never wish that on anyone.

Raven Reyes

speaking of physical hell, where did clarke go?

clarke?

clarkeeeeeee?

Alessia Kane

She probably fell asleep...

Raven Reyes

lame

Right as Alessia was about to text back, she saw a dark shadow coming up the stairs from outside her door. She realized quickly that it was Marcus and knew that he would come to check on her. As if the phone were a hot potato in her hand, she quickly plugged it in beside her and turned on her other side, her back facing the door, and listened as the Lieutenant Colonel pushed open the door and walked in to make sure she was actually asleep. Actually, a few years back, she had to record herself while sleeping so she knew what she sounded like and could make an exact copy of it when he came to check on her because Kane was intense. If she was off by just a single snore, he would catch her. But she had mastered the art of fake sleeping and, reluctantly, Marcus retreated from the room and shut the door.

She turned onto her back and grabbed her phone again, this time only seeing a text from Calix.

Calix Mercer

It always is.

I better go to bed before the LTC gives me hell in the morning.

Love you, Les

Alessia smiled slightly, but she didn't feel quite right texting him back. There was something inside of her, something strange. She just felt so...so empty. It was like she was stuck in this time warp and she couldn't get out. Every night it was like this—they would go out, stay late, Kane would bust her, she would get punished, but it would all be worth it because she loved Calix and wanted to be with him. And every bit of work detail was worth it. But for once—just once—she wanted something different. Something other than going down to the river at the edge of the base and drinking stolen booze from Kane's office.

She sighed and just typed a heart emoji before putting her phone back on charge and turning over to finally get some rest.

Bellamy knew there was a problem. Six hours in the car and his sister hadn't said a single word to him. She was angry, he knew that, but what other choice did he have? There wasn't a better option for them that wouldn't cost them all they had plus the clothes on their backs. Octavia resented him now, sure, but she would come around eventually, right?

"I heard that the school is small there," Bellamy tried, partially staring at his sister in the passenger seat as she turned her head from him and looked out the window at the plain Virginia lands. "That's good, right? You'll get to know everyone, make some new friends..."

"Or everyone could think I'm a freak and then the entire school would hate me and I would have no friends and be alone for the next two years."

He hesitated, not exactly sure how to respond. "That's a bit dramatic."

"Dramatic or worst-case scenario?"

"Is there a difference?" Bellamy sighed, exhausted with Octavia's teenage petulance. "Look, O, you know I don't want to do this any more than you want to but...but this is the best I can come up with right now. And Mom always said Dad was in the military before—"

"I don't want to talk about it, Bellamy." Octavia snapped, shifting and turning father away from him. Bellamy paused for a moment, but he wasn't going to let her do this again. Since he mentioned that he was enlisting himself in the army so that he could provide for him and Octavia for the next two years, she had become something along the sorts of a devil child—rather, devil sister. She barely talked to him, she barely looked at him, and when she did look and talk to him, it was sour and sarcastic. He watched cautiously as the brunette teenager beside him reached down and pulled her old iPod out of her bag and raised the headphones to plug herself in, but he was tired of looking at the thing.

"Give me this!" Bellamy hissed under his breath as he snatched it from her hand and rolled down the window, all while keeping the car straight on the road.

"Bellamy!" Octavia shouted as he threw the iPod out the window. She watched as it went flying behind them in the wind on the lonely dirt road that would lead them to the military base. Octavia's mouth fell slack. "That's my iPod!"

"Yeah, well, not anymore."

Despite his best efforts, the rest of the car ride was absolutely boring. An hour or so later, after the painstakingly silent and awkward car ride between the siblings, Bellamy finally pulled the car up to the gate of the base, where he was told by the officers to park in the main lot behind the main building. He did so quickly, as he was cutting it close to the meeting time with Sergeant Shumway who was supposed to get the paperwork sorted and show him where Octavia would stay, since Bellamy had asked for housing for himself and his sister seeing as she had no one else to be with. All the trainees stayed on the base and only families of military personnel were allowed to house on-site.

Bellamy and Octavia both got out of the car and stepped out into the warm spring weather of rural Virginia—the Arkadia base, just a few miles from the Mount Weather emergency center. Both Blakes surveyed the prospects, realizing that it would be their home for the next six months of his training, until Bellamy was either deployed or moved to another base. It would be an adventure.

