"Ok, guys! C'mon. Single-file line, please." Mrs. Green tried her best to keep the children calm through the halls of Mt. Weather Elementary. Walking backwards to keep an eye on her students, Mrs. Green caught one of the boys pushing his classmate.

"John Murphy! Stop pushing Wells right now or you will be in time-out for the rest of the day."

John Murphy, or more commonly referred to simply as 'Murphy', grumbled and stopped harassing the boy in front of him. Murphy was used to being put in time-out, the designated time-out corner in the classroom was basically his home. He was the most boisterous of the class, the complete opposite of Clarke Griffin.

Clarke Griffin, who was the current 'line leader', an occurrence that had become common. Clarke Griffin, who has been nicknamed 'Princess' by the boys in the class. Clarke Griffin, who found John Murphy absolutely rambunctious and irresponsible. Clarke rolled her eyes in annoyance at Murphy who then stuck his tongue out at her in mockery.

The line had finally arrived at the cafeteria door, Mrs. Green holding it open.

"Alright, kiddos. Follow Clarke to the lunch table," Mrs. Green commanded, the kids excited at the prospect of food. As soon as the last person in her line entered the cafeteria, Mrs. Green followed behind.

When the group reached their table, Mrs. Green allowed them to start lunch. Some kids got in line to buy lunch, others had theirs packed. Clarke always had her lunch packed. Her dad made the best turkey sandwich out there, and it was Clarke's favorite. She promised she'd never grow tired of it. Clarke reached inside the brown paper bag to pull out a sandwich box, a sticky note on the lid:

Have fun at school, punkin!
Extra mayo, just as requested
-Best Dad Ever

Jake always wrote her a lunch note, this wasn't surprising to Clarke but she smiled anyways. She dumped the remaining items of the bag onto the table, some chips and a juice box.

Clarke was halfway done with her sandwich when her friends returned from the lunch line. Wells Jaha sat down on her left, followed by Octavia Blake to her right and the inseparable duo of Jasper Jordan and Monty Green sat across from her. A few minutes later, they were joined by Murphy. Clarke wouldn't exactly call him her friend but he didn't really have anyone else.

Her other fellow students settled throughout the long rectangular table. Mrs. Green was seated at the end, always making sure to keep one eye on her students.

"So, do you like it here?" Wells asked Clarke, with a mouthful of pizza.

Clarke couldn't help but giggle at his face covered in marinara sauce, "Yeah, you guys are cool," referring to the friends around her.

Clarke and her family had been living in Baltimore for 3 months now. Her mother is beginning to settle into her new position at the hospital, her father adjusting to the long drive out to work, and Clarke enjoying new company. It was only one month into the school year but she's already made some friends.

Wells Jaha was her neighbor, living on the same street as she does. His father, Thelonious, was also the business manager at the new Unity Hospital her mother works at. Abby invited the Jahas over to dinner one night and Clarke was excited to finally meet someone her age. Since then, the families started getting together more often, making Wells the closest thing Clarke has to a best friend. She was so excited to find out they had the same teacher once school started. Over the summer, Wells introduced Clark to some of his other friends in the neighborhood.

Their teacher's son, Monty, lived on another street. Clarke's parents would have to drop her off at his house if they wanted to play. Luckily for Monty, his best friend, Jasper, lives next door, just a few feet away from endless fun the two could come up with.

Further down Jasper and Monty's street lived the Blakes. Octavia lived with her older brother and mother in a one-story house, much smaller than the others' but still bigger than the houses outside the gate.

"Hey! Watch it!" Octavia exclaimed, anger directed at Jasper and Monty whose small food fight seems to have gotten some of their chocolate pudding on her shirt. Jasper and Monty apologized but continued to laugh at the mishap.

"Jasper! Help me clean this!" Octavia motioning to the front of her white shirt, now covered in brown substance.

"Ok, ok. Let me get some napkins." Jasper stood up from the table without looking, accidentally bumping into the girl walking behind his seat, knocking the tray from her hands in the process.

"Whoops! I'm so sorry." Jasper apologized, quickly bending down to pick up the fallen tray from the floor, hoping he didn't ruin the girl's lunch.

"It's ok. It was just trash." The girl kneeled down next to him, helping Jasper. By this time, Mrs. Green had come along to help as well, apologizing once more to the girl before proceeding to tell Jasper to grab some napkins.

"I got it." Clarke interjected, always wanting to be helpful.

Clarke returned from the lunch counter, napkins in hand. Clarke first helped Octavia get the small amounts of pudding still on her shirt, then she noticed the girl who's food was knocked over had more than just pudding on her shirt. This girl had marinara sauce on her face and icing in her hair.

After helping Octavia, Clarke grabbed the remaining napkins and approached the girl, who was now standing, wiping pudding off her jeans. Mrs. Green noticed Clarke approaching and asked, "Thank you, Clarke. Could you please give this young lady some napkins to clean herself? I'm gonna throw this trash away." Clarke nodded in understanding.

Clarke stood in front of the girl with her right hand reached out, crumpled napkins in an open palm, "Here you go. I'm sorry about that. Jasper can be crazy sometimes."

"Thanks, and it's okay. It was an accident." The girl replied, reaching for the napkins in Clarke's hand. The girl lifted her head up to smile at Clarke, and her green eyes met blue ones. Clarke doesn't know why, but she was suddenly so mesmerized by this girl.

"Do you need help?" Clarke asked cautiously. The girl starting to wipe the icing out of her long brunette locks.

"It's ok, I think I got most of it."

The girl looked much cleaner than before, her hair back to its original state, although sticky in some places. Clarke noticed red sauce still lingering on the girl's face and with a napkin in hand, reached up to wipe it off her face, "There. All better."

"Thanks again." The girl smiled before holding her right arm out in front of her, "My name's Lexa. I'm in Mr. Arthur's class."

"I'm Clarke. Nice to meet you." The blonde shook Lexa's hand, glad to finally put a name to the face. Clarke thought she was pretty. Too pretty to have a marinara-stained face and icing covered hair.

"I gotta get back to my table. See you another time!" Lexa waved goodbye and turned to walk back to her table. Clarke was left standing there, napkin still in hand. Clarke remembered she didn't like goodbyes.

That night at dinner, Abby and Jake heard about Lexa for the first time. They noticed the curiosity in their daughter's eyes when she mentioned the green-eyed girl. They also saw the worry in them when Clarke thought she might not see Lexa again.

"I'm sure you'll see her again, punkin. It's not exactly a big school," Jake reassured.

"I hope so. She was nice," Clarke commented, remembering Lexa's wide grin, her left cheek painted with pizza sauce.

Abby put her fork down, forgetting about the pasta at the end, "Who knows! Maybe you guys will get the same class next year."

Clarke's eyebrows raised at that thought. Her young heart not understanding why it was beating quicker that usual. Regardless, Clarke held on to that hope and wished for good luck.

Notes:

*sigh* young love.

Thanks again for reading! As always, comments are nice to come across.

Much love!
-April