"Doesn't looks so bad," Bellamy offered. Octavia frowned.

"I miss New York."

Once they were inside the main building, they both looked around with curiosity and intrigue in their eyes. Bellamy didn't know what to do, so he sort of stood around by the door until he heard his name.

"Mr. Blake?"

Bellamy turned to his side to see a thirty-something man dressed in his uniform with slicked-back black hair approach him with a cordial smile. He nodded.

"Yeah."

The man stuck out his hand, where Bellamy shook it immediately, making sure to squeeze the appropriate amount for the army man. "Sergeant Shumway. Welcome to Fort Arkadia."

"Thank you. I'm glad to be here. You said we had some paperwork to fill out?"

"Right this way." Shumway looked over Bellamy's shoulder to see Octavia, looking around the building with a mixture of disgust and intrigue. "And this must be your sister."

Bellamy turned around and Octavia snapped out of her trance with the building as she was mentioned. Her brother nodded. "Octavia. You said she could stay on the base with me, right?"

"Well, we'll have to fill out the paperwork and get it approved by the Colonel, but yes, she'll be able to stay in one of the extra rooms on the edge of the base. And we'll go ahead and fill out the paperwork to enroll her in school. There aren't a lot of students—mostly just the kids of some of our personnel—"

Bellamy shrugged. "Octavia's always been good at fitting into small crowds."

Behind him, he could hear Octavia scoff, but he chose to ignore her. Shumway noticed however, and he paused for a moment or two before laughing to himself and nodding.

"I understand. Well, Mr. Blake, we should get started. We'll get the paperwork done and then you'll be shown your room and protocol. We only have fifteen minutes, so let's get started." He moved for Bellamy to come with him, but looked over at Octavia and pointed to a bench at the doors. "If you would just wait over there, please."

Octavia watched as Bellamy and the Sergeant rushed off and, bitterly, she made her way over to the bench Shumway had pointed out for her and crossed her arms over her chest defensively while watching all the boring army brats around her in their day-to-day activities. She waited for what felt like hours but was really only fifteen minutes, in which time she ended up dozing off for a bit. It was four-thirty in the morning, who could really blame her? She finally woke when she heard Bellamy and the Sergeant come out of his office and shake hands.

"Thank you, Sergeant Shumway."

"If you need anything, Private, you know where to find me." The Sergeant turned his head to look down the hallway. "Go down the hallway, make a left, then go straight down until you get to the exit. The PVT dorms are across the street. Your room number is 134, and you'll be sharing it with PFC Mercer. He'll show you the ropes around here."

The Private nodded to him as the Sergeant walked away and, retreating to Octavia, Bellamy sighed at her. "You ready?"

"For what?"

"School, apparently. Shumway said he's sending in a temporary enrollment down to the school until the Colonel can approve your forms and make the enrollment permanent. He said the temporary enrollment could last a month or two." Bellamy shrugged. Octavia frowned.

"I have to start school today? They couldn't at least give me a day to rest and take this all in?"

"Hey, it's the military. You really expect them to cut us some slack?"

He watched as Octavia practically bit back a frustrated and somewhat angsty groan, but she did a good job at containing it inside of her. Yet still frustrated, she held out her hand for the map in Bellamy's and another for his keys.

"I'm gonna get my stuff and go to wherever the hell I'm staying. Can I see the keys and the map, please?"

Bellamy, however, was hesitant. "I don't know if that's such a good idea..."

"Seriously, Bell? You already dragged me out here, it's not like I'm gonna go running off or something. Besides, like you said, the military doesn't cut us slack so...go meet that PFC or whatever. Can I please have the map?" she prompted with a tired look on her face. Bellamy again hesitated, but he realized where she was coming from. To be honest, he would've thought she'd handle it worse than she already was. So, graciously, he gave her the map and the keys to get her stuff.

"Okay, fine. Go ahead. I'll find you after school." Octavia nodded and turned to head out the front doors, but before she could, Bellamy called out to her. She turned around at the call for attention. "Octavia? I'm sorry I'm making you do this."

She stared at her brother and, for a moment, the resentment was gone. She shrugged. "It's what we have to do to survive, right?"

He nodded reluctantly and she gave him a faltering smile as she stepped out into the rising sun. He, in turn, walked in the other direction to where Shumway had pointed him towards. Bellamy knew he should be excited that he was starting something new in his life, something constant, but he couldn't help but feeling that there was something missing. Maybe he was still feeling grief over his mother, he didn't know. But all he knew was that he had a bad feeling in his stomach, and he couldn't seem to fill the void that emptied him.

Nevertheless, he followed Shumway's instructions perfectly and, when he entered the dorm room with the key Shumway had given him, he found that his roommate was passed out in his bed, as if resenting having to get up and start the day. Bellamy cocked an eyebrow, knowing that it probably wasn't the norm around the base. He attempted to wake the sleeping PFC, and finally, after a few pokes, the guy woke with a start.

"What time is it?" the Private First Class mumbled under his breath for a moment before checking the watch beside his bed. As soon as he saw it was 4:45 AM, he jumped up immediately with his eyes wide. "Oh, fuck. LTC's gonna kill me." The PFC looked up with a confused look. "Who the hell are you?"

"Private Blake..." Bellamy trailed off. "I just enlisted."

The PFC took time to realize what he was talking about, and finally nodded. "Right! Right, they said we were getting a new Private. Well, I'm PFC Mercer, but you can call me Calix. Listen, I was out late with my girlfriend last night..." Calix lifted himself from the bed and walked over to the closet to immediately put his clothes on without giving a second thought to the fact that he hadn't showered for the morning. Bellamy looked at him, perplexed.

"We're allowed to do that?"

"No. So I would appreciate it if you...didn't mention to the LTC that I wasn't up to greet you this morning outside the room."

Bellamy knotted his eyebrows. "The LTC?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Kane." Calix finally finished getting dressed and went over to the nightstand to put on his watch and his shoes. "Guy's a real asshole. Always by the book. Dots his 'i's, crosses his 't's...blah, blah, blah." He lifted himself from the bed after tying up his combat boots and sighed. "Your clothes are on the bed. Get dressed, we're going to morning training."

"What time will we be back? I was thinking I would go check on my sister before she goes to school—"

"She'll have to wait. Come on, we've got to move...unless you want the LTC to kick your ass." Mercer gave him a wide-eyed look. "Because he will."

Bellamy paused for a moment, but he realized he didn't have a choice. Per Calix's instructions, he texted Octavia quickly and told her that he was leaving his phone in the room while he went off to training.

"Dad," Alessia said slowly, starting to get a little pissed off as she gathered with the rest of the Privates and PFCs on the field behind the dorms. He had blared a horn in her ear early in the morning and told her to get dressed in gym clothes and to come with him and, of course, they were standing out in the early morning about to do exercises. She frowned at him. "Why did you wake me up early to do basics with the Privates?"

"Because, Alessia, I thought it would be good to get you up early in the morning." He smiled at her and watched as she yawned. "Tired? Late night?"

Alessia scowled. "You enjoy torturing me way more than a normal father should."

"Good thing I'm not a normal father. Get in line." Kane pointed to the Privates on the field and Alessia, annoyed as ever, reluctantly stepped forward and joined the Private line. The LTC looked around and furrowed his eyebrows, wondering where his PFC was with the new Private. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Sergeant Shumway interrupted him with some news. Alessia yawned again for the second time in two minutes and, because of her tiredness and her father's incapability of mercy, she realized she needed to stretch to get it all out of her system.

After stepping off to the side, she placed her feet shoulder-with apart and quickly did her arm and neck stretches before bending down for a low lunge on both sides. As Kane continued to talk with Shumway, she watched as Calix and some guy following him quickly joined the Privates unnoticed. Alessia barely noticed them, but smiled at Calix as she stepped back from low lunge and into downward dog, knowing full well all of the Privates' eyes were on her—even the women Privates. Bellamy, still slightly out of breath since Calix had made him run to the courtyard behind the dorms, watched Alessia with intrigue, wondering what kind of attention-grabbing teenager would really be slutty enough to want to give a show to all the Privates. At last, Kane turned around to face the group of Privates and his daughter.

"Alessia, get back in line," the LTC barked at his promiscuous daughter. Alessia looked up at him from her downward dog and grimaced for a few moments before lifting and walking back over beside one of the Specialists, or SPCs, who was surveying her prospects. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms to wait for her father's instructions. Instead, Kane stepped to the side to see PFC Mercer and Private Blake in the back. "PFC Mercer! Private. Nice of you two to join us."

The PFC merely did not say anything, only stiffened further with a stoic look on his face. Private Blake was slightly confused, but copied his superior's stance with ease. The Lieutenant Colonel quickly moved on, barking out immediate exercises which all the soldiers in front of him obliged with, as well as his own daughter. They went through the pyramid routine and, lastly, Kane ordered them all to run two miles around the laps.

"So we do this every morning?" Private Blake asked Mercer as they both ran at the same pace around the laps, mostly at the same speed as all of the other PVTs, PFCs, and SPCs. Calix shrugged.

"Most mornings, at least for you. It's mandatory for PVTs to attend morning exercises before Basic Combat Training, or BCT. PFCs and SPCs can choose as long as the Lieutenant Colonel says it's alright. I know you said something about your sister, but you might not have a lot of time to see her. Is she already enrolled at the school?"

"Temporarily, yeah. Sergeant Shumway said something about getting the Colonel's approval before she was permanent."

Calix scoffed. "By that time you'll be moved to another base, probably in Louisiana. I heard they're looking for more down there. Who knows? Maybe by then, you'll advance to a PFC. Just gotta impress the right people."

Bellamy used a few moments to catch his breath as they ran before asking, "Is that what happened with you? How long have you been here?"

"Ten months. And yeah, that's what happened to me. Lieutenant Colonel Kane trained me. God knows why."

Right as Bellamy opened his mouth to continue the conversation, the two soldiers heard a shout from behind them. Calix turned and watched as Alessia ran past, more glistening than sweating, with a triumphant smile on her face as she turned around and ran backwards, still at an abnormally fast pace. Calix laughed at her while she prompted, "You're slowing on me, Mercer. I could run laps around you."

"You could run laps around anyone, Alessia."

She shrugged, having no comment to the true statement. Her eyes glazed over the new trainee beside Calix. "Let me guess. Fresh meat?"

"Private Blake, actually," Bellamy corrected with a bitter edge to his voice, finding it abnormally rude for someone, let alone an obvious civilian, to talk to him like that; it was as if she were laughing at him with her eyes like he was doing something wrong and yet she was the one running backwards. But she didn't need to only laugh in her head, as Bellamy watched while she burst out laughing in the middle of her backwards run. However, she didn't share her supposedly humorous thoughts.

"Welcome to Fort Arkadia, Private. Have fun." She threw a sarcastic look to Calix and then turned around, taking off without blinking an eye. Bellamy stared after the teenager, as she looked no older than 18. When she was gone, Bellamy turned to Mercer, who was staring after her as well, but in an entirely different way.

"Who was that?"

"Lieutenant Colonel's daughter, Alessia Kane."

"You know her?"

"Something like that." Mercer chuckled under his breath and threw a small smile to Bellamy for a moment before suddenly speeding up, sprinting to Alessia, who had already gotten at least fifty feet from them. Bellamy slowed for a moment and watched as Mercer approached the dark-haired girl and they continued to run together. It was then that he could sense there was obviously something more there. Needless to say they were obvious to anyone who had eyes.

Great, Bellamy thought sourly. So I guess I have to sleep with the Lieutenant Colonel's daughter to get anywhere around here. Damn politics. He paused for a moment and watched her from a distance, and then admitted to himself: well, at least she's not bad to look at.

"Private Blake!" he heard, and when Bellamy looked to the side, he saw Lieutenant Colonel Kane standing in the center of the field with a scowl situated on his lips. "It's not prom night around here! Move!"

Taking a deep breath, the Private frowned before picking up the pace, making his way around the track yet again. Oddly enough, he felt like he was back in high school, running laps around the track for his dick of a teacher. God, he hated high school. He had always though college would be much better, given all the freedom, but he didn't have a chance. College cost money, his grades weren't high enough to get scholarships, and his mother was up to her neck in bills, so he had to get out and get a job right away.

But thinking about the past merely slowed Bellamy down, so he pushed his memories away like he could shove it into a drawer and ran even faster.

"Raven, I like to get to bed at a reasonable time. File a complaint if it bothers you so much."

"You're such a goodie-two-shoes, Clarke."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Well you wouldn't know, would you?" Raven smiled and watched as Alessia walked up to her and Clarke as they sat outside the building waiting for the first bell to ring. The dark-haired, olive-skinned teenager scoffed and waited as Alessia approached closer to shout to her, "You look like hell!"

Alessia came to a slow as she met up with her friends. "Yeah, my dickhead father woke me up at four this morning to do BCT with the Privates. Morning exercises, though, so it wasn't too rough. Thanks for the heads up though, Raven."

"You are most definitely welcome."

Clarke gave Raven a slight shake of her head, her pale blonde strands shaking in the reflection of the golden sun, before looking up at Alessia with a concern in mind. "You said you got added another two days for work detail?"

She nodded. "Yep. So I'm back up to another two weeks. Luckily it'll be over by the time we get our break. It's at the end of the month, right?"

"April 18th to April 29th." Alessia, Raven, and Clarke all turned their heads and watched as Finn Collins, Raven's boyfriend, approached them at the ledge outside of the school and walked up next to his girlfriend. "Trust me, I'm counting the days."

"Yeah, I know you are." Raven chuckled under her breath as Finn gave her a quick hello kiss to start the day. Alessia and Clarke watched, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. However, Alessia felt Clarke stiffen a bit beside her and wanted to ask, but she didn't get a chance to say anything before Finn turned and looked at Alessia with a prompted look.

"We're still good for the trip, right?"

"We should be." Alessia nodded and all her friends waited, realizing that it wasn't a definitive answer. "I...um, just gotta figure out what I'm gonna tell my dad. I'll start brainstorming tonight."

"Okay, well whatever you're telling him, make sure you tell me this time." Clarke turned her head to Alessia with a serious expression. "The last time we did something like this and I told my mom where we were actually going, the LTC basically tortured the information out of her. Never again will we make that mistake."

The brunette sat down on the ledge next to Clarke with a sigh. "Yeah, my dad seems to know exactly which buttons to push when it comes to your mom."

Raven scoffed from behind them. "Yeah, which 'buttons' alright."

"Raven!" both Clarke and Alessia chastised her at the same time. She shrugged in defense.

"What? I always get the feeling something more's going on there. Not like you two would ever find out, though. Alessia, your dad's a master at secrets. You don't quite get that from him."

Clarke shuddered. "I think I'd physically throw up if I found out your dad and my mom—"

Thankfully, before Clarke could finish, the bell rang over the loudspeakers, signaling their five minutes to get to class. The four of them lifted themselves up from the ledge and began to walk into the school reluctantly, dreading the day ahead. As they made their way up the stairs, they were joined by their unlikely alliance, the science nerds, Monty and Jasper.

"Hey guys!" Jasper greeted them enthusiastically as they all stepped into the school to get to class. He was an odd kid, extremely tall and thin frame with goggles on his head all the time with the weirdest graphic t-shirts. Monty, too, was of the same breed, just without the obvious science-geek look. Nevertheless, ever since Clarke had been put into a lab group with them, they had been hanging out with the four at school. "Did you hear?"

"The bell?" Alessia filled in with a small smile. Monty rolled his eyes.

"No, not the bell. Apparently, there's a new Private on the base. Just came in this morning."

"Is he hot?" Raven asked. Finn looked down at her with a cocked eyebrow, and she looked up with a clever smile. "I'm...asking for Clarke. She needs a new boyfriend ever since she and Wells didn't work out."

Clarke cleared her throat. "Um, thanks, Raven, but I'm alright."

"Well I still want to know if this Private is hot." She turned to Finn. "Strictly curious, baby."

"He's alright looking." Alessia shrugged, shifting her bag to her other shoulder. Everyone looked over at her, surprised. She nodded. "Yeah, I met him this morning. I'm guessing he's Calix's new roommate because they were running together. Trust me, he won't last a week."

Raven scowled and asked hopefully, "Is he really 'alright looking' or are you just saying that because you're afraid to admit that he's smoking hot?"

"Well, I mean...he's sorta presumptuous, I guess. Rugged, if you're into that sort of thing."

"Who isn't?"

"Raven, I am right here," Finn informed her just as they pulled up to his first class. She smiled and pushed him to the side playfully.

"Oh, stop being so needy. Go to class. I'll see you later."

She just listened as he chuckled under his breath and went inside the classroom with Monty as well, leaving Raven, Clarke, Alessia, and Jasper to roam the hallways. When Monty and Finn were gone, Alessia turned to Jasper.

"Was that all the interesting gossip you had, Jasper? A new Private? It was kinda lame."

"Nooooo, Alessia, I had something else!" The three girls beside him waited patiently, where Jasper inhaled sharply. "Oh! You want me to tell you now? Okay, um, apparently there's a new girl coming to the school today, too. She's the Private's sister, I think. Sister or daughter, I forgot. Actually, I think that it might be his sister but he has legal custody so—"

"We're getting someone new?" Clarke asked, her expression excited. Jasper nodded eagerly.

"I know! This is so exciting! I hope she's hot...or nice-looking...or even mediocre, just as long as she's into me—"

Raven shook her head at the science nerd and nudged him as they came up to their first period English class. "Come on, Jasper, I'll find you someone mediocre. Save this mystery new girl a heartbreak, huh?"

Clarke and Alessia watched as Raven dragged Jasper into their first period and disappeared from the hallway. When they were alone, Clarke nudged her elbow into Alessia's ribs playfully with a teasing smile.

"So, how were things with you and Calix last night? We looked up and you both were gone. Figured you disappeared behind the bleachers or...?" she prompted, waiting for an explanation. The night before, the night she had gotten caught for staying out too late, Alessia had been with Raven, Clarke, Monty, Jasper, Finn, and later were joined by Calix out by the football field. It was far enough from the base that the adults wouldn't go out at night and, with the lights off, it wasn't obvious that there were kids around—the perfect hangout spot. To her friends, it wasn't really a secret that she and Calix were in a relationship, although Raven had been right before that they were far from subtle. Besides, her father could smell a secret from miles away based on the sole fact that he was the best at hiding secrets from everyone else. It was a Marcus Kane gift.

"It was good." Alessia smiled to herself for a moment, but she couldn't shake off that feeling she'd had the night before—her incompleteness. Nevertheless, she brushed it away and moved on. "Really good. I think he might be coming with us on this road trip, he'll just have to put in for a few days leave probably in the middle of when we're going. If he tries to take off the same week we are, the LTC will know what we're doing."

"Yeah, you know..." Clarke trailed off just as they entered their Civics class. "I don't think this road trip is such a good idea. I might back out, I've been thinking about taking my mom up on that offer to go visit colleges out in California."

They sat down at their desks and Clarke shielded her eyes as Alessia gasped. "No! No, Clarke! You can't do that! What am I supposed to tell my dad?"

"Oh, relax. You and Raven can come up with a scheme of your own."

"Clarke." Alessia leaned over her desk and whispered cautiously, "What is going on? You've been acting weird for the past few days and now you're gonna bail on our trip of a lifetime? Come on!"

Clarke averted her gaze. "It's nothing."

"If it were nothing, you wouldn't be backing out of this trip." Before Alessia could get any further, the final bell rang just as the teacher started to speak over Clarke trying to reply, most likely to deny once again that something was wrong. But Alessia could see the look in her eyes and knew that there was obviously something wrong, only she didn't have another chance to ask. Ten minutes into class, as Mr. Miller was halfway through his lecture on their upcoming graded mock trial, the door of the classroom opened to reveal an unfamiliar face of a new, sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl who looked just as embarrassed as they all did enthusiastic. Clarke and Alessia shared a glance as the girl looked around for a moment, completely dumbfounded, before finally turning to the teacher behind her.

"You're late," he stated bleakly. The new girl, about 5'5" with dark, nearly black hair stumbled forward and extended a slip to him.

"I know. I was in the front office, they told me to give this to you. I think you're supposed to sign it."

He nodded to her. "I will after class. What's your name?"

"Octavia. Octavia Blake."

"Welcome to Arkadia Academy, Octavia. Have a seat."

"Octavia's such a nice name," Clarke muttered to Alessia as the class murmured a few inside chatters while the new girl took her seat. Alessia didn't respond, but made a mental note that the new girl, Octavia, looked a lot like the Private she had met earlier in the morning, but she looked too similar to be a daughter. Besides, Private Blake looked too young to have a daughter in their grade anyways. Somewhere from twenty minutes to a half an hour later, Mr. Miller broke apart the class for group assignments, letting the students in the small classroom choose their own groups. Alessia turned to Clarke with her pencil tapping against the desk as Clarke pursed her lips, thinking. Alessia studied the look on her face and sighed.

"You want to invite the new girl over to work with us, don't you?"

"Yeah, sorta."

"Alright, go ahead."

Clarke smiled at Alessia for a moment before turning to the new girl looking around awkwardly, and somewhat uncomfortably, in the back for anyone who would take her in a group. When she locked eyes with Clarke, the kind blonde beckoned her over. Octavia paused for a moment, but gathered her things and moved into an empty desk in front of Clarke, giving the two other teenage girls a warm, forced greeting smile.

"Thanks for that," she muttered. Clarke smiled.

"Don't mention it. I'm Clarke."

"And I'm Alessia." Alessia leaned over her desk with her arms crossed and smiled softly. "Private Blake's your brother, right?"

Octavia blinked. "Um, yeah. Word travels fast?"

"Yes, but that's not how I knew. I met him this morning." She leaned back in her chair and watched as Octavia let out a disappointed sigh.

"He enlisted last month without telling me. One minute, it was a public school of over three thousand students and now it's...a military base school with less than fifteen kids in one class." Clarke and Alessia could detect a bitterness in Octavia's tone, but they both laughed at it. At first, Octavia thought they were making fun of her, but then Clarke shook her head.

"Trust me, you get used to it. It's definitely got its ups and downs, but—"

"Oh stop, Clarke. You wouldn't know." Alessia rolled her eyes and then looked at Octavia with a scoff. "Three quarters of the people here grew up on this base. Most of us have never even been outside the walls before."

Octavia scowled. "Well that sucks for you all, then."

"It does." Alessia smiled for a moment, and then her smile dropped as she realized how sad the statement she had before commented to Octavia about. Most of us have never even been off this base before. It was so painfully true that it made Alessia cringe inside thinking of the fact that in one year, she would be off to college and wouldn't have a single experience outside of the Arkadia base. And that was assuming her father, as manipulative as he was, even allowed her to go off the base for college. The alternative was most likely ten times more pleasing for him—enlisting her for four years.

"Well we should get started on this thing." Clarke looked behind Octavia to the front of the classroom and nodded her head towards their teacher, who was looming over the group that coincidentally contained his son. "Mr. Miller doesn't even let his own kid slack off."

Octavia chuckled quietly as she referred back to what Clarke was talking about, and the three continued their work to avoid Mr. Miller's hovering.

"Lieutenant Colonel," Shumway muttered under his breath as he walked into Kane's office stiffly, avoiding contact with the LTC in the middle of his meeting. Kane looked up from his visitor to wait for Shumway's announcement. "I have something you need to see. It's an urgent matter."

Kane pursed his lips. It could have something to do with what he asked of Shumway to do earlier in the morning, and if it was, he realized that he needed to clear the room. Nodding to Shumway, he looked at his visitor and asked him to step outside. When Kane's office was cleared, Shumway looked at Kane, who stood up from his desk and waited.

"What is it, Sergeant?"

Shumway stepped forward and produced a DVD in his hand. "I acquired yesterday's security tapes as you asked."

"Did you watch it?"

"No, Sir."

"Good. That'll be all, Sergeant. Thank you." Marcus waited until the Sergeant nodded and turned to leave before he sat back down in his office chair and stared at the DVD in his hand. With a heavy, nervous sigh, Kane slipped the DVD into the drive of his computer and leaned back in his chair.

Please don't do this to me, Alessia, he begged as he put his head in his hand and watched the surveillance tape. Using his mouse, he skimmed through the day before finally coming to a stop at 12:15AM where he knew it had to have happened if it were her. From the view of all eight cameras watching, he mainly focused on one: the one that no one knew he installed, least of all his daughter and her boyfriend. It covered the exact spot he needed to see to arrest the culprit.

4/7/16 12:15AM

And there it was. Marcus watched in horror, disappointment, and absolute fury as his daughter and his most highly esteemed PFC snuck into his office safe to acquire a portion of the $800,000 dollars sitting in stacks upon stacks of hundred dollar bills.

Thanks for reading! Please review! If you haven't seen it already, there is a playlist and a trailer on my profile for this story! Be sure to check them out after you leave a comment below! :